Debbie Lesko

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. This bill also removes any protections from using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. That is right here in this bill. This bill, as Representative Cole also said, federalizes elections. In fact, it prohibits States from requiring voter ID. Arizona requires voter ID. This bill would take that away. It also legalizes ballot harvesting. Arizona opposed--the legislature said no ballot harvesting. This would bring it right back, right here in this bill. Again, it would also provide tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires in blue States that require taxpayers in low-tax States, like Arizona, to subsidize them. That is why we can't support this bill. There are too many poison pills. Please come up with something that we can agree on to help the American people.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of Ervin Julian from Surprise, Arizona. Mr. Julian was one of the few World War II veterans still alive in Arizona, a centenarian, a Valley resident for more than 50 years, and a proud husband and father. Mr. Julian was born in Waltham, Massachusetts and enlisted in the United States Navy for four years during World War II. During his time in service, he was stationed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, where he worked as the base commander's assistant. Shortly after his service, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he worked as a wholesale salesman. He was married to the love of his life, Louise Julian, for nearly seventy-two years. Together, they raised their son Steven, who often refers to his dad as ``a great hero.'' His only grandson, Joseph Charles Bentley Julian, is proud of his grandfather's service and the contributions he made to our nation. Mr. Julian was a member of the American Legion and a big supporter of Boy Scouts of America. He fueled his love of antique automobiles by being active in the Horseless Carriage Club of America and Wally Byam Caravan Club International. His family continues to cherish one of the most memorable final moments they shared together--when he went viral at a rally for President Donald Trump in February 2020. Mr. Julian captured the hearts of many when two men carried him down a flight of stairs at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum as the crowd chanted ``U-S-A! U-S-A!'' in the background. On this day, we as a community would like to thank Mr. Julian for his service to our country and ask those who knew him to pray for his family during this time of mourning.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, wow, that was an impassioned speech by the chairman, but I have to remind the chairman that there were a lot of Democrat liberal wish lists in the relief package that were passed, including releasing prisoners that were 50 years old and older--didn't matter what they were charged with--from prison and giving $1,200 relief payments to illegal immigrants using taxpayer dollars. So maybe if Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats would have actually talked to Republicans before they pushed through a bill, there would have been more bipartisan support to help small businesses and the American people. With this previous question and the amendment, we are trying to do just that. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon), my friend.

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman McGovern for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this rule consists of two bills, including H.R. 4447, the Democrat's energy package. It consists of 38 bills with a total cost of $135 billion. The bill includes burdensome mandates and an incredibly high price tag. Mr. Speaker, let's be clear, Republicans support reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the United States by scaling up clean energy innovation with less regulation. Unfortunately, this bill adds new regulatory hurdles that make the clean energy technology deployment much more difficult to build. Regulations hurt innovations, especially at such a high price tag. The bill fails to put forward policies that will reform the permitting and licensing process required to finance, build, expand, and modernize energy infrastructure. Instead, the bill spends billions of dollars on unfocused research without spending money on investments and infrastructure. Republicans have introduced numerous bills this Congress that will build, expand, and modernize our energy infrastructure. They remove regulatory barriers to building nuclear, natural gas, and hydropower infrastructure. These are all clean and reliable sources of generation that will power America, protect the environment, and keep our country secure. The mandates contained in the bill will drive up energy and transportation costs for American consumers. For example, one of the mandates in the bill will mandate energy efficiency building codes, which the home building industry says will drive up the cost of housing to consumers without proportional savings in energy costs. H.R. 4447 will lead our country down the wrong path. We don't want to California the Nation with blackouts and high utility costs. Even minority groups are suing California utilities over their high energy costs. And believe it or not, California utilities actually pay Arizona for their renewable energy to take it off of their hands during certain times of the year. That is totally insane. I regularly meet with constituents and companies in Arizona who say they moved from California to Arizona because California's incredibly burdensome regulations stifle growth. California's current energy crisis was predictable and avoidable, but they ignored the scientists and engineers who maintain the electric grid and, instead, mandated their own version of the Green New Deal. In doing so, California forced the retirement of stable baseload power generation without a reliable option in place. The Democrats may claim that H.R. 4447 is a bipartisan bill. While it includes some bipartisan provisions, it is not a bipartisan bill. It was crafted solely by Democrats with no input from Republicans. Many of the provisions amount to billions of dollars of new and overlapping programs that had little to no process or regular order. I sit on the Rules Committee, where my colleagues reminisce regularly about how we used to operate through a committee system with regular order: a legislative hearing, a subcommittee markup, a full complete markup. Apparently, those days are gone. Now the Democrats legislate by posting a one-sided bill one week and putting it on the floor the following week. Public laws do not come out of this process well, only partisan politics and messaging bills. We all know that. Mr. Speaker, this rule also contains H.R. 6270, the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act. The United States is an honorable and noble country that must not tolerate the gross human rights abuses perpetrated by Chinese leaders. While the bill takes strong action to ensure American businesses are not complicit in China's forced labor programs, there are outstanding concerns in the bill that may harm U.S. businesses. For instance, the bill requires public companies to file disclosures with the SEC if they imported manufactured goods or other materials that originated in or are sourced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and disclose whether those goods originated in forced labor camps. These entities would also have to disclose the nature and extent of the commercial activity related to each good or material, the gross revenue and net profits attributable, and whether they intend to continue importing the good. China's atrocities against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups must come to an end, and we voted on that bill yesterday in a bipartisan fashion. We must ensure that items made with forced labor are not allowed to enter our markets. To do our jobs properly in Congress, we must allow bills to run their course through committees for proper debate, discovery, and amending. Mr. Speaker, I urge opposition to the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), my good friend, the ranking member of the Rules Committee.

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider Small Business Committee Ranking Member Steve Chabot's H.R. 8265 to reopen the Paycheck Protection Program to America's 30 million small businesses. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, this amendment would ensure our Nation's smallest and most vulnerable firms get the support they need by allowing an opportunity for a second PPP loan with specific funds set aside for small businesses with 10 or fewer employees, expand the list of eligible covered expenses, simplify the loan forgiveness process, and extend PPP through the end of 2020. I think all of us can agree that this is very vital for our small businesses and their workers in America. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko), my good friend.

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I can guarantee Chairman McGovern, if we defeat the previous question, my amendment is what will be brought up to help small businesses and their workers. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed).

Mrs. LESKO. Boy, I have read some media reports where actually there were members of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives in swing districts who pleaded with Speaker Pelosi to have a relief package, and she is the one who said: Oh, no. So I have to respectfully disagree with the gentleman's analogy. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I can guarantee that if we were in the majority, we would be able to do a relief package that didn't include liberal wish lists that could actually pass the Senate and get signed into law. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin Hern).

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, again, if the so-called HEROES Act would not have been chock-full of a bunch of liberal wish lists but only concentrated on things that Republicans and Democrats could have actually agreed to and would have passed the Senate and then signed into law, we would have had relief to the American people by now. But I would assume that Chairman McGovern knows that there were certain things in that bill that they knew in advance that the Republicans weren't going to go for, like releasing prisoners into the communities. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Herrera Beutler).

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in closing, at a time when many Americans are struggling with the economic fallout from the ongoing pandemic, it is unfortunate that the Democratic majority is not coming up with solutions that can actually be signed into law. We need to negotiate with the Republicans in the Senate and the President and the Democrats together. That is what America wants. Instead, in this rule, we are focusing on a Green New Deal-type of energy package--one that didn't work so well in California, as can be attested to by their rolling blackouts and other energy crises. Mr. Speaker, I would call on us to defeat the previous question so that we can add the amendment to, at least, help the small businesses and their workers. This is something we can do together. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' on the previous question, ``no'' on the underlying measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. ``Nancy Pelosi Goes Politically Postal.'' That's the catchy title of a recent op-ed written by The Wall Street Journal editorial board, and that is the reason we are here today, for phony political theater to once again bash President Trump just in time for the Sunday talk shows and the Republican National Convention. And just like all the other times, the media will lap it right up. Wouldn't it be nice if we were here today on a Saturday voting on a negotiated COVID relief package to help the American people that could actually be signed into law? But sadly, instead, we are here talking about a postal bill, one The Wall Street Journal editorial board called a ``made-for-TV phony political crisis.'' Boy, did they get that right. Let's review the facts. A task force recommends that the U.S. Postal Service overhaul their business model in order to return it to sustainability because expenses have outpaced revenue for 13 straight years, and they lost $8.8 billion in 2019 alone. The new Postmaster General is unanimously selected by a bipartisan Board of Governors, not President Trump. The Postmaster General starts making some changes in an attempt to make the post office more sustainable, as recommended by the task force--you know, similar to the types of changes that were made under the Obama administration in the past. The Postmaster General worries that some States allow voters to request mail-in ballots too close to the election day and is afraid that there is not enough turnaround time for those ballots to get back in time, so he sends a courtesy letter to those States, recommending they tell voters to mail in their ballots early so they can get them in time. Guess what? Democrats freak out, blame Trump, say he is trying to influence the election, even though Trump doesn't have control over the Postmaster General, and run to the ever-so-willing media to spread a new Trump conspiracy theory. Seems insane but all too typical for the Trump-hating Democrats to me. But don't take my word for it, let's see what Stephen Kearney, a 33- year veteran employee, former Treasurer, and Senior Vice President of the U.S. Postal Service said: ``This conspiracy theory is the most far- flung thing I think I have ever heard.''

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievement of Melissa Girmscheid, an extraordinary teacher at a public high school in my district. Melissa has dedicated the last nine years to teaching Physics and STEM classes at Centennial High School in Peoria, Arizona. This year, she was selected as the Air Force Association of Arizona Teacher of the Year and placed second overall in the Air Force Association Rolls Royce 2020 National Aerospace STEM Teacher of the Year award. Melissa's leadership has influenced organizations throughout the nation to increase educational opportunities and advocate for the value of STEM education and employment in their communities. Melissa has created innovative STEM engagement opportunities that will continue to shape the perceptions of STEM education and employment into the future. I am confident that because of her efforts to expand access to high school physics and foundational STEM courses, Arizona students will be inspired to pursue careers as STEM professionals or future educators. On this day, we as a community would like to congratulate Melissa Girmscheid on her selection as Air Force Association of Arizona STEM Teacher of the Year and thank her for her dedication and advocacy for quality education for our nation's youth.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of John Campbell from Goodyear, Arizona. John married his wife, Wally, on June 17, 1967, and they spent 53 wonderful years together. He was a loving father to Suzanne Wininger, Steve Brown, Stuart Brown, and John Campbell II, a grandfather to seven, and a great-grandfather to seven. John proudly served our great nation in the United States Air Force for twenty-four years. He retired as an accomplished aviator, earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his time in service, John acquired a long list of achievements and awards including spending over 6,000 hours flying the Air Force KC- 135 as a Master Navigator, the meritorious service medal with one leaf cluster, the Air Medal with four leaf clusters, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. After retirement, he continued to serve his community as a deputy registrar of contractors for the California Contractors State Licensing Board. He also served as a member of Ben Ali Shrine, the Union Kit Carson Lodge No. 58, the National Sojourners, and New Hope OES. He was a proud life member of both the American Legion AWO and the Military Officers Association of America. On this day, we as a community would like to thank Mr. Campbell for his service to his country, and pray for his family and loved ones during this time of mourning.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I rise today with great sadness over the passing of Peoria Police Officer Jason Judd who was killed in the line of duty on July 1, 2020. He was beloved by many and was a loving husband to Teresa, and father to Terrence and Connor. He was a veteran and served eleven years and nine months in the United States Air Force before joining the Peoria Police Department in July of 1999. He was a 21-year veteran with the Peoria Police Department and put his life on the line every day to keep Arizonans safe. He was a well- respected leader and hero to many. Officer Judd received numerous commendations for his excellent investigative police work, contributing to the arrests and convictions for crimes such as burglary, carjacking, DUI accidents, fraud, stabbing, and second-degree murder. He also received the Lifesaving Medal and over 50 commendations from citizens, fellow officers, other agencies, and community leaders. Throughout his career, he was involved in the annual Peoria Bike Rodeo, Youth Citizen's Police Academy, multi-agency DUI enforcement campaigns, school safety presentations, and the 4th of July celebrations at Lake Pleasant, just to name a few. We are eternally grateful for his service to our state and nation. On this day, we, as a community, honor him and ask those who knew him to pray for his family during this time of mourning.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the retirement of Brigadier General Todd Canterbury. He began his career in the Air Force after earning his commission from Arizona State University's ROTC program in 1993 and is retiring as the Commander of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Flying fighter jets is in his blood as General Canterbury is the son of the former Commander of the 56th Fighter Wing--making them the first and only father-son combination to hold base commanding positions at Luke Air Force Base. In his 27-year Air Force career, he had 20 assignments, was a graduate of the National War College, and served as a Command Pilot. He has more than 4,200 flight hours in the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-35 Lightning II, and MC-12W Liberty aircraft with over 650 being combat hours defending our great nation. During his time in service, General Canterbury acquired a long list of achievements and awards to include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, multiple combat campaign medals, and more. I would also like to recognize General Canterbury's leadership in making Luke Air Force Base the F-35 fighter pilot training headquarters, which created a partnership between the United States and NATO members to train their pilots on the F-35 aircraft. General Canterbury has not only made his family proud, but the United States Air Force, Arizona, and his country. We appreciate his selfless service and wish him the best in his next adventure. On this day, I invite my colleagues to join me in recognizing the sacrifices that his family has made over the years and to thank Brigadier General Canterbury for his service to the United States of America.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the retirement of James ``Rusty'' Mitchell from the Department of the Air Force as a civilian employee out of Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Mr. Mitchell has been a well-loved and influential member of the military and veteran community for over 25 years. He began his career in the Air Force flying fighter jets and retired from Active Duty after 22 years as the Commander of the 21st Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base. During his time in service, Mr. Mitchell acquired a long list of achievements and awards to include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Aerial Achievement Medal, both the Air Force and Army Commendation Medals, and more. Professionally, he has been awarded the Air Force Practice Award and the Valley Peaks Community Partnership Award, to name a few. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Valley Partnership and WESTMARC. Mr. Mitchell has dedicated the last 17 years to serving the West Valley proactively--promoting the relationships between Luke Air Force Base, nine municipalities, Maricopa County, and the State of Arizona as the Director of the Community Initiatives Team with Luke Air Force Base. The relationships he built on behalf of Luke Air Force Base continue to be critical to accomplishing their mission of ``Training the World's Best Fighter Pilots.'' I am certain that his efforts improving relationships with communities near bases that are tasked with flight operation missions has enhanced the compatibility of several military bases and their communities across the United States. On this day, we as a community would like to thank Mr. Mitchell for his service to his country. His impact will be felt not only in the West Valley, but also within the Air Force Community beyond his retirement.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 3739, a bill originally introduced by Representative Chris Collins of New York, for the purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) for yielding me the time. Lawlessness has broken out across our Nation. It is absolutely outrageous, and it has to be stopped. Mobs are taking over parts of the city of Seattle. They took over a police precinct. Just last Saturday, people were shot, and one man was killed. Criminals are looting stores and businesses all over the Nation, including in Arizona in the upscale Scottsdale Fashion Square. Protestors are throwing bricks at police officers. They are throwing water bottles at police officers. And I have seen them shine flashlights right up close into the police officers' eyes and call them all kinds of names. Rioters are burning the flag, the American flag. And the Lincoln Memorial and World War II Memorial have been defaced. Madam Speaker, a few days ago, St. Serra, the patron saint of peace, was torn down in San Francisco. Francis Scott Key's statue was torn down. The statue of Ulysses Grant, who was the general for the Union was torn down by thugs in San Francisco. And then we saw the other night how they were trying so hard, these criminals, to tear down the statue in Lafayette Park. And they almost had it torn down, if it wasn't for the Trump administration sending in the National Guard to stop. And do you know what they wrote and spray-painted on that statue, that Federal statue? ``Killer scum.'' Does any of this show tribute to George Floyd? No. Does any of this help? Absolutely not. Now, I was really surprised to see that one of our colleagues, Congresswoman Norton, who is a nonvoting Member but represents Washington, D.C., has introduced legislation to have a statue of Abraham Lincoln taken down, a statue that was funded by the freed slaves. What has our country come to? We need to return to a semblance of civility in our country. And so that is why I call on Democrat-run cities to clamp down on these criminals. No more autonomous zones. No more looting. No more destructing statues. Let's bring back law and order. That is why I stand with President Trump and his calls to arrest and prosecute criminals. Let's stop the lawlessness. Let's try to heal our country.

Mrs. LESKO

Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, all of us--all of us--believe what happened to George Floyd was horrible, and justice must be served. Bad cops that do bad things must be held accountable. I have listened to Blacks who have been discriminated against, and I believe discrimination is real. Congressman Hastings yesterday, in the Rules Committee, shared with us things that had happened to him, things that happened to people he knew, and it was horrible. We can't let those types of things continue in our society. But I also know that the vast majority of law enforcement officers are good people, good people doing good things, helping people in the community, and protecting our communities. That is why I think it is really important that we address the problems we are having in our Nation in a bipartisan fashion, because this is so important. America needs to heal. Unfortunately, the bill before us today, part of the rule and the policing bill, was not negotiated with Republicans. So there are portions of the bill that I support, that other Republicans support, and that I believe President Trump would support and sign into law. But there are other portions of the bill that I cannot vote for, nor can other Republicans. The reason is because I have spoken to a wide variety of law enforcement officers and police chiefs. They have all said that there are portions of this bill that would undermine their ability to do their job in protecting our communities. I would like to read a portion of a letter that we received from the National Association of Police Organizations that oppose the underlying bill, H.R. 7120, in this rule. It says: Our most significant concerns include amending section 242 of title 18, United States Code, to lower the standard for mens rea, and the practical elimination of qualified immunity for law enforcement officers. Combined, these two provisions take away any legal protections for officers while making it easier to prosecute them for mistakes on the job, not just criminal acts. With the change to qualified immunity, an officer can go to prison for an unintentional act that unknowingly broke an unknown law. We believe in holding officers accountable for their actions, but the consequence of this would be making criminals out of decent cops enforcing the laws in good faith. This organization represents 241,000 sworn law enforcement officers. The other law enforcement officers I have spoken to, and chiefs, said they have problems with other portions of the bill. Specifically, the banning, outright banning, on chokeholds and carotid holds. In Arizona, it is used as a last resort, a lethal force, and that is what is in the Senate bill. But in this bill, it outright bans it. The police officers have said: Don't take that option off the table because if you take that option off the table, we will be forced to shoot someone, which I believe is the opposite of what we want to do. Also, eliminating no-knock warrants, the officers want you to know that no-knock warrants have to go through a court, that they have to go through a judge, and that, often, they are used when going after drug cartels that are heavily armed and you need the element of surprise. So banning them would possibly hurt law enforcement officers, and the drugs would be taken away. They also were concerned about the outright banning in this bill of law enforcement agencies getting surplus military equipment at little or no cost. They say they don't use this equipment to ride down the roads, you know, like showing military force. In Arizona, they often use this equipment when there are flash floods, and they need to rescue people or need to clear roads. So, it is disappointing that we can't have a bipartisan bill in front of us today. I hope we can. They didn't talk to Republicans on the bill, that I am aware of, and the Democrats in the Judiciary Committee voted down all of our amendments.

Mrs. LESKO. Particularly, I had an amendment that said if a city allows an autonomous zone, like what is happening in Seattle, they can't get law enforcement grants from the Federal Government. It seems common sense. They voted it down. I had another amendment that said if a city wants to defund, dismantle, disband police, they shouldn't get Federal law enforcement grants. That is just wrong. So I call on all Members, all Members on both sides, to speak out against the violence that is happening in our streets, the violence, the tearing down of statues, statues of Ulysses Grant, who was with the Union, statues of religious figures. This is wrong. Stop the dismantling, defunding calls for police. Stop the looting. It is not peaceful protest when that happens. Let's work on a bipartisan bill and get something real done.