Michael McCaul

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the chairman, for his steadfast support for human rights across the world. The gentleman and the next speaker have been on this issue, really, as visionary leaders, I would say, the two strongest in the House of Representatives representing both sides of the aisle, and I thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, who has been working on these issues along with Chairman McGovern for decades.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I want to start this debate with a simple truth that we cannot afford to forget: Truly free trade cannot involve slave labor. Today, the Chinese Community Party is using the forced labor of the Uyghurs and other minorities to help bankroll its cultural genocide against those very same groups. The repression taking place right now in Xinjiang is breathtaking in its scope and in its brutality. It involves the detention of 1 to 3 million people in concentration camps, Madam Speaker. It involves surveillance and attempted brainwashing on a massive scale. It involves breaking up families and taking children from their parents. It involves forced sterilization and, Madam Speaker, forced abortions. This should be a terrifying warning to the world, to China's neighbors, and to the American people that the Chinese Communist Party is fundamentally focused on expanding its power, its control, and its authoritarian style of government. It views things that it does not control, like religion, cultural identity, and the yearning of all people for freedom, as threats that must be destroyed. Because we have drawn the CCP into our most essential supply chains, it can hold our national security hostage while it uses U.S. consumers to subsidize its atrocities. As many as one in five cotton garments globally could be tainted with Uyghur slave labor. In July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized a 13-ton shipment of human hair--Madam Speaker, human hair--that originated in Xinjiang's forced labor system. We haven't heard about human hair since the Nazis and the concentration camps of the war that my father fought in, World War II. It is brazen, and it is sickening. We must refuse to be complicit, financially or otherwise, in the CCP's crimes against the Muslim Uyghur. For that reason, I support this bill before us today. I must also point out the abuses in this province are not only one small part of the grave and growing threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses to the interests, the values, and the security of the United States. That threat is global and has military, economic, public health, and philosophical aspects. I know that many on the other side of the aisle share my concerns. I, unfortunately, regret that, during this Congress, the majority has not given the CCP threat even one-tenth of the time they have put into their partisan efforts to bring down this President. We were told that the China Task Force was going to be bipartisan, Madam Speaker, and at the last minute, the majority pulled out. For the past 4 months, I have served as chairman of the China Task Force. This task force, again, was supposed to be bipartisan because I believe this is not a Republican or Democrat issue. Confronting the generational threat that the CCP poses should be a bipartisan issue. It is an American issue against the greatest national security threat to the United States of America. I believe this failure of perspective needs to change. In our work on the China Task Force, we have met with 125 people from both sides of the aisle to gain better insight into our relationship and our foreign policy, as we speak here from the Foreign Affairs Committee, how we need to treat the Chinese Communist Party from a foreign policy standpoint. This, again, is an American issue, not Republican or Democrat. This report coming out October 1 will include 400 recommendations, including 100 pieces of legislation that have bipartisan support like the bill before us today. So, Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Then, once we get past this election, Madam Speaker, let us come together on both sides and analyze objectively our foreign policy with the Chinese Communist Party and address the bipartisan bills that will be recommended by the task force to address the Chinese Communist Party's malign activities throughout the world. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, on September 15, 2020, I missed the second vote on H. Res. 1107. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 186. personal explanation

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the important work of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Specifically, I want to recognize the important partnership between the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Red Cross, as well as congratulate them on celebrating their Centennial in the United States. For the past 10 years, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Red Cross have teamed up to host the ``Muslims for Life'' Blood Drive Campaign to remember the lives lost on 9/11. I am proud to work alongside the dedicated members of this community as they push to spread the message of peace and global unity. It is through their message of religious tolerance and freedom where we can truly bring people together in peaceful harmony. It is through actions like that I stand as a proud member of the bi- partisan Congressional Ahmadiyya Muslim Caucus, which works with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to protect religious freedom and fight against religious intolerance. Through the work in the Caucus, I have been fortunate to meet His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who serves as the fifth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. As the spiritual leader of the community, his message of global peace and devotion to human rights radiates to his millions of members around the world. As we persevere in the movement for human rights and religious tolerance across the globe, I am grateful to continue this partnership with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and thank them for their positive work in our communities.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, the Chinese Communist Party's aggression and malign conduct grows more severe each day. The CCP's malfeasance allowed the COVID-19 outbreak to become a global pandemic, causing untold economic destruction. They conduct militarized territorial aggression against most countries that border China. The CCP is pioneering a new form of colonialism, degrading the sovereignty of developing nations through debt and corruption, extracting resources and military outposts. They have orchestrated the largest transfer of wealth in human history through state-directed economic espionage against the United States and other advanced economies. And the CCP is responsible for the gravest human rights atrocities occurring in the 21st century. The evidence is manifest that the malign influence of the CCP is the greatest United States foreign policy challenge of this generation. It affects every one of our states and districts, a fact that was underscored this week by the closure of China's Houston consulate in response to multiple instances of economic espionage. We must sustain U.S. resources to counter this threat, so I am grateful that my amendment has been included in a bipartisan en bloc package for H.R. 7608, the Fiscal Year 2021 State, Foreign Operations, Agriculture, Rural Development, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. My amendment will partially restore the prior fiscal year's funding levels for the Countering Chinese Influence Fund, helping to ensure that appropriate resources are available to address this generational challenge. I'm glad that the House will address our leading foreign policy priority on a bipartisan basis, and thank my colleagues for supporting this measure to sustain U.S. resources to counter the malign influence of the CCP.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I agree with Ranking Member Thornberry in opposing this irresponsibly unbalanced amendment. This text one-sidedly declares it to be the policy of the United States to complete the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by April. It directs what ``the President shall'' do, but makes no mention of the Taliban's obligations that would render any withdrawal more advisable or feasible. By focusing only on U.S. withdrawal, it re-casts the conditions-based U.S.-Taliban agreement as a retreat declaration, rather than a roadmap toward peace. The reality is that the President has been drawing down U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But contrary to the aim of this amendment, the President also has and needs the authority to maintain a residual force to address potential counterterrorism needs and the shifting situation on the ground. More importantly, the Taliban must uphold their commitments--starting the intra-Afghan dialogue, cutting ties with al Qaeda, securing a permanent cease-fire, and preempting threats to U.S. security--or face the consequences. Those are the real steps needed for securing both a responsible U.S. withdrawal and a lasting, inclusive peace for the people of Afghanistan. Instead of acknowledging that, this political amendment sends the wrong message to the Taliban at the wrong time just to provide veto bait against a bill critical for U.S. national security. U.S. policy should be to urge the Taliban to uphold their commitments, not to rashly abandon our Afghan partners to fend for themselves against the Taliban and its deplorable record on human rights. The people of Afghanistan deserve better and as such, I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Woodall) for yielding time. We have known for years that the Chinese Communist Party has been conducting cyberattacks on the United States aimed not only at stealing vital data but also at destabilizing our economy. Recently, the FBI and DHS discovered that the CCP has taken their cyberattacks to a new low by attempting to hack into U.S. research facilities, in an effort to steal COVID-19 vaccine research. In other words, Mr. Speaker, at a time when scientists around the world are working together in an epic race against time to develop a lifesaving vaccine to rescue the world from the grips of the coronavirus, the CCP is trying to steal that research for their own selfish purposes. This news comes when the evidence has shown that the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for allowing this virus to spread into a pandemic. The House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans spent the last several months investigating the origins of this pandemic, in the hopes of learning vital lessons that would help us prevent the next one. This report details how the CCP chose to cover up the virus and lie to the world at every turn, allowing the coronavirus to spread not only throughout their own country, Mr. Speaker, but around the world in a global pandemic. They silenced doctors trying to sound the alarm about the virus and disappeared journalists who were reporting the truth about Wuhan. They shut down laboratories and ordered that virus samples be destroyed. They repeatedly lied about the virus spreading human to human, that it was transmitted human to human, that it was contagious. They allowed mass travel throughout China and internationally despite knowing that the virus was spreading human to human. Mr. Speaker, this week has served as a bleak reminder of what the Chinese Communist Party really is. Last night, the CCP sham legislature passed its so-called national security law for Hong Kong, destroying their autonomy and oppressing a freedom-loving people and violating the Sino-U.K. treaty. Yesterday, the world was made aware that the CCP is using forced sterilization, forced abortion, and coercive family planning against ethnic minorities, including the Uighur Muslims. These disturbing realizations are unfolding as the world is still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic that the CCP helped create. Now that millions of people around the world have been infected and more than half a million have died, we learned that the CCP isn't helping to fix the pandemic they are responsible for creating. Instead, Mr. Speaker, according to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, they are conducting cyberattacks on American scientific organizations and hospitals in an attempt to steal research being used to develop a vaccine for the virus. In other words, they are trying to steal our research to develop a vaccine to save the world from the very pandemic that they created. This is absolutely unacceptable and must be condemned. So, today, Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in opposing the previous question so we can consider the Kinzinger resolution to do just that. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle should come together and say, in one united voice, that we condemn these attacks by the Chinese Communist Party and that we believe that those who are responsible should be held accountable. This is the issue of our time, so let's move forward together on calling out the CCP for their continued outrageous and dangerous misbehavior. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the House sponsor of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the last several months have made it clear to the entire world that the Chinese Communist Party, or the CCP, has little regard for human life. When faced with a decision, they have chosen and will continue to choose to preserve their own power over helping their own people. Rather than alert the world to the true dangers the coronavirus posed to the world, they instead lied and orchestrated the worst coverup in human history, exposing the Chinese people and the entire world to a virus that has killed over 350,000 people, including nearly 100,000 innocent Americans. Another 5.5 million have been infected worldwide, and those numbers only continue to climb. This atrocity is far from the only example of the CCP prioritizing its power over human life and liberty. At this very moment, the CCP's rubber-stamp legislature is working to dismantle Hong Kong's freedoms. Under the guise of national security legislation, the CCP plans to expand its police state to Hong Kong and fundamentally change Hong Kongers' way of life, freedom, and autonomy. The CCP is showing the world that they are willing to tear up the international commitments they made to preserve freedom in Hong Kong. We can no longer stand idly by while the CCP consolidates its power at the expense of freedom around the world. The ultimate example of what the CCP is willing to do in the name of national security has been clear for some time, and that is the cultural genocide of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minority Muslim groups in western China. Over the last several years, these ethnic minorities have been rounded up and forced into concentration camps where they are brainwashed with state propaganda and forced to do grueling work as part of their ``reform.'' They live under a complete Orwellian surveillance program, an apparatus tracking their every move. Some have been tortured and killed. Others have been disappeared from their families, never to be returned, with no explanation from the CCP. That is why I stand today in strong support of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. The goal of the Chinese Government is to completely eradicate an entire culture simply because it doesn't fit within what the Chinese Communist Party deems ``Chinese.'' They want to remove the cultural, religious, and ethnic identity the Uyghurs have and indoctrinate them so that they love the Chinese Communist Party more than their family, their culture, or their religion. In total, 1 to 3 million Chinese citizens have been subjected to the state-sponsored cultural genocide. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called this the ``stain of the century,'' and he is absolutely right. That is why we can't sit idly by and allow this to continue. As I have said before, our silence will be complicit, and our inaction will be our appeasement. But today we are acting, Madam Speaker, as a beacon of hope and freedom to the rest of the world, and the United States has a responsibility to take action. Now is the time for all of us, Republican and Democrat, as Americans to stand together and show the CCP that their egregious human rights abuses will not go unchecked. We can do that by passing this bill today with strong bipartisan support to show the Chinese Communist Party and the entire world that their treatment of the Muslim Uyghurs is inexcusable and will not be allowed without serious consequences. This legislation requires the President to submit a report that identifies Chinese Communist Party officials who have carried out these heinous crimes. These officials may then be sanctioned for their complicity. This bill also requires a separate human rights report that highlights abuses specifically to Xinjiang, China. Madam Speaker, I am hopeful that this is just one of many bipartisan actions that we can take as we push back on the world's most oppressive dictatorship. We must acknowledge that the CCP is the greatest economic and national security threat of this generation. We must face this threat not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. As the chairman of the recently announced China Task Force in the House, I look forward to working with my colleagues to plan decisive action to push back on the CCP. We cannot allow the CCP to remain unchallenged on the world stage. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Just today, the Secretary of State announced, under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that we passed last November which requires an annual certification of Hong Kong's autonomy, he just announced that he cannot certify the autonomous nature of Hong Kong. This is a very significant day, Madam Speaker, because the Chinese Communist Party now has cracked down on the free and loving people of Hong Kong and their autonomous nature under one country, two systems, back when the U.K.-Sino pact was signed. The CCP, Chinese Communist Party, are in violation now of the Sino-U.K. pact. Madam Speaker, this bill, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 is more proof that we can come together, as Republicans and Democrats, to address the generational threat by the Chinese Communist Party and champion American values. Whether it be the Muslim population of the Uyghurs, whether it be the Tibetan population who have been persecuted, and the Dalai Lama, who is in exile, to the Christians who are persecuted in China by the Communist Party, this bill will help hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their atrocities and will show the world, including the Uyghur Muslim American community, that the United States Congress will not tolerate these appalling human rights violations. We will always stand for human rights across the globe. And the one thing I respect about our committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, is that we stand together when it comes to our foreign policy. As Chairman Engel often says, partisanship stops at the water's edge. And when it comes to human rights, we stand with our Founding Fathers and what they stood for in fighting oppression and tyranny and for democracy and freedom. That is why, today, we stand with the Uyghur Muslim population in China. And for all those listening in China and, particularly, to those members of the Chinese Communist Party who are probably watching this broadcast on C-SPAN, we are watching you today. We will not back down. We will talk about this until it stops, and it will stop, hopefully, in our lifetime. It won't stop this Congress, but it must stop. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, while we must continue to focus on flattening the curve and supporting struggling Americans here at home, we must also help combat the spread of COVID-19 abroad. The pandemic is just beginning in many developing countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It is not hard to imagine a worst-case scenario as COVID-19 ravages these fragile nations, particularly in areas already plagued by conflict and extremism. The destabilizing impact that the virus will have on economies, government institutions, and communities is deeply concerning. This is a global pandemic, and the work that we do overseas makes us safer here at home, too, as this virus continue to spread. Since the outbreak began, the U.S. has provided $775 million to over 100 countries around the world to combat the spread of COVID-19. This commitment builds on over two decades of sustained U.S. leadership and investment to strengthen health systems and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. In addition, according to the State Department, the American people, NGOs, faith groups, and the private sector have also stepped up to provide an estimated $3 billion in donations and assistance to save lives around the world. However, we must ensure that these vital resources are used as effectively and efficiently, as possible. Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party continues to cover up their culpability--withholding test samples, lying about mortality rates, and suppressing doctors and journalists from covering the facts-and ultimately undermining the global response. I support the Trump administration's efforts to insist on transparency and accountability. This includes accountability at the World Health Organization, which failed to immediately and effectively respond to this global pandemic. We cannot allow taxpayer resources to go toward organizations that were complicit in this cover up until there is accountability. Our assistance must not only consider the short-term needs of vulnerable populations and our partners overseas, but also longer-term recovery efforts to generate economic growth and opportunity. In this unpredictable time, authoritarian regimes, terrorist groups, and hostile nation states will try to take advantage of the chaos for strategic gains. The Chinese Communist Party, acting as both the arsonist and the firefighter, is leveraging this pandemic to project their power and influence through economic dependencies created by their Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As African nations cry out for much-needed debt relief from China's predatory BRI lending, reports are already emerging that China is seeking to condition relief on the handover of strategic assets, such as copper mining assets in Zambia. We must consider the follow-on shocks of COVID-19--on nascent democracies, counterterrorism operations, refugee camps, vaccination campaigns, education systems, food security, and nutrition interventions--as existing humanitarian crises, security threats, and development challenges are compounded and exacerbated. The U.S. must be strategic in our investments and adapt and prioritize our assistance to prevent further destabilization and conflict in the wake of COVID-19. Otherwise, the cost, in both lives and foreign assistance dollars will be exponential in the long run. I applaud Representative Yoho and Representative Bera for organizing this special order and for working across the aisle to address this crucial issue. I would also like to thank the frontline healthcare workers, both in my district and around the world, for their lifesaving work. Finally, I would like to thank the NGO community and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition for their leadership and advocacy.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas (Mr. Brady) for yielding and for his great leadership on this bill. Today, America is in a crisis. Not since the Spanish flu of 1918 has the world faced a global pandemic of such epic proportions. This virus, which came out of Wuhan, China, has created fear and devastation across the globe. COVID-19 has infected more than 2.6 million people around the world and killed nearly 200,000. It has paralyzed our economy, forcing more than 26 million Americans into unemployment in just a few short weeks. And that is why we took the risk, Madam Speaker, to fly back here today so we can do our job and vote for this important legislation. This rescue package throws a lifeline to small businesses and the American worker to keep them whole during this hard time. It provides much-needed funding for testing and for our hospitals that need it desperately. In closing, I want to take this opportunity to thank the brave American heroes who are on the front line today: our doctors, nurses, and first responders who are risking their lives every day. We honor their sacrifice to our Nation. At the end of the day, as Americans, we are all in this together, and together we will get through this hard time and be stronger than ever before.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, here we are, once again, debating war powers when the simple fact is we are not engaged in hostilities against Iran. Why are we wasting precious floor time when all the American people really care about today is coronavirus? Today the WHO declared it a pandemic. That is the biggest threat to our Nation today. So, why are my colleagues launching more partisan political attacks against this President for taking justified military action to protect Americans against one of the world's most dangerous terrorists? That is why my motion states that Soleimani was a terrorist and that the world is safer without him, just like the world was safer when President Obama ordered the strike on bin Laden when Republicans and Democrats came together to praise his decision. President Obama conducted thousands of unauthorized strikes in Libya unrelated to protecting Americans, and at that time Leader Pelosi said that she was satisfied he had the authority for those strikes. Soleimani was a mastermind of terror in the Middle East for two decades, and that is why President Obama designated him as a terrorist. Soleimani funded, trained, and equipped Iran's terrorist proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Soleimani is the one who convinced Russia to fight for Assad. Tens of thousands of innocent people in Syria are dead today, victims of war crimes, because of Soleimani. Soleimani played a key role in the crackdown of protesters in Iraq that killed hundreds of Iraqis. Most importantly, Madam Speaker, he has the blood of over 600 American soldiers on his hands. Under Soleimani's command, Iran tried to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States in a Washington, D.C., restaurant less than 4 miles from where we are standing today. The danger he posed to the United States was not just a thing of the past. He was directing a campaign of terror and violence against us in Iraq, which killed one American and injured four other servicemen. He orchestrated the attack on our Embassy in Baghdad. Look at this picture. This was not simply a brush fire, Madam Speaker. They stormed and attacked our Embassy under Soleimani's orders. What more evidence do we need than this? Soleimani was not done after his attack on our Embassy. He wasn't on a vacation when he went to meet with his top lieutenants in Damascus, Lebanon, and Baghdad. Secretary Pompeo testified to our committee that Soleimani was in the region actively plotting to kill Americans. He was going to report back to Tehran, to the Ayatollah, to plan future attacks. What if our President had done nothing and our Embassy was attacked again like in 1979 with diplomats taken hostage? What if the President did nothing? What if more United States troops were killed? What then would the other side of the aisle be saying? Madam Speaker, the enemies of our country are watching this debate right now, and they need to know darn well that, if you kill or injure Americans, you will pay the price. Like President Reagan, I am a firm believer in peace through strength. When we show strength like we did with this necessary strike, our enemies back down. So, Madam Speaker, I call upon my colleagues to drop their partisanship, to stand as Americans as we did when President Obama struck bin Laden, and to support this simple fact that the world is a better place without Soleimani. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to commit at the desk.

Mr. McCAUL. I am in its current form.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Riggleman), who served in the United States Air Force for over a decade and is a veteran of Operation Allied Force and Enduring Freedom.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Madam Speaker, there was reference that the taking out of Soleimani was an assassination. I just want to remind this body of Jeh Johnson's words, President Obama's general counsel at the Department of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security, who I have tremendous respect for. He signed off on airstrikes under the Obama administration, stating that Soleimani was a lawful military objective, and the President, under his Constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, had ample domestic legal authority to take him out without additional congressional authorization. I think that really puts this matter to rest. But let me also say that the chairman and I are very bipartisan. We respect this committee. We respect the integrity of this committee. We both see the world very much in the same way. I know the chairman is not a supporter of Soleimani. I believe the chairman believes, as I do, that the world is safer without Mr. Soleimani in it. The chairman and I are very staunchly pro-Israel, and are for Israel, and very much against the actions of the Ayatollah in Iran. So I don't question the chairman whatsoever. In fact, I take great pride in the fact that the chairman and I work very well together. When we disagree--and sometimes we do--we agree to disagree, and we do so with civility, which I think has been lost at times in this body, in this town. And so I want to start with that. I will say that all the hearings I have had, and briefings prove that Soleimani was a terrorist who actively engaged in a campaign of violence against Americans and our interests. And after not one, two, but three times debating this issue on the floor, I think we about said all we can say. I think we can all agree he was a brutal terrorist and that the world is better off without him. But I have to question, why now are we debating this? Our country is facing a public health emergency. Madam Speaker, as I stated, the World Health Organization just announced in the time of this debate that the coronavirus is now a pandemic. As of today, there are more than 121,000 reported cases of coronavirus worldwide, including over 1,000 right here in the United States. And while the CDC maintains the likelihood of a person catching the disease is low, the fallout from the fear caused by COVID-19 is real and is causing real damage. Just 2 days ago, people were watching as their 401(k)s and retirement funds were disappearing and Wall Street saw the biggest drop in more than a decade. I know in my district, the city of Austin suffered a significant economic blow with the cancellation of South by Southwest, an event the chairman and I were actually scheduled to speak at regarding how we were the committee that works together and doesn't give in to toxic partisan politics. Last year, this conference in my hometown brought more than $350 million to Austin, making it the most profitable event for the city's hospitality industry. More communities are facing economic fallout, as well. And the fear is only rising as we continue to see more stories. Several Members of Congress themselves, our colleagues, are currently self-quarantining after potentially being exposed to the virus, yet we are talking about this resolution today. I would just close by saying, I was back in my district over the weekend talking to my constituents. They were really not concerned about the War Powers Resolution. Their number one concern right now is: My God, is my child going to get coronavirus? Am I going to get coronavirus? When is it going to impact my backyard, my neighbors? They want to be safe, and they want Congress to do something. I am hopeful, Madam Speaker--I know they are in negotiations right now between the leadership of our two parties that we can come together, just as we did last week, in passing a $7.8 billion supplemental to address this crisis--that we can come together as Republicans and Democrats to do good things for the American people and to protect the American people and to make them safe. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers), a member of the Armed Services Committee and the lead Republican of the Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who served in the United States Army and fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Waltz), a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and the first Green Beret elected to Congress.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I believe I have said about everything I can say on this issue, so I won't take up more time of Congress, other than to say we are not at war with Iran. If we were, I would be the first one to say Congress has a responsibility to act. If Soleimani was taken out in Iran, I would be the first to say we need an Authorization for Use of Military Force. Congress does have the power to declare war under the Constitution, and many colleagues on my side of the aisle agree with that concept, but it is just not factually what is happening on the ground today in Iran. If that day happens, we are fully prepared to have this discussion. This is what I would call a premature argument to make. And I would say, with respect to updating the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs, I have had several meetings with Members on both sides of the aisle, many of whom were not here when those were passed by Congress in 2001 and 2002, who also agree that we should be working to modernize these Authorizations for Use of Military Force. I think there is that consensus, Madam Speaker, here today. I would encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--and I know Chairman Engel is also supportive of working together--to try to modernize these Authorizations for Use of Military Force. But that is not the situation on the ground today, and I cannot support this resolution simply for the fact it is based on a false premise. It will tie the hands of our Commander in Chief to respond in self-defense to Americans, our diplomats serving over there very bravely, and our American soldiers who are over there very bravely--it ties his hands to defend from an attack launched by Iran. And lastly, I say, Mr. Soleimani was not a good man. He was an evil mastermind of terror. For two decades he killed Americans. He brought the Russians into Syria. They slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent people in Syria. He is responsible for so much blood on his hands. I would close by saying--and I do think there is consensus on this issue, as well--that the world is indeed a better place without this mastermind of terror, the greatest mastermind since bin Laden was removed from the face of this Earth. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.