Fred Keller

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, long championed by my colleague, Mr. Mike Quigley, represents an honest effort to modernize Congress and improve the Article I power of the legislative branch. The bill does this by bolstering the ability of Congress to access and understand the thousands of legally mandated reports compiled by the executive branch and sent to Congress each year. It is estimated that Federal agencies write and send to Congress over 4,000 written reports every 2 years. That is a lot of valuable information for the American people and their representatives in the U.S. House. These mandated reports contain insights into activities of Federal agencies. Insights like the status of an agency establishing a new program or updates on efforts to combat waste, fraud, and abuse. However, there is currently no central inventory for congressional Members or our staff to access these reports. Most reports are sent over via email and can get lost in the shuffle of an ever-changing and evolving Congress, or they are only sent to specific committees which prevents the rest of Congress and the public from viewing them. This bill fixes that problem. H.R. 2485 establishes a central and publicly available portal of these reports at the Government Publishing Office. Congress and members of the public will be able to fully search, sort, and download reports from this website. This gives the whole of Congress and America's citizens convenient access to all executive agency reports submitted to Congress. These are reports that the taxpayers paid for. This bill also includes protections for classified and sensitive information in keeping with the principles of the Freedom of Information Act. In summary, once Congress can get a handle on all the mandated reports, we can take actions to reduce any unnecessary agency reporting burdens. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Mike Quigley, for working together with the House Oversight and Reform Committee's ranking member, James Comer, on this good government bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 272, the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act. The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act is a long overdue reform that would ensure Congress and the Nation's taxpayers can understand the full scope and context of the annual Federal budget. I would like to thank Congressman Mike Quigley for working together with House Oversight and Reform Committee Ranking Member Comer to pass the nearly identical companion bill, H.R. 22, through the House at the beginning of this year. Last year, more than $6.8 trillion was spent to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Public spending transparency resources like USAspending.gov and PandemicOversight.gov, helped the public track agency spending, but they are not enough. Annual Federal agency budget justifications provide detailed and plain language explanations of how agencies plan to spend congressionally appropriated funds. However, these necessary justification materials are scattered across agency websites and often difficult to find. This bipartisan legislation will ensure the American people and Congress can easily access these important budget justification materials to review proposed agency spending. The bill requires every agency to make their annual budget justification materials publicly available on a single website. To do this, the bill requires the Office of Management and Budget to issue a full listing of agency budget justifications and the individual agency web pages where they are posted. Thanks to another law produced by the House Oversight and Reform Committee, the 2018 Good Accounting Obligation in Government Act, congressional budget justifications also now list unimplemented Inspector General audit and GAO report recommendations. This means the bill will also help Congress and the public annually track open IG and GAO oversight recommendations. The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act makes the executive branch annual budget process truly open to the American people and provides needed transparency of each agency's detailed budget justifications. The American public and their congressional Representatives deserve full access to agency plans to spend their hard-earned tax dollars. America's tax dollars must be used wisely, and I encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer).

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this commonsense transparency bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3533, the Federal Career Opportunities in Computer Science Work Act. In a world that increasingly relies on digital technologies, the Federal Government needs to be able to hire and attract the right talent; therefore, the ability to recruit and retain qualified software and data professionals is important, particularly as our government and private sector must withstand more frequent and sophisticated cybersecurity threats. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence released their final report earlier this year and found that ``Digitally talented people should be able to reasonably expect to spend a career performing meaningful work focused on their field of expertise in government.'' The report goes on to recommend that new Federal career fields in digital technologies be established by creating new civilian occupational series for software development, software engineering, knowledge management, and data science. The bill under consideration requires the Office of Personnel Management to either update existing occupational series or create new ones in the fields of software development, software engineering, data management, and data science. This will ensure that the Federal workforce represents current specialized fields necessary to bringing America's Government into the 21st century. The bill also enables the Federal Government to better target recruiting and retain qualified professionals in these essential fields. I appreciate Congressman Obernolte's and Congressman Welch's leadership on this issue. I encourage my colleagues to support this smart government modernization bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation that will help improve the technical skills of our Federal workforce and, ultimately, modernize our government. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has significant work to do on the cybersecurity front. My colleagues, Representatives Khanna and Mace, recognized this harsh reality when crafting their bill to improve our Federal workforce's cybersecurity and IT expertise. We face many challenges, including adequately securing IT infrastructure from cyber intrusions, supply chain hacks, and ransomware, each the subject of recent front-page news. Our cyber readiness depends, in part, upon our ability to maintain a prepared and capable Federal workforce to defend our Nation's government from a relentless onslaught of cyberattacks. Toward that end, the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act continues efforts created and implemented during the Trump administration to promote cyber rotational details throughout Federal agencies so that our valuable Federal cyber experts continue to sharpen their skills. This bill seeks to codify an additional rotational opportunity for cyber-focused professionals throughout the Federal Government. Former President Trump's executive order, ``America's Cybersecurity Workforce,'' established a mechanism for Federal employees to be detailed to other agencies through a cybersecurity rotational assignment program. The Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act places management of a similar type of program under the Office of Personnel Management. Importantly, for oversight purposes, the bill establishes requirements for a detailed operational plan and a report from the Government Accountability Office to enable congressional oversight. This will help Congress evaluate whether the rotational program is running as intended and meaningfully addressing both personnel and agency needs. If this new rotational program is not providing the intended value to the Federal Government, then Congress will have the opportunity to decline reauthorizing the program after it sunsets in 5 years. This is a valuable safety valve to the expansion of the Federal Government, which I am glad to see included in this bill. I thank my colleagues for their work on this bipartisan bill, which builds upon the cyber workforce efforts of the prior administration. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from South Carolina (Ms. Mace).

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, it is important to improve the readiness of our Nation's cyber workforce through the expansion of cyber rotations between our Federal agencies. I encourage my colleagues to support this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the chief financial officer plays an essential role in managing the District of Columbia's financial challenges and should be properly compensated for such efforts. I understand some of my colleagues may be concerned about the financial health of the District of Columbia, and I share many of those concerns. But that is why we need to ensure the best people are selected to fill the CFO position. One way to attract the best candidates in a job search is by paying professionals a competitive salary. The CFO is responsible for the District's financial operations, including more than 1,700 staff members in the district's multi-billion-dollar budget. If the District believes that it needs to adjust the rate of pay for this position to recruit a more qualified senior financial management official, then Congress should support such efforts. I believe compensation for local executives is a matter best handled at the local level, and I believe this bill balances local autonomy with a commonsense solution for attracting talent to the District. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, because I believe this is sensible legislation and good for the financial health of the District of Columbia, I will vote in support of this sensible bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Suthammanont. The global COVID-19 pandemic has meant painful losses for many families across America. I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Connolly, for his work on this bill. Discussing this legislation is a reminder as to how precious life is. Every loss impacts a community and the surviving family members. Over the past year-and-a-half, the COVID-19 pandemic has extraordinarily challenged our Nation. For example, the pandemic presented unprecedented workforce challenges for the Federal Government. Every State and territory were under a historically unprecedented emergency declaration and sought assistance from Federal agencies. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have issued numerous guidance materials to Federal agencies to ensure the vital work of America's Government could continue in a safe manner. This bill is well intentioned, and I support government-wide transparency to the American people and the Federal workforce. But the reality is, I feel that this bill is creating unnecessary and duplicative paperwork requirements. Both the Trump and Biden administrations publicly released much of the information this bill seeks to obtain, and the Biden administration continues to require the current planning the bill seeks. Further, putting restrictive reporting requirements on agencies may hinder the new administration's ability to bring the Federal workforce back to work rapidly as it is determined safe to do so. I have concerns that it may be duplicating existing efforts of the Federal Government. We hope to continue working together with our colleagues across the aisle to make sure the Federal Government is effectively delivering necessary resources and services to the American people in a safe manner. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to request a roll call vote on this bill, but I am concerned that it may be duplicating existing efforts of the Federal Government. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, this bill would ensure the creation of more realistic capability- and resource-based agency performance goals. I urge my colleagues to support this smart government reform bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Performance Enhancement Reform Act would require proper agency collaboration with annual agency performance planning. This bill directly addresses a problem where Federal agency technology and data resources sometimes struggle to support agency operational workflow and programmatic goals. It recognizes the reality that agency leadership must directly involve their technology and data leaders in strategic planning. Under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, Federal agencies are required to create annual performance plans. The Performance Enhancement Reform Act puts the agency chief performance improvement officers in charge of coordinating the annual agency performance goals. The bill will also make sure that the agency's performance planning process considers the resources necessary to support operations and achieve mission success. Such resources include information technology capabilities, supporting data assets, and human workforce capacity and skills. It also directly ensures that during this annual planning, the agency chief information officers, chief data officers, and chief financial officers are consulted on whether the performance goals are realistic and proper resources exist. I want to recognize my colleagues, Mr. Connolly and Mr. Hice, for their work crafting this smart legislation in the House Oversight Committee. Agencies should be committing to goals that have a real chance of succeeding, and this legislation requires the proper coordination to make that happen. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the National Cyber Director, or NCD, is a recently congressionally authorized position for coordinating our Nation's cyber infrastructure and activities located within the Executive Office of the President. According to the Biden administration's statutory interpretation of the NCD's authorizing statute, Chris Inglis, the newly designated National Cyber Director, cannot staff his office with qualified talent on loan from other Federal agencies. The administration has determined that the NCD's authorizing statute does not provide the necessary authority to accept nonreimbursable detailees from other Federal agencies. Congress intended the NCD to be able to use details to staff his office. The NCD's authorizing statute gives power to the Director to utilize, with their consent, the services, personnel, and facilities of other Federal agencies, even voluntary and uncompensated services. But the administration is preventing the NCD from accepting Federal details while congressional appropriations are also pending. S. 2382 will help clarify the NCD's authority to accept Federal details for a period not to exceed 3 years, and will help this new office properly staff itself in the immediate months ahead. We recognize the importance of helping this new office stand up its operations during a time when the Nation deals with cyberattacks. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, actions and results speak louder than words. In the months since President Biden first called for unity and bipartisan cooperation, the President's and Speaker's reckless tax-and- spend policies have hurt middle-class families and small businesses. These are the very people they profess to want to help the most. For the third straight month, the cost of living in America has continued to increase, the highest rate of inflation we have witnessed since 2008. Compared to last year, gas prices are up 45 percent. Food prices have increased 2\1/2\ percent. The price of an automobile is up 45 percent for a used car. Americans know they are paying more for what they need to live every day while their paychecks have decreased by almost 2 percent. Americans are spending more and getting less. This inflation is a hidden tax and a pay cut on every American family. And the effects of these are felt hardest by our senior citizens and people living on fixed incomes. The cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security this year was barely 1 percent, but rising consumer prices have outpaced that increase by more than four times.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, every 5 years, this body deliberates a surface transportation reauthorization, which is traditionally a bipartisan effort to deliver improvements to America's infrastructure, like roads, bridges, highways, and transit. Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are stripping this bill of its bipartisan roots in favor of their my-way- or-the-highway plan that is riddled with Green New Deal priorities, wasteful spending, and a clear prioritization of urban America over rural America. The Democrats' bill provides an estimated $307 billion for Green New Deal-related mandates, ties the hands of States to address their unique projects, fails to streamline the project delivery process, and pulls resources away from programs upon which rural communities rely. That is a losing deal for every American waiting for real improvement to infrastructure they use every day, and it is a losing deal for our kids and grandkids who will be forced to foot the bill. We must reject this harmful proposal and work together on a bipartisan surface transportation bill that meets the mark for every American who relies on our Nation's transportation systems.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, in large cities across America, violent crime rates are skyrocketing. At the same time, many of our Democrat colleagues are leading dangerous calls to defund the police and take cops off the streets. I can't believe this needs to be said, but demonizing law enforcement will not make our streets safer. This kind of rhetoric makes it more difficult for police officers to do their jobs and harder for local departments to attract new officers. Just look at the cities which are experiencing the largest spikes in violent crime. Homicides are up 533 percent in Portland, 58 percent in Atlanta, 37 percent in Philadelphia, and 22 percent in Los Angeles. Each of these cities has embraced the same antipolice rhetoric that we have heard from Democrats in this very Chamber. Now, in a bizarre twist of logic, Democrats are trying to shift the blame to Republicans. The only way to solve this problem is to reestablish respect for law enforcement and make sure they have the support and resources needed to protect themselves and our communities.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and co-Pennsylvanian for yielding to me. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the previous question so that we can amend the rule to immediately consider H.R. 751, the Protecting American Energy Production Act, which would prevent the Biden administration from unilaterally imposing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. Pennsylvania is home to some of the most abundant energy and natural gas resources in the Nation, and our economy is proof of all the benefits that come with it. On any given day, up to 10 percent of the Nation's dry natural gas comes out of Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District. Energy producers have been critical partners in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, investing in local communities, colleges, generating countless job opportunities, and preparing the next generation of workers for in-demand careers. However, President Biden has made it clear that he is no friend of American energy or the workers employed by this industry. He has canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, rejoined the disastrous Paris climate accords, and banned all new oil and gas leases on Federal lands. Meanwhile, the President lifted sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, thereby prioritizing Russian energy over domestic American energy. Overregulation, Federal mandates, and policies that will kill American energy production ignore facts and, instead, increase energy costs and weaken our national security. These energy-killing policies are paving the way for the Green New Deal. Democrats like to sell this package as a greener America when, in reality, it makes our Nation more dependent on foreign nations for our growing energy needs; I might add, foreign nations that don't protect the environment and develop this energy as safely as we do here in the United States. These energy needs, what we do in the United States, would sustain good-paying jobs, create prosperity for future generations, and secure American interests around the globe. We must invest in critical infrastructure like pipelines and refineries, and promote a regulatory environment that cultivates innovation in the energy sector. We must reject policies that place higher premiums on appeasing the Democrats' Green New Deal ambitions than protecting the future of America's energy sector and the thousands of American workers it employs. Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question so that the House can immediately consider this important legislation.

Mr. KELLER

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

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues across the aisle appear eager to investigate and hold hearings on just about anything, but when 200 Republicans and I urged the Speaker to investigate the origins of COVID-19 a month ago, the Speaker did nothing. Evidence is now mounting that COVID-19 may have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, and the Chinese Communist Party worked to cover it up. Pointblank, this coverup by the CCP cost American lives, shuttered tens of thousands of businesses, and altered life as we know it. Yet, here we stand, almost a month later, and we are still no closer to a House investigation, not even a hearing to get to the bottom of what happened. The simple fact of the matter is that the Chinese Communist Party is an adversary, and they have not been truthful or honest about anything, especially not their role in covering up the origins of COVID-19. Since the very beginning, the Chinese Communist Party has blocked American scientists from participating in a full-scope investigation, refused access to reporters from Wuhan, manipulated the World Health Organization's report on the origins of the virus, and strong-armed anyone who disagreed with the narrative they invented. It is infuriating that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are willing to cover for the Chinese Communist Party and let them off the hook for this disaster, simply to achieve a political end. We cannot and should not accept anything less than absolute certainty about the origins of COVID-19. We must investigate, hold China accountable, and ensure nothing like this ever happens again.

Mr. KELLER

Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest threats that emerged from this pandemic is an expanding government unwilling to relinquish control and restore Americans' God-given rights. We see it all across our country. President Biden and liberal Governors tout the ``follow the science'' talking point while failing to follow the science themselves, keeping in place pandemic restrictions while knowing full well that our economy can fully reopen. While the left virtue signals, pushing radical policies like vaccine passports and critical race theory, American families are still struggling to make ends meet. Tens of thousands of businesses have closed their doors for good, and our children have fallen behind because they are denied in-person learning. Some Federal agencies are still not operating at pre-pandemic levels. We have American veterans who cannot access records they need for treatment and benefits they earned because of career bureaucrats who can't be bothered to go back to work. This is wrong and completely avoidable. Here, in Congress, we see the hypocrisy of the left on display. Speaker Pelosi lifts the mask mandate for the House floor, but keeps the people's House closed to the public. We have Members of this body not showing up and voting in person. The people that we represent go to work every day, and they expect us to do the same. Americans have never been and never will be a nation ruled by fear and control. Reopen the Capitol Building, reopen our country, and restore freedom and power to the American people.