Brian Mast

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize an organization that is celebrating 20 years of service to our community. Place of Hope has been dedicated to providing a stable and loving environment for children, youth, and families that are suffering from abuse, neglect, homelessness, and human trafficking. Place of Hope has served over 17,000 children, youth, and families in our community over the past 20 years. To date, a remarkable 320 ``forever families'' have been created via adoption. They are the largest, most diverse, residential children and families organization in Palm Beach County and on the Treasure Coast. Moreover, because of their work, more than 40,000 community members have been educated about human trafficking. Organizations like Place of Hope are indispensable to making the world and community a better place, so I congratulate them on their 20 years of service and wish them continuing success in the future.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of the centennial of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The following is the resolution this body passed 100 years ago tomorrow, H.J. Res. 426. ``Providing for the bringing to the United States of the body of an unknown American, who was a member of the American Expeditionary Forces, who served in Europe and lost his life during the World War, and for the burial of the remains with appropriate ceremonies. ``Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed, under regulations to be prescribed by him, to cause to be brought to the United States the body of an American, who was a member of the American Expeditionary Forces who served in Europe, who lost his life during the World War and whose identity has not been established, for burial in the Memorial Amphitheater of the National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia. ``Such sum as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the joint resolution is hereby authorized to be expended by the Secretary of War.'' Madam Speaker, they will not be forgotten.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I rise with a very simple question. On January 6, thousands broke the law by taking siege of our Capitol here with us inside. Has any one of those individuals who brought violence on this Capitol been brought here to answer whether they did that because of our President? It appears I will receive no answer.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I rise as well to support the objection, and I rise with the simple question: Can the Chair honestly tell Americans, with a pending Supreme Court case over legal observers not being allowed to observe and inspect signatures, that the laws and the Constitution of that State were not violated to change voting outcomes? Madam Speaker, I will wait for a response.

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I will repeat my question. Can you honestly tell Americans, with a pending Supreme Court case over legal observers not being able to observe and inspect signatures, that the laws and Constitution of Arizona were not violated to change voting outcomes? And I will wait for a response.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. ``Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.'' Madam Speaker, I rise today because the life and sacrifice of a true peacemaker, Trooper Joseph Bullock, will be honored by our passing of legislation to rename the postal facility in Port Salerno, Florida, as the Joseph Bullock Post Office Building. Though he knew the risk, his story is not how a watch should end. And as we see his name each day in Port Salerno, we will be reminded of the valor within all of our law enforcement who, each day, commit to our communities the most significant thing that they have: their life. Trooper Bullock, we salute you.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, Harmony Allen is a veteran who was raped by her Air Force instructor while serving our country. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate justice for Harmony Allen. Now, for two decades, Harmony has been fighting for justice. Despite being convicted in 2017, her rapist was set free on a misconstrued technicality after the Nation's highest military court disregarded Congress' intent and incorrectly applied a 5-year statute of limitations on Harmony's case. To fix this loophole, I introduced Harmony's Law to ensure that convicted rapists are held accountable. I also worked with the Solicitor General in the Supreme Court to hear Harmony's case and overturn this massive miscarriage of justice. Madam Speaker, last week, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Harmony Allen's favor. The Court's 8-0 decision is a monumental one, and it serves a justice to Harmony that was long overdue. It also prevents the potential early release of hundreds of convicted rapists, making this a victory for all victims of military sexual assault.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Graves and Chairman DeFazio for their work and the committee staff for their work on this piece of legislation. Water is the lifeblood of Florida, and there is not a more important piece of legislation to our State or to our community, my community specifically, because of the work that this bill does. The Water Resources Development Act demands that the Army Corps of Engineers rewrite protocols that they have that allow them to poison my community, demands that they accelerate construction of the hugely important EAA Reservoir, demands that they move more water into Florida's Everglades where it is needed because they are dying because of lack of water. This piece of legislation is vital to our State. I would absolutely argue there is nothing more important to our State, and I couldn't thank enough the chairman, the ranking member, and all the staff for all of their work on this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding me the time. Madam Speaker, I also rise in support of my colleague. I rise in support of my colleague, Mr. Posey's amendment, specifically because what is going on with Virgin Trains and Brightline, it affects my community as well. This project, it goes through some very dense communities with very little room between it and the people who live there. Hundreds of the crossings that we have that go through our community, nearly all of them, are at grade, directly encountering the traffic that they travel so close to. There are several schools in close proximity to the rail tracks, often placing children in significant danger of this project. This amendment, which I am very proud to cosponsor, would divert $2 million from the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan program for a study on pedestrian safety related to this project--very worthy cause. This is a commonsense, public safety provision that will help to keep children and people in our community safe. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of one of my constituents, Mrs. Dorothy Priscilla Johnson. Mrs. Johnson passed away earlier this year, on April 25, 2020, after years of faithful devotion to the Stuart community. Since her move to South Florida in high school, Dorothy invested heavily in the area, marrying and raising five sons. She also worked for and eventually received her Doctorate in Education from FIU, using her education to pour into the lives of her students as a teacher for 34 years. Beyond her work in the classroom, she showed her generosity by giving and volunteering with a number of local organizations and Catholic charities. Madam Speaker, it's an honor to get to recognize Dorothy and the life she devoted to the flourishing of her family and her community, and I know that those she leaves behind miss her greatly.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I rise also, today, in support of the Water Resources and Development Act of 2020. This piece of legislation is a top priority for my constituents in south Florida on the Treasure Coast because it is critical to our public health, our environment, and our economy. Now, I am smiling because this legislation includes a number of provisions that I was proud to write to protect Florida's waterways, including accelerating construction of the EAA reservoir, reducing discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie Estuary, and to combat harmful algal blooms--all yeomen's work. Now, demanding that the Army Corps of Engineers must seek to reduce discharges into our coastal estuaries is a huge victory that everybody in our community should be proud of. However, I ask my colleagues this: If their constituents were being, literally, poisoned by the Federal Government, would they fight for anything less than a complete stop to that poisoning? That is why I am going to continue to be in this fight with everything that I have got, build on this momentum to eliminate all toxic discharges into my community and send more water south into Florida's Everglades.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I missed votes on May 27, 2020 due to being in Florida in anticipation of the SpaceX launch. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 110; NAY on Roll Call No. 111; and NAY on Roll Call No. 112.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, we are a body of 435 representatives. That is true. There is only one that can demand that that gavel go up and down. And I have a very simple question for this body: Can anybody, will anybody, in this body stand and say that the Speaker has demanded that we act here with the urgency that our people require, with the urgency that this body is capable of? You believe this body has acted with the urgency we are capable of, that our people require? I think it is sad that there are people that believe that we have acted in urgency. There has been no haste by this body. It will be said of this time that those who could do the most did the least.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I would rather die than see my country stumble or fall, and, by God, I mean that. And I don't think I am the only one in this body who feels this way. I have worried that, as a result of a virus that was born in a disgusting market in Wuhan China that was hidden from the world, our country may stumble. But I can tell you that that worry has subsided quickly for me as I looked around my own community and realized, again, that Americans are a salty group of tough SOBs who are defeated by absolutely nothing. This isn't going to defeat us either. There are parts of this bill that I don't like, but I am proud that, when Americans wake up tomorrow, they are going to continue to know that we wake up here not as victims, but as people with a greater opportunity than anybody across the world: 50 stars, 13 red and white stripes. We get to decide for ourselves if today is better than yesterday, this week is better than next week, this month is better than last month, and next year and so on. Nobody else gets to decide that for us. That hasn't changed, and it will never change.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, I speak to honor the life of Trooper Joseph Bullock, whose watch ended on the morning of February 5, 2020, when fatally shot in the line of duty. Trooper Bullock's life was devoted to protecting those he had never met, in the Air Force and the Florida Highway Patrol for 19 years, and he paid dearly that others would be safe. There are no words or actions that can repay the debt we each owe heroes like Trooper Bullock. It would be fruitless for me to attempt words to remove grief from his family or fellow troopers. I can only offer from our Nation the most ardent thanks for sharing him as a protector and pray to our Father in Heaven that every thought of him is a cherished memory and pride that he was a man who laid down his life for others.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2247. H.R. 2247 represents good governance by codifying the Environmental Protection Agency's restoration activities in the Puget Sound. The Puget Sound is the Nation's second largest estuary, supporting more than 4.5 million people, more than $365 million in gross domestic product, and a wide variety of species. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I urge support of this important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support as well of H.R. 4044, the Protect and Restore American's Estuary Act. I also want to thank my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski) for introducing this legislation; our chairwoman, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Graves, and everybody who has worked on this outstanding bill that we want to see move forward here that has moved forward so many other times. H.R. 4044, reauthorizes the National Estuary Program which focuses on estuaries of national significance across the Nation, including one in my own backyard, very literally, the Indian River Lagoon, the heart and soul of my district. Estuaries are not just critical natural habitats that provide enormous economic benefits, but they are a part of our way of life for those of us who live anywhere near them or around them. They are where we go fishing, where we see our children recreate and wade in the waters. It is where we see dolphin and manatee. That is where we see people spend their summers, travel to come see the blue waters and the fish and everything else that thrives in those ecosystems. The National Estuary Program is pivotal to the preservation of these very unique ecosystems, and it provides an enormous return on the taxpayer's investment. On average, the estuary program raises $19 for every $1 provided by the Environmental Protection Agency. It is because of this and many other reasons that I see on a day-to- day basis with the estuaries in my backyard that I want to urge support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to close. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4044 will have a profound impact on districts across America. That is a fact. It is why I am here to support it today. It includes my own district, by increasing public education and awareness around the health conditions of estuaries. The Indian River Lagoon I spoke about is one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in all of North America and a major economic driver for the five counties that it borders. The lagoon faces enormous challenges year after year and summer after summer, but through the National Estuary Program, there has been a pilot-scale demonstration of seagrass restoration, which is one of the biggest challenges that we face. The destruction of our seagrass each year is like a forest fire underneath the waters of our estuary. Storm water quality improvement projects, septic-to-sewer projects, and many other projects and initiatives that are vital to our estuary are all implemented here. With the Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act, we will build on the enormous success of the National Estuary Program. It is why I couldn't be more proud to support it. Mr. Speaker, I urge support and adoption of this bipartisan piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of H.R. 1132. It represents good governance by codifying the EPA's existing work in the San Francisco Bay Area. The bay area watershed provides a primary source of drinking water for over 25 million people and irrigation for 7,000 square miles of agriculture. It includes important economic resources, such as water supply infrastructure, ports, deepwater shipping channels, major highway and railway corridors, and energy lines. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Madam Speaker, make no mistake, this resolution is about the killing of Soleimani. He was a terrorist, no different than al- Baghdadi, then al-Zarqawi, then Osama bin Laden, then Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He was the head of a designated terrorist organization no different than ISIS or al-Qaida. He was responsible for the deaths of our men and women--and I know most in here haven't seen or smelled or touched that kind of death, but let me tell you about it. They were burned alive inside of their Humvees. Their lungs were scorched by the flames of the explosions. The vehicle fragments were blown into their skulls. Some of them were paralyzed. Some of them had their arms blown off. Some of them had their legs blown off. Some of them will never see again. Some of them will never be recognized again by those who knew them previously. Each and every one of them, they are the credible explanation for deleting this terrorist target from our world. And no doubt, it is dangerous to take out a terrorist target, but a coward is somebody who lacks the courage to endure danger. This is the fundamental difference in voting ``yes'' or ``no'' here. If you vote ``no,'' you understand that we would be justified to kill 100 Soleimanis for just one of our heroes who have been killed by him. The danger would be worth it. For those who vote ``yes,'' they see that he has killed hundreds of our servicemembers but can still not find the justification to kill him because, unlike our fallen heroes, they lack the courage to endure danger.