Mike Johnson

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Phil Friedman for his distinguished career and philanthropic contributions to our country. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, Mr. Friedman received the United States Golden Jubilee Visionary Award at Project Legacy's America 250 Gala at the Library of Congress on July 14, 2026. He was recognized for 50 years of entrepreneurship and business leadership in the United States. A man of humble origins, Mr. Friedman arrived in the United States in 1976--our Nation's bicentennial year--after 12 tiresome years laboring in the electronics industry of the former Soviet Union. He and his wife left behind the discrimination and antisemitism of the embattled Soviet state to settle in New York City. Phil was driven, ambitious, and determined to chart a new destiny for his family, qualities he no doubt learned from his parents who survived the horrors of the Holocaust and the Gulag. Upon arriving in America, Phil found his talents well-suited to this land of limitless opportunity and success soon took root. By 1984, Phil had launched Computer Generated Solutions with a team of just five employees. Under his dedicated leadership, the company grew into an IT empire, employing over 8,000 professionals and serving customers in 50 countries across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Today, he continues to steward this organization as Founder and Executive Chairman. Throughout his career, Mr. Friedman has matched his entrepreneurial success with a steadfast commitment to giving back to the Nation that has been his home for half a century. His contributions to the U.S. economy have twice been recognized by the United States Congress, as well as by the New York City Council. He is active in civic and philanthropic life as a member of the Economic Club of New York, the Washington Post Intelligence Council, and the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, and he serves on the Executive Committee of the Tom Lantos Institute in Budapest. He also serves as Vice Chairman and Trustee of Yeshiva University, which awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 2011. As our Nation marks 250 years of independence, Mr. Friedman's receipt of the United States Golden Jubilee Visionary Award is a fitting tribute to a life that embodies the American ideals of opportunity and free enterprise. His story is a testament to America's promise, and on behalf of the United States Congress, I am proud to congratulate Mr. Phil Friedman for his distinguished career and his enduring commitment to our Nation.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, today, I recognize Louisiana, my home state, as one of the first states in the country to officially partner with the Administration for Children and Families in their worthy initiative, ``A Home for Every Child.'' According to Louisiana's Department of Children and Family Services' (LA DCFS) Secretary Rebecca Harris, Louisiana has a ratio of only 48 homes to every 100 foster children--an unsustainable gap that requires every effort to balance. We hear too many stories of good people who want to foster but are slowed or stopped in their certification process due to bureaucratic hurdles. Under the leadership of Governor Jeff Landry and Secretary Harris, Louisiana joined with the Administration for Children and Families (ACP) to cut red tape, increase the amount of foster care homes in our state, and ensure every foster child has a safe place to live. I am proud to say that LA DCFS has committed to certify 1,100 new foster homes and reactivate 200 foster homes by the end of this year to help fill the gap. Louisiana is committed to protecting vulnerable children and ensuring they have access to safe, stable, and supportive home environments. Louisiana's action builds upon the initiatives and leadership of President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, whose ``Fostering the Future'' Executive Order catalyzed a renewed national focus on foster care and permanent placement of children into loving homes. The Executive Order laid the groundwork for the ``A Home for Every Child'' program and has encouraged many states to take these necessary, meaningful, and measurable steps to improve outcomes for children and families. Too many children across the Nation continue to wait for placement in permanent homes. When family unification is not possible either temporarily or permanently, expanding the pool of qualified foster families and strengthening support systems is essential to ensuring that every child is under the love and care of a stable home. As ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams has stated as a vital mission, we too look forward to a day when families ready to foster are waiting for a child rather than a child waiting for a home. Louisiana's leadership joining ``A Home for Every Child'' sets a strong example for other states. Continued collaboration among federal, state, community and faith-based partners will be critical to advancing our shared goal of ensuring every child has a place to call home.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Blake Moore, a great champion and great vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, for yielding. I am so delighted with what he has done with the office. I thank him for hosting this Special Order hour. It is very appropriate and a historic moment that we are in. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to join all of my colleagues in celebrating the fourth anniversary of the lifesaving Dobbs decision. As we know, and I know it has been discussed tonight, that decision reversed five decades of inhuman social engineering, the murder of tens of millions of unborn children. Ultimately, it returned the question of regulating abortion to the people's elected representatives, where it should have remained the whole time. I was born 1 year before Roe v. Wade, almost exactly to the day. I was born in January 1972. Roe was decided in January 1973, as we know. In my 54 years of life, I will say the Dobbs decision represents the most consequential and lifesaving decision of my lifetime. I used to go into the courts, for almost 20 years, as a constitutional law litigator to defend the sanctity of human life, but Dobbs was the big one. Mr. Speaker, think about how many innocent, unborn children have been lost to the hands of Big Abortion. Estimates suggest it is somewhere above 65 million lives. I have always believed that is a low estimate because we know many States do not accurately report abortion numbers. It is probably much higher than that. That is just the number since Roe was decided in 1973. It is just an unconscionable thing. It is an unspeakable evil. Thankfully, by the grace of God, the Supreme Court finally righted that egregious wrong. The conditions that led to that decision did not materialize overnight. It took a long, long time. From the moment Roe was decided in 1973, pro-life advocates went to work to pray, organize, build faithful and effective coalitions, and educate the public on the scourge of abortion. They did not do that with hate. They were motivated by love. That is what this has always been about. We know that mere words of support are not enough. As advocates for life, we must continue to advocate for and support the heroic mission of things like the pregnancy resource centers around the country. They do vital work that is so important. Those centers don't just provide lifesaving and practical care. They empower women to choose life. We know the statistics. When a woman sees her unborn child on an ultrasound, she has about an 86-percent chance of going through with the pregnancy, to understand that is a child there. No matter how small, it is a person. Of course, this anniversary and this year are particularly important. Next Friday, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, our 250th anniversary as a nation. The Declaration is our Nation's birth certificate. That is how we describe it all the time, because it is. In that certificate, we boldly proclaim the self-evident truths that all people are created equally by God, and all people are endowed by Him, God, our creator, with their inalienable rights. Of course, that begins, as articulated in the Declaration, with the right to life, logically. We still have work to do to continue building a culture of life. We still have work to ensure that we are living up to the ideals espoused in the Declaration. Tonight, we should let these anniversaries serve as calls to action, to continue building a culture of life and to advance policies that protect the sanctity and the dignity of every human life. I again thank my good friend, a great champion for the rights of the unborn, Vice Chairman Blake Moore, for organizing this Special Order.

Mr. JOHNSON of LOUISIANA

Mr. JOHNSON of LOUISIANA. I just want to take a brief point of personal privilege today to bid farewell to the most integral member of my staff and somebody who has been at my side for more than a decade here, my chief of staff, Hayden Haynes. All of us--we all do this--we deeply value our teams, and when you lose a leader, it is a big thing. Scripture says we give honor where honor is due, so I want to do that for just a moment here. I first met this guy, Hayden, in 2016. I was a member of the Louisiana Legislature, just got started. We crossed paths at a local political event. He was bright and ambitious and eager to talk more. You have all experienced that. You have got staff members like that, young people, kids that you meet along the way. I was impressed with him. He called me the next day to reach out to set up lunch, and I thought, okay, he is a young guy. I will invest the time. I had no idea what the purpose was for the lunch. I didn't know it was going to be a strategy session for the future of my career, but that is what happened. So this young fellow just came in--maybe you guys can relate to this. Maybe you had a meeting like this. A young, bright, ambitious guy comes in. He has a yellow pad. He sits down to lunch at a pizza joint, and it says at the top of the pad: ``Path to Congress'' in big, bold letters across the top. He spent the next hour mapping out what he saw to be a road to D.C. that ran through our little town of Shreveport, Louisiana. I thought it was amusing, but we didn't have an open congressional seat. I appreciated him for his time, and we left there with nothing but an agreement to keep in touch. As fate would have it, a couple of months later, the Fourth Congressional District seat did open up. My predecessor called and encouraged me to run, and others did as well. My wife, Kelly, and I prayed about it, and we felt like we should do it. The first thought I had was this young man who sat down with a yellow pad, so I called him up. He came on board, and he became my first campaign manager. Together, we worked nights and weekends. We had a dingy, little office above a local radio station. We had no funds, no name ID, no connections. I mean, it really was amazing. The one thing we had was Kelly and I had complete faith in what we felt like God had called us to do. We had total faith in this young kid because he was so ambitious and bright, and he had that yellow pad. Well, fast-forward, we won the race. It was in Louisiana. We have jungle primaries like they have in California and a couple of other States. It was an eight-way race. We won it, and it was the first of many victories that we would have together. We were on our way to Washington. In Louisiana, we have a late election cycle because it is a jungle primary, and the runoff is in December. So if you are elected as a freshman from Louisiana, you come in as the last member of your freshman class. I got the lowliest office draw. I got the worst office in Congress, as noted by The Washington Post. We really started at the bottom. But we navigated life as freshmen. Hayden got to work. He built out our office. He put a lot of time and attention into personnel because personnel, as we all know, is policy. The first thing he did--and this is a good trait I think for all of our leaders to have--is all of the staffers, he required everybody to go and visit the district that we represent, to get to know the people, to remember who sent them there and why. It was such an important way to kind of set the pace for how our office would be run. He also navigated my elections. I became chair of the Republican Study Committee in my second term and then became vice chair of the House Republican Conference the third and fourth term. But while he was doing all of that here, he was also running the campaigns back home every 2 years. We all know what a burden that is. It is a rare person who can do policy and politics, and he was also one of the youngest chiefs on the Hill. But we did all of that, and we got through it. Then the biggest challenge of our lives came next, and everybody, you know, remembers what happened about 2\1/2\ years ago now. I was nominated by my colleagues for this job in an unexpected race for Speaker, and Hayden was, in that operation, the chief. He was my whip. He was my right hand, all in one, all-hands-on-deck. My staff refers to that as building a plane as we are flying it. It was like launching a 747 with no wings or an engine. You know, we had to put it all together. There was no playbook for it. It is important to remember that nothing like that had ever happened in this institution, and it took a lot of fortitude to do it, and this guy was responsible for it. The average tenure before somebody is Speaker of the House is 16 years. We had only been here 6.8 years, and we had no playbook designed at all. So he set up an entire organization--the political, the legislative, the staffing infrastructure, all of that--in a matter of just a couple of weeks, and it was amazing. There was no shortage of intrigue surrounding this time in our lives, but what is not recognized enough--and this is true for all of us--is the dedication and the sacrifice of our teams, especially those at the top of your organization, and how much of their lives they give to this, stewarding and helping us to steward this sacred institution. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Hayden's lovely wife. She is here tonight. Jennifer is up in the balcony up here, and their little one--yes--Brody. There they are. Look, it is impossible--I will just say this on behalf of all of the families of all of the staff who serve us. We owe an eternal debt of gratitude to these folks. It is impossible to overstate their sacrifice--late nights, long hours, high stakes, and they give their all, and they don't get paid enough for that. We all know it. We couldn't run the operation without them, but we are grateful to their families, to Brody and Jen, for their selflessness and patience and sharing their dad and husband with us these many years. So I will close with this. I am going to say that this young man-- this country boy from Minden, Louisiana; political whiz kid who envisioned my path before I did; loyal friend, who has been a constant throughout every season of our journey--there are only a handful of people in Washington--you all know--that you can really, really, truly trust completely, and Hayden has been one of those people for me. I pray that you have somebody just like that. I know you all do. I hope you treasure them. Even before the Speakership, before the Cannon office that was split in the middle by a women's restroom, before the apartment office campaign above the radio store, it was Hayden who built this ship from the ground up, and I will always be grateful for that. We are going to miss him. We are going to have a lot of tough fights. He has been with us for all those fights along the way, and he has earned some downtime. I am really grateful that he, Jen, and Brody are going to get that. I wish him the best. I thank the Members for indulging me. God bless you in your next chapter, my friend. God bless.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear brother, Congressman Josh Brecheen, for leading this Special Order. It is an important occasion and one that a number of my colleagues will be here to help mark tonight. It is appropriate for us to do that. I want to reiterate what my friend here has explained. It is this weekend, on May 17th, that our country is going to mark the National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving. As he noted, that date marks exactly two and a half centuries since our Founders met in the Second Continental Congress and declared a day of, yes, humiliation, fasting, and prayer to ask for God's guidance in the cause of freedom. I think it is an appropriate way to say it. We ought to begin with repentance, and they recognized it back then. This Sunday, Americans across the country are going to gather once again to do that very same thing, and what an important time it is for us to do so. Here, on The National Mall, we are going to have tens of thousands of Americans join in prayer to rededicate our lives and our Nation back to God. For Americans of faith, this is an opportunity to help our Nation recommit to the foundations upon which this country was built, as every previous generation in our history has done before. Since the very beginning, prayer is how this grand experiment in self-governance has endured and prospered for 250 years. Indeed, when 56 patriots gathered in Philadelphia to pledge their lives and their fortunes and their sacred honor for the birth of this new Nation, they began in prayer. To this day, we open every single legislative session in this House and in the Senate, the other Chamber, in prayer. That is an acknowledgment, in some small way, of the famous admonition that is inscribed prominently right there above the head of the Speaker. It says there above the rostrum: ``In God We Trust.'' If you look, by the way, in the visitor's guide to the House Chamber--I think it is somewhere about on page 14--it says that Congress voted in 1962 to put that motto there, to add it to the marble, it says in the guide, as a rebuke to the Soviets because of their philosophy. That was during the Cold War. The Soviet's philosophy is Marxism, communism, and socialism. They all begin with one common premise: that there is no God. Our predecessors in this body wanted every single one of us to look right there and understand and acknowledge, every single day that we are here to work, that our Nation is built on the opposite idea. We are built on the self-evident truth that it is God who gives us our rights and not the government. At this pivotal moment in our Nation's history, we have to remember all of that. We have to acknowledge that the miracle of our founding and the countless miracles that have followed have been the work of Almighty God, and it is indeed in Him whom we trust. So as we approach the 250th anniversary, it is right that we gather formally, just as our Founders did, to beseech the firm protection of divine providence once again. I hope Americans from all across this country will take part in this historic day of Scripture and worship and fellowship as we recommit to our faith and our foundations as one nation under God.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, our hearts are broken tonight, as they have been since Sunday morning. Everyone has seen the stories in the news out of my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, a city that is represented in part by Congressman Cleo Fields, who is here with me now. We stand here with one voice as members of the Louisiana delegation to express our deep sorrow for the lives that were taken too soon. There were eight young, innocent children, all between the ages of 3 and 11, lost in a tragedy that can only be described as senseless, unspeakable evil. Jayla Elkins was 3 years old; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5. As the details of their killing unfold, it is difficult for us to put our emotions into words. This tragedy confounds the minds and hearts of every parent in America, and we have been thinking a lot about this. We encourage mothers and fathers to go home tonight and hold your loved ones extra close. I think all of us are doing that. Life is a sacred gift from God. As this horrific event reminds us, it can be too short. The entire community of Shreveport needs our prayers right now: the first responders and law enforcement who descended swiftly on the scene, the classrooms with empty seats and missing friends at school today, and, most of all, the families whose lives have been forever changed by this tragedy. Hold all of them close in your hearts and your prayers, if you will, and we trust that God is close to the brokenhearted, as promised to us in Scripture. If we could all please join in a moment of silence in honor of the eight young and precious lives who were lost far too soon. Mr. Speaker, I ask that the House now observe a moment of silence.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I begin today with some sad news. On February 19, the House and Senate community lost a beloved and dedicated member of the United States Capitol Police Force. Special Agent Eden Holguin tragically passed away at only 41 years of age. He was a proud veteran and a former Texas State Trooper. For 3 years, he served admirably here as a Capitol Police officer and as a special agent. He was highly respected. Law enforcement is a noble calling, as we all know. It is one that is too often thankless and always demanding. These men and women stand guard on the lines of justice and freedom. They protect all of us who work here, as well as the countless individuals and visitors who come to the United States Capitol every day from across our Nation and across the world. In the face of adversity and danger, every day demands courage, diligence, and professionalism. He brought that every day. We don't take the duty lightly. It is because of Agent Holguin, and so many brave Americans like him, that Congress can carry out its constitutional duties here, that we represent the voices of our constituents, and that we can effectuate the will of the American people safely and freely. Today, family, friends, and loved ones of Agent Holguin will gather to memorialize this hero in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I wanted to come here on the House floor and acknowledge him, as well. We thank them for standing by his side as Agent Holguin followed the demanding but noble path of law enforcement. We want to let them know that our prayers are with them as they honor this brave patriot and celebrate his life, all too short though it was, of selfless sacrifice.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, since 1983, the U.S. Congress (House and Senate) and the German Bundestag and Bundesrat have conducted an annual exchange program for staff members from both countries. The program gives professional staff the opportunity to observe and learn about each other's political institutions and engage in discussion regarding mutual interest. A staff delegation from the U.S. Congress will be selected to visit Germany from Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 11, 2026. During this exchange, the delegation will attend meetings with Bundestag/ Bundesrat party staff members, and representatives of numerous political, business, academic and media agencies. A comparable delegation of German staff members will visit the United States from Saturday, November 14 through Sunday, November 22, 2026. They will attend similar meetings in Washington organized by the members of the U.S. delegation. The Congress-Bundestag/Bundesrat Exchange is highly regarded in Germany and the United States and is one of several exchange programs sponsored by public and private institutions in the United States and Germany to foster better understanding of the politics and policies of both countries. This exchange is funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The U.S. delegation shall consist of experienced and accomplished Hill staff who can contribute to the success of the exchange on both sides of the Atlantic. The Bundestag reciprocates by sending senior staff professionals to the United States. Applicants should have a demonstrable interest in events in Europe. Applicants need not be working in the field of foreign affairs, although such a background can be helpful. The composite U.S. delegation should exhibit a range of expertise in issues of mutual concern to the United States and Germany such as, but not limited to, trade, security, the environment, economic development, health care, and other social policy issues. This year's delegation should be familiar with transatlantic relations within the context of recent world events. Please note that there is a significant time commitment aspect for those selected for the program. In addition, U.S. participants are expected to plan and implement the meetings and programs for the Bundestag/Bundesrat staff members when they visit the United States. Members of the House and Senate who would like a member of their staff to apply for participation in this year's program should direct them to submit a resume and cover letter in which they state their qualifications, the contributions they can make to a successful program and some assurances of their ability to participate during the time stated. Applications should be sent to the Office of Interparliamentary Affairs, HC-4, the Capitol, by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 27, 2026. Please submit your application and any questions to interparliamentary.affairs@mail. house.gov.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, On January 5th, our dear friend and colleague, Doug LaMalfa, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 65. A lifelong resident of Northern California, Doug was a fierce fighter for the people he represented and for his state's vast and beautiful natural resources. Representing one of California's largest districts, Doug never hesitated to drive hundreds of miles to meet a handful of constituents. He drew no distinctions between those living in the more remote corners of his district and those in the big city. Doug believed everyone deserved to have their representation and voice heard in Congress. It's that spirit of duty and selfless service that made him so admired among his friends and colleagues, and which made him one of the most respected people in this institution. Doug became a close friend of mine during my tenure as Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference, where my weekly responsibility was to recruit other Members to help me amplify the House Republican message on the House Floor. Even in late night sessions and on days when others had left town early, Doug was always faithful to show up, eager to speak to the greatness of this country and about our tireless work to improve the lives of the people he represented. For that commitment, his kindness, his optimism and faith, and his sense of humor, I and all of my many Republican colleagues will miss Doug dearly. He was in every sense a giant among us.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. It is dated today. It summarizes just five or six of the major concerns. Among them, it fails to fully protect victim privacy. It could create new categories of victims. It potentially jeopardizes grand jury secrecy. It fails to prohibit release of child sexual abuse materials that are not appropriately defined in the legislation. It jeopardizes future Federal investigations. Moreover, we have national security concerns regarding classified information. We will put this in the Record because we need the legislative Record to reflect what is the legislative intent behind this vote. I used to litigate cases. We used to litigate Federal statutes and whether or not they could survive, and legislative intent is important. We need to state clearly for the record, and as Speaker of the House, I am saying to you this legislation that will pass today is flawed, and it must be amended. The question is: Why didn't we amend it here before we passed it? It is because the authors won't allow it. It is because under the rules of the House under a discharge petition, they have to agree to consent for the legislation to be amended, and they are not doing that. Now we rely on our partners in the other Chamber to get that done, and they need to do that. The victims deserve our utmost respect. In fact, they should be saluted for their courage. The young women who have not come forward, and some of them are middle-aged women who have not come forward, also deserve our respect, and they deserve to be protected. Republicans support transparency. We want maximum transparency, especially when it comes to disclosing the names of anybody who had anything to do with these evils, anybody who conspired with or aided in any way Jeffrey Epstein must be brought to justice. We want the bill to be amended so it doesn't at the same time violate victim privacy, create new victims, disclose the names of any whistleblower or informant, cause the release of grand jury materials or child sexual abuse materials, or undermine our national security. If and when the Senate takes this up, we will work with our colleagues over there to make sure that these things are corrected. I will just close with this simple thought. We have been at this a while, and it has dragged on for a while, but it is time for this to come to light. I expect that this will be a unanimous vote, and it will reflect what I think every Member in this Chamber-- and I will say this--now, at least in recent days, every Member of the Chamber, on the Democrat side, didn't say anything for 4 years, but they are for maximum transparency now, and so is this side. But we want to do it in a respectful and careful manner so that we don't subject innocent people to further harm. That has been the whole thing. I told all my Members today I will be voting ``yes'' on this, and I suspect almost everyone will. We will send it to the Senate, and I hope it is corrected. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for doing such an extraordinary job on all of this. Mr. Speaker, for 43 long days, the Democrats held this House and the entire country hostage. Finally, with the lights back on, this body is returning to our regular legislative session. We have a lot of work to do. My colleagues on this side of the Chamber are ready and eager to get back to our urgent legislative work we promised the American people we would do. Just to name a few of those priorities, we have to continue lowering the cost of healthcare. We have to bring down prices for American families. We have to finish the regular appropriations process. I wish I could say that our first order of business would be to get to those urgent priorities. However, of course, we are spending time on the floor about something else. This is something we could have resolved last week when we brought a unanimous consent to pass this discharge with the full support of the body. Mr. Speaker, our friends over here, who are arguing today, stalled that. They objected to it. They wanted to have this exercise instead. That is why we say that this is a ``show'' vote. That is what this is. They are making a show of it, and it really is a shame. Mr. Speaker, we have some heroic women in the Chamber today. I met with many of them a while back. They are here in the gallery. They have come forward. They have shown their faces. They have used their names to share the unspeakable tragedies that many of them were subjected to, some of them when they were very young. It is a heroic service to the country. They are seeking justice, and justice has been delayed for too long. The Department of Justice many years ago should have brought these charges. It took too long to do it. Now we are in this process of making sure all the American people get the information, but we have to do it in the right way. After 4 years of Democratic control under President Biden, they were not truthful with us about a lot of things. The Democrats insisted the border was secure. We knew it wasn't. They insisted that inflation was transitory. We knew it wouldn't be. They misled the American people about the obvious mental and physical decline of the previous Commander in Chief. Now those same Democrats are demanding transparency. Suddenly transparency is their new word. Out of nowhere, they have taken a curious concern in the Epstein investigation, all in the name of transparency. However, the question has been asked here many times during the debate on the floor and everybody is questioning why it is that the Democrats have done this right now. We have to look at the obvious facts. The Democrats had all the Epstein files in their possession for 4 long years under the Biden Presidency. The Biden Department of Justice had these files, and no one on this side, who is breathless today about the urgency of this release, ever said a word about it. It was the Democrats who could have urged President Biden's Department of Justice to go beyond prosecuting just Epstein and Gislaine Maxwell, but they didn't do it. It is a fair question to ask today: Why now? Why the sudden urgent interest in Jeffrey Epstein? We know why. It is because the Democrats were never interested in transparency or executing justice or protecting the victims of this unspeakable tragedy before. The simple truth is obvious for everybody to see. This is a political exercise for Democrats. It pains me to say it. I wish that was not the truth, but it is, and it is undeniable. This is as deceitful and dishonest as their pointless stunt was to shut the government down. Democrats are using the Epstein tragedy, the unspeakable evils that this guy committed with his trafficking ring and all of the abuses that they made these young women go through, they are using that as a political weapon to try to distract from their failures as a party and to try their best to try to tie President Trump somehow into this wretched scandal. The President had nothing to do with it. He has been very clear. He has nothing to hide. That is why he endorsed the vote today. I suspect this vote will be probably unanimous. Here is the important point that everybody needs to understand: We have been advocates of maximum transparency, but we have also insisted that the victims be carefully protected. The Oversight Committee has been doing extraordinary work. We have got some of the most vigorous advocates on the Republican and Democrat side on the Oversight Committee. They have been working in earnest to deliver transparency for the American people and to do it in a responsible manner. What do we mean by that? The bipartisan effort over there is already producing all the results that the discharge petition seeks and much, much more. Chairman Comer and all of these advocates over there have been releasing thousands of documents, for example, from the Epstein estate. By the way, in my view, that has been the greatest treasure trove of information because it has yielded for us Epstein's own personal flight logs, his financial records, his daily calendars, and so much more. Importantly, none of that was addressed or is addressed in the legislation that is being voted on today. The estate files wouldn't even have been encompassed in that. It goes to show that the Oversight Committee is doing it in the right way. From the very beginning, we have been insistent that this matter be handled carefully and with the utmost caution and care for the people who have been harmed. They should not be made to suffer any longer. We are talking about real people's lives at stake here and young victims who don't want to be dragged into this political game who could get hurt further. However, the Democrats are rushing to release the thousands of unsubstantiated documents that may be included in this that may be in the public domain with the passage of this bill. There are serious deficiencies in the legislation that I have noted at length, and Republicans have to work to address those deficiencies in the Senate if and when this legislation is advanced. I stood before the American public today at our press conference, and I explained in detail the dangers of the discharge petition. We have posted it at my website, speaker.gov, a summary that the legal counsel, a small army of lawyers, have put together. I used to be a Federal Court litigator. Many of my colleagues who have spoken today were. We understand the dangers of how this was haphazardly drawn up. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a document titled ``How the Flaws of H.R. 4405 Could Revictimize Epstein's Victims, Create New Victims, and Damage the Judicial System''. November 18, 2025. How the Flaws of H.R. 4405 Could Revictimize Epstein's Victims, Create New Victims, and Damage the Judicial System BACKGROUND. On November 12, 2025, a motion to discharge in relation to H. Res. 581 was filed and assigned to the Discharge Calendar. Accordingly, the House is poised to consider H.R. 4405, compelling the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. While Republicans fully support transparency and the release of the names of those who conspired with and aided Epstein and Maxwell, the bill the House will consider is flawed. ANALYSIS. The flaws in H.R. 4405 include the following. 1. Fails to Fully Protect Victim Privacy. While H.R. 4405 permits the Attorney General to withhold ``personally identifiable information of [Epstein's] victims'' and ``personal and medical files and similar files,'' this authority is limited to disclosures that ``constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.'' Protections for Epstein's victims should go further. Congress should give the Attorney General broader authority to redact all victim information. This would prevent the release of information that could be used to unmask victims who have chosen to remain anonymous. Anything less risks revictimizing those who were trafficked and exploited. The courts have recognized this concern. On August 20, 2025, Judge Richard Berman (SDNY) issued an order denying DOJ's request to release Epstein grand jury materials, noting ``names and identifying information [of victims] appear in the subject materials.'' Judge Berman quoted a letter related to victims' concerns, which stated: ``[T]ransparency cannot come at the expense of the very people whom the justice system is sworn to protect . . .'' and he quoted a letter from a victim, Jane Doe 2, which stated: ``I beg the court to make sure it is the upmost [sic] priority that in any sort of release ALL and EVERY detail that could possibly reveal our identities be redacted.'' 2. Could Create New Victims. H.R. 4405 requires DOJ to release information, even in cases where DOJ or the FBI has determined it was false. Congress should avoid mandating this kind of release. Doing so could ruin the reputations of innocent persons, such as those who may have known Epstein but knew nothing of his crimes, or whose names Epstein exploited and used in order to get close to his intended victims. Releasing information containing the names of innocent people would subject the innocents to a guilt by association, creating a new group of victims who have no means to clear their names. To avoid this, the Attorney General should be given additional authority to redact information the FBI has previously deemed was false or not credible. 3. Potentially Jeopardizes Grand Jury Secrecy. Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure prohibits the release of grand jury materials. An unauthorized release can be prosecuted as a criminal offense, including obstruction of justice. This secrecy exists to protect the individual. Grand juries are not adversarial. There is no opportunity for the subject of a grand jury inquiry to cross-examine, disprove testimony, or challenge the evidence. If Congress compels release of grand jury materials, it raises a risk that the grand jury process will become politicized in the future. Imagine how a malicious prosecutor could abuse and weaponize the grand jury process by inducing testimony about a political adversary, testimony the prosecutor knows is false and which could not be contested, with the hopes a future Congress would later compel disclosure. H.R. 4405 is ambiguous as to whether it requires DOJ to release grand jury materials from the Maxwell and Epstein cases. As such, as written, the current text of H.R. 4405 creates a conflict of laws. Congress can clear up any ambiguity by requiring the Attorney General to redact grand jury materials. 4. Fails to Prohibit Release of Child Sexual Abuse Materials. H.R. 4405 allows the Attorney General to redact portions of records that ``depicts or contains child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) as defined under 18 U.S.C. 2256 . . . .'' It necessarily follows that the redaction authority is limited by whatever CSAM definition is found in 18 U.S.C. 2256. Unfortunately, Sec. 2256 does not contain any CSAM definition, which means that H.R. 4405 bestows no real legal authority on the Attorney General to redact those materials. The bill should be amended to clearly prohibit release of any

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Chairman Cole, who has done an extraordinary job in this process. Mr. Speaker, we all know why we are here. House Democrats voted to shut down the government. It was 54 days ago when we had that vote. It was September 19. Since that time, Senate Democrats have voted 14 times to close the government. Republicans voted a collective 15 times to open the government for the people, and the Democrats voted that many times to close it. Then they admitted, many of them--and we can name them here, but I am not going to take the time--they admitted they were using the American people as leverage in this political game. They knew that it would cause pain, and they did it anyway. The whole exercise was pointless. It was wrong. It was cruel. In mere moments, I want everyone to watch the board. They will do it again. I will guess most of our Democrat colleagues will vote again to close the government, again to take food out of the mouths of families who need it, again to deny pay to Federal employees, and again to stall flights and cancel airlines and do all the rest that they have done. We are not going to let them succeed in that gambit. That is right. While the Democrats keep voting to shut the government down, Republicans are going to vote to open it back up. We are going to get the American Government running again and working for the people, as they deserve. I am going to close with this. As Speaker, I have the ability to talk as long as I want, but I am not going to do that tonight. We are not going to waste any more time of the people. I am just going to say this. I think that everybody needs to remember this one simple thing: From the very beginning of this whole ordeal, on the Republican side, we operated in good faith. We offered a clean, nonpartisan CR. We were honest and transparent with the American people from the very beginning. Every single day of the shutdown, we went out and looked right into the camera with a press conference and told the American people the simple truth. We have done for the people what has been right and just and truthful. In the end, that is what God honors always. Don't forget it. We need to get this government open as soon as possible. The American people demand and deserve it. Mr. Speaker, let's get this done.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend from Arizona. It has been a tough time in Arizona, and my colleague, Andy Biggs, has done a great job in leading people who are shaken. I will say that people all over this country are shaken. Mr. Speaker, this has been a tough week in the country. I think I have spoken at three or four vigils already. I will be attending our late friend Charlie Kirk's funeral on Sunday, as many of us will, to pay what will be our last respects. The honor of his memory will go on. The last week has been difficult because people are shaken by this in a way that we have not seen the country moved in quite some time. I have described it as if a shadow has been cast across the country by the untimely death of our dear friend and the way it was done, in such a hateful, heinous manner, online for people to view. It has been disturbing. My heart has gone out in particular to all the students around this country who are so closely associated with Charlie Kirk's organization, Turning Point. There are 3,500-plus chapters of Turning Point at universities, college campuses, and high school campuses across America. So many of those students felt personally connected to Charlie because his voice resonated with them and helped inform their worldview and the way they see politics and society. When he was lost in such an abrupt and tragic manner, they felt it to their core. I have been so burdened and disturbed for them. I have been praying for all of those kids, an untold number of young people around the country who are so disturbed and, frankly, need trauma counseling themselves from what they have just seen and witnessed. In the midst of all of this, the thing that encourages me is that I believe in the same promises of Scripture that Charlie did, and I have been reminded a lot of the passage of Scripture that says: ``The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.'' Some translations of the Bible say, ``the darkness cannot comprehend it,'' and I think that is true. What I have said to all of these students and what I have shared in these vigils is the same refrain. To summarize, the best way to honor the legacy of this singular voice in our culture, not just in the conservative movement, but in the recent history of America in the last several decades, the best way to honor the work, the legacy, and the ministry of Charlie Kirk is to do what he did, and that is to advance the principles that he advanced and to adopt his approach. What I mean by that is the principles that Charlie advanced were the good things. Scripture talks about how we focus on the noble and praiseworthy, the good, and Charlie did that. He focused on things like faith, family, freedom, virtue, honor, and patriotism. Charlie believed in America. He believed in the promise of America, in the creed of America, that we are all made in the image of God, the self-evident truths that God is the one who gives us our rights and not the government, and that those principles are worth fighting for. Charlie used to quote Ronald Reagan, as I do all the time. Reagan reminded us that freedom is not inherited in the bloodstream. It has to be fought for, protected, taught, and passed along to the generations that come behind us so that they will know the same liberty, opportunity, and security that too many of us have taken for granted too often. Charlie believed that, so he advanced those principles every single day in every venue that he was able, but he did it in a manner that we should emulate. I tell the young people that they should adopt the practices and the manner, adopt the approach, of Charlie Kirk. What I mean by that is that he was never motivated by hatred for someone on the other side of that debate. Charlie, to the contrary, was motivated by love because he believed in what Scripture says. There are these three things that remain: faith, hope, and love. Love is the greatest thing of all. Love overcomes. Love conquers. That is what motivated our friend. Even though he could defeat anybody in a debate, so often--and I saw this myself--when he would vanquish someone in a policy argument, he was the first person after that to reach out a hand of friendship or offer an arm around the shoulder of someone who he had just defeated in a contest. Why? Because it wasn't about winning the policy. It wasn't about, at the end of the day, really the policy arguments. It was about the people. Charlie loved vigorous debate, but he loved people more. That is the legacy of our friend. A lot of things have been said about him. When someone is on the air, when they are a ubiquitous voice in all forms of media all the time, 24 hours a day, you can go cherry-pick one line or phrase or something that they said in a long context or a long discussion, and you can pick anything out and make someone portray them to be something that they were not. The people who were doing that did not know Charlie Kirk. All of us who did will attest, every single person who spent any time with Charlie Kirk will tell you, that he was a good and godly man, not a perfect man. None of us are. There was only one ever perfect man, and he was God and man. Charlie Kirk was a good man who loved his fellow man and gave his life literally in the pursuit of advancing truth. The very least that we can do is honor him, especially at a time in the country when people are anxious and frightened. In moments like this, when political instability and fear are pervasive, it is incumbent upon leaders to step forward, stand in the breach, and do what is right. By voting for this resolution today, we are making a strong statement on behalf of the Congress. We are telling our constituents, for one thing, that political violence, but also the glorification and celebration of that violence, are profoundly wrong, and it goes against everything we stand for as Americans. Charlie stood for exactly the opposite. He stood for what was good in America, what is virtuous and worthy of protection and preservation. We honor his memory by doing this simple act of passing this resolution. I can't imagine that anyone would vote against it, or vote present, or pretend as though this is not exactly the right thing to do. I certainly hope that we can pass this resolution unanimously today, just as it should be passed. Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, my dear friend and colleague, Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona. Our hearts go out to the people of Arizona, as they do to all, everyone who is mourning his death. I will tell you this: The truth that Charlie advanced will go forward more loudly and more profoundly than it ever has before, and that is the encouragement we have.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I honor this day the life and service of my dear friend, Geoffrey Mark Allen. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Mark was a devoted husband, father, veteran, firefighter, business owner and man of steadfast faith whose dedicated service to others permeated every aspect of his life. Whether in his nearly three decades in the Louisiana National Guard, twenty- five years as a Shreveport firefighter, or as the founder of his company, Industrial Safety Solutions, he carried the values of integrity and faith everywhere he went and in everything he did. During his military service, Mark was deployed to Iraq, where he successfully led his company in transporting equipment through combat zones while ensuring everyone returned home. His firefighting career was also marked by those same traits of heroism and courage, earning him commendations and recognition as Training Officer of the Year. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Mark's deepest devotion was to God and his family. He and his wife Karen shared thirty-one incredible years of marriage, filled with traveling, laughter, and most importantly, raising their children, Drew and Maddie, in a home centered around Christ. Mark's favorite line of Scripture, Ephesians 2:8, was not only inscribed on his company's logo, but also written on the tablet of his heart. It is my honor to dedicate a U.S. flag in honor of Mark and his legacy of service, faith, and love that will continue to inspire all who had the privilege of knowing him. His absence will be deeply felt by myself and many others from our community.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, since 1983, the U.S. Congress (House and Senate) and the German Bundestag and Bundesrat have conducted an annual exchange program for staff members from both countries. The program gives professional staff the opportunity to observe and learn about each other's political institutions and engage in discussion regarding mutual interest. A staff delegation from the U.S. Congress will be selected to visit Germany from Friday, November 7 to Sunday, November 16, 2025. During this exchange, the delegation will attend meetings with Bundestag/ Bundesrat party staff members, and representatives of numerous political, business, academic and media agencies. A comparable delegation of German staff members will visit the United States from Saturday, December 6 to Saturday, December 13, 2025. They will attend similar meetings in Washington organized by the members of the U.S. delegation. The Congress-Bundestag/Bundesrat Exchange is highly regarded in Germany and the United States and is one of several exchange programs sponsored by public and private institutions in the United States and Germany to foster better understanding of the politics and policies of both countries. This exchange is funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The U.S. delegation shall consist of experienced and accomplished Hill staff who can contribute to the success of the exchange on both sides of the Atlantic. The Bundestag reciprocates by sending senior staff professionals to the United States. Applicants should have a demonstrable interest in events in Europe. Applicants need not be working in the field of foreign affairs, although such a background can be helpful. The composite U.S. delegation should exhibit a range of expertise in issues of mutual concern to the United States and Germany such as, but not limited to, trade, security, the environment, economic development, health care, and other social policy issues. This year's delegation should be familiar with transatlantic relations within the context of recent world events. Please note that there is a significant time commitment aspect for those selected for the program. In addition, U.S. participants are expected to plan and implement the meetings and programs for the Bundestag/Bundesrat staff members when they visit the United States. Members of the House and Senate who would like a member of their staff to apply for participation in this year's program should direct them to submit a resume and cover letter in which they state their qualifications, the contributions they can make to a successful program and some assurances of their ability to participate during the time stated. Applications should be sent to the Office of Interparliamentary Affairs, HC-4, the Capitol, by 5 p.m. on Friday, August 8, 2025. Please submit your application and any questions to interparliamentary.affairs@mail.house.gov.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri for yielding. Ronald Reagan said one time that no speech should be longer than 20 minutes, and unlike the Democrat leader, I am going to honor my colleagues' time and be a little more brief than that. I just want to say something that many of us learned when we were children. We were taught: It takes a lot longer to build a lie than to tell the simple truth. My friends and colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, have waited long enough. Some of us have literally been up for days now, but this day is a hugely important one in the history of our Nation. We have a big job to finish, and that is why we are here on the week of July Fourth, just days before--just a day before now America's birthday. It was on that fateful day, as the Democrat leader acknowledged, that our Founders pledged their lives and their sacred honor to this grand experiment in self-governance that we are now here to steward. It is an experiment that falls to us to guard and to protect it. We take that very seriously on this side of the aisle. In just a few moments, we will remind the world why the American experiment still endures today and why its best days are still ahead of us. Mr. Speaker, with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act we are going to make this country stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever before, and every American is going to benefit from that. Today, we are laying a key cornerstone of America's new golden age. Now, listen, we have a few words of gratitude first. Scripture has been cited a lot this morning, I think mostly out of context, but what I will say, one thing we know about Scripture is that we are supposed to give honor where honor is due, and that is what we do on this side of the aisle. I thank every single Member of the House Republican Conference for pouring their time and their heart and their expertise and experience into this process. I thank all of our amazing staff members, all of them. Their dedication, their endless hours, and their hard work made this all possible. I thank the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, who have basically lived with us now for the last few weeks. Their patience and persistence and their professionalism is greatly appreciated. Our country's incredible Cabinet Secretaries have been involved, as well. They have assisted us in countless ways throughout this process. Our Vice President, JD Vance, helped us navigate so many dire straits along the last several weeks through the House and the Senate, and of course, our bold, visionary, fearless President, Donald J. Trump. President Trump is the creator and the champion of the America First agenda. We will deliver upon that today. We have come a long way. We began this process really about 15 months ago. We had a sense, and we believed that we would have unified government. We would have this moment where the Republican Party would be given control of the White House and the Senate and the House, and we determined to ourselves that we would not waste that historic opportunity. We have had spirited debates. We have had months of deliberations, and now we are finally ready to fulfill our promise to the American people. That is what we are doing today. Before I respond to the allegations from across the Chamber, I just want to take us back to a day that most of us will remember so very fondly for the rest of our lives and that is November 5 of 2024. That was election day, a fateful one for America. The reason that was so important, the reason it was such a turn in history is because the American people spoke with unmistakable clarity. We sensed it as we were all out campaigning. We saw that there would be a demographic shift in America, and that is exactly what the election yielded. We, in our party, had a record number of Black and African-American voters come to the Republican Party. We had a record number of Hispanic and Latino voters come to the Republican Party, a record number of Jewish voters and union workers and suburban women and urban voters. They came out in record numbers to join the Republican Party and the America First agenda with President Trump. That election was decisive. It was a bellwether. It was a time for choosing, and I will tell you what, the American people chose overwhelmingly. They chose the Republican Party. The reason they did that--they didn't come hesitantly. They came with hopeful anticipation. Do you know why? They came because this is not your father's Democratic Party. They went so far full speed to the far left and their radical, woke, progressive agenda, that the nonsense that they tried to push on the people was rejected by the people. These new voters that came to us had enough of the Biden-Harris madness and all the things they were trying to hoist upon the American people that they just don't believe in their hearts, and they were hopeful. They came to us with hope. They wanted us to restore common sense and accountability, and we promised them that we would do just that. Those new demographics came to the Republican Party because of open borders wreaking havoc on their communities. They came because of weakness at home that fueled instability abroad, and because trillions in reckless spending put the price of gas and groceries further out of the reach for hardworking Americans. It wasn't right. President Trump and our Republican majority in Congress are fixing all of that right now. President Trump said this week that we are the hottest country in the world again. My friends, that is an objective truth. Hey, listen, how about all the wins for the President and this party? Here is just a sample from the last 2 weeks. The headline today will be: One Big Beautiful Bill Act passes the Congress. You have to hold your applause. There are too many wins. Are you getting tired of winning yet? The fourth jobs report in a row exceeds expectations. A sample of the headlines: Lowest monthly border encounters in U.S. history. We closed the border. In the last couple of days, there was a new trade deal with Vietnam, and all the countries around the world are lining up for that. UPenn agrees to ban biological men from women's sports, and they ought to give a personal apology to every female athlete impacted by that nonsense. Gas prices are at a 4-year low, my friends. The Air Force and Space Force both hit their 2025 recruiting goals 3 months early. Israel is agreeing to a 60-day cease-fire with Hamas. A successful strike on Iranian nuclear sites handles that problem. That is exactly right. Strength is back. America is back. It has resulted now in a cease-fire deal between Iran and Israel. The NATO countries are increasing their defense spending, not just 2 percent but 5 percent of GDP. The President got in charge and got a Rwanda-Congo peace deal. The Supreme Court ended nationwide injunctions. How about that? That conservative majority on the Supreme Court also allows third-country deportations. We have had a record-high stock market, and we are signing a China trade deal. That is just the last 2 weeks, the last 2 weeks. There are so many simple truths to share and so little time to do it because I want everybody to have a break here. I just want to say this. It is really nice to hear Democratic colleagues suddenly take an interest in working Americans again. Did you pick up on that theme today? Let's be clear: Working Americans stopped trusting Democrats a long time ago. That is a fact. They are looking to this side of the Chamber. They are looking to the Republican Party and our principles to deliver the relief and the reform that they have long demanded and most certainly deserve. This One Big Beautiful Bill Act fulfills all the promises of the America First agenda. It is the people's bill. It is made for and shaped by the most diverse coalition of American voters in American history. Today, we are making the dream of a government that puts the American people first a reality. I would need this entire notebook to tell you all the great things in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It is aptly named, but I will just tell you a couple of the highlights: record tax cuts for hardworking Americans, and historic savings, at the same time, to end reckless spending. We have energy dominance coming back to power our future. We have a secure border to protect American families. We have a strong military to restore peace through strength. We have a government that is now accountable and responsive to the people once again. That is what we are delivering. For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel, and they will feel much more when this bill is done. Families back home will have real relief, an average of $10,000 in their pockets, thanks to the largest working- and middle-class tax cut in the history of this great Nation. That is what we are doing today. You have hardworking Americans like our waiters, our bellhops, and our hairstylists. They are going to keep 100 percent of their tips and overtime pay. That is money they earned. It does not belong to the government. It belongs to them, and they deserve to keep it. Small businesses that want to build and expand new factories, do you know what they can do now? They can write off 100 percent of their investment. That will get us a lot more building. Young families who want to buy a home will be able to, thanks to historic savings that will put our country on a stronger financial footing. Pregnant women, children, seniors, single mothers, the disabled, and the low-income Americans among us receiving Medicaid and SNAP will have the peace of mind of knowing that we made these safety nets stronger with our reforms. See, when Republicans are in charge, we bring common sense. We are going to make sure that Americans who do need and deserve those critical programs won't have to compete against people who can work but choose not to do so. That is not right. This bill is going to put fairness back in the system. We are returning to common sense. We are returning to what is good and decent that people know in their hearts, and that is why they support it. More Americans will be working, volunteering, and serving their communities because modest, commonsense work requirements will restore dignity and purpose to those on taxpayer-funded benefits. The bill will also mean that safer streets are available in every ZIP Code around the country because our border will remain fully and totally secure. The Republican Party stands for law and order, and this is the side that stands with law enforcement, the brave men and women who are on the front line. The idea that those who put their own lives on the line to protect us would be assaulted for doing their jobs is unconscionable. I know you agree. I know. Amen. Law enforcement will have the help of a border wall now that is 100 percent complete. Our immigration enforcement officers will get a boost from more manpower, resources, and detention space so that detained illegal aliens are not released back onto the streets like they were for the last 4 years. Our homeland can rest soundly again under the protection of President Trump's Golden Dome. That is what we are investing in. Look, any of these individual achievements would be historic victories for a Republican Congress or any Congress, and today, we are delivering on all of them in one big, beautiful bill. That is what Americans can count on when we pass this legislation, and that is exactly what Democrats will vote to oppose today. That is a fact. We did not write this bill for the Democratic Party, the elites, or the media. This bill is for hardworking Americans, and they deserve it. I am going to just say this as plainly as I can. This is the simple truth. If you are for a secure border, safer communities, and a strong military, this bill is for you. If you are for commonsense fiscal responsibility and reducing the deficit, this bill is for you. If you are for fair and lower taxes, bigger paychecks, affordable gas and groceries, and restoring dignity to hard work, this is the bill for you. It makes no difference whether our colleagues across the Chamber speak for 25 minutes or 25 hours, they can't change the truth. Today was about performance for some of them, but today for us is about results--a result that improves the lives of Americans regardless of their race, religion, color, or creed. It does not matter. I tell you what Ronald Reagan used to remind us, you can always trust the American people. We do trust the American people. They can discern the difference. What they saw on display here today is that Democrats deliver performances and Republicans deliver results. Today, my friends, we are ready now. We are going to deliver what we were sent here to do, and every American will benefit from it. In 1793, just steps from where we stand today, President George Washington laid the first cornerstone of the United States Capitol. Over 50 years later, on July Fourth, Members of this body gathered once again to lay a second cornerstone. Once more on July Fourth, at the height of the Cold War, Congress laid a third cornerstone. This week, with this vote today, with our Nation's birthday being tomorrow, we lay a fourth. With this bill, we can vote as stewards of that great legacy that we have inherited in this extraordinary Nation that we are blessed to live in. We can lay another sturdy foundation for the future of this country, a future where working Americans can feel relief, where government can finally start living within its means again, and where the United States is safer, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before. That is right. Now, I am going to say this as they mock America and mock everything and mock the bill, we will see how the people feel about that. Listen, seriously, as friends and colleagues, really, across the aisle, what we celebrate tomorrow is the Nation's birthday. Let's put the politics aside for a minute and let's reflect on our blessings. No kidding, really. Tomorrow is the 249th birthday of our Nation. That is right. I mean this sincerely: I thank my colleagues for standing, we all should be united in that. We are. We are. We have squabbles and we have partisan debates and all of this, but at the end of the day, we are all Americans, man. We have got to believe that. We have got to know it. We have got to recognize that we live in the greatest Nation in the history of the world. It is not even close. My friends and colleagues, we are so blessed. We should not take it for granted. We live in the most free, the most successful, the most powerful, the most benevolent Nation that has ever been on the face of the Earth, and there is a reason for that. The reason that we are the greatest Nation is because we were built on the ultimate foundation, and the bold declaration that my friend, Hakeem Jeffries, articulated earlier is true, we unite under that: the bold declaration that we do hold these truths to be self-evident. What is a self-evident truth? It is something that is obvious. ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'' It does not say born equal, it says created equal. It is our creator, yes, that gives us our rights. See, the powerful thing about that is we are the first Nation in the history of the world that acknowledged that our rights do not derive from government. They come from God himself. You see those words up there, that motto, it says: ``In God We Trust'' right above the Speaker's rostrum. A previous Congress put that there in the early 1960s at the height of the Cold War. There is a little visitors guide that people get when you do tours late at night, you have probably seen your constituents, visitors, and friends get the guide. If you turn, I think it is, about to page 21, it explains why that is there. It says: Congress voted to put that there as a rebuke to the Soviets' worldview at the height of the Cold War. Why? It is because Communism, Socialism find their roots in Marxism, and Marxism begins with the belief that there is no God. Marxism is wrong. This Congress made a stand those many years ago, and we should do it again. We are different. We are distinct. We are exceptional because we acknowledge that right there, our motto. It doesn't say in government we trust. It says: ``In God We Trust,'' and we better remember that. He has blessed us with this grand experiment in self-governance now for almost two-and-a-half centuries, and by God's grace, we are working hard and we are delivering on our promise to Make America Great Again. This is, without a doubt, the most important vote of this Congress, and I think this one may be the most important vote that any of us take in our entire lifetimes and everybody better remember it, however you vote today. My friends, the President of the United States is waiting with his pen. The American people are waiting for this relief. We have heard enough talk. It is time for action. Let's finish the job for him. Vote ``yes'' on the bill.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his many years in this arena defending the sanctity of every human life. I rise this afternoon to mark this historic lifesaving anniversary. Three years ago today, the Supreme Court corrected an egregious and tragic error and affirmed an undeniable truth that was originally affirmed in our Nation's birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence. That truth is that every single person is made in the image of God, and they are thus bestowed with inestimable dignity and value. Our value is not related in any way to the color of our skin or what ZIP Code we live in, what our talents are, what are hobbies or our aptitudes are. It is all irrelevant because our value, our intrinsic value, is given to us by our Creator. That is what the Framers of this grand experiment in self-governance believed. The Dobbs decision, which moved the question of regulating abortion to the people's elected representatives, reversed 50 years of inhumane social engineering and has saved hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in the process. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America estimates that post-Dobbs, pro-life policies have now saved more than 200,000 lives annually. That means at least 200,000 more babies every year are being given the blessing of life, the opportunity to be born. How profound that is. On this very joyous, lifesaving anniversary, we remember the more than 63 million who were never given that opportunity to live, and we vow to continue building a culture of life and advancing policies which protect the sanctity of every single human life. I again salute my friend Chris Smith, the chairman of our Pro-Life Caucus, for all his work for so many decades in this arena. I thank him for holding this Special Order hour this afternoon.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, after that very long and wandering speech, my friends, and after a long week and a long night and countless hours of work over the past year, a lot of prayer and a lot of teamwork, my friends, it quite literally is again morning in America, isn't it? After 4 long years of President Biden's failures, President Trump's America First agenda is finally here. We are advancing that today. What we are going to do this morning is truly historic, and it will make all the difference in the daily lives of hardworking Americans. The Dallas waitress pulling overtime, the Detroit mom counting bills late at night, and the Kentucky coal miner waiting on his second chance are the forgotten men and women of our country that we are all called here to serve. The one big, beautiful bill will deliver for those people. It revives our economy. It will deliver historic tax relief. It will make the largest investment in our border security in a generation. It will unleash affordable American energy again, restore common sense to government, secure generational savings, and strengthen our national defense, while it also strengthens our essential programs like Medicaid for the people who need it the most. That is what we are doing with the one big, beautiful bill. To put it simply, this bill gets Americans back to winning again, and it has been a long time coming. This one big, beautiful bill is the most consequential legislation that any party has ever passed, certainly under a majority this thin. Legislation of this magnitude is truly Nation-shaping and life- changing. It is the kind of transformational change that future generations will study one day. They will look back at this day as a turning point in American history. It is exactly what we were sent here to do. Let the record show that when the House Democrats vote in a few moments, this is what they will be voting for. Their vote will show that they are apparently for the largest tax increase in the history of our country. When they vote against this bill, they will be voting for waste, fraud, and abuse. They will be voting against safer communities, American energy dominance, and American strength on the world stage. Today wouldn't be possible without the leadership of arguably the most powerful, the most successful, and the most respected President in the modern era of the United States. Our Democratic colleagues mock the objective truth. We were delivered unified government, my friends, in November. The White House, the Senate, and the House were delivered to the party on this side of the aisle. My Democrat colleagues can laugh all they want. None of this would be possible without the leadership of the 45th and the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. It would not be possible without the really hard work of the men and women on this side of the aisle. I want to name our chairmen of our House committees that produced and did all the hard work to produce the big, beautiful bill. Scripture says that we give honor where honor is due, Mr. Speaker. We are going to do that here quickly. I recognize Chairman G.T. Thompson of the Agriculture Committee, Chairman Mike Rogers of the Armed Services Committee, Chairman Jodey Arrington of the Budget Committee, Chairman Tim Walberg of the Education and Workforce Committee, Chairman Brett Guthrie of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman French Hill of the Financial Services Committee, Chairman Mark Green of the Homeland Security Committee, Chairman Jim Jordan of the Judiciary Committee, Chairman Bruce Westerman of the Natural Resources Committee, Chairman James Comer of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, Chairman Sam Graves of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Chairman Jason Smith of the Ways and Means Committee. I make special mention of Chairwoman Virginia Foxx of the Rules Committee who, by my count, sat in that chair and led that Rules Committee for what seemed like 2 straight days. I think she took two short breaks. She is the Iron Lady of the House. Mr. Speaker, I am so grateful for all of their hard work. The beauty of what we produced with the one big, beautiful bill over here is that this was a team effort. These were men and women who were elected to come here. They are the duly-elected Representatives of the people back home. They rolled up their sleeves. They got down in the trenches. We began this effort over a year ago. It was actually March of last year because we anticipated and believed that we would be delivered a unified government and that we would have a Republican leader in the White House, which is Donald J. Trump. We believed that we would have the Senate and the House and that we would have that moment of opportunity. We planned, we worked, and we locked arms together as a team. We have delivered this against all odds. The media has tried to divide us. They have written our eulogy about 10 times. Mr. Speaker, do you know what? Sometimes it is good to be underestimated, isn't it? We got this done, and I am so proud of the work of every Member of this House Republican Conference who worked in their committees. Every single Member had a say in this. Every single constituent, the millions of people who are represented, have their voices and their interests reflected because we did this together as a team. It is quite an achievement. I just want to say that all that tireless work has led to the hard work of crafting this legislation, and we have been ready since day one to deliver on this agenda. Unified control of government is a rare mandate. It doesn't happen very often. It has happened just three times for our party in the last half century. We do not take it for granted. We are delivering on that mandate here today. The American people gave us a mandate in November. They sent a message with their vote. They gave this side of the aisle the power, and we are going to use it to make their lives better. What we are achieving here today is nothing short of historic, and that is true. House Republicans are getting it done again. In the Republican Party, we believe in a simple principle. We believe that America really is a shining city on a hill. Ronald Reagan used to talk about that. He was referencing Scripture. He understood that America is exceptional. He understood that, as it says right there above the Speaker's rostrum, our national motto, that we trust in God, in God is our trust. These are the things that make our Nation exceptional, and the people of our country deserve--they deserve--better. We have been working hard to deliver so that the people of our country see this again as a shining city on a hill and that people around the world see us for who we should be. One thing we can all agree on on both sides of the aisle is that a strong America is good for everybody all around the world. All of us together, regardless of party, were called here to stand together and defend those freedoms and to defend those foundations that made us the greatest Nation in the history of the world. All of us have to look and recognize that the shine has not been on that city in a while. We are here to restore it. This piece of legislation, as large as it is and as historic as it is, will do that very thing. Mr. Speaker, we are accomplishing a big thing here today, but we know this isn't the end of the road just yet. We have been working closely with Leader Thune and our Senate colleagues, the Senate Republicans, to get this done and delivered to the President's desk by Independence Day. That is July 4th. Today proves that we can do that, and we will do that. It doesn't matter how much the media doubts this or how much the Democrats give us their narratives, it doesn't matter how long the speeches are, it doesn't change the facts. We are delivering, and we are doing it in a big way. So to our friends in the Senate, I would just say that the President is waiting with his pen. The American people are waiting for this relief. They are waiting for these life-changing results, and we are going to finish this job. This is a historic moment that we will be talking to our children and our grandchildren about, and everyone will remember: America is back.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon we will be voting on legislation that demands the attention of every single American. This will be one of the most important votes that Members of this Chamber will ever take in their entire careers. It is an issue that we never thought we would actually have to address, but that moment has come to us now. Should Americans and Americans alone determine the outcome of American elections, or should we allow foreigners and illegal aliens to decide who sits in the White House and here in the people's House and in the Senate? As the progressive wing of Washington has slowly crept in and marched through our institutions and has infected every level of government, they have brought us to a generation-defining moment. That is the moment that we have upon us now. Because the Democratic Party has shown time and time again that they want our borders wide open to every country on the planet and they want illegal aliens voting in our elections, we now have reached a fateful decision point. Here is the critical question: Should only American citizens, citizens of this country, be allowed to determine who controls the people's House, the Senate, and the White House? Every Republican, every one of our colleagues, emphatically says yes. The answer to that question is yes, and every Republican will vote for the bill that we have on the floor today. This is a question that almost every American agrees with us upon. Here is the number: 89 percent of Americans believe that only Americans should decide our elections, and that includes, by the way, 82 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of Black and African-American voters, and 76 percent of Hispanic and Latino voters. Everybody who looks at this question answers it the right way, just about everybody. We are about to find out here very shortly if all of the Members of this Chamber agree. Americans all over the country understand what is at stake here. They refuse to hand over our country to illegal aliens, cartels, traffickers, violent criminals, and murderers. That is what is at stake. Now, I hate to say it, but we have so many noncitizens in the country right now that if only 1 out of 100 of those illegal aliens voted, you are talking about hundreds of thousands of votes being cast. Remember, these aren't huddled masses of frightened families yearning to be free. In January of this year, we took the largest delegation of Members of Congress to the border. January 3, we went to Eagle Pass, Texas. It was the epicenter of the open-border crisis at the time. We met with Border Patrol agents and high officers in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. They told us the truth. They said, down there at Eagle Pass, of all the many, many countless people who come across that border illegally, because Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas opened the border wide, they said: You should know this, Members of Congress, 70 percent of the people who crossed illegally at Eagle Pass, down there in the Del Rio sector, are single adult males between the ages of 18 and 49. These are not huddled masses of people seeking refuge from persecution and seeking asylum here for just causes. These are people who do not have our best designs in mind. Because of Joe Biden's open-border policies, we have ISIS smuggling rings operating in our country. We have cartels who have operational control of the border. We have Chinese and Russian spies here in our midst roaming freely in our country. We have murderers and rapists offending again and again across the country, and they are never deported. These are people who Joe Biden and his administration are releasing into the country every day. The Director of the FBI has testified multiple times now before Congress, before our committees, and he has said: All the red lights are flashing. What is he referring to? The unprecedented dangerous situation. The enemy is here. The enemy is in our country now and is endangering American citizens, law-abiding citizens. You see the headlines on the news now almost every day: another violent act committed by an illegal. Joe Biden did that to the country. His administration did that because they opened the border. They engineered the open border. It is absurd and outrageous, and people know it. That is one of the things that is going to be a big factor in November. I will tell you this, too. Since our elections are so razor thin, it is not just the physical safety of our communities that are in jeopardy. It is also the integrity of the ballot box. With just a few precincts and a few States often now deciding the makeup of the Congress and the White House, we aren't just facing dangerous individuals; we are facing a dangerously high number of dangerous individuals who could actually change the outcome of our elections and thus determine the future of this great Republic. Just as our dear friend Congresswoman Miller-Meeks will tell you, she won her elections in 2020 by 6 votes. Some of these elections, some of your elections, are very, very close. We have to keep that in mind. Here is the solution. Today is this fateful moment. Again, I think it may be the most important vote you will make as a Member of this body because you are going to determine the course of this country today. You are going to determine whether you want the elections to be safe and fair. The SAVE Act is the bill before us. It is not complicated. It is written in very plain language so everyone can read it and understand it. We are merely suggesting that because so many illegal aliens are in the country--and there is no disputing that there are millions upon millions of them. I think the actual count is probably somewhere close to 16 million illegals who have come across the border in the last 3\1/ 2\ years since Joe Biden opened it wide beginning on his first day in office--because there are so many of them here, I ask our guests in the gallery this question: Is it worth adding a layer of protection to ensure all of those illegals cannot register to vote? Everybody would answer yes, if we asked for an audible response, because that is obvious to us. Everybody understands the SAVE Act will do several important things, and all of them are obvious, commonsense measures. Here is the list: Number 1: It requires State election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration forms. What a concept. Number 2: It requires an individual to provide proof of citizenship if indeed he or she wants to register to vote in our Federal elections. Number 3: It provides States with access to our Federal agency databases. Why is that so important? So they can remove noncitizens from voter rolls and confirm citizenship for individuals who lack that all-important proof of citizenship. Number 4: It directs the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether to conduct removal proceedings if an illegal alien, a noncitizen, has been identified as having registered to vote in Federal elections. American citizens will be protected and in no way harmed by this bill. There is not a conceivable argument that the Democrats can make to oppose the commonsense measures that we are putting before them today. Nothing changes the voter registration process in the States. The only people who will face hurdles here are those who are trying to break our Federal laws. That is why it is patently absurd that the White House issued a veto threat. President Biden says he is going to veto the bill, and Democrat leadership right now is engaging in a very robust whipping operation to stop this bill from being passed. It is absolutely outrageous, and the American people need to know what is happening here. It is dangerous. It is dangerous for the future of our country. It is dangerous for the future of your family, if you are watching at home. Joseph Story was a great American legal scholar and Supreme Court Justice, the author of the seminal ``Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States'' that we used to have to read in law school. He said it this way on this subject. This is very important. Listen to what he said. He said: ``If aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of citizens at the will of a single State, the Union itself might be endangered by an influx of foreigners, hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges.'' He said that so well. I wholeheartedly agree. I know everyone on our side of the aisle does. If we are going to maintain this great American experiment, this grand experiment in self-governance that we have now kept for 248 years, if we are going to keep it for more, then we have to ensure that the outcomes of our elections remain in the hands of Americans alone. Now, some of our colleagues are arguing and some of the outside interest groups who want those open borders, the open borders crowd, they are pointing out that it is already illegal to vote, and you don't really need to do this. That is true, it is illegal to vote under Federal law. Only a U.S. citizen is supposed to vote in a U.S. election. But here is the problem: The law is not being followed. Even though it is already illegal, this is happening. Let me give you a couple examples. In Georgia, State election officials are catching thousands of noncitizens who are trying to register to vote, but they are one of only a few States that is making that effort right now to check the voter rolls on the front end before the disaster occurs. In May, the State of Ohio, they had to remove 137 noncitizen voters from the rolls when they did a quick check. In May of last year, Virginia removed almost 1,500 noncitizens from their voter rolls. Here is the catch: It was only after more than 800 of those noncitizen ballots had been cast in 2019. They already participated in an election illegally. It shouldn't surprise us that criminals who break our border laws are also going to break our election laws. These are not paragons of virtue in all these cases, as the 70 percent of people who come across the border who are military-aged males come into our country without any deterrence at all. They are not law-abiding citizens. They are illegal aliens, and they should not be participating in the election. Remember, if just a small percentage, a fraction of a fraction of all those illegals that Joe Biden has brought in here to vote, if they do vote, it wouldn't just change one race, it might potentially change all of our races. Now, despite the claims of our opponents, it is also true there are no current preventative mechanisms to ensure that only those registering or voting are actually citizens. Perhaps the Democratic Party would prefer that we only identify fraudulent voters after the fact, after an election is already decided and the new Members are sworn in. That is not acceptable. That doesn't instill trust. It doesn't ensure the integrity of the system. Of course, that is nonsense. It is good and right to take preventative action now. We can look out on the horizon. We know the storm is coming. We know we have an unprecedented number of illegal aliens. We know many of them are being encouraged to register to vote, and they are doing so. We know we have a problem. We have a duty here under the Constitution to ensure it doesn't happen. We have an instrument before us, a piece of legislation, that will do just that, and there is no excuse--no excuse--to oppose it. Of course, preventative action is desperately needed because of all this, and the stakes are so high, and the loopholes are so wide that we have to do it. Regardless of what the detractors say, the voter laws are really that lax. If a citizen wants to vote for President, they just have to go to their local DMV, they go to the local welfare office or some other government agency, and they are given a very simple form that says while you are here signing up for taxpayer benefits, Mr. Noncitizen who just came across the border and was sent here by plane, train, or automobile by an NGO who, by the way, is sending the receipt for that to the U.S. taxpayer that we are all funding, hey, since you are here and signing up for benefits, do you also want to register to vote? On the form that was passed by Congress back in the early nineties, the motor voter registration law, it just has one little box that asks: Are you a U.S. citizen? How many people are checking that box who are not supposed to? Well, the problem is, whoever is working there is not allowed under current law to ask for proof of that citizenship. If somebody checks the box, they can't stop them and say, hey, do you have any paperwork to prove that? Where are you from? You have a funny accent. Oh, you don't speak English? Are you a citizen? They don't have any way to prove it. I believe I stand with the American public when I say our elections are just too important to simply rely on the honor system by people who have already proven they have no regard or respect for our laws. Would we be so foolish as to think every one of the 500 got-aways sneaking through our southern border every single day have good intentions? Come on. We have got to apply reason and common sense. Would we prefer to wait for fraud to happen and only do something after elections are finalized? No. We have to catch the fraud on the front end so there is no question about the integrity of our votes. Again, this is our duty to do so. If we don't catch any unlawful voters, great, that is wonderful. It means our systems are secure. If we do catch unlawful voters, then good, we stop them from voting. We did what was right by the Constitution, right by our Federal law, and right by the people that we represent. There should be no objection to this legislation at all. I will conclude with this: I have been here 8 years. Every so often in this Chamber, we take a vote that clearly reveals what we think about the world. There are important votes every day, but there are some votes that define who we are. It defines our world, and it defines what we believe about the Constitution and about the rule of law. It defines our careers, and it defines our character. It is a signal to the voters fundamentally about what we believe about our country. Republicans want 100 percent participation by citizens in our elections, eligible citizens who can vote. We want everybody to vote. We want 100 percent participation, but we want zero percent fraud. We want American citizens to be the lone people who decide our elections. Here is the question that is about to be answered on this floor: Do Democrats want that same thing, or do they want to hand over our country to the worst impulses and nefarious plans of foreign spies and criminals who will exploit the system for their own gain? Republicans are anxious to get this done. We are anxious to take the necessary steps to protect the integrity of every single vote, and we will ensure that we have free and fair elections, and we will ensure that only Americans decide American elections. The question that will be answered--and it is not a rhetorical question; this is a real live exercise--can Democrats say the same thing? Is there any measure that they will take to reduce the opportunity for fraud? Today is their chance, and, unfortunately, I am not that hopeful that they are going to do the right thing, but you are about to find out.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in support of H.R. 7423, a bill to designate the United States Post Office in Rayville, Louisiana, after our dear friend and our former Louisiana Fifth District Congressman, Luke Letlow. In December of 2020, Luke tragically passed away just days before taking his oath of office and serving here with us in Congress. We were all devastated. He was in the prime of his life, 41 years old, with two beautiful children and a lovely wife, Julia, who is one of Kelly's and my favorite people in the world. He had spent his entire professional career serving the people of Louisiana in the Governor's office and our congressional delegation. There was no greater ambassador of Louisiana culture and values, and I have no doubt he would have been a leading Member of our delegation and of Congress. Luke was a native son of Start, Louisiana, a town of just a few hundred people nestled outside of Monroe in northeast Louisiana, and it was there that he developed what was truly a servant's heart. He had a peaceful, easygoing nature. Everybody loved him. Whoever held his attention was the most important person in the world at that moment. Luke listened first, and then he acted--a quality this town could use a lot more of. He was passionate about Louisiana, about our issues like agriculture and energy and, more than anything else, his beautiful family. I don't remember having many conversations with Luke that did not involve his family because he was so proud of them. I know he is smiling down upon his wife, Julia, our extraordinary colleague who has been such a tremendous asset to this institution and a great champion for our State. Their two beautiful children, Jeremiah and Jacqueline, who have become fixtures around here, are blessed to have incredible role models as parents. I am grateful to our entire Louisiana delegation for joining together in this effort, and I am grateful for the idea that we have had here. I am grateful for the comfort of knowing where he is. By passing this legislation, the Rayville community will continue to honor the life and legacy of a great American and a great Louisianian. I look forward to its swift passage.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Os Guinness for his distinguished career and his service to the American people and to Christians around the globe. Dr. Guinness has dedicated his life to thinking, writing, and speaking about the turbulent times in which we live. In the context of a Judeo-Christian worldview, he has provided thoughtful insights and wise counsel within the U.S. Capitol and to leaders and laypersons worldwide. I have been personally impacted by Os, which he prefers to be called, through his challenge to live for our ``Audience of One,'' a term he used in his book The Call to refer to our Heavenly Father. He has reminded me, and so many others, that we ought to dedicate our lives to that cause, to love our enemies, to promote justice, and to seek the good of the city in which we live. Os is beloved by so many on Capitol Hill. For more than 30 years, he has been involved with Faith and Law, an organization that helps hundreds of Christian staff members on the Hill think about their vocations in government through a biblical worldview. He draws the largest audiences of any speaker at their gatherings and has been meeting for breakfast with Members of Congress for several years. His listeners always leave with a better understanding of the times in which we live, and our calling to live out our national motto: In God We Trust. In recent days, Os has been challenging us to consider the 250th anniversary of the birth of our great Nation, which we will celebrate in 2026. He's referring to the anniversary as a ``civilizational moment,'' and is asking if 2026 will be America's expiration date or a challenge to renew the great experiment in freedom. I'm optimistic that we are up for the task. Os was born in China, during World War II, to medical missionaries, and witnessed the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949. He was educated in England, where he completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his Doctor of Philosophy in the social sciences from Oxford University. Os has written or edited more than 30 books, including The Call, Unspeakable, A Free People's Suicide. The Global Public Square, and The Magna Carta of Humanity. Os has also been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum. More importantly, he is the proud husband of Jenny and father of C.J. I have had the honor of meeting with both Os and Jenny on many occasions and have greatly appreciated their commitment to fasting and praying weekly for America's leaders. The impact of the life and work of Dr. Os Guinness will be felt in the Halls of Congress and around the globe long past the time that we are here. I know that I, and many more around the world, are trying to live by the words he wrote in his book, The Call: ``We are not primarily called to do something or go somewhere; we are called to Someone. We are not called first to the special work but to God. The key to answering the call is to be devoted to no one and to nothing above God himself.'' On behalf of the United States Congress--and countless colleagues who have been impacted by this great man--it is my honor to recognize Dr. Os Guinness for his distinguished career and impact on our Nation.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, since 1983, the U.S. Congress (House and Senate) and the German Bundestag and Bundesrat have conducted an annual exchange program for staff members from both countries. The program gives professional staff the opportunity to observe and learn about each other's political institutions and engage in discussion regarding mutual interest. A staff delegation from the U.S. Congress will be selected to visit Germany from Friday, June 28-Sunday, July 7, 2024. During this exchange, the delegation will attend meetings with Bundestag/Bundesrat party staff members, and representatives of numerous political, business, academic and media agencies. A comparable delegation of German staff members will visit the United States from Saturday, September 14-Sunday, September 22, 2024. They will attend similar meetings in Washington organized by the members of the U.S. delegation. The Congress-Bundestag/Bundesrat Exchange is highly regarded in Germany and the United States and is one of several exchange programs sponsored by public and private institutions in the United States and Germany to foster better understanding of the politics and policies of both countries. This exchange is funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The U.S. delegation shall consist of experienced and accomplished Hill staff who can contribute to the success of the exchange on both sides of the Atlantic. The Bundestag reciprocates by sending senior staff professionals to the United States. Applicants should have a demonstrable interest in events in Europe. Applicants need not be working in the field of foreign affairs, although such a background can be helpful. The composite U.S. delegation should exhibit a range of expertise in issues of mutual concern to the United States and Germany such as, but not limited to, trade, security, the environment, economic development, health care, and other social policy issues. This year's delegation should be familiar with transatlantic relations within the context of recent world events. Please note that there is a significant time commitment aspect for those selected for the program. In addition, U.S. participants are expected to plan and implement the meetings and programs for the Bundestag/Bundesrat staff members when they visit the United States. Members of the House and Senate who would like a member of their staff to apply for participation in this year's program should direct them to submit a resume and cover letter in which they state their qualifications, the contributions they can make to a successful program and some assurances of their ability to participate during the time stated. Applications should be sent to the Office of Interparliamentary Affairs, HC-4, the Capitol, by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 8, 2024. Please submit the application and any questions to interparliamentary.affairs@mail.house.gov.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, today I rise and stand to honor the career and service of Mr. Murray Viser, President Emeritus of Barksdale Forward. Throughout his impressive career, Murray has made countless contributions to his community and country. In appreciation of and to honor his service, I, on behalf of all the people and organizations he has aided, the greater Barksdale community, the State of Louisiana, and this great nation, offer my sincerest gratitude for his 30 years of service. Murray was a pioneer in his profession. In 1993, he founded Barksdale Forward, an organization that advocates for Barksdale Air Force Base and its surrounding community at the local, state, and federal level. Barksdale Forward was the state's first organized defense community, and with Murray's vision and assistance, he inspired others to form defense communities inside Louisiana and across the country. Murray's work has greatly contributed to making Barksdale Air Force Base and the community around it the wonderful place it is today. Murray's contributions extend past his work with Barksdale Forward. In 1999, after serving as the President of STARBASE Louisiana, Murray brought the program to Barksdale Air Force Base. At the national level, Murray was a leading advocate for the creation of the Long-Range Strike Caucus and has acted as a Civic Leader for the Air Force Global Strike Command since its creation in 2009. It was in this role that he received his honorary call sign, ``BUFF,'' in recognition of his long support of the B-52 bomber and Barksdale Air Force Base. I applaud Murray for all of the impacts he has had over the years and for his continued service as a member of the Louisiana Military Affairs Committee, a post he has held since 1993. Murray has brought faithful, virtuous, and steadfast leadership to each organization he has been a part of, including St. Mark's Cathedral School, the Boeing Bomber Coalition, and the Air Combat Commander's Group. I thank his wife, Patricia, and his daughter, Mary-Elizabeth, for sharing him with us and supporting him in his great career. There is no doubt that his work and impact will continue to be felt after he has stepped away from this chapter of his life. I urge my colleagues in this chamber to join me in congratulating Mr. Murray Viser on a distinguished career and well-deserved retirement from Barksdale Forward.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly 100 days since my colleagues elected me to lead this Chamber, and I cannot express how grateful I am for their trust. This is the honor of my life and it means everything to us. Despite the challenges that we face day in and day out and the tough fights that lawmaking inevitably brings, I still believe that we can, again, be a shining city on a hill. I believe that we can champion, again, what I call the seven core principles of American conservatism, but really they are the seven core principles of America. They are our foundations. I believe that it boils down to individual freedom and limited government and the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity. These are the things that made us the most successful, most extraordinary Nation in the history of the world. We are also the most benevolent, but it can't be maintained if we sacrifice those foundations. Today, however, I need to address the burning issue, the unprecedented challenge that we find ourselves in, demands that we all address, the issue of the day, and it is no surprise to anyone in this Chamber that that issue is America's border security. As I said here on the night that I took my oath, we have a catastrophe at our southern border. It is because the border has been deliberately opened wide that we see the terrific horrors that are taking place across our country right now. Here is a short list. From Texas to New York, waves of illegal immigrants are now overwhelming our communities. Just since the time I was elected Speaker, less than 100 days ago, more than 700,000 illegals have been welcomed into our country illegally by the Biden administration. American schoolchildren have been forced into virtual schools. Why? So migrants can sleep in their school buildings. Korean war veterans of the U.S. have been booted from nursing homes that were sold to house migrants. Our streets are being flooded with fentanyl. Hundreds of thousands of children and adults are being poisoned and losing their lives. Vulnerable children and women are being exploited and trafficked by cartels, and that is happening even within our borders. The fallout goes on and on and on, and I am here this morning to beg my colleagues to help us force the administration to take action. We have to stop this now and put Americans and America's border security first. In January, I took the largest ever congressional delegation down to the southern border. We had 64 Members, 64 House Republicans, representing more than half the States in this country. Why? Because now, every State is a border State. During our trip, we met with senior Border Patrol officials and officers and local sheriffs and ranchers and landowners and community leaders who are dealing with this crisis right there at the line, and we heard about how they are struggling to deal with the overwhelming surge of illegals who are flooding into our Nation. While the Senate and the White House were negotiating a so-called border security deal, one Border Patrol official, a 33-year veteran of Border Patrol, a high-ranking official in the agency, compared the situation this way. He said: What we are being asked to do right now is administer an open fire hydrant. He said: Please convey to our friends in Washington, we don't need more buckets. We need to turn off the flow. His metaphor explains the situation perfectly. Since President Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas assumed office, there have been more than 7 million encounters with illegal aliens just at our southern border alone. Mr. Speaker, 35 of our 50 States, including my home State of Louisiana, don't have a population that large, yet that is how many people have been apprehended in just the past 3 years. Among those who have been apprehended on the southern border between ports of entry, more than 300 individuals were on our terrorist watch list. The frightening question is, if so many terrorists were caught attempting to cross our borders, how many have entered undetected? We suspect it is a much higher number. We know that there are at least 1.8 million got-aways that we know have escaped CBP. Who knows what dangerous plans those got-aways are making and what foreign adversaries they may be speaking with? Understand, the situation at our border presents a clear and present danger to our national security, and it demands that it be addressed. Even officials within the executive branch are saying so. FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Homeland Security Committee in November that these got-aways are a great concern for the agency, and that all 56 of our joint terrorism task forces are trying to identify who these people are. While we don't know how many terrorists are inside our border, it is an unknowable number, we do know that fentanyl is pouring into our communities like an open sewer. Right now, the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 46 is fentanyl poisoning. Fentanyl seizures have increased 2\1/2\ times since President Biden took office. That is just the seizures. The rest of it flows right in. Even as some of it is seized, we know much more is making its way into our schools, in our neighborhoods, and virtually every community in America. Just a quick snapshot of my State in New Orleans, in my home State, 95 percent of the drug overdoses in New Orleans are caused by fentanyl. We see that this poison is ripping families apart. Victoria McCulley from Baton Rouge was only 29 years old when she lost her life to fentanyl. She was buried by her parents, leaving behind her brother, her sister, and young son. Alex Stinson is another victim. Like Victoria, he was from Baton Rouge. Sadly, also like Victoria, he died from fentanyl poisoning before his 30th birthday, leaving behind a heartbroken mom and dad and sister. Near Slidell, Louisiana, just last week, a precious 2-year-old child was found dead in her home with fentanyl in her system. Moms and dads, brothers and grandmothers, all of us are losing loved ones to a drug that is being smuggled across the border in droves. It is a parent's worst nightmare--burying a child. Sadly, because of our open border, more and more parents are having to experience that unspeakable tragedy. That leads the American people to ask a very important question, and it is one that we have been asking on this side of the aisle for a long, long time: Where in the world is Secretary Mayorkas on all of this? He is the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. It is his responsibility to prevent these harmful drugs from flowing into our country and to secure that border, and he has done nothing of the sort. As we have heard from Border Patrol agents, he is doing exactly the opposite. He is handicapping law enforcement. He is limiting their ability to catch narcotics like fentanyl. He is making it virtually impossible, as they say in their own words. They told us down at the border in Eagle Pass, it is impossible to do the job they were trained to do. Perhaps the Secretary is busy identifying more people on the list that he can release on parole. Because, just since fiscal year 2022, Secretary Mayorkas has released into the country more than 1.5 million aliens. He just sent them out into the country on what they call parole. Remember, the Immigration and Nationality Act states very clearly that parole should only be used on a case-by-case basis and a temporary basis, but millions of illegals right now are being granted parole and spending many years in the United States before they are ever even expected to appear before a judge. Some of them are given a piece of paper that says we will see you in a decade. It is absurd. This mass parole is neither temporary nor selective. It is a clear violation of Federal law. It is dangerous. It is subversive. It is intentional. To make matters worse, we have learned that the Biden administration is now just simply releasing 85 percent of the illegals who come across that border right into the country. They are coming to a neighborhood near you. For reference, by the way, if you are watching the metrics, in 2013, the Obama administration detained 82 percent of illegal aliens. How do we go from detaining 82 percent to releasing 85 percent? It only happens if this is by design. It only happens if it is an orchestrated, intentional effort by the administration to do exactly that, and that is what the evidence shows. John Adams famously said, ``Facts are stubborn things.'' These are the facts and you can't look away. This is only part of why Chairman Green and the House Homeland Security Committee marked up Articles of Impeachment last night. They wrapped that up at about 1:15 this morning, and they did very important work for our country. We will be moving forward swiftly on those articles. It is long overdue, but Secretary Mayorkas is only part of the problem. Earlier this month, I released a memo documenting 64 specific actions that the Biden administration has taken to undermine our border security and to promote the mass release of illegals and dangerous persons into our country. Here is just a couple of the many alarming actions. This is all public. Everybody can go see this. The day he took office, the very first day that he walked into the Oval Office, President Biden revoked Executive Order 9844. Do you know what that did? It ended construction of the border wall that Congress had already paid for. Everybody has seen the images on TV. The material is out there rotting in the sun and the elements. Why? Because Joe Biden decided unilaterally he didn't want a wall. In February 2021, the administration stopped applying title 42 expulsions to children and by doing that, incentivized families to send unaccompanied children through Mexico under the watch of cartels and traffickers. Since then, the administration admits it has lost track of more than 80,000 unaccompanied children somewhere in the U.S. When we were down at Eagle Pass at the Del Rio sector, we went through one of these processing centers and what we saw down there was heartbreaking and infuriating. You see these small children, they are unaccompanied minors. Some of them can't even speak the language, obviously. They have interpreters there, but they don't even know who they are. These are young children. They don't know what their full names are, where they hail from, who their parents are. They sit them there and they ask them some preliminary questions, and if the children don't know it, do you know what they do? Literally, they take a sticker and they put it on the chest of the little child that says Jane Doe or John Doe. What happens to them after that? Border Patrol says they don't know. Their job is just to process them. They are released, presumably, into the hands of NGOs, nongovernmental organizations, who are being funded, by the way, by American taxpayers who do something with the children and then they just disappear. We know 80,000 of them are missing. We don't know where they are. Have they been put into trafficking rings? We can only guess. We know that some of these kids are being trafficked for free labor and being forced to do things that are too appalling for us to articulate on this floor. Everybody here knows that is happening, and we are not demanding the President stop it. He can. He has the power to do it. I will continue. In October 2021, the Biden administration revoked the Migrant Protection Protocols that have been instituted under President Trump. That is the policy that we all know colloquially as remain in Mexico, right? The remain in Mexico policy kept asylum seekers in a safe haven third country while they were seeking asylum in the United States. You know why that works so magically well? Because it sent a message around the world that you shouldn't pay your lifesavings to a cartel to traffic you through Mexico and drop you over the U.S. border because you are not going to be dropped over the U.S. border. Save your time and treasure and trouble. Don't take that dangerous journey because the word goes out on social media to countries all around the world they are not going to let you in. Is that the most commonsense rule you have ever thought of? The President doesn't agree. President Biden doesn't agree because he stopped it. He issued an executive order to stop that commonsense rule. A senior Border Patrol officer told us on that trip to Eagle Pass that if President Biden, by the stroke of a pen, would issue an executive order today to just simply reinstate remain in Mexico, they think that that would stop the flow by 70 percent, 7-0. He does not seem to care. I told President Biden this myself on multiple occasions, most recently, a couple weeks ago on the phone. I read him the law that says he has all this authority, but he refuses to act. That is even despite court orders, by the way, that instructed the administration to reinstitute remain in Mexico while the litigation was going on. Do you know what they did? They ignored it. The administration refused it. I can keep going. In September 2022, the Biden administration reversed a 2019 DHS public charge rule. What was that about? They began granting entry to aliens who we all know will be a burden to taxpayers to receive immigration benefits. This matters because it is one of many instances in which the Biden administration is actively incentivizing illegals to come to the United States. We have laid out the welcome mat and told everybody around the world: Come on, come on. You know what? The U.S. taxpayers will take care of you. Do you know how much it is costing the American people at home, all of our constituents? Billions and billions and billions of dollars. To do what? To provide for people who are intentionally breaking our laws. Billions and billions of dollars to house them, educate them, clothe them, and take care of them. Why should we bear that burden when they break our laws? That is what our constituents are asking, and more people in this Chamber need to be asking it, as well. We are asking it on the House Republican side. We need our Democratic colleagues to join us. Instead of threatening illegal aliens with deportation, we are rolling out the welcome mat, including for aliens who will drain resources. Here is the other tragedy: Those resources, the precious taxpayer dollars, are intended for and paid by American citizens. However, when you drain those resources and you spend them on illegals from other countries, you cannot take care of your own. It is a travesty. You can also see this with how DHS has abused the CBP One app. We have got an app; and we have made it even easier now. In January 2023, they expanded the use of the app so aliens could just make appointments and then be released immediately right into America's interior. Sure enough, guess what? Ninety-five percent of all illegals who simply scheduled appointments through the app were released right into the United States on what they call parole. That is right, all they have got to do is just download the app because they all have smartphones, many of them coming over the border. Download the app, make an appointment, and the President of the United States will release you into a network of NGOs who will put you on a plane to the destination of your choice, without any identification, by the way, while Americans are waiting in line to get through TSA. It is all on the dime of the American taxpayer. Ask yourself, is that right? Is that just? Is that good for America or anybody else involved? It is not. The open border combined with the incentives to come have produced a catastrophic year for our Border Patrol agents. In September 2023, U.S. Border Patrol recorded more than 270,000 illegal alien encounters at the southern border in one single month. That was the largest ever up to that point. However, guess what? That record was broken just a couple months later because this past December 2023, CBP recorded more than 302,000 encounters, almost double the population of my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. In just one month, 302,000 people just walked right into the country, and we saw it down there with our own two eyes. Most recently, as President Biden has failed to exercise his constitutional obligation to police the border and protect Americans, now he has undermined Texas' ability to protect its citizens, its residents. Texas has a constitutional authority to take care of its people. The first job of the government is to protect its citizens. When the Texas Governor has acted to do that, the Biden administration and the President himself have intervened. They have taken him to court. They are cutting the razor wire. They are taking away the measures that the State of Texas has taken out of desperation to protect its own people. I could go on and on and on about all this: the numbers, the actions, the 64 actions that we have documented that President Biden has specifically taken to open that border up. It is crystal clear, his policy choices and Secretary Mayorkas' refusal to comply with the law are driving this border catastrophe. The Biden administration has replaced detain and deport with catch and release. Instead of order, they have chosen for us disorder and chaos. Rather than securing the homeland, they have ceded the homeland to cartels and traffickers. By the way, at the Del Rio sector alone in Eagle Pass, Texas, they told us it is estimated that the cartels, I think, are making $3.5 million a day trafficking human beings into the country. Do the math. They are making over a billion dollars a year bringing undocumented children, trafficked children, victims right into the country, and they are just bringing them in. They are doing this intentionally. They have chosen disorder and chaos. They have ceded the homeland to the traffickers and the cartels. The Department of Homeland Security has effectively become a taxi driver to just help traffickers complete the last few miles of their human smuggling operation, and they are making billions of dollars in the process. It is all absolute madness, and it is dismantling the safety of our communities. The House Judiciary Committee, where I served before I became Speaker, recently released a report showing that right now there are more than 617,000 aliens on ICE's nondetain docket who also have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. That is right. You heard it right. That means that more than half a million known criminals, illegal aliens are in the U.S. in our communities, free to reoffend and victimize American people. Another sad secondary effect of this is that the President's actions are also creating a permanent underclass in our society, an underclass of noncitizens who receive many of the benefits of citizenship. He is inviting chaos and disorder within our land that is tearing at the very fabric of our society. The President can put a stop to this. President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have designed this catastrophe. Now, rather than accept any accountability or responsibility for what they have clearly done, President Biden wants to somehow try to shift the blame to Congress for his administration's catastrophe by design. It is absolutely laughable. No one is falling for this. My counter is this: If President Biden wants us to believe he is serious about protecting our national security, he needs to demonstrate good faith and take immediate action to secure the border, but he won't do it. He needs to immediately stop the mass release of illegals into our country, but he won't do it. If he wants our House Republican Conference to view him as a good-faith negotiator, he can start with the stroke of a pen. However, he has got to do it quickly. Last week, I received a letter from former top FBI intelligence officials, including the former Assistant Director, Directorate of Intelligence. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the text of this letter be included in the Congressional Record.

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. In the letter, the signers said that America is facing a new and unfamiliar threat. As my colleagues know, you never want to hear our intelligence leaders speak about an unfamiliar threat, but these former FBI officials told us that we are suffering a soft invasion along our southern border. They are stating what is obvious to all of us. They noted that we are experiencing a surge--listen to this--of military-aged, single men who are pouring into our country over the southern border from adversarial nations, by the way, and from terrorist regimes. When we were at Eagle Pass in the Del Rio sector on January 3, with 64 House Republicans, they told us that between 60 to 70 percent of the people coming across the border right there at that epicenter are single, adult males. They are military aged. These are not huddled masses of families seeking refuge and asylum. These are people coming into our country to do only God knows what, and we are allowing it. The Biden administration is allowing it. We have noted that they are coming from adversarial nations, from terrorist regions. We have no idea what they are planning. In fiscal year 2023, Border Patrol encountered illegals from 170 different countries, including hundreds from Iran, Syria, thousands from Russia, tens of thousands who have come in from China. Tell me that is not dangerous. In this letter, law enforcement and intelligence leaders are warning us that we may very well suffer a preventable terrorist attack here on the homeland if we don't immediately secure that border and remove these dangerous terrorists from inside our borders. House Republicans, of course, have acted. Last year, we passed the Secure the Border Act. This legislation would address the catastrophe, fix the asylum and parole processes that are so broken, and support our Border Patrol agents. The Senate could take that bill up today. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate have been sitting on it in their majority for 9 months. They could do it right now. They could vote on that and send it to the President's desk, but they won't. Why? Because they are apparently okay with this, as well. While there may be some who think that it is not a good time to act, I disagree. Good policy, like a strong border, securing our Nation, and defending our sovereignty is always good politics. It is the right thing to do. It is the moral thing to do. It is the constitutional thing to do. It is the commonsense thing to do. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why the President won't agree with that. I have asked him myself, repeatedly: Mr. President, do something about it. He hems and haws and pretends that he doesn't understand what his authority is. He knows what it is. To be sure, we are not going to agree to a fix that doesn't actually solve the problem. We would be derelict in our duty if we did that. We know what the problems are, and we know how to fix them. Just like the Border Patrol official told us on that trip to the Rio Grande, House Republicans are not here to supply more buckets. We are here to stop the flow. Stopping the flow is not rocket science. It takes political courage. It takes transformational policy changes, and we know what policy changes will accomplish that. This is not conjecture. It is not Republican talking points. This is what the experts at the border, at the epicenter, tell us is necessary and needed, and it is insane that we will not supply it. We are also taking action this very week, right now. We are doing this every day. I thank Representatives Ciscomani, McClintock, and Moore for their hard work on four very important bills that the House is considering even this week. These bills will hold foreign persons, like criminal aliens, accountable for their crimes and keep them out of our communities. One of those bills is the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act, named for Border Patrol Agent Raul Gonzalez, who died in the line of duty while pursuing a group of illegal aliens. It would provide stiffer penalties for aliens who attempt to evade arrest by the Border Patrol. We will also consider a bill to ensure that aliens who are convicted of drunk driving are both deportable and inadmissible. Believe it or not, they are not currently. The third bill would provide stiffer penalties for illegal aliens who engage in Social Security identity theft. The fourth bill would ensure that aliens who have ties to Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization will not be granted entry into the United States. These bills are obviously commonsense measures to protect the American people. They should gain the support of Republicans and Democrats, but my guess is not many Democrats will support it. The Republicans in the House will continue to press for secure borders to ensure America's immigration system serves the national interest and does not benefit aliens who are a danger to our own people. Last Friday, President Biden came out in support of the Senate's deal, which we haven't seen yet. There is no text yet, but from what we have heard, this so-called deal does not include these transformational policy changes that are needed to actually stop the border catastrophe. Among the reported details of the bill--again, I am working off reports because I haven't seen the text, but apparently, reportedly a new authority would be created in the law so the President can ``shut down the border once daily crossings exceed 5,000 a day.'' You heard that right. It is illegal to cross our border, but apparently we are concocting some sort of deal to allow the President to shut down the border after 5,000 people break the law. Why is it 5,000? If you add that up, that would be a million more illegals coming into our country every year before we take remedial measures. It is madness. We should be asking: What kind of enforcement authority kicks in at 5,000 illegal crossings a day? The number should be zero. Zero. I don't care what congressional district you go into in America, poll people at random on the street, and ask them: Hey, should we allow 5,000 people to break our law each day to get a million into the country or should we stop it at zero and enforce our law? I don't know another word to describe it. It is madness. Anything higher is simply surrender. Anything higher than zero is surrendering our border, surrendering our sovereignty and our security. It is important to point out--and I want to make this very clear--in the President's statement on Friday, he falsely claimed that he needs Congress to pass a new law to allow him to close the southern border. It was a false claim. He knows that is not true. The President has been around Washington for a long time, and the President repeated his claim yesterday on the White House lawn. He said: I have done all I can do. Just give me the power I have asked for. Moments after his comments, the President's own spokeswoman contradicted him and said: There are things that are within his power to secure the border. Well, hello, of course there are. The law is very clear. Anybody can google this. Any American citizen can just pull this up and read it for themselves. Let's set the record straight. What he said is demonstrably false. I have explained it to him specifically. I read the President of the United States the law, the black-letter law, on the phone about 2\1/2\ weeks ago. I said: Mr. President, it says very clearly you have all the tools and the executive authority necessary to reverse the catastrophe that you have created. He has those tools right now, and he has since day one. The Immigration and Nationality Act, for example, coupled with recent Supreme Court precedent, give the President ample authority to suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens or impose any restrictions he may deem appropriate. That is the broadest authority that Congress probably has ever given a President, and it has been there for a long, long time. In fact, the very provision that I just read you was used by the Obama administration more than 19 times. It has been used, I think, 69 times by Presidents since 1980, but not by President Biden. He pretends it is not there. Any attempt by this President to pretend that he is a bystander bereft of any ability to secure the border is patently absurd, and we are going to continue to remind the American people of that. If we take a step back, and we consider the current catastrophe at the border, we can all see that our country is at a critical decision point. We are at a moment where we have to decide right now as a Congress, as a people. We have to decide as the American people if we have borders or not. We have to decide if we believe in the rule of law or not. We have to decide if we are a sovereign Nation or we are not. House Republicans do believe that America has borders and that we are a sovereign Nation. We believe we must set limits on the number of immigrants who enter, obviously, and the American people have a say on immigration policy. Understanding who enters and enforcing our immigration laws are critical components to maintain a sovereign country. If you do not have sovereignty, you do not have a country. I also believe that border security is part of our solemn obligation to safeguard the well-being of our citizens and uphold the principles that define who we are as a Nation. In no sense is border security somehow an act of hostility to neighboring countries. It is exactly the opposite; because a weak border weakens America, a strong border is good for America, a stronger America is good for everybody around the world, and everybody in this Chamber should acknowledge that. Just as we lock our doors at night to protect our homes, we secure our borders to protect our homeland. My friends, that is our sacred obligation. We in the House Republican Conference desperately want to protect our homeland because we want to ensure that all of our children and grandchildren can continue to enjoy the blessings of liberty that we have enjoyed and that we have loved and experienced, and we can continue this grand experiment in self-governance we began in 1776. Here is the question. I will leave you with this: Does President Biden want that? Does President Biden believe in the rule of law? Does President Biden believe that we are a sovereign Nation? Does he believe that Americans and not those from other countries should be put first? Every American citizen should be asking these questions of the President and helping us demand his answers. We won't stop. We are going to continue.