Mike Johnson

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, it is simple. A parent should be involved in the life of their child, and State laws should never be circumvented to benefit those seeking to take advantage of minors. When a State says a guardian or parent should be notified that their minor is seeking an abortion, that law ought to be respected and followed. Our States' parental involvement laws are well-written and reasonable, and there are exceptions built into the statutes for extreme circumstances. We also know that forced coercion to abort an unborn child is real, and it must be addressed. Predators, traffickers, and their accomplices must be held accountable for the damage they have done to minors. I am so glad that our side is offering tangible solutions to real problems; but it is unfortunate that it is in response to such terrible pieces of legislation that only further endanger the lives of minors and their unborn children. I urge opposition to the other side's callous and barbaric agenda and their bill, and I support our motion to recommit. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include the text of the amendment in the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his important voice and for hosting this Special Order hour. The sanctity of human life can never be overemphasized. The gentleman has done so much work in that arena, and I appreciate him. I am thankful to our Democratic colleagues tonight, as well, for skipping their Special Order hour so we can just go right ahead and get started in prime time. If America were experiencing record inflation, sky-high gas prices, and uninhibited illegal immigration under our watch, I would probably yield my time back, as well. Mr. Speaker, this morning in our Judiciary Committee, the Democrat majority convened a hearing, and they titled it: ``What's Next: The Threat to Individual Freedoms in a Post-Roe World.'' It was an appropriate title, indeed, because the radical abortion advocates are becoming completely unhinged. They are seeking to trample on the individual freedoms of anybody who disagrees with them. Case in point, over the weekend, the leftwing activist group ShutDownDC offered $200 bounties for public sightings of our Supreme Court Justices. This week, Senator Elizabeth Warren--talk about unhinged--said that crisis pregnancy centers all across America should be shut down. There are 2,700 pregnancy centers all around this country in all 50 States. They are supported by over 10,000 licensed medical professionals. They are annually serving approximately 2 million women and men. I used to serve as legal counsel for many of these organizations, and I can testify to their invaluable work. Why would anybody want to shut down pregnancy centers? They exist to provide counseling, care, aid, and comfort to struggling mothers who just want to have their babies. This is just abhorrent. Speaking of abhorrent, I suggest to my Democrat friends to study up tonight--really, I mean, seriously--on the bill that we are going to be voting on here tomorrow. They call it the Women's Protection Act. It is not. We call it, more appropriately, abortion on demand until birth act. Even though this will be the second time we voted on this bill in this Congress, I am not sure they know what is in it. I keep hearing my Democrat colleagues tell us: Oh, no, it is not about abortion on demand until birth. It absolutely is. Surely, if they knew that this legislation did this, they wouldn't support it, right? The American people certainly don't support it. To our Democrat colleagues tonight, as I yield back to my friend, I would just humbly suggest--read your bill. You got a few hours. Read your legislation. Search your conscience. I hope that you will do the right thing and vote against that bill tomorrow. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Kelly again for the Special Order hour.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, Speaker Pelosi just lectured us. She said guns are the number one killer of children in America. That is not true. Abortion violence is the number one killer of children in America, until today. There is no right to abortion in the Constitution. And, thankfully, the Supreme Court finally said that decisively. Thanks be to God. There is a right, however, a crystal-clear right in the Constitution to keep and bear arms. But here we are today. Congress is moving full steam ahead to restrict the right to self-defense for law-abiding gun owners and the right to due process for all Americans. This legislation is the wrong approach, and we ought to oppose it. In our Judiciary markup several days ago, some of our Democrat colleagues here on the floor today openly said they don't care about the Constitution. They don't care about its protections. They want to overlook that. This bill does that. It is the perfect example of Members of Congress simply ignoring the Constitution. President Biden and his administration are already disobeying laws that we have on the books to revoke firearm dealer licenses over simple clerical errors. This legislation is going to make that worse. This is not going to help anything. It is going to lead to more errors, more false flags, more backlogs in the NICS system. There is nothing in this bill to fix that. There is nothing in this bill to increase school safety. Mr. Speaker, we want real solutions. We think that we ought to harden the schools; real, physical improvements to help protect children, but that is not here. They didn't have time for that. Two weeks ago, I had a very moving conversation with Pastor YJ Jimenez. He is a pastor on the ground ministering to the people of the Uvalde community who have suffered such an unspeakable loss. He said something that was really clear, and I think it is echoed throughout America. People paid a lot of attention to it. He said, You know what, we need to address the root causes of all this bloodshed. He said America's problem is not guns. America's problem is a heart problem. And he is exactly right. Today we are seeing the results of decades of decline in the secularization of American society and the open assault on our institutions: family, religion, morality, the breakdown of law and order. We see the results of all this on young people--in clinical settings, in schools, and everywhere else. We want to do things that matter. It is not more gun control. It is not more Federal laws. It is not more intrusive government. We need to address the root causes.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. And you have got to know when to fold. Madam Speaker, Tennessee is going so well, I may as well yield to another good friend, another gentleman from the State of Tennessee (Mr. Rose), one that is even more reputable than the last speaker.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, my friend is correct. That energy crisis haunts every American. We see no end in sight because the White House will not reverse its policies. Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, my friend said it well. He is right, time is of the essence. Every day that we belabor and continue these radical leftist policies, the American people feel more and more pain. Madam Speaker, I yield next to my good friend from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, my friend from Georgia made a great summary of the crisis that we are in. I thank him for bringing that. Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Harshbarger), my dear friend, and the third speaker from the good State of Tennessee, can't have enough of those Vols.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I have another colleague or two on the way. How much time is remaining on the clock in this Special Order?

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you so much, Madam Speaker. I will read a quote here that is very familiar to everyone now because it has been repeated over and over in the last several days. It is from Chuck Schumer. Of course, he is the Democrat leader on the Senate side. He stood on the steps of the United States Supreme Court, and he exclaimed to a crowd, to their applause, and to all the television cameras, what is now a quote that lives in infamy, ``I want to tell you, Gorsuch; I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.'' The leader of the Democrats in the Senate stood on the steps of the United States Supreme Court and threatened the Justices by name. Now, what is happening? What is happening now? Well, people are heeding that advice. There was a leaked opinion, an unprecedented, terribly tragic event there that will harm the institution permanently, the Supreme Court. Some clerk, we suspect--I think it is one of the liberal law clerks for one of the liberal Justices, the three Justices on that Court committed to that ideology. Somebody leaked the draft opinion, and it has caused a whirlwind. All of these protesters are criminals. They are not really protesters. They are criminals because this is blatantly against the black letter of the Federal law. 18 U.S.C. 1507 openly makes this a crime. You can't protest at the home of a judge to try to influence their opinion. Yet, that is exactly what is happening. As we speak right now, there are liberal activists on the lawns of the Justices of the Supreme Court, the conservative Justices. Do you know what? Their lives are in danger because we now know, just a few days ago, a would-be assassin was apprehended on the lawn of Justice Kavanaugh. He was home with his wife and his two young daughters. This is a dangerous thing, and this is what is wrought when so-called leaders tell the American people to get in the faces of their political opponents, to release the whirlwind, you won't know what hit you, and all the rest. That is what is happening right now. What are Republicans doing about it? What is Congress doing about it? Nothing at all. The Democrat majority won't even acknowledge that this is a problem. In fact, on this floor last night, we had 27 progressives, 27 of the Democrats in this House, vote against a simple bill, a measure that would provide security and protection for the innocent children of these Justices. They voted against that. It is unbelievable. People back home ask me, my constituents, say: What are they thinking? What in the world is going on? Do they want people to be harmed? Look, I think the motive is that they want to send a message to the radical left that we like you violating the law. We want you on the lawns of conservative judges. We want you to try to intimidate them into changing their opinions because they may overturn Roe, or they may interpret the Constitution in a way that the radical left disagrees with. This is a tinderbox. This is a dangerous time in the country. The so- called leaders here are encouraging and inflaming this. Heaven forbid if someone actually gets hurt. We filed a resolution here within a few days of that leak last month. Forty-five Members joined me in that resolution. We called upon the Department of Justice to enforce 18 U.S.C. 1507, to enforce the law that makes it a crime to picket or parade to influence a judge. Do you know what? Crickets. The Department of Justice hasn't done anything. Can you imagine if a threat was made to one of the liberal Justices? Can you imagine the outcry? The mainstream media and the Democrats here, the radical left, they would be demanding action. But if it is a conservative judge, hey, fair game, apparently. It is open season on conservative judges. That is what we have now. We also filed, last month, the Leaker Accountability Act that would make it a crime to knowingly share confidential information from the Supreme Court. I authored that legislation. I think it ought to be punishable by a fine or up to 5 years imprisonment. We have to send a message. This behavior, the leak, the violence that has ensued because of it, is unacceptable. The idea, again, that our colleagues would vote against protection for the children of these judges is, to me, unconscionable and an unforgivable vote. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), my good friend.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for faithfully coming to this floor and speaking to his constituents and the American people about these very serious issues that face us as a country. His voice is an important one. I am grateful to him and our many colleagues for joining us tonight to discuss all of these crises facing our country that are taking a back seat to the Democrat reality show and the most radical set of domestic and foreign policies that America has ever seen. As we close, I remind everybody--we heard it last night--the President exclaimed in his now infamous speech, he said: ``We are changing people's lives.'' You saw that?

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. There is zero doubt about that, Mr. President. Lives are being devastated under your policies. I will just say this, as we conclude: November cannot get here soon enough. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of my Special Order.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, Democrats have enjoyed unilateral control of Washington for the last 17 months, and we all know the results: record inflation, soaring gas prices, unhinged crime in our cities, and uninhibited illegal immigration. In the midst of all this, what issue gets their prime-time billing? Very simple. They are displaying their seething hatred for Donald Trump and anybody who ever supported him. For nearly a year now, they have invested thousands of hours, millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars. They have interviewed hundreds and hundreds of witnesses. They compiled 100,000 pages of documents. They hired lawyers, consultants, and even big network TV producers. And all for what? They are doing this production, this rehash, this replay of a moment- by-moment dissection of a terrible event that took place here a year and a half ago. They thought the American people would be riveted by their production, but the ratings have proven what everybody already knew. The American people have lived through all this, and they have moved on. In fact, we thought it was interesting, according to one report, CBS' decision to bump a ``Young Sheldon'' rerun from its prime-time slot in favor of Thursday's January 6 hearing resulted in fewer viewers than the identical time slot the prior week. Reruns of ``Young Sheldon'' played better than the January 6 drama. The American people have moved on. They have moved on to caring about things that actually affect their daily lives. Look, the criminals involved in January 6 are being prosecuted. Lessons about Capitol security were learned here. We will never know the true facts about all that, of course, because Speaker Pelosi's partisan committee will not look into why we didn't have adequate security here. But the Senate produced a bipartisan report on all these events a year ago. The truth is the Democrats could hire an army of broadcast media executives and specialists to try to boost their ratings, but it will not change the simple facts. The election this fall is going to be about three things. It is going to be about inflation, immigration, and incompetence, the staggering levels of incompetence that the Democrats in charge of Washington put on display here every single day. If the Democrats want to reverse their political fortunes, they need to reverse their policies. But we all know, of course, they refuse to do that. So hardworking American families will continue, very sadly, to struggle as our country becomes less safe, less secure, and less stable by the hour. I am grateful to my colleagues for joining me tonight to discuss the myriad crises facing our country. They are all taking a back seat to the Democrats' reality show, but we think it is important to point out to the American people the realities here, the true realities of what is happening and what we are facing as a country, these unprecedented challenges. Madam Speaker, I yield first to the fine gentleman from the State of Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. That is so well said. Just get out of the way. Let the American people do it. Madam Speaker, I yield next to another great gentleman from the State of Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you for that expertise. You sound like a former Secretary of Revenue or something from the State of Pennsylvania. As you pointed out, my friend, you don't have to be an economist to figure this out. Every freshman economics student knows if you keep printing money and dropping it into the economy, you are going to cause inflation. This is not rocket science, but you know what? The President of the United States apparently doesn't get it. Madam Speaker, I am delighted next to yield to the good doctor from Texas (Mr. Babin).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, that was so well said. Dr. Babin, that woke socialist policy has brought some real pain to the American people. I think they have had enough.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. November can't get here soon enough. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield next to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you, my friend. That border crisis continues to grow by the hour. Right now as we speak, there is the largest caravan we think that has ever been spotted currently headed to our southern border. It was incentivized, of course, by the Biden administration's open border agenda. The caravan has as many as maybe 15,000 people, most from Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. Here is the key point. One of the migrants is reported to have told FOX News that he hopes President Biden will keep his amnesty promise to the caravan. You know, that is exactly why people from more than 160 countries have been flooding over that border since right after Joe Biden took office. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of the Honorable Graydon K. Kitchens, Jr., a giant of a man and my former law partner and mentor. Judges Kitchens' list of accomplishments is limitless. I could stand at this lectern for an hour listing off all of his accomplishments and barely scratch the surface. He was a husband of 62 years; father of three; proud grandfather of six; varsity pitcher at LSU, our alma mater; U.S. Army lieutenant; judge; chief justice; deacon; and a man of deep, profound faith. He provided wise counsel through troubling times to me and to so many countless others, and he is an irreplaceable senior statesman in the Louisiana Bar. I am among so many to consider him to be truly one of the greatest men we have ever known. As the patriarch of his family, Judge Kitchens planted roots in north Louisiana that will flourish for centuries. Our community lost a towering character and a leader, and we are so much better for the time that we had when he was here. Our prayers are with Roberta and the entire Kitchens family and all who loved him. Rest in peace, Judge Kitchens. God bless.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Jordan for yielding. You know, we have heard some revealing things this week. It was just a few moments ago our colleague from Tennessee, Mr. Cohen, lectured us that the Old Testament doesn't mention the word ``guns'' and so we shouldn't claim that this is a fundamental freedom. You know, as usual, he misunderstands the point of Scripture and the Constitution. Here is the thing: As Americans, we respect and we protect the unalienable, God-given right to self-protection and to the protection of innocent lives around us. President Biden said--among other outrageous things this week we have heard, President Biden said that he wanted to ban 9-millimeter handguns. That is one of the most widely owned handguns by law-abiding citizens in this country. Mr. Cicilline of Rhode Island, now infamously in our committee hearing, exclaimed, ``Spare me the'' B.S.--that is not what he said-- ``Spare me the'' B.S. ``about constitutional rights.'' That is pretty revealing. Mr. Jones, in the same hearing, just a few moments later, he said that if Democrats don't get their way on their gun control wish list, that they will abolish the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court. They are saying the quiet parts out loud. See, that wish list that they have includes taking away guns from Americans without the constitutionally required due process of law, which is exactly what this bill would do. It would allow the courts to take guns away from people without notice and without even the right to appear in the hearing to defend themselves in court. Now, the other side is going to tell you, and you will hear in the argument here, hey, there is due process. Don't worry about it, they will say, because people subjected to this process, they can just go to court and they can petition to get their firearms back. But I will let my colleagues in on something that every first-year law student learns: Due process after the fact is no due process at all. Now, the other side is also going to argue here--get ready for it-- they are going to claim that they have come up with a reasonable compromise by just making these gun confiscation orders temporary. They will say it is only going to last 14 days. They won't tell you that these orders can be renewed indefinitely. My Democrat colleagues are going to tell you that this bill will save lives. But if you look at the objective studies, the comprehensive studies on this, you will find that the red flag laws in all these States have had no significant effect on the rates of murder, suicide, or the number of people killed in mass public shootings. If this bill passes, people may have their information added to the national crime databases, even though they committed no crime. In what version of America do we think that is okay? The Democrats claim Republicans don't care about gun violence. But while they may repeat this over and over and over, it doesn't make it any more true. If you look at the record, House Republicans have worked tirelessly to combat gun violence by enacting meaningful laws to put more resources into mental health, to provide training for guidance counselors, and fund grants for law enforcement. The other side, meanwhile, is actively trying to defund police. And just last week, they voted against giving money to schools to enhance security. Democrats refused to work with us on legislation that would actually do something; that would actually reduce the rate of gun violence in this country.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. And instead, they are taking advantage of tragedies. That is what they are doing. They are taking advantage of tragedies to promote their agenda to destroy our constitutional rights, and it is shameful. I will tell you this: When Republicans take back the majority next year, we will work to begin to address the root causes of the violence and the mayhem in our country. That day cannot come soon enough.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 7690 to defund the Biden administration's recently announced Disinformation Governance Board. Madam Speaker, the Biden administration's decision to create this board is dystopian in design and should be doomed right from the start. Madam Speaker, the Disinformation Governance Board should be defunded for one obvious reason. It is not only Orwellian, as everyone has said, but it is clearly unconstitutional. In America, we don't allow bureaucrats and government officials to choose what speech is deemed acceptable or censor and silence viewpoints they dislike. This fundamental principle of our law must always be vigorously defended to preserve our freedom and to keep the government in check. I used to defend this principle in the Federal courts before I was elected to Congress, and I am so encouraged to work with so many colleagues, at least on this side of the aisle here, who are also fiercely committed to this cause. Let's put this simply: There is zero role for the Federal Government in determining what constitutes true speech. But while we have everybody's attention, let's just recap this real quickly. This Disinformation Governance Board will be housed within the Department of Homeland Security. It was just announced by ambush, very abruptly, by Secretary Mayorkas. There is no information about its budget. There is no information provided to us about the scope of its work, no information about how it will be kept accountable. Basically, there are no details at all. Remember, this is from the same administration that wants to spy on parents who speak up at school board meetings and spy on our bank accounts. This governance board is a glaring example of mission creep, and even its name is creepy. Here is what we do know, Madam Speaker: The board is supposed to be headed by a young woman by the name of Nina Jankowicz, who refers to herself--no kidding--as the Mary Poppins of disinformation. Miss Poppins is herself a frequent purveyor of untruths, such as calling the New York Post's report on Hunter Biden's laptop a ``Russian influence op'' and promoting the false claim that the Steele dossier was ``Republican opposition research.'' She also appears sympathetic to the cause of censorship because she told NPR recently that she shudders--that is her word--to think about a country where free speech absolutists, again quoting her, were taking over more platforms. She recommended that law enforcement and legislatures do more to censor Americans. To help her hit the ground running in doing what is certain to be a short stint in this job, here is what we suggest: She ought to check out the recent falsehoods from her own administration. Here is a hit list: The falsehood that Secretary Mayorkas has done an ``effective job'' managing the border crisis and that it is somehow secure. He said that under oath here a couple weeks ago. The falsehood that economic contraction in Quarter 1 of this year is actually just masking some hidden, broad economic resiliency. The falsehood that Biden's $3.5 trillion spending bill actually cost zero dollars. The falsehood that inflation is a high-class problem, as they told us. The falsehood that 70 percent of our current inflation is being caused by Vladimir Putin. You get the point. The problem with the government appointing itself as the arbiter of truth is that it is often the government itself that often engages in spin and untruth.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, if the Biden administration was itself a beacon of truth, this board would still be unconstitutional. I would tell my colleagues, if this was being proposed by a Republican administration, we would be fighting it just as vociferously. I do find it noteworthy, however, that those who seem the most preoccupied with censoring Americans and policing disinformation are so often themselves the worst offenders at spreading it. Again, here is the bottom line: The government has no role whatsoever in determining what constitutes truth or acceptable speech. President Biden should dissolve this board immediately and entirely; and if he won't, Republicans will. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question so we may amend the rule to provide for immediate consideration of my legislation to defund the DHS Disinformation Governance Board.