Brian Mast

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MAST. Madam Chair, the argument here against privatized housing for people in the military is if you allow somebody to put their private dollars into it, then down the road it may turn into what the government has allowed the housing to turn into, which would be terrible. We shouldn't let a private entity oversee the housing because it may turn into what the government has allowed housing to be for our servicemembers. That argument holds no water, makes absolutely no sense, and I would put my money on the private entities taking better care of their investment than how the government takes care of an investment that is paid for by the ambiguous tax dollars of people across the country any day of the week.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I will add a little bit to what he just said. He is absolutely correct, my colleague, in saying that there was a time when veterans were handed opioids in bags. They were given recurring prescriptions. There was a time that I had drawers full of OxyContin just because the prescription kept getting refilled. I literally never used one, but they kept giving me more and more. At the same time, you are not allowed to discuss cannabis with your doctor, not do the paperwork with your doctor, not be able to find out if it is the best option or the worst option but really not be able to be benefited by your doctor and the advice they could offer on this. As we both said, it is definitely time to turn the page on this issue. I thank my colleague for his work on this issue, as well. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, the Treasure Coast lost a hero this year when Florida Highway Patrolman Zachary Fink was killed in the line of duty. He was a son of St. Lucie County, Florida. Trooper Fink had a desire from an early age to help people, and that is what led him to a career in law enforcement. I did know Trooper Fink. I didn't know him well, but I did know him. I recognized that he was willing to lay his life on the line to protect me and every other member of our community. We all have people in our lives that we would sacrifice anything to protect, our siblings, our children, our spouses, but very few of us would lay down our life for somebody that we barely know. Law enforcement officers like Trooper Fink do just that every single day. I have introduced legislation to name the U.S. Post Office building at 290 NW Peacock Boulevard in Port St. Lucie after Trooper Zachary Fink. I would simply say this: We cannot repay his sacrifice in any measure, but we can always remember his sacrifice.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, in the early morning of February 2, 2024, Florida Highway Patrolman Zachary Fink, ID No. 1550, gave his life in the line of duty. He served in St. Lucie County, where he was raised and where he dedicated everything he had to protecting. He will be remembered by all who knew him, and remembered as a man you could count on. He was a natural comedian who could deescalate. He was an outdoorsman. He was a man deeply proud of his law enforcement brothers and sisters, who he himself considered it an honor to be among their ranks. Mr. Speaker, it is we who have all been honored by Trooper Fink's selfless and total commitment to others. I thank God, and I thank his parents for giving him to us. Mr. Speaker, I ask for silence in recognition of the sacrifice of Trooper Zachary Fink.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, the amount of teleworking in Washington is astronomical. We all know post-pandemic it is nearly impossible to get an employee of a Federal agency on the phone because they are still working in their homes and not in the office. Perhaps some of the worst offenders are those at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD. According to a GAO study from July of this year, the occupancy rate of HUD's headquarters, the Robert C. Weaver Federal building, is roughly 9 percent occupancy. The building is just a stone's throw from here where we are sitting right now, and it is sitting basically empty. Why, then, I ask, are we proposing to spend $4.68 million to modernize a building that very few are using? I propose we do something else with that money. At the same time many of our Nation's veterans are living in untenable conditions, and they have lived with physical disabilities as a result of war. I am here today to argue that a better use of that $4.68 million is to support low-income veterans via the Veterans Housing Rehabilitation and Modification Pilot Program. This program provides awards through competitive grants to nonprofit organizations that provide nationwide or State programs that primarily serve low-income veterans. Once the grant is received, the veterans' homes receive modifications such as wheelchair ramps, widening door thresholds to accommodate mobility needs, shower bars, and things related to that. It is estimated that with the money that would be transferred there, they would be able to modify hundreds of more homes for these veterans. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman, and I thank the ranking member for making my amendment as a part of the en bloc package. I urge my colleagues to support the adoption of the en bloc package.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to rise in support and say thank you for the great work on this piece of legislation. It is very important, as both sides have spoken about, the idea if you were to make a comparison, such as if a farmer had to be sanctioned but we were thinking about sanctioning the farmer without sanctioning their crops, or the truck that they would use to transport them, or the dock workers, or the market that they would bring the crops to, it would be nonsensical. This is essentially the situation that we have going on between Iran, China, Russia, an entire axis of evil, that they are getting their crops to market. In my opinion, it is one of the most important things that we can work to prevent in order to have the greatest impact on Iran and their ability to finance terror across the globe. In that, I thank the gentleman for his work and for yielding me the time.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak specifically, as both sides have mentioned, as to what goes on in this education within these UNRWA/Palestinian Authority-run schools. People can find images of these. Nobody is going to be able to see them on camera. Let's read them specifically. An example of a fourth grade Palestinian math problem: ``The number of martyrs in the First Intifada is 2,026 martyrs, and the number of martyrs of the Al-Aqsa Intifada is 5,050 martyrs. The number of martyrs in the two intifadas is_____ martyrs?'' This is another example, a seventh grade physics problem people can look at, and we can find many examples of this. This is on Newton's second law: ``During the first Palestinian uprising, Palestinian youths used slingshots to confront the soldiers of the Zionist occupation and defend themselves from their treacherous bullets. What is the relationship between the elongation of the slingshot's rubber and the tensile strength affecting it?'' This is their physics work. Another example, again, from Palestinian Authority-run schools in conjunction with the United Nations, a geography question. This one asks sixth graders to define the borders of Palestine which completely erase the existence of Israel. They are not interested in a two-state solution. I agree. I don't think a two-state solution is a good idea, but they are interested in a one-state solution in which no Israel exists at all. That is what is being taught in the schools, and that is what no U.S. taxpayer dollars should be sent to support at all. That is the purpose of the request for the information on what is going on with this U.N.-funded education. I just offer the reminder that these are not Hamas-run schools. They are not Palestinian-Islamic Jihad-run schools. They are not Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade-run schools. They are not Lions' Den-run schools. They are Palestinian Authority-run schools, what we could consider the Palestinian government; the Palestinian government that at one point has been a majority of Hamas members in that government. In these Palestinian authority-run schools, this is their government teaching. It is the U.N. teachings. This is what the teachers--maybe not considered Hamas, but let's consider them rank-and-file Palestinians--are teaching the students. This is what the rank-and-file students across the area are learning. This is what their parents are seeing them taught. I think this is what we are seeing be professed by extremists across Times Square, Harvard, Tulane, and other places, and I consider it extremely anti-Semitic and dangerous.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and the submariner up front. That is a special kind of service, no doubt about it. I thank the chairman for his work on this legislation, for helping to bring it to the floor, and for his work in helping to make sure that in this body when those of us who are in here say never again in support of Israel and the Jewish state, that it is something that we are doing everything possible to make sure that never again is the truth. You might ask what can this bill do in support of never again, and why. The ``why'' on it is very simple because October 7 didn't happen for free. October 7 didn't happen without planning. October 7 didn't happen without delivery of arms from multiple nations. October 7 didn't happen without the intelligence from multiple nations, nongovernment organizations, and individuals. This happened as a result of a great deal of all of the above. This bill is specifically about sanctions, about making sure that we can get to the individuals, the states, the government agencies, the nongovernment agencies, or the companies that enabled October 7 to happen. It is about making sure that we cut off the material support, whether that is money or equipment or something that we might label here in Washington as a dual-use item, from making it to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank or into the hands of Hezbollah or somewhere else; from making sure that we cut off the technological support, whether it is intelligence or, literally, software or hardware or arms of propaganda; whether we are cutting off the financial support, the terror financing, the transactions, those that are engaging with the literal perpetrators of terrorism, doing it by blocking and freezing assets and funds, providing travel restrictions, export restrictions, and financial sanctions so that they can't use our banks or financial institutions. The list goes on. That is the work that has to be done within these walls to make sure that we can say never again. That is the work that we can do in here to make sure that October 7 doesn't happen again, and it is the work that we have to do in passing this bill to make sure that we do everything possible to prevent the kind of terrorism, the barbaric acts that the chairman spoke so eloquently and so vividly about. It is in that vein that I ask my colleagues to rise in support of this bill. Join us, vote unanimously in support of this bill.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I will address some of the comments that were brought up about the bill and exemptions, and exemptions that do not exist. I think it is important to recognize there are some exemptions. There are exemptions for food and medicine. Those exemptions exist, but there are not exemptions for pieces of equipment that might be considered dual-use items that were used to knock over the barricades, the fences, and the barriers that were preventing the Palestinian terrorists from making it into Israel. There are not exemptions to allow those kinds of pieces of equipment that might come in under agricultural exemptions in this bill. Why? Because they can be dual-use items. That is a reason to not have them. When we look at this as a whole, I encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians, as is frequently said. I don't think we would so lightly throw around the term ``innocent Nazi civilians'' during World War II. We are going to speak later about a bill related to Palestinian education and the fact that in their schools, schools run by the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, not Palestinian Islamic Jihad, not al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, not Lions' Den, not any of the other groups run by the Palestinian Authority, they have anti-Semitic teachings that they put within their own schools. The list goes on and on of the examples we could give of what somebody might call a rank-and-file Gazan or a rank-and-file person in the West Bank or just a Palestinian that maybe doesn't fall under that name of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad but by any classical definition would absolutely be considered a terrorist, somebody that in the last couple of weeks had been conducting kidnappings, murders, brutality that is nearly unspeakable. As we look at this and what kind of exemptions should and should not exist, I ask that it be looked at through that lens, that there is not this far stretch to say there are very few innocent Palestinian civilians. I haven't seen the videos of the innocent Palestinian civilians who were out there trying to protect the Israelis, who were out there trying to stop the attacks and trying to get the captives returned instead of being taken into the tunnel systems. We need to look at that as well when we think about the equipment, whether agricultural or otherwise, that might be put in the hands of those terrorists.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Again, I point out the merits of this: It is fact in the VA right now the cannabis policy is extremely confusing. It does very literally say VHA providers are prohibited from completing forms or registering veterans for participation in State-approved marijuana programs. Those are conversations that you need to have with your primary care physician, nurse practitioners, and others. This is the reason that that policy needs to be changed. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chairman, I would say this: There is an attempt to divide the military. We see each other as brothers and sisters in arms. I come from the military, and I can tell you this, Mr. Chairman: We don't care in the VA and we didn't care on the battlefield if the person carrying us on or the person whom we are carrying off is Black or Brown or White. We do have grooming standards, but I would say otherwise we don't care about the length of their hair or other things. The left fundamentally despises, in my opinion, that the military is this last bastion of best man, best woman for the job that exists in our country, and they are doing everything that they can in the VA and in the military alike to insert themselves and create division that otherwise does not exist there.

Mr. MAST. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MAST. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of a bipartisan amendment to do something simple: give veterans access to every possible tool when it comes to the wounds of war, of which I am innately familiar. The amendment is quite simple. It allows VA doctors in States with legal medical cannabis programs to discuss cannabis as a treatment option with their patients. I say this as clearly as I can: I have friends who are Rangers, Green Berets, and SEALs. I have seen pilots and every other job in the military sometimes find relief from the drugs, the narcotics that they have been prescribed in the VA or in the hospital. They find relief from both mental and physical wounds that they face. However, what they face as well is a Department of Veterans Affairs that does not allow their primary care physicians, their post- deployment clinics to discuss the medical treatment options and work with them through the paperwork for those medical treatment options that are actually available in their States. If they are not working with their doctors to do that, then you have to ask yourself, who is it that they would be working with to do that for medical treatment that is legal in their State? This amendment, again, would change that and make it the case that the Department of Veterans Affairs can assist those veterans for whom it is appropriate and recommended by their doctors that medical cannabis be a treatment option. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. MAST. Madam Chair, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

Mr. MAST. Madam Chair, I yield myself 1 minute, just to point out that my colleague from Florida from the other side is quite literally wrong. VHA Directive 1315 says this plainly: VHA providers are prohibited from completing forms or registering veterans for participation in State-approved marijuana programs. It says it very literally. My colleague is saying that, no, doctors can talk to them about this, and they can deal with it. No, if a doctor can't help them with the forms and help them with registering and help them with the dosages and the amounts and everything that goes on with a very specific medical policy, then that is a pretty confusing conversation for somebody to have if they can't take it to that level. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Joyce).

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I am amazed at the bigoted comments I am hearing from the other side right now, literally stating that units need to look a certain way. There have to be people of certain colors in these units. It is purely idiotic. It is dangerous. War is not a game. It is always dangerous. It is very often deadly. I damn near gave my life for this country, and I can tell you the last thing I cared about was the color of the snipers that had my back or the color of the medics that were putting tourniquets on each of my legs and my left arm when I was injured on the battlefield. It didn't matter if they were Black, White, Brown. None of that mattered when they were recruited into the military, and it didn't matter as they were serving. It has absolutely zero place, and you are literally putting the lives of our servicemembers in danger. You are concretely saying that units need to look a certain way by color. I just pose this quick question. I don't know how much time I have remaining, but I will bet you all over there can't tell me what my background is. Am I part Black? Part Brown? Part White? What am I? I yield time to you for a colloquy if you want to answer that. What am I?

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I will bet they can't tell me. I hear silence because you don't know what I am. You don't know that I am half Mexican. You can't look at me and see that, but you believe that units should be made up of something that you can't see and that you can't ask about. It is idiotic policy and dangerous for our servicemembers, and they deserve better from the other side.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend for yielding me the time. I am not going to need 2 minutes. You can calculate for that right now. I am just going give a quick warning. With this administration, it is always an example of getting the camel's nose under the tent. We are dealing with gas stoves today, and here is my prediction today: Give it a couple months, and they are going to be coming after everybody's backyard grills. They are going to be coming after your Fourth of July. They are going to be coming after you saying: Well, this is what it does if you go out there and you put burgers and dogs on your gas grill in your backyard on Memorial Day and Labor Day and Fourth of July. That is my prediction today. Mr. Chair, that is really all the time I needed to say that this is how this administration is constantly working against the American people, and I expect this to be no different.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of protecting women and girls in sports, and protect them from what? Protect them from this, very simply: Cheating. It is cheating. This is why we love sports so much. It is because of the fairness element of it. It is why we don't allow deflated footballs or why we don't allow corked bats or Vaseline on a baseball. The list goes on and on. It is why we have referees and umpires and line judges, because we want it to be fair. That is one of the great things about sports. If we are going to allow men into women's sports, why have any laws or rules about doping or steroids whatsoever? Why should any sports regulate doping or steroids if you are going to let men into women sports? It makes no sense at all. I beg that question. Anybody have an answer? I don't hear an answer. I will beg this other last question for a moment while I have a minute. We are not talking about real women competing in women's sports; we are talking about real boys, real men competing in women's sports. I will leave it at that.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 240 to condemn Russia's blatantly hostile actions last month downing a United States Air Force drone, downing one of our United States military aircraft. Think about the seriousness of that. On March 14, while flying in international airspace over the Black Sea, a U.S. Air Force Reaper drone was attacked by two Russian fighter jets. Yes, it was attacked. The two jets flew in front of it, and at one point, even dumped fuel onto the drone. Eventually, one of the Russian jets hit the drone's propeller and sent it crashing into the Black Sea. Let's talk about what this really was. Was this an American aircraft? Yes, it was. Was this an American aircraft flying in international airspace? Yes, it was. Was this an American aircraft flying in international airspace that was taken down as a result of Russian pilots' purposeful actions? Yes, it was. There is no version of the world in which this can be deemed acceptable. Unless that's in Joe Biden's world, apparently. Let's compare and contrast the response of the Kremlin to the response of the White House on this attack. Vladimir Putin rewarded the two fighter pilots with medals for a job well done. Think about that. President Biden ordered altered flight patterns to avoid future conflicts with Russia. That is the difference between the two responses. We are having a lot of conversations about America being violated by foreign adversaries, the last bill and now this one. The Kremlin sent a clear message about what took place, that this type of behavior, they deemed it commendable. They have pinned medals on the chests of their fighter pilots. They rewarded them. The White House sent a clear signal that they are going to be bullied and they are going to be backing away. They responded with weakness and compromised our intelligence operations by moving us further from what we wanted to observe, when we were just debating a bill about China surveying us over our own territory with their balloon. These are the differences in what is going on in the world right now. By altering flight patterns and sending drones in the Black Sea further to the south, the Biden administration has degraded our ability to collect intelligence on Russian forces in the region. To put it simply, Putin lashed out, and very unfortunately, Biden backed down, and now America is less safe. Vladimir Putin does not get a veto over U.S. operations of military operations in international airspace or sovereign Ukrainian airspace. Yet, President Biden seems determined to give him one. This is just the next domino to fall, in my opinion. How would the President respond if China took similar action against our aircraft in the South China Sea or in Taiwan? President Biden is telegraphing to our adversaries that the U.S. will back down in the face of the slightest provocation. He is giving Vladimir Putin the validation that he needs: that he can simply threaten escalation in order to intimidate others into backing down. He draws no red lines. This resolution condemns Russia's attack. It reaffirms that the U.S. will not be intimidated--something that we have to reaffirm in this body given what is going on--certainly not when it comes to operating drones in international airspace. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Williams), the author of this resolution, and a submarine driver, who colleagues affectionately refer to as ``bubbleheads.''