Brian Mast

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I reserve the balance of my time until the gentlemen yield back.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. The defense of America is what is on the table here. The questions are simple: Does the President have the authority to defend the United States of America against these cartels, against their drugs, their beheadings, their murders? Does he or does he not? My Democrat friends are arguing that he does not have the authority to defend our country, to protect the people of the United States of America, to protect the people in their communities. That is their argument. The fact of the matter is, the President has the authority to defend our country, and he has the duty to defend our country. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time to consider H. Con. Res. 61 and H. Con. Res. 64 in the House if called up by the chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, or his designee; that each such concurrent resolution be considered as read; and that the previous question be considered as ordered on each such concurrent resolution to adoption without intervening motion, except for: 1, with respect to H. Con. Res. 61, 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs or their respective designees; and 2, with respect to H. Con. Res. 64, 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by Representative Mast of Florida, Representative Meeks of New York, and Representative McGovern of Massachusetts, or their respective designees.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I rise also today in full support of the National Defense Authorization Act. This bill delivers exactly what America has needed: bombs and bullets from America for America. It also does something very important to me as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. It rebuilds American foreign policy. What does it do on that front? The NDAA reauthorizes three parts of the State Department's biggest branches: political affairs, management, and public affairs. Now, in the past, less than 15 percent of the State Department has been authorized. This takes that number to about 40 percent, and we are ready to do more work on that front as we move into the next year. This NDAA also modernizes the Development Finance Corporation so that America, not China, can set the pace for global investment. It expands our loan program from $60 billion to $205 billion. That is a really big deal to get America out there on the world stage. Also, with this NDAA, as many know, we are repealing sanctions on Syria that were placed there because of Bashar al-Assad and the torture of his people. We are giving Syria a chance to chart a post-Assad future. We do that while also holding the new government accountable for its actions and giving the White House the flexibility that the White House needs to reimpose sanctions if the President views it necessary to do so. Finally, as was mentioned already and very importantly, we are scrapping the old 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations. We are taking the State Department from a place that was an unaccountable liberal slush fund in many cases to a place that has true accountability, where the dollars that go through that place will not simply be burned, which is what was happening in the past. I thank everybody for their work to create a better State Department.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of John J. Meyers, III, a United States Navy veteran who passed away on September 14, 2025, at the age of 87 in Sarasota, Florida. Born on September 3, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Meyers served his country with honor as a naval aviator. He completed his flight training in Pensacola, Florida, before joining VS-34 Squadron aboard the USS Essex. From 1962 to 1965, he served with distinction and became an instructor pilot at Naval Air Station Meridian in Meridian, Mississippi. His dedication to duty demonstrated the highest traditions of excellence of the United States Navy. Following his military career, Mr. Meyers continued to make an impact in both aviation and financial services, and he retired as a respected financial advisor at Merrill Lynch in Sarasota. Beyond his accomplishments, he always remained an active and valued member of his community. Known for his humor, storytelling, and generosity of spirit, he uplifted countless individuals through mentorship, writing, and his presence on the Legacy Bike Trails of Sarasota. Mr. Meyers embodied duty, honor, and service throughout his whole life--first in uniform, and later, as a civilian dedicated to his family, career, and community. His legacy endures through every life he touched and the example he set of quiet strength and devotion to others. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing and honoring the remarkable life of John J. Myers, III, and in extending our gratitude for his service to our Nation and his contributions to his community.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bost for his work on this piece of legislation and Ranking Member Takano for working with the majority on this piece of legislation, the Servicemember Residence Protection Act. Mr. Speaker, why this bill? Why do this? It is designed to help those servicemembers that are affected by somebody squatting in their home, trespassing, illegally staying in their home, it will help them get those individuals out in a less costly way and a less intrusive way to their life. Why does all of that matter? Why do any of this? These are servicemembers. I have yet to meet the servicemember that got rich spending their time in uniform. The work that they do is always dangerous. It is very often deadly, and it requires them to be away from home for large amounts of time: whether being away from home is somewhere around the world doing something dangerous or deadly, or whether that work is around the country in training for something that is dangerous and deadly, or whether it is incurring a permanent change of station to somewhere across the country or the globe where maybe they have a home that they have to leave and put it up for sale or they have to rent it out while they are gone. There are a great number of circumstances that affect our servicemembers with their homes when they are not around to be the immediate tenants of their homes. This piece of legislation comes in to help protect them to make sure that they can get squatters out of their home when these squatters illegally go into their homes, overstay their time in those homes, or whatever it might be. Mr. Speaker, we appreciate the work, again, from the committee on this. It is a big deal to help our servicemembers in any way, shape, or form that we can to get people illegally out of their homes. It just takes an undue stress off our servicemembers so that they can focus on the missions at hand, which, again, they are dangerous missions. They are often deadly missions. They deserve the right to focus on those missions without worrying about anything else. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the time to speak on this and for working with me, as well.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment I am going to say for procedural reasons, but there are procedures that are important here. The ranking member should know this. As members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, we have sole jurisdiction over powers of war. What goes on abroad with war is not flippant activity. It affects the lives of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen that are stationed abroad in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. While I agree with a lot of the comments that the ranking member just made about reasons to say there should be sunsets on AUMF--and I didn't hear everything that my colleague Mr. Meeks said, but I am sure undoubtedly we have agreement on why there should be sunsets on these things--it cannot be done without bringing in the CENTCOM commander and this commander and this commander and this commander and saying: What are your thoughts on this? What effects does this have on our ability to react or deploy? What effects does this have on those downrange in counterterrorism operations as we speak? What needs to be put back in place in order for us to not be afoul of something that we are doing right now? These are questions that were not asked, and the answers were not given. This goes beyond just our generals in the Pentagon. It goes to our Secretaries. It goes to others. They are absolutely questions that I am committed to asking and questions that I am committed to finding the answers to and in a timely way. I consider it to be vitally important. Again, we have, I think, probably large agreement on reasons to sunset things, but it should not be done in the absence of doing something of this gravity in the proper way. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true American hero, Sergeant Rohn Hultgren of Palm Beach County, Florida. Sgt. Hultgren is a father, husband, soldier, and public servant whose courage on the battlefield and commitment to my community deserves our recognition. During his service in Afghanistan, Sgt. Hultgren's convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device. The blast left him with a broken femur and a traumatic brain injury. As a result, Sgt. Hultgren underwent extensive speech therapy, but he never wavered in his devotion to our Nation or his fellow soldiers. For his sacrifice and bravery, he was awarded the Purple Heart. Mr. Speaker, Sgt. Hultgren did not allow any of his injuries to define his life here at home. After being honorably discharged from the Army as a Sergeant E-5, he dedicated himself to serving other veterans in Florida's 21st Congressional District. Today, as Veteran Services Manager for the Palm Beach County Division of Senior and Veteran Services, Sgt. Hultgren continues his mission by ensuring that our veterans receive the support they fought for. Sgt. Hultgren has been with Veteran Services for seven years, and he has been manager for three of those years. Everyone he's served knows that he's gone above and beyond for our nation and community. His wife of 22 years and their three children all reside in my community, and we are proud of their family's faith and resilience. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of my community, I am proud to recognize and honor Sgt. Rohn Hultgren for his service and continued dedication to the men and women who wore our Nation's uniform.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Place of Hope on the occasion of its 25th anniversary of serving children and families in crisis across Florida's 21st Congressional District. Founded on faith, Place of Hope has dedicated its mission to breaking cycles of abuse, poverty, and homelessness. With five campuses across Palm Beach and Martin Counties, they provide critical services like neighborhood foster care, maternity care, independent living programs, human trafficking prevention, and family outreach. Over the past 25 years, Place of Hope has served more than 150,000 children, youth, and families--offering safe homes, educational opportunities, and pathways to independence. Their programs keep siblings together, provide refuge for trafficking survivors, and distribute more than two million pounds of food to families in crisis. I commend the Founding CEO, Charles L. Bender, III, the dedicated staff, volunteers, and supporters who have all made this milestone possible. Their work exemplifies the power of faith and service in changing lives. May they have an even greater impact on our communities' families in the years to come. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Place of Hope for 25 years of service and lifesaving impact.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life, service, and ultimate sacrifice of Sergeant Jonathan K. ``Doc'' Peney, a U.S. Army Ranger, combat medic, and friend whose dedication to his country embodies the best of the American spirit. Sgt. Peney demonstrated extraordinary courage and selflessness, running toward danger to care for our wounded under enemy fire. His sacrifice is a reminder that freedom is secured by the brave men and women willing to lay down their lives for their comrades and country. For more than fifteen years, his name has lived on in the memorial bracelets I wear on my wrist every day, and I'm proud to say that his name will now live on as the Airborne Ranger Training Brigade rededicates the ``Peney First Aid Station'' at Fort Benning, Georgia. It's a renewal of our promise to never forget someone who gave his all in defense of freedom. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life and heroism of Sergeant Jonathan K. ``Doc'' Peney and in offering our deepest gratitude to his family, whose sacrifice we can never repay.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I am here to speak on my amendment No. 21. This is something that we have dealt with here in Congress before. Specifically it relates to veterans' access to cannabis. The story that I will tell in advance of this is simply this: I woke up in Walter Reed Army Medical Center not too far from here a number of years ago, and when I woke up, I was missing two legs and a finger. I had been out of consciousness for a week plus. What I woke up to was being on a laundry list of medications. I had an epidural. I had oral morphines and oxies. I had antidepressants, anti-inflammatories, and heavy sleep sedatives. I had a Dilaudid drip and a number of other things that I can't even remember at this point all at once. I had never been on any of these things before in my life. Immediately, as soon as I woke up, I started to wean myself off of these drugs because I was saying to myself: I might be very uncomfortable, but I don't want to be dependent on sleep sedatives. I might be in a lot of pain, but let's start by getting off of this painkiller and this painkiller and this painkiller. I am not depressed, so take this antidepressant away. These narcotics were beyond painful to come off of. I was down to the lowest amount after about 6 months of the last narcotic, which was an oral morphine. Going from the lowest amount twice a day 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. to nothing, I spent the next several months miserable, suffering the gamut of withdraw symptoms: irritability to say the least, food going through me, up all night. You name it. That was just after 6 months. The state that these narcotics, in many cases, leave our veterans in are, at the most extreme end of it, states of suicide and, at the other end of it, just extreme states of dissatisfaction and lacking purpose in life. In some cases it does leave them in a better condition. The point I am making with this true story is that veterans need to have options outside of these narcotics. In many States, there are legal cannabis medical programs. They need to have the ability when they are being seen by their primary care physician inside of the VA to have discussions about whether cannabis is or is not right for them. They have access to it in their State. They need to be able to talk to their medical provider about what they fill out on the paperwork, what the right dosage amount is, how that is going to interact with any other medications that they might be on, and how it might affect their blood pressure or other things going on with them personally. If we are not giving that option to have that conversation at the most serious level without worrying about some kind of reprisal for the doctor or otherwise, then we are doing our veterans a disservice in, certainly, at minimum, all of these States where there are legal cannabis programs. I am not a doctor. I would not purport to know when this is a good treatment for somebody, when it is not, or the amounts that they should take. Yet, I know that as long as it is available in these various States, their doctors need to have the opportunity to discuss that treatment with them. The fact of the matter is, while I have heard of many of my brothers- and sisters-in-arms being in a state of suicide because of the narcotics they have been on, I have yet to hear about any of them attributing a state of suicide to the cannabis that they have had as a part of their life. Mr. Chairman, I ask for support on amendment No. 21.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I could use my minute for a number of things, but I think I am going to use it now to apologize to all of you in the gallery. I am sorry. You just literally had to listen to somebody lying to all of you directly. How many times did she say the word ``billionaire''? How many times did she say that we are trying to do something to enrich billionaires? That is not taking place at all. We are cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. Billions of dollars have gone to a Canadian lesbian justice foundation, transgender sex workers networks in Nepal, and a whole list of things. I would say that among the definition of things that we could do to eliminate those programs would be the definition of saving the American taxpayer money. I am going to leave it at that. They expect you to believe what they say and not believe what you can see with your own eyes. Let the American people be the judge of whether that is saving you money or whether that is enriching billionaires. We want to end programs like LGBTQI in the Caribbean, the Balkans, and Uganda, and all the dollars that we put into trying to support those programs that are waste, fraud, and abuse. Our American tax dollars should not be spent in that way. I am sorry that they are lying to you in this way, but we are going to work through all this and work to save you all money. I am sorry that you are all being lied to, but you are going to expect to hear more.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. On October 7, the world witnessed the horror of Iran-backed terrorism as Hamas brutally murdered over 1,200 innocent people in Israel. Iran has been sponsoring Hamas for years. They were sponsoring terrorists on the battlefield that I and many of our colleagues participated in, just as it has been sponsoring Hezbollah and the Houthis to attack Israel just over this past weekend, amassing ballistic missiles, building armed drones, and expanding its nuclear weapon program at an alarming rate. The Iran threat is wide-ranging and multifaceted, and the Iran Sanctions Act is the foundation of our tools to combat this threat. We know this threat isn't going away anytime soon, so let's stop fooling ourselves that a sunset makes any sense on these provisions. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in bringing our statutes in line with the strategic reality on the ground. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST

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

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the Republic of Georgia was once a prime contender for NATO and an ally of the United States, especially following Russia's 2008 invasion. The United States benefited from military and intelligence cooperation, and the Georgian people are well known for their pro-American sentiment. Unfortunately, our bilateral relationship with Georgia has been eroded by the ruling Georgian Dream party's moves that mimic Russia's authoritarian tactics, as well as their rapprochement with China and Iran. The opportunities provided by a pro-Western, democratic Georgia are manifest. Georgia's strategic location on the Black Sea makes it a pivotal nation for trade through the Middle Corridor to Central Asia and can be a counterbalance to Iranian and Russian influence in the region. I support this bipartisan bill introduced by Mr. Wilson because it takes an America-first approach to the Republic of Georgia. This bill will impose sanctions on regime officials for their roles in undermining Georgia's sovereignty and pro-Western trajectory, as well as review our bilateral relationship, including assistance programs, and require a report that spotlights Russian intelligence actions in Georgia. However, this bill also provides Georgia with an alternative. Once the President certifies that Georgia has returned to its pro-Western trajectory, it promises enhanced people-to-people ties, military cooperation, and encourages an improved bilateral relationship. The United States should reward partners for good behavior. This bill is not an attack on the Georgian people. It seeks to support them by punishing rogue officials who are taking them further away from the United States. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs favorably marked up a version of this bill during the last Congress, where it passed with a strong majority, and I expect it will receive similar support today. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this pragmatic approach to foreign policy and support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson).

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I firmly believe that every country in the world should choose the United States of America as their first partner and our allies over dictatorships like Russia and China. It is essential that these countries walk the walk. American largesse will not be taken advantage of by those who accuse the United States of being part of a global war party or the global deep state. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure and stand with the people of Georgia and an America-first foreign policy, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1486) to impose sanctions with respect to economic or industrial espionage by foreign adversarial companies, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. MAST. Madam 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.