Mike Johnson

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, for the remainder of this Special Order we will have a number of Republican Members from around the country who will come up and address the big issues of the day, the continued crises, not the least of which is our economic crisis here on the eve of the latest GDP numbers that we all anticipate will confirm that we have a recession, even though the administration apparently can't even define what ``recession'' is. Instead of trying to fix the problems, they are trying to work on the definition of words. Madam Speaker, I yield first to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend; that was so well said. As we told Secretary Mayorkas in a Judiciary Committee hearing just a few months ago, clearly what he is doing is intentional, and I believe that he needs to dust off his resume because we are going to have the majority soon, and there will be a reckoning for that. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, the news is so staggering, and it is an incalculable amount of loss that Americans are experiencing. I love what the gentleman said: It is not overdoses now, it is poisoning. That is exactly right. It is the leading cause of death of Americans aged 18 to 49. Overdoses, these poisonings, are killing more people than cancer, car wrecks, and COVID, all of it. What are we going to do about it?

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Absolutely. I cannot wait for us to get control of the gavel again. Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, that was so well said. The gentleman is right; every single State is a border State, and I know the good people of Tennessee are just as concerned as my friends in Louisiana and also in the State of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, and he is right. The energy crisis is a direct result of policy choices. It could be reversed if Democrats would simply acknowledge their error, but I am afraid they won't. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I have never seen my friend so animated. It is time for that because it is an existential crisis to the country. Truly, when we asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff what the greatest threat to America is, they don't say China first. They say the national debt. It is just out of control. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Great words, my friend. I am so thankful that you summarized again how ideas have consequences. Madam Speaker, that is our concern. These are policy choices that have led to all this pain for families and individuals in all of our communities, and it just seems like madness to us. But our message is hopeful because we are going to turn the corner. We are going to lead this country in a new direction, and we are excited to relay that to people. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for his faithful efforts and being such a clarion call and a voice of reason. One of the things that is necessary to maintain a constitutional Republic as the Founders warned us is that you have to have an informed and engaged electorate. I think people are paying attention now. I think they are feeling the pain, and it is drawing awareness to our situation. I think they are going to evaluate. I am hopeful and optimistic, so we can turn some of this around. I thank my friend for his efforts. Madam Speaker, you heard a recurring theme here tonight, whether we focus tonight on the economic crisis, the border crisis, the energy crisis--all the many crises--the common theme is this: If you review the facts objectively, Madam Speaker, then the evidence shows that all of these are intentional. They are intentional. These are the foreseeable and obvious results of the Democrats' policy choices of the Biden administration and the Democrats that run both Houses of Congress. House Republicans, on the other hand--as all my colleagues tonight have pointed out--are optimistic. We are so looking forward to the upcoming August district work period so that we can take our vision for a new direction for this country directly to the American people. I believe that message is going to be well-received. I think people are desperate for the answers, and we have solutions to all the great challenges facing this country. Madam Speaker, I thank all my colleagues, once again, for being faithful and being here tonight for this Special Order. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, the recent Supreme Court term has come to an end and the Court's decision has sent Washington Democrats into a tailspin. Members of this body have called to abolish the Supreme Court--and by the way, some of those very same Members have also called to expand the Supreme Court, so we are not really sure which one they are committed to. Just yesterday, Members of this body were pretending to be handcuffed over their support for taxpayer-funded abortion on demand until birth. Washington Democrats are making excuses for the outright harassment of the Supreme Court Justices, their families, their children, and even the assassination attempt on the life of Justice Kavanaugh. Washington Democrats are silent on attacks against pro-life pregnancy care centers across this country. Some have even called for these centers to be shut down all across the Nation. It is appalling. It is unhinged. Why would anyone want to shut down pregnancy centers that are designed to help struggling mothers in their time of need? But that is where we are. Why all the hysterics though? My constituents are really curious about this. Why are they so animated right now? Why do they want to tear this institution to the ground? Well, here is the simple reason, because the Supreme Court has made some very thoughtful constitutionally based decisions in this term. They correctly said, for example, that a football coach was exercising his First Amendment rights when he privately prayed on the 50-yard line. The Supreme Court correctly said that citizens don't have to ask the government for permission to exercise their fundamental rights to keep and bear arms. The Supreme Court correctly said that if Congress wants to address climate change, then Congress has to legislate on that issue instead of just outsourcing that work to unelected bureaucrats. Because the Supreme Court correctly said that elected Representatives of the people may again be allowed to place restrictions on the killing of innocent unborn children. That is why they are motivated. That is why they are so unhinged. That is why they want to tear the institution to the ground. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by all of this. We are, after all, only a couple of months removed from Senator Schumer's infamous, dangerous, unhinged rant on the steps of the Supreme Court itself. He called out Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh by name, and he said, Hey, we are going to release the whirlwind on you. Well, it happened. And it is clear what is happening here. Democrats are doing anything and everything they can to try to use these obvious and straightforward Supreme Court decisions to stoke fear and change the subject before the November election. But we are here today to say that this election will be about three things. It is going to be primarily about soaring inflation, uninhibited illegal immigration, and the general staggering incompetence that we see by the Democrats in charge of Washington. The three I's. I call it: Inflation. Immigration. Incompetence. I think that summarizes it very well. There was a very interesting story on CNN this week that caught my eye. It was entitled, ``Vulnerable Democrats Sound the Alarm Over Inflation Crisis.'' Well, welcome to the party. It is a little late for that. I would humbly suggest that those vulnerable Democrats should have thought about that before they voted to pass $5.4 trillion--with a ``T''--in new partisan spending last year. We warned them. This was so completely foreseeable. Government spending is what is causing the current inflation crisis, plain and simple. And now that this bill is coming due, these vulnerable Democrats are hoping the American people would simply forget their vote. We don't intend to let that happen, the stakes are too high, and the issues are too important. I thank my colleagues for joining us today to discuss the harm that the Democrat agenda has caused our country and our alternative, conservative vision for how to fix all this. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser), first among my many colleagues that will be joining me here in the hour, who knows a whole lot about the economy.

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

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Immigration. Mr. MEUSER: Immigration. And instead of taking any action to correct this devastating problem, and the effect it is having on American families and small businesses, large businesses, you name it--dogs and cats, probably--the Biden administration has doubled down on the backwards policies and undertaken a massive blame-game campaign. Not exactly a profile in courage taking place here, Mr. Speaker. First, they branded the inflation brought on by their reckless spending the ``Putin price hike.'' Then, despite inflation beginning long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, by the way, then the administration laid the blame for their policies at the feet of greedy corporations--yeah--and then local gas station owners. Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of the gas stations throughout our country, and certainly in my district, are owned by small independent businesspeople. They are to blame for the gasoline prices that we are paying? I would like to reiterate, when faced with the highest gas prices in history caused by atrocious energy policies, the President of the United States and many Democrat Members of this House point their fingers and blame small business owners. The American people are not fooled by the Biden administration's finger-pointing, though they are paying a steep price for it. Despite the administration's best efforts to deceive the American people, we have learned that inflation was not temporary and has continued to skyrocket, largely because of the Biden House Democrats' out-of-control spending. Instead of addressing America's inflation crisis, House Democrats have continued to push for billions more in government spending, which will increase inflation, it will not decrease it. Continued excessive spending will increase inflation. It is a mathematical and physical certainty. We must correct course. Stop the reckless spending and unleash domestic American energy production, which will strengthen both our economy and our national security. We must also stop overregulating and overtaxing small businesses, and enough with the blame games and these go woke and broke policies. They have failed the American people. Mr. Speaker, the free nations of the world need a strong United States, both militarily and economically to lead. We face serious threats. Free nations worldwide know that the world is a far more peaceful and stable place with strong American leadership. The weakness shown both at our southern border and the Ukraine border, initially, have had devastating effects on humanity and on the stability of the United States, Europe, and the free world. Only with a clear vision, realistic plan, and earnest execution will this be corrected.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. That is so well said, my friend. And it is so true that a strong and vibrant America is good not only for the people in this country but for people all around the world. We maintain peace through strength, and if we don't show that strength, then we are in real jeopardy. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), my good friend from right over the border.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend. It is a very stark reality that we face, but we are optimists. We know we can turn this around, and the American people are going to give us a chance this fall, aren't they? I thank the gentleman for that good word and stark reminder. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, wow, there are so many important facts there. I will tell you what, it is hard to count all the crises. I thank my friend, that was so well said, as usual. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose), faithful to come on this floor week after week and relay the facts to the American people.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, there are so many great points there. I appreciate the gentleman for coming here and explaining that because we can't say it too much. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for standing up for those wheat farmers. I know they appreciate that representation. For all of those in the ag community, this is just a critical issue. The gentleman is exactly right. The inflation crisis has real-world consequences, and that is just some of them. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to go across the country to California again to hear, once more, from our dear, faithful friend. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend. There are so many important things he highlighted there. Mr. Speaker, we will go from California over to the great State of Texas next. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for my friend's voice. He was a guest on my podcast last week, and we have gotten a lot of attention on that. People are grateful for his passion on these issues. I hope my friend will keep speaking loudly here on the floor and everywhere. I am grateful he has a national platform to talk, particularly about this immigration crisis, which is a whole different subject, and he has great insight on that. Mr. Speaker, I will wrap this up. I thank my colleagues for joining me today in this Special Order hour to discuss the harm that the Democrat agenda has caused our country and our alternative visions on all these issues. By way of recap, just quickly, I was taking notes as my colleague spoke from across the country, from Texas. Dr. Babin reminded us that a staggering 77 percent of Americans believe our country is on the wrong track--obviously, because of all this. Mr. LaMalfa from California just reminded us of the excesses and abuses of the Federal agencies, which are overregulating our farmers and food producers and wasting our time and precious resources on these superfluous projects. Mr. Meuser of Pennsylvania reminded us that this inflation is going to cost the average hardworking American family this year an extra $6,000 in the cost of living. Mr. Rose from Tennessee reminded us about that skyrocketing inflation rate. It is obviously the result of the Biden policies and the administration's backward approach to all this. But they even now want to remove and eliminate the Hyde amendment so that taxpayers have to fund abortions. Mr. Good of Virginia reminded us about that border catastrophe and the numbers, which are staggering--Mr. Roy knows, as well--3 million encounters at the border, 800,000 got-aways that we can't even account for, and that is just the numbers the DHS admits to, so we know it is higher. He talked about the energy policy disaster causing pain to every hardworking American family, as well. Finally, Mr. Mann of Kansas talked about how the inflation crisis has real-world consequences for our farmers in the wheat State and everywhere else. Mr. Speaker, we could go on and on all night. I will conclude our Special Order hour. This is just a sampling of all the many crises that have been created by the Biden administration and the Washington Democrats in charge of this institution. We cannot wait to begin to turn this around after the November election. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for handling the rule and highlighting this very important issue. As he said, if the previous question is defeated, then Republicans will amend the rule to immediately consider H. Res. 1233. That is the resolution that condemns the spate of attacks that have recently occurred against pro-life facilities, groups, and churches in the wake of the Dobbs opinion. Madam Speaker, these acts are reprehensible, but we shouldn't be surprised they are occurring all across the country. They have gone unchecked for far too long, ever since the draft Dobbs opinion was inexcusably leaked to the public in that unprecedented act. Republicans immediately condemned that leak as a threat to the institution of the Court itself, as a threat to the Justices themselves as individuals, and as a threat to our very Republic. The Democrat leadership of this body did nothing. Weeks went by as tensions grew. Protesters harassed sitting Supreme Court Justices, a clear violation of the black-letter Federal Law. Republicans filed a resolution condemning those acts. The Democrat leadership of this body did nothing even as threats continued to pour in against the Justices and their families. The Senate acted. They unanimously passed legislation to extend security to the families of the Justices. I and many of my colleagues repeatedly called upon the Speaker of this House to bring this resolution to the floor so we could pass it here and send it to the President's desk. But do you know what we got, Madam Speaker? Nothing. It was only when an attempt was actually made on the life of Justice Kavanaugh that the Speaker finally gave in. She finally brought that legislation to the floor so that we could push back against the angry mobs. Madam Speaker, the leadership of this body has another opportunity before them today to, once again, push back against the mob. This has gotten out of hand. Radical leftists were emboldened by the inaction of this body and the aftermath of a leaked opinion, and now they have targeted their violence against the very groups that care for women and their unborn children in their most vulnerable moments. It is unconscionable. Here is a short list of some examples. May 3, 2022: Individuals vandalized the Care Net Pregnancy Center in Frederick, Maryland, with pro-abortion graffiti, including the messages ``not real clinic,'' ``end forced motherhood,'' and go to Planned Parenthood instead. May 5, 2022: Portland, Oregon, vandals smashed numerous windows and spray-painted graffiti on the Southeast Portland Pregnancy Resource Center. May 7, 2022: Activists vandalized a crisis pregnancy center in Denton, Texas, with the radical pro-abortion messages ``not a clinic'' and ``forced birth is murder.'' May 7, 2022: In Fort Collins, Colorado, activists painted ``my body, my choice'' on the doors of a Catholic parish. May 8, 2022, Mother's Day: Individuals attempted to break into the Oregon Right to Life office in Keizer, Oregon, reportedly igniting and throwing two Molotov cocktails at the building. May 8, 2022: Vandals spray-painted pro-abortion messages such as ``abortion is a right,'' ``fake clinic,'' and ``liars'' on the side of a pro-life pregnancy center in Manassas, Virginia. May 8, 2022: A pro-life nonprofit center in Madison, Wisconsin, was set ablaze and vandalized with the words ``if abortions aren't safe, then you aren't either.'' May 13, 2022: Activists left threatening messages on the front of the Alpha Pregnancy Center in Reisterstown, Maryland, including the messages ``if abortions aren't safe, neither are you,'' ``you're anti- choice, not pro-life,'' et cetera. May 18, 2022: Vandals targeted a women's faith-based medical clinic in Auburn, Alabama, defacing the clinic's sign and staff members' vehicles. May 25, 2022: In Lynnwood, Washington, anti-life activists smashed windows and vandalized the Next Step Pregnancy Center with the threat: ``If abortion isn't safe, you aren't either.'' June 2, 2022: Jane's Revenge claimed credit for an attack in which its members broke windows and scrawled messages, including ``God loves abortion'' and ``fake clinic,'' at Agape Pregnancy Resource Center in Des Moines, Iowa. June 3, 2022: Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center here in Washington, D.C., was the target of leftwing abortion extremists who threw red paint on the door, threw eggs at the window, and spray- painted the window with ``Jane Says Revenge.'' I have pages and pages of these. I don't think I need to belabor the point. It is every day now. It is out of control. I am going to tell you, Madam Speaker, that this last one, July 11, on the list here, activists vandalized the Women's New Life Clinic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by spray-painting anti-life messages and ``Jane's Revenge'' on the exterior walls. That last one is personal to me. The Women's New Life Clinic stands right next to the abortion provider in Baton Rouge and has offered hope to countless women over the years. Women's New Life Clinic is doing extraordinary work. I am proud to call many of the leaders of that clinic personal friends. They do not deserve the treatment that they have endured, but they certainly deserve the support of the House of Representatives in condemning violence from the radical left. America's pregnancy care centers provide absolutely essential services in all 50 States. There are 2,700 of these pregnancy centers. They serve millions of women every year. They are supported by over 10,000 medical professionals. I used to serve as legal counsel to a number of these groups, so I am telling you this from personal experience. Madam Speaker, I can go on all day with these examples. I will spare you. I would assume that you recognize the obvious. When will this body stand up against the mob? When will we restore law and order? Chuck Schumer stood on the steps of the Supreme Court itself and infamously called out Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch by name and said that we would release the whirlwind. Well, here it is. This shouldn't surprise us. Madam Speaker, our side is ready to act. We are ready to do something. We have an obligation and responsibility to do it. Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, a champion for freedom from Ohio (Mr. Jordan). There is a lot to talk about here today, but I have to comment on what he just led in with and this violence that we supposedly all decry. It is a bit of a double standard, isn't it? These care pregnancy centers are a vital institution in our country. They are in all 50 States. There are over 2,700 of these centers doing vital work every single day. They help millions of American women every year. They employ and work with over 10,000 medical professionals. Do you know what their singular goal is? It is to help women who are in difficult pregnancy situations, to help care for their unborn children. Who in the world could be opposed to that? You know what? Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke for a lot of our colleagues on the other side last week. She came out and shrieked they needed to be put out of business in her State. They needed to get rid of these centers. It is just incredible. In the debate on the rule here on this floor in the last couple of hours, I went down the litany of all those 50 occurrences--at least the ones we know about, and there are more--where violence has been perpetrated against these centers--these people who are doing extraordinary work down in the trenches to help their fellow man. I ran out of time, I could not list all of them and all of the vandalism and the destruction and the Molotov cocktails and the hatred that is spray-painted on the sides of these facilities that are funded, by the way, by churches and nonprofits and individuals who care about the sanctity of every single human life in America. Yet, there is just complete silence on the other side. That is a really sad statement about where we are. I used to be legal counsel for a number of those care pregnancy centers, so I speak to this with personal experience. Let me get to the issue of the day. This bill is just another superfluous exercise. This bill is completely and clearly unnecessary. Do you know what, Mr. Speaker? The sponsors of this bill know that. They know that we are in a very divisive time in the country, and they are doing this anyway. This bill is not only unnecessary; it is more of the same. It is yet another effort to delegitimize the Supreme Court. As Mr. Jordan explained, they have been doing that in earnest. Senator Schumer went to the steps of the Supreme Court and infamously called down the whirlwind on Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch. By the way, it led to a planned assassination of Justice Kavanaugh, all the lawless protests on their lawns, threatening their children, and doxing the addresses of Supreme Court Justices' children. It is just unconscionable. It is against the law, the plain letter of the law, yet crickets from the other side. They want to delegitimize the Court. They tried to pack it. They want to put four liberal Justices on the Court because they are concerned about the conservative majority right now. It is a lawless approach and a lawless response to the lawlessness of the radical left. So, this is another effort to delegitimize the Supreme Court. It is also a continued disregard, an utter and total disregard, for the regular order in this body. I will explain in just a moment why that is so perilous in a situation like this with a bill like this. It is also more desperation to focus on anything other than their policy failures, which Mr. Jordan articulated here a few moments ago. Nonetheless, there is this bill before us today. Clearly, it is about simple fear-mongering. This is a partisan bill to make partisan arguments and to run ads in an election cycle. Do you know why we say that, Mr. Speaker? Because, as Mr. Jordan said, in the Dobbs opinion, which supposedly precipitated all this, it is clear if you read the opinion that this is not only an unnecessary piece of legislation, but it is divisive and misleading, and they know it. Because why? Anybody can read the opinion for themselves. Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion, of course, and he clarified it. I am a constitutional law attorney. I used to litigate cases about the Constitution, what it means, and how it should be applied. I did that for 20 years before I got to Congress. Scarcely is there ever language this clear written in a Supreme Court opinion. Let me give you the quote again, Mr. Speaker, in case anybody missed it, in case you didn't see it or you didn't want to see it. Justice Alito said in the majority opinion: ``And to ensure that our decision is not misunderstood or mischaracterized, we emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right.'' He continues: ``Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.'' Does everybody hear that? I will say that again: ``Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.'' Do you know why, Mr. Speaker? Because abortion is a unique area of the law. Abortion is about taking the life of another unborn person, another person, so the Court recognized that this is different and distinct, and everybody knows that. Everybody recognizes that, even Justice Clarence Thomas, whom they have worked so hard to demonize. If you look at page 119 of the opinion, Mr. Speaker, you can see it for yourself. Justice Thomas said: ``The Court's abortion cases are unique . . . and no party has asked us to decide `whether our entire Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence must be preserved or revised' . . . Thus, I agree that''--and he quotes Justice Alito--nothing in the Court's opinion ``'should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.''' That language is so clear. Anybody in this country can read that and understand obviously and plainly what that means, every civics student, every child. But, apparently, our friends on the other side don't like that language, or they don't want to see it, so they have manufactured this crisis, this demeaning and divisive debate, trying to reopen Pandora's box that no one has opened except the Democrats. This is crystal clear. We ought to take a moment to remember, too, what did not happen after the Obergefell ruling that did happen after the Dobbs ruling. Did anybody harass Justice Kennedy at his home after Obergefell was handed down? No. Did conservatives--those who adhere to the Judeo-Christian heritage of the country, Evangelicals, and Catholics--did anybody vandalize businesses to promote their own viewpoints? Absolutely not. Did Republicans call to abolish the filibuster and add Justices to the Court? No, because we respect the institutions of this Nation. But that is exactly what we are seeing from the left: a death threat on a Justice, endless protests outside the homes of the Justices, threats on their children, and threats to pack the Court. Mr. Speaker, we live in an extraordinarily divided time, and reopening this policy, which is under no threat of any legislative or judicial body anywhere, seems more like an attempt by Democrats to stoke fear before the November elections rather than bringing the country together. Mr. Speaker, we could use an effort to bring the country together right now. To that end, since the Democrats refuse to discuss what Americans are most concerned with, I will take just a moment, since we have the moment here, to walk through the failures of the Democrat policies. It is a quick summary. I won't take long on it. I have been doing townhalls back in my State of Louisiana, and I can tell you what the people are concerned about, Mr. Speaker. They are concerned about soaring prices in the grocery store, at the gas pump, and their mortgages. They are concerned about uninhibited illegal immigration at the border and the utter lawlessness that threatens the very sovereignty, safety, and security of our country. They are deeply concerned about rising crime in our cities. They are concerned about the stunning incompetence at the most basic functions of government from the Biden administration. These are what I am hearing back home as I travel the district holding townhalls and talking to constituents. Those constituents sent us here--the voters, the people--to be their Representatives and to work on their behalf, to work on behalf of them and their ability to provide for their families with little government overreach into their lives. From economic failures at home to failures on the border, the Democrats have time and time again refused to work with Republicans on how to address the issues at hand. Today is just another example. It is just more of the same. Here we go, from one vote on an unnecessary bill that is only being used as a distraction from those failures that I referenced to a vote on a spending bill that will only make those failures worse. I mentioned that part of the problem here, too, is the Democrats are rushing this bill to the floor outside regular order. They just completely defied regular order. They released the text for this bill only hours before its consideration in the Rules Committee last night. Democrats have held no legislative hearing and no markups on this bill. We serve on the Judiciary Committee. This would have been within our jurisdiction. They didn't bother to bring it to a committee. I remember from civics class that they taught us that this is how a bill becomes a law: You go through the process; you go to the committee. We shouldn't even teach that to kids anymore because it doesn't happen here anymore. But that recklessness, that carelessness, and that defiance of the rules, order, and tradition here have real consequences because one of the consequences in the language of this bill, just one by way of example, is on page 3 of this private right of action clause. It raised a lot of eyebrows. We didn't have time to analyze that, debate it, and thoughtfully talk about that approach. Would that declare open season on religious persons and institutions? I don't know. It is a question a lot of people are asking today, scratching their heads, but, again, we had no opportunity to delve into that, to talk about it, and debate it. Nothing. So, they present this bill, and they drop it on the country. Again, I just would reiterate, in summary, people back home ask us, there are lots of problems with things that are going on there, but this particular bill, what is the problem? I just summarized it by saying that it is unnecessary, divisive, and misleading. What is worse is that the proponents of the legislation know that.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. We have just been treated to a master class of misinformation. The Speaker also just said, ``Can you believe they are going after contraception?'' Give me a break. She knows that is not true. There is not a single Republican even talking about that or any of these other categories of the law. This is designed to divide the country. This bill is a shameful effort at that. Mr. Nadler, when we were talking about our concerns about the care pregnancy centers being under assault, to make his case that pro-lifers are violent, he referenced the terrible murder of Mr. Slepian, an abortion provider, in 1998. That was a quarter century ago. We are talking about the last 11 weeks. We have had 50 care pregnancy centers vandalized, attacked with Molotov cocktails, spray-painted, threats being made to Supreme Court Justices. There is no equivocation here at all. Mr. Cohen implied that the conservative Justices misled the Senate in their confirmation hearings. We have got the receipts on that. It is demonstrably untrue. Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion in Dobbs, said during his 2006 confirmation that Roe was `` . . . an important precedent of the Supreme Court.'' ``It was decided in 1973, so it has been on the books for a long time.'' But he declined to call the ruling ``settled law.'' Justice Thomas, in 1991 in his hearings, he declined to comment on his views on Roe at all. He said, ``I do not think that at this time that I could maintain my impartiality as a member of the Judiciary and comment on that specific case.'' Justice Gorsuch, 2017 confirmation hearings, he said Roe was `` . . . a precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court. It was reaffirmed in Casey in 1992 and in several other cases.'' ``So a good judge will consider it as precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court worthy as treatment of precedent like any other.'' However, he refused to signal how he would rule in future cases on abortion. Justice Kavanaugh, 2018 confirmation hearings, echoed Gorsuch by saying that Roe was an ``important precedent,'' but he indicated during his confirmation that he would be open to overturning ``settled law,'' including Roe, citing a long list of past Supreme Court cases. Justice Barrett, she was much more reserved on the Roe precedent.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, in her confirmation hearings in 2020, she said she was committed to obeying ``all the rules of stare decisis,'' promising that ``if a question comes up before me about whether Casey or any other case should be overruled, that I will follow the law of stare decisis, applying it as the Court is articulating it, applying all the factors, reliance, workability, being undermined by later facts in law, just all the standard factors.'' ``I promise to do that for any issue that comes up.'' She said that she had to remain neutral on it as an umpire, as they all did. The record is clear. The quotes are there. Anybody can Google this. What they are presenting here on this floor is not true. It is demonstrably untrue, and they are doing it for partisan purposes. Every time they talk, they reaffirm our position on that.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for leading and for all of her courageous leadership on this important issue. Madam Speaker, I have to say, we have been stunned here in the last hour of this debate by a lot of what we have heard, not the least of which is when one of our Democrat colleagues actually exclaimed on this floor in the last hour: ``Thank God abortion is still legal.'' I just sat here and said wow. Thank God? Thank God for what? That innocent, unborn children can still be killed in many States? Thank God? The other side in this debate has not only abandoned reverence, all reverence, all morality, all reason, but they defied medical technology. They have also completely abandoned the first self-evident truth boldly proclaimed in our Nation's birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal--not born equal--created equal by God, and it is He who gives our inalienable rights, beginning, obviously, with the right to life. I mean, seriously, please don't come on this floor and thank our creator for your zeal to terminate the innocent lives that He has created. God have mercy on us. Madam Speaker, today, the Democrats have brought two bills to this floor. The first is a complete overhaul of all pro-life protections, which will allow for taxpayer-funded abortion on demand through all three trimesters of pregnancy. The second bill, the so-called Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, creates an open door for women to be preyed upon by traffickers and does nothing to protect minors who are transported by predators across State lines to obtain abortions. In order to prohibit these heinous acts, I introduced the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which, by the way, I should note, passed this House by a wide margin in 2005 in the 109th Congress. How far the other side has devolved since then. Because of that, now more than ever, we have to highlight why this bill is so important in protecting the lives of minors and their unborn children. The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act will help cut down on predators and traffickers taking advantage of minors by making it a crime to knowingly transport a minor across State lines to obtain an abortion without first satisfying State-level parental involvement laws.