Chip Roy

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I would ask the gentleman, does he agree with me that when we are talking about this kind of disruption, that this is not a partisan problem, that this is a problem of this body not sitting down and rolling up its sleeves to try to address using innovation and finding how to break through and not getting into the trap of this town where the power brokers make all the decisions and the lobbyists are driving a lot of what we are doing so powerful insurance companies or powerful government entities are making decisions for you instead of you and your doctor, and technology and innovation?

Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I do, and I try to talk about it. There are others of us in this body who have gone through that sort of thing. This is what is so critically important, what we are talking about: We have the ability at our fingertips to transform our healthcare system and to save our country from the depths of $23 trillion, $24 trillion, $30 trillion, $40 trillion of debt. This is where we are headed if we don't go down this road. I know there is a bipartisan thirst for this, but we have to stop having our leadership in two corners, with shirts and skins squabbling instead of focusing on these kinds of roll-your-sleeves-up solutions. The question I would ask my friend from Arizona is, what does he see as the obstacles to what we are talking about here, in terms of the current situation with insurance oligopolies and the government bureaucracies that get in the way of innovation, technology, and direct primary care and going to the doctors of your choice, and being able to get that kind of innovation?

Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for highlighting a number of different issues, starting, of course, with spending and talking about the future that we are going to deal with from a fiscal standpoint in our country, particularly the extent to which Medicare and our entitlement situation is going to drive that, but, importantly, getting to the point of disruption, technology, and the ways that we can totally transform healthcare in a way that will both fix our fiscal situation as well as provide the best healthcare in the world. As the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert) knows, I am a cancer survivor. I am a father, as well, of a 10-year-old and an 8-year-old.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I point out that, in Article I, Section 2, Clause 5, it says: ``The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.'' I would note, also, that in Section 3, when we talk about the Senate: ``Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office,'' et cetera. Clause 6: ``The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.'' This is what the Constitution says. This is not unclear. The United States Senate has the power to try impeachments, yet the Speaker of this body has tried to impose her will on the United States Senate. If the Speaker is so interested in what is going on in the Senate, maybe the Speaker should run for the Senate. But what we have today is a body, the House, that acted; and the leader of this body, the Speaker, is refusing to do her duty to transmit the articles to the Senate and has done so despite a lot of rhetoric over the course of the year about the urgency of running impeachment through this body, which now, I think, the vast majority of the American people have seen it for what it was: a political action, a political stunt, to target the President of the United States, to demean the office of the President of the United States, to target him very specifically for political purposes rather than the solemn duty that impeachment is supposed to be reserved for. So we should now be getting this to the Senate so that the President can have his day to defend himself, his day in court, as it were. He should have his day in the United States Senate. He should be able to defend himself and have lawyers defend against what is being charged against him from this wrongful impeachment out of this House. So I am hopeful that we will finally get that movement this week and that the President will have the time due him in the United States Senate and that the United States Senate can get through this in an expedited way so that we can get back to the business the American people sent us here for: dealing with debt, dealing with spending, dealing with open borders, and dealing with men and women in uniform and what they need. I appreciate the gentleman from Arizona for arranging this.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, our Founders intentionally did not embrace recalls or votes of no confidence. Rather, we demand from Congress evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. While my colleagues are free to dislike the President, and while they may reasonably view the infamous phone call and negotiations with Ukrainians as something less than perfect, they are not free to impeach for something less than a high crime and misdemeanor. In just over 10 months, though, the people are free to decide, and we should let them. Madam Speaker, the eyes of the world are upon us. The press galleries are full. Our floor is filled with Members. When will we give the world something better than this? My colleagues wax eloquent about the Constitutions they found under mothballs. Where is the respect for the Constitution when the people's House daily refuses to do its actual job while shredding federalism and limited government? Today, in Mexico, a young girl will be abused while being trafficked toward our open borders, while some yell ``kids in cages'' and play race politics in the false name of compassion. Today, in New York, a young mother will be coerced into abortion by taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood, while we allow the genocide of the unborn in the false name of choice. Today, across America, diabetics will struggle to afford insulin due to a healthcare system ravished by government and insurance bureaucrats empowered in the false name of coverage. Today, our children inherit $100 million of debt an hour, borrowed in the false name of what government can provide. It is this conduct by Congress failing to do its jobs that should be impeached. One might ask if America would be better off taking the first 435 names out of the phonebook to represent us in the United States House than what is on display here today. Today is not a dark day because the American people know this: America is great. Washington is broken. And we are taking our country back

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma and the gentleman from New York for yielding time, and I respect the amount of work they have put into this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise, without surprise to anyone in this room, in opposition to the legislation. I keep hearing this phrase: ``this bill provides.'' I keep hearing my colleagues saying this. But this bill doesn't provide anything. The American people provide. This bill borrows, and it borrows at a time when we can't afford to borrow more. Our Nation is $23 trillion in debt, now racking up more than $100 million of debt per hour. We haven't figured it all out yet, but it appears this bill spends $50 billion more than 2019 spending levels. Don't worry, everybody will go back home and campaign on a balanced budget amendment that has no prayer of passage. This bill is filled with massive policy changes that we should debate and vote on individually. It has a bailout for Big Insurance cloaked as tax relief. It embraces the very partial ObamaCare repeal that Republicans have argued props up ObamaCare, yet they now embrace. The bill changes the tobacco age nationwide, turning federalism on its head, with nary a whimper from Republicans who like to talk about the 10th Amendment in speeches back home. The bill extends the big giveaway to huge corporations like Boeing in the form of Ex-Im for 7 years. The bill funds bureaucrats who wish to target your Second Amendment rights. It funds abortion through ObamaCare plans. The biggest problem is, we haven't read the bill. Days like today, everyone declares bipartisanship. But in this version of bipartisanship, it is the bipartisan smell of Christmas jet fumes and everyone's desire to get home fueling the worst kind of bipartisanship, the kind that says: ``To heck with it, keep spending money we don't have and leave it to our kids and grandkids to clean up.'' No one has read the bill. It is a massive, unreadable, 2,313-page bill filled with government-expanded goodies and spending, and it was dropped on us yesterday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. My staff got their first look at 4:30. The bill is a blatant violation of the House's 72-hour rule, a pretty weak rule requiring that we have at least 72 hours to review legislation--everyone back home is saying, ``Are you kidding me?''--in this case, 2,300 pages.

Mr. ROY. Seventy-five years ago this week, American forces were under siege from 200,000 German soldiers, over 1,000 panzers, as Hitler mounted a counteroffensive in the middle of the freezing-cold winter at Christmas. Our boys, no doubt, wanted to get home. Yet, this Congress surrenders. It surrenders to the swamp, mortgaging the future, the very future those men fought for. The President, last spring, about a massive omnibus, said: ``I will never sign another bill like this again. I'm not going to do it again. Nobody read it. It's only hours old. Some people don't even know what is in it.'' It was $1.3 trillion, the second largest ever. Mr. President, I look forward to your veto.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership on this issue. Mr. Speaker, I would remind the body that, 2 years ago today, President Trump said this in the Diplomatic Room in the White House: ``Today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel's capital. This is nothing more, or less, than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It's something that has to be done.'' Since that time, the Embassy was moved. I was privileged to join many of my colleagues to visit the new Embassy in Jerusalem this past August. There, we stood, Democrats and Republicans, this August, looking at a border with Lebanon where Hezbollah has 150,000 rockets pointing at Jerusalem and at Tel Aviv. We went near, but not too near, to Gaza, where rockets are being fired at Israel and balloons are being sent over to burn fields, despite Israel's good faith voluntary withdrawal from there in 2005. But thank the Lord that America stands with Israel. Standing with Israel yields results for our national security and for the benefit of the great people of Israel, a true ally and democracy in which Jews, Muslims, and Christians live together with rights protected, and they live peaceably. Following our example, Guatemala has moved its Embassy to Jerusalem. Honduras announced recognition of Jerusalem just a few months ago. Just this week. For the first time, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Brazil, and Colombia voted against the annual resolution supporting the Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, which oversees the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. These countries previously abstained on the vote. We are changing the world and recognizing Israel because we stand with Israel, and standing with Israel works. But rather than standing with Israel on a bipartisan basis, today, our Democrat colleagues are pushing H. Res. 326. This is a liberal, progressive retreat from standing with Israel and a move to have our Nation tell Israel what to do. This resolution spells out specific Palestinian Authority demands without listing critical Israeli preconditions, such as acknowledging Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state with an undivided Jerusalem as Israel's capital and providing assurances for Israel's safety and security through a demilitarized zone. The resolution chooses to reference President Obama's policy announced after the November 2016 election, while intentionally leaving out the Trump administration's policy, designing the resolution to be hyperpartisan. This resolution is a politically motivated exercise designed to undermine the policy of the Trump administration, the right policy, announced in November, that settlements in Judea and Samaria not be considered a violation of international law. This resolution disproportionately criticizes the Israeli Government, while failing to recognize the dangerous actions targeting innocent Israelis that further remove the possibility of peace. This resolution binds the U.S. Government and calls for Israel to only pursue a two-state solution. This is wrong. We should not bind ourselves and our ally, a sovereign nation with equal standing before the United Nations, to only one solution.

Mr. ROY. And, moreover, to one solution that has been a failed battle cry because Palestinians have perpetually failed to come to the negotiating table to pursue it in good faith. How peace is reached in the Middle East begins and ends with actual and complete recognition of Israel's right to exist--and it is up to Israel to decide how and in what way a solution might be reached, whether that is two states or otherwise. The rich history of Israel is increasingly known and celebrated by the world. It is a great and vibrant nation. As we head into this celebratory season of our respective faiths, let us celebrate Israel, together, its greatness, and remember that America stands with Israel.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I object.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for those kind remarks. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams), my friend.

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for those great remarks about the Governor. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for his remarks. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Taylor), who represents the town in which my lovely bride grew up, Plano, Texas.

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for joining us here this evening and lauding the service and accomplishments of Governor Perry, Secretary Perry. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson), my former colleague in the United States Senate and my friend.

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas. I know that he appreciates the Governor's military service because he, too, is a veteran. I thank him for his service, and I thank him for the kind remarks for the Governor. I know he will cherish and appreciate those. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from west Texas (Mr. Arrington), who represents my father's alma mater, Texas Tech University, and ask his indulgences after the NCAA basketball championship.

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for those inspiring remarks about our mutual friend, the former Governor of Texas, although he will always be the Governor of Texas in our hearts. I know he will appreciate those sentiments. As someone who--my father grew up down the road in Sweetwater, Texas, and is a west Texan, just down the road from where he grew up, and you can share those experiences. There is something special about that part of the world, the people and what it means. I think the United States could learn a lot from spending some time with the good people of west Texas. I would point out, following what was just said, in 2016, when Governor Perry was thinking about running for President, at that time, he was on the stage, and to his right, when he announced his Presidential campaign, was Marcus Luttrell, a retired member of the Navy SEALs, who was the only survivor of a 2005 attack by the Taliban in Afghanistan. He wrote a book about his experience, called ``Lone Survivor,'' as you know, which has become a movie. To Mr. Perry, to the Governor, our friend, Mr. Luttrell is more than a military veteran and best-selling author. He is practically a member of the family. Now, why is that? Well, as Perry said, ``He is not just the lone survivor. He is a second son.'' Marcus was in physical therapy in San Diego in 2006 when he met the Governor and his wife, Anita, who were there on vacation. And they reconnected in Texas where Mr. Luttrell was from, and Mr. Perry took Mr. Luttrell into his home. He is living there. He is the Governor, and he took Marcus into his home to live with him while he was dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. They are now friends, and Governor Perry is the godfather of Mr. Luttrell's children. That is who he is. Mr. Speaker, you know that, I know that, and those of us from Texas know that. I would point out how great this world would be if the E.U. or the U.N. would hire the Secretary to go be in charge of energy for the world. Can you imagine if we were able to export LNG from Texas to China and to India and the places that are polluting the world? Imagine if we could export the kind of entrepreneurship and capability that Texans are doing that are driving the world's economy. Literally, the tip of the spear for the world's economy is the great State of Texas. And it is largely due to the spirit of the people of Texas which is exemplified by that great Governor. I would make a few points here. The philosophy of the Governor when I worked for him was, ``I have been guided by a simple philosophy: that job creation, not higher taxation, is the best form of revenue generation.'' And I think this body could learn a lot from that. Follow the model of Texas. That philosophy served the people of Texas well. In his tenure he added more than 2.2 million jobs, or Texas did. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that is nearly four times the national average during the same timeline. Twenty-three percent in Texas, versus 6 percent in the United States as a whole. Twenty-nine percent of all new jobs in the United States came from Texas. Employment grew three times faster in Texas than in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, or Pennsylvania. Texas led wage growth across all income levels. Ninety-five percent of all jobs in Texas paid above the minimum in 2013 when he was at the height of being Governor. He grew Texas' economy to become the world's twelfth largest economy. Today it is the tenth under current Governor Greg Abbott. It wasn't just about the growth, but as the Governor said in his 2005 address to the people of Texas: ``Our challenge is to make sound, strategic investments that withstand the test of time.'' It was his fiscal conservatism, though, that I think a lot of people looked to the Governor, is how he led that great State, unlike this body, balancing our budgets, and doing so while growing our great economy. He understands what everyone in Washington can't seem to wrap their head around, that you can't spend money you don't have. While this body racks up $100 million of debt per hour, Texas balances its budget while leading the world in job creation. While Perry was Governor, Texas cut spending, balanced the budget, and grew the Texas economy exponentially. The State of Texas, under Perry's leadership, finished the `13-'14 legislative session with a $2.6 billion surplus; things we can only dream of here in Washington right now. He fought tax hikes, passed the largest school property tax rate decrease in Texas State history at the time; passed extensive property tax breaks for disabled veterans and their spouses; and championed the idea that the people, not the government, are the drivers of growth and innovation. Governor Perry oversaw perhaps the largest transformation of energy technology and policy in Texas history, setting the foundation for extraordinary achievements to come. Breakthroughs in hydraulic fracturing, which some people use as the bogeyman, creates the engine of the prosperity our Nation is now feeling and that is now being exported around the world. We are sitting in this great Chamber with lights fueled by natural gas. That is what Texas is doing. That is how Texas is leading the world. It led to an oil and natural gas surge in Texas growing by roughly 260 percent and 50 percent respectively. Texas is producing more oil than Iraq and Afghanistan, leading the way for America to achieve energy independence, which we only could dream of a mere decade or 15 years ago. The State's wind power sector hardly existed when the Governor came to office, but Texas became the Nation's leader in wind energy generation during his tenure in his all-of-the-above approach. Perry took the same progrowth mentality to Washington during his time as Secretary of Energy. As Energy Secretary, Perry focused not only on securing American energy independence, but on our stability and capacity to export LNG, liquefied natural gas, around the world. Because of his leadership, the U.S. will be able to provide allies and partners with affordable energy that will drive economic growth and prosperity around the world. America has seen this historic growth while leading the world in total CO2 emissions reduction since 2005. When the Governor stepped down from Texas, briefly thinking he was done with public service before being pulled back as the Secretary of Energy--that is why I am not sure he is done with his public service yet, by the way--``Texas is a State,'' he said, ``where nothing is impossible. Where the sons and daughters of migrant workers can aspire to own the farm; where the children of factory workers can build new- age manufacturing facilities; and where the son of tenant farmers''--as was the Governor--``can become Governor of the greatest State in the Union. ``In Texas, it's not where you come from that matters, it's where you are going. Texas doesn't recognize the artificial barriers of race, class, or creed. ``The most vivid dreams take flight from the most humble beginnings, and so it was for me,'' said the Governor. ``As many of you know, I grew up in a place called Paint Creek. When I was young, we didn't have electricity or running water. Mom bathed us in a number two washtub. And we attended the Paint Creek Rural School, where some of the teachers lived on campus. Their profession was literally their life, and they inspired me,'' he said. ``In fact, I'm proud to say I graduated in the top 10 of my class of 13 students,'' he added. ``I can assure you none of my teachers knew they were instructing a future Governor. ``But they also have a motto at the Paint Creek School that summarizes the endless possibilities for its students: `No dream too tall for a school so small.' '' This is the story of Texas. This is the story of America. When will we go back to that story again? When will we talk about those aspirations that America represents, that that flag represents, that this body represents, instead of the games that we play in this place rightly known as the swamp? He said: ``In this, the people's House,'' referring to the Texas House, ``we're in the business of making dreams possible. Every dream counts, every child matters. . . . And in Texas, every child has a chance. That is the Texas we have built together, a Texas of unlimited opportunity. There's a reason more people move to Texas than any other State, because this is the best place to find a job, raise your family, and pursue your dreams. ``In some respects, this has been true for a long time,'' he said. ``In the early 1800s, Americans headed west, leaving their troubles behind to find a second chance.'' That is what my family did. Maybe what your family did, my friend from Texas. My family came from Georgia to Dripping Springs, Texas, in 1853. My great-great-great grandparents are buried just a few miles down the road from where my wife, Carrah, and I have 10 acres outside of Austin, Texas. They came there seeking a better way of life. My great-great grandmother was born in San Marcos, and she married my great-great grandfather who was a Texas Ranger battling Comanches and Comanche incursions at the time signing up in Hays, and Travis, and Blanco Counties. It was a tough country. There were no handouts. There was no government to go seek some refuge from. You just had to grab yourself up by your bootstraps--yes, we still like that phrase and we still use it in Texas--and figure out how to survive. ``They planted roots; tamed a harsh land; won a revolution; founded a republic; survived droughts; wildfires and hurricanes; discovered crude; started great universities; and took mankind to the Moon.'' In his tenure alone, the Governor said: ``We have been tested by the disintegration of the space shuttle; Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike; devastating wildfires; the spread of Ebola; and a humanitarian crisis at the border. ``Each time, Texans have responded to these tests with great character. As long as there has been a Texas, there has existed a people whose character has been refined by fire, whose souls are resilient, who respond to tragedy with grace, and who look to the future with hope. ``What we have done together is preserve Texas as a land of opportunity, making our economy more diverse and jobs more plentiful.'' I could go on. I will just close out here by saying, all of that is applicable to this, the United States of America. All of that is who we are. And we would do well to remember that again. It is the greatness of this country that we must return to. The Governor, when he served in the Air Force, flew C-130s. And one time as the Governor, he was over in Iraq or Afghanistan--I don't remember which--and he was flying in a C-130, rattling around as you do you when you fly in those planes. He landed, and as he always did when he was flying around, he went up and talked to those guys flying the plane, because he would have rather been in that cockpit than whatever he was doing as Governor. And he went up there and he talked to them, and then he started looking; they went and looked at the manifest and the history of the airplane, and he had flown that C-130 in the 1970 when he was a pilot in the Air Force. That is who he was. He wanted to go find out and he wanted to talk to those guys. When the Governor ran for President in 2011-2012, I worked on his Presidential campaign. I had been working in his office, and that was when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, as I referenced earlier. As I said earlier, he called me from a debate stage--literally going on stage--to make sure and check on me and check on my health and see how I was doing during chemotherapy. That is just who he was. That is who he has always been. When he was launching his campaign in Charleston, South Carolina, I unfortunately had to miss that. I was going to be there, but I was at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston starting treatment. But when he announced, he used a phrase: `` . . . making Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in our lives as possible.'' It is what I aspire to do here as a Member in this body. Not because there are not great things we can do in this body, but because the greatness of this country lies outside of this body. It lies outside of this city. It lies in every town, in every community, in every school, in every business, in every hospital, all around this great country where people wake up every day to make lives better. Too much of our focus is on what happens here. Too many Sunday mornings are about what is happening on ``Meet the Press'' instead of what is happening in the church pew, instead of what is happening down the street. Too many people are looking to the VA to solve problems for the veterans instead of wondering, who is the veteran 5 miles down the road who needs help right now? We solve problems like the Cajun Navy coming over to Houston, like the people of Texas rising up in the wake of floods after hurricanes to solve problems for real people in real time. Instead of mortgaging our future with fake promises that we can't afford while this body has show votes--no matter who is in charge, by the way--on resolutions and bills, and never sits here and has the real debates and the real work of what we need to do. The real work is going on outside of this body. Governor Perry represents the greatness of this Nation. Both his life story and who he is, he embodies the greatness of this country. I wholeheartedly endorse making Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in the lives of Americans as possible, because our country will be ever greater as the State of Texas has been ever greater under his leadership and since our inception as a State in leading this country and leading this world. I thank the Governor. I thank his lovely wife. I thank his family. I look forward to seeing what he is going to do next. And with that, and on behalf of all Texans and my colleagues here in the House, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), my friend.

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I am here tonight with a number of my colleagues from Texas because Governor Rick Perry, as we Texans refer to him, will be stepping down in a few weeks as the Secretary of Energy of the United States of America. I have had the honor of serving on his staff, working with him on a number of projects, including a book, and working on his campaigns. He has been a State Representative in Texas, the Agriculture Commissioner in Texas, Lieutenant Governor, Governor of Texas, but I always think of Rick Perry first and foremost as a proud Texan, an Aggie, an Eagle Scout, a husband, an Air Force veteran, a father, and a grandfather. But for me personally, I always remember the Governor as a friend, a loyal friend who would help those who needed it, whether it was a veteran, suffering after battle, who needed a home, which the Governor and his lovely bride, Anita, would welcome them into their home, or whether it was praying for me when I had cancer as a staffer for him. Governor Perry literally called me from a Presidential debate to check on me while I was going through chemotherapy. And he stood with me and my family through it all. He is above all a good and decent man. There are few people in this world who cause you to want to charge the hill behind him, and you know it will be for fighting a just cause, but Governor Perry is one of those people. And he learned this from his family and his community. Governor Perry grew up in Paint Creek, Texas, with no indoor plumbing for the first 5 years of his life in 1950s west Texas. His dad, Ray, was a World War II veteran, who along with Perry's wonderful mom, Amelia, were ranchers in Texas. And his wife Anita, whom he met in elementary school, was his high school sweetheart and has been the love of his life and by his side ever since. He is a proud dad to Griffin and Sydney and granddad to their wonderful children. Governor Perry is fairly famous for being an Aggie. He received his bachelor of science degree in animal science from A&M. He was commissioned to second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force upon graduation. He was a member of Squadron 6 and served as a junior and senior Yell Leader and was immersed in all aspects of Aggie student life. A strong supporter of the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M, Governor Perry has been a speaker at countless Aggie musters since 1990 and was the principal speaker at the main campus ceremony in 2002. And he was also the key note speaker at the 125th anniversary celebration of the Corps of Cadets in 2001. He exemplifies the Aggie values, selfless service, respect, loyalty, integrity, and excellence in leadership. Before I yield to my colleague, I would be remiss if I did not note that it was 20 years ago today that the historic tradition at Texas A&M, the A&M bonfire that is always built in preparation for and lit the night before the game against the University of Texas, one of the greatest rivalries in sports, which is long overdue for renewal, 20 years ago today it collapsed at 2:42 a.m. where 11 students and one former student died and 27 others were injured. Fifty-seven Aggies were working on the bonfire at the time when they heard a crack, and it collapsed. My wife was a senior at the time. And as we commemorate Governor Perry tonight, we also commemorate the lives of those great Aggies who were carrying on the spirit of that great institution. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber).

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a native of the 21st Congressional District of Texas, Master Sergeant Matthew Williams. Master Sergeant Williams received the Medal of Honor at the White House 2 weeks ago for his heroic actions while serving as Weapons Sergeant, Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3336, Special Operations Task Force-33, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. According to the Medal of Honor citation, on April 6, 2018, Williams, his team, and roughly 100 Afghan commandos were airdropped from helicopters into a mountainous area in Afghanistan's Shok Valley. The terrain was too rough for the helicopters to land, so the soldiers jumped from 10 to 12 feet off the back of the helicopters to start the mission. Some landed on jagged rocks. Others landed waist- deep in a river. None of them were detoured from the mission. After making their way through fast-moving water and up rocky terrain, an element of Williams' team faced an onslaught of machine gun fire, sniper fire, and rocket-propelled grenades. Williams and his group were forced to take cover. Once Williams learned members of his team were trapped and taking heavy fire, he quickly joined a small assault team to assist the wounded and the troops taking heavy fire. Williams led the group up the mountain and across a 100-meter valley of boulders and difficult terrain toward the American troops in danger. Quickly, they set up a human chain to bring the wounded down the mountain. As they were setting up the chain, one of his fellow soldiers was hit. Without a moment's hesitation, Williams braved enemy fire to give the soldier first aid and get him out of the line of fire. After helping his fellow soldier, Williams immediately turned around and fought his way back up to the mountain to where his teammates were pinned down. After taking out multiple insurgents, Williams worked to get his unit organized. He then went back to putting himself between enemy fire and his fellow soldiers, to protect them as they were making their way to safety. Insurgents began attacking a small house at the base of the mountain the American troops were using as the collection point for casualties and injured soldiers. To buy time for helicopters to extract the wounded and get them to safety, Williams led a counterattack against a group of over 200 insurgents, fighting them off as his troops were being saved. Master Sergeant Williams' actions were critical in helping to save the lives of four wounded soldiers. There is no doubt that Williams protected his fellow soldiers from grave danger. Because of his actions and that of his brave teammates, no American servicemembers were killed. Master Sergeant Williams exemplifies the selfless commitment our men and women in uniform give to the United States of America, our values, and our way of life. Master Sergeant Williams from Texas-21, from Boerne, Texas, the State of Texas and the entire Nation is proud of the honor you received 2 weeks ago. Honoring Service of Rick Perry

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I also want to say a few remarks quickly about my friend and former boss, and the former Governor of the State of Texas, Rick Perry. He is going to be ending his service as the Secretary of Energy, I believe at the end of this month. He is a patriot, a proud veteran of the Air Force, and a proud Aggie, which he and my Aggie wife like to remind me of regularly. He was born in Paint Creek, Texas, in a house that didn't have indoor plumbing. He lived in that house for 5 years without indoor plumbing. He worked up to graduate from A&M, serve in the Air Force, serve as a State representative, as the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, the Lieutenant Governor, and the 14-year Governor of the State of Texas. He is my friend. I respect him immensely. I thank him for his service as the Secretary of Energy. I would just say that when I worked for him, I was battling Hodgkin's lymphoma, and the Governor could not have been more gracious and more supportive of me and my young family at the time. He will always be someone for whom I will be happy to crawl across broken glass for any day, any week, anywhere in the United States. I know his public service is far from over because he loves this country so much. Questions for Majority Leader

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I would make only one other point in my remaining 20 seconds. I heard the distinguished majority leader talking about the whistleblower. We are in the middle of the Nation focusing on what the House of Representatives is doing, and the Nation is wondering why we aren't working on the things that will make their lives better: lowering healthcare prices, balancing the budget, securing the border, and doing the work that we should be doing to make their lives better in the United States of America. To listen to the majority leader talking about the whistleblower in some hallowed respect when that very whistleblower had an attorney who was talking about a coup in 2017, I would ask one question: Why hasn't this alleged whistleblower fired that attorney? Did the whistleblower know that the attorney was talking about a coup in 2017? If he did, why did he hire him? If he didn't, why hasn't he fired him? Those would be my questions for the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a constituent of the 21st Congressional District of Texas. This man was a hero, veteran, and the oldest known graduate of Texas A&M University, the alma mater of my bride. His name was Colonel Tom C. ``Ike'' Morris. Colonel Morris passed away Sunday in San Antonio at the age of 109 years old, leaving behind a life and legacy all of us can only aspire to someday. Colonel Morris is the epitome of what the Greatest Generation embodied. He worked five jobs to stay in school during the Depression and graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor's degree in agriculture. Working his way through school didn't stop him from being an engaged member of the Aggie community. He was senior class president, chaired the committee that set the first requirements for seniors to earn the famous Aggie Ring, and was a member of the track and field team. He also knew what it meant to fight for a man's right to live free. He fought in the 38th Infantry of the 2nd Infantry Division in World War II. He went on to land on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy and, with his unit, he liberated the first city in France. Colonel Morris married his high school sweetheart, and they were married for 77 years. Colonel Morris celebrated his 109th birthday this August. When asked about the secret to living a long life, Colonel Morris said, ``Do your best.'' We could improve from adhering to such sage, simple advice. Colonel Morris, we thank you for your service and for leading a life worthy of example. May you rest in peace now. God bless you, sir.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I would notice that there is a certain smell here of jet fumes; that this Chamber is completely empty, here, July 25, my colleagues--well, it is empty for the most part. My colleagues are headed off to the airport to fly home; fly home for fundraisers, vacation. But you know what they are not doing? Nobody in this body is going to stay here to secure the border of the United States. While we have got thousands of people pouring across our border, while ICE does not have the resources it needs to do its job, this body is adjourning. I had 40 of my colleagues, give or take--and it is a growing list-- that have asked the Speaker that we should stay here. We should not adjourn. How can we possibly adjourn without giving ICE the resources it needs for the beds to be able to put people, to be able to deal with the border crisis? Yet, that is what this body is going to do. It is unconscionable that we are allowing our border to stay open, and that this body is going to adjourn, go home and, for 6 weeks, not do our duty as a sovereign Nation to have a secure border, to make sure migrants can come here safely; but more importantly, that our law enforcement has the tools that it needs to do the job that we ask them to do when they are standing on the line every day defending this country. With cartels having operational control of our border, endangering this country, it is our duty to do it. We should stay here.

Mr. ROY

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership tonight in bringing an opportunity for us to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives on an issue that is front and center for most of the American people. It is, by far, the number one issue that the American people care about. I can particularly speak to the people of Texas, who are bearing the brunt of the failed border security, the failed immigration policies of the Federal Government. I had the opportunity to visit an ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, this past Saturday. I was out in Denver for a Western Conservative Summit. I was visiting family members, and I saw this terrible story of individuals rushing the ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado, and taking down the American flag, defacing the American flag, then raising the Mexican flag.

Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's question. I think it is an important question. To take down the American flag, deface the American flag with the words ``abolish ICE,'' to turn it upside down and re-raise it; to raise, then, the Mexican flag alongside of it over this ICE detention facility, I went there the day after this occurred. I met with the individuals running this facility, both ICE as well as the private individuals, GEO, that were running it. What did I find in the facility? It is a detention facility that houses 1,200 individuals. It was clean. There were doctors' offices. There was medicine. There were ping-pong tables. There were iPads to watch news in home countries. There were televisions. There were video game stations. There were three square meals. There were clean bunk beds. There were people from 57 countries. Only 29 percent of the people in there are from Mexico. Traditionally, this ICE facility has 80 percent of its occupants coming from individuals who are brought in there from interior enforcement, usually violent criminals or people who have violated our laws other than immigration laws, and 80 percent are usually of that population. Now, 80 percent of that is from people who are flooding across our border, overwhelming Border Patrol. ICE has no beds, no place to put these individuals who have violated our laws. As a result, you see the overcrowding in the Border Patrol facilities. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have, for months on end, been refusing to acknowledge that there is a border crisis, only awakening in the last several weeks to finally acknowledge that there is a crisis, to finally agree to pass only humanitarian aid, that is, dollars to go to HHS, ORR to take in individuals, unaccompanied children, to place them, but then restricting dollars for ICE. Why? Because I think that the Democratic Caucus is run by four members of the Caucus. I don't think there is a single Speaker. I think there are four Speakers, and I think those four Speakers are deciding the policy for the Democrat Party. I think, as a result, we saw precisely what is happening. We have no resources for ICE--none. We are vilifying ICE. We are vilifying Border Patrol. Speak to the Border Patrol agents on the border who are holding the line defending the United States of America while cartels have operational control of our border, while the Gulf Cartel, the Reynoso faction, Los Zetas, the Cartel de Noreste, the Sinaloas, they are using human beings for profit. They are using children as tickets to sell access to the United States. Why are they doing that, and how are they doing that? My Democrat colleagues know full well the answer to that, and they don't care. They don't care that cartels are abusing our laws for profit, that they are doing so in a way that violates children, violates women on the journey, a third of whom are abused along the journey. And they do so knowing that Border Patrol is overwhelmed and refuse to do anything about it. Now, what I want to know, and I don't know what my colleagues think about this, but why is it that we have got about 1 week left before we are going to adjourn for a 6-week recess, and yet my Democrat colleagues are going to do nothing, nothing on the floor of this body, the people's House, to address this calamitous situation, nothing to provide the resources necessary for ICE, nothing to address the fact that they only provided $200 million for ICE with restrictions on how the money may be used? When Barack Obama, former President, asked for $762 million for ICE in the wake of the unaccompanied alien children who were coming in 2014--and this crisis is multiple times worse--what are my Democrat colleagues going to do next week to solve this problem before they leave for 6 weeks? What are my Democrat colleagues going to do to save the little girls and the women who are going to get abused in the next 6 weeks when everybody adjourns for this body to go off to fundraisers and trips and go back to their districts while our border is on fire? What are my Democrat colleagues going to do? I will tell you what they are going to do. Absolutely nothing, and it is an embarrassment. It is an embarrassment to this body, the people's House, that we are looking at a southern border that is being violated. We are looking at a sovereignty of the United States being violated. We are looking at little girls and women being violated by dangerous cartels. And my Democrat colleagues would rather waste time on the floor of this body with meaningless resolutions. We spent time yesterday doing what? Taking down the words and having a vote on words that were a result of a resolution against a tweet. That is what this august body did yesterday. That is what they spent their time doing. Did they address the border crisis? No. Are they going to address the border crisis next week? No. They are going to send us into the August recess, barreling towards deficits well over a trillion dollars, with people streaming across our border in violation of our sovereignty to the detriment of our security, to the detriment of the well-being of the migrants who seek to come here, and they are going to do that, to go home and do absolutely nothing about the problem. So I would ask my colleagues: Are we going to allow this body to adjourn next week? Are we going to leave the floor and go home for 6 weeks and allow that to continue to be the state of affairs at our southern border? I think this country deserves better. I think the migrants who seek to come here deserve better. I think we should sit down and roll up our sleeves and do the job the American people sent us here to do: secure the border, balance the budget, provide healthcare freedom, make sure our men and women have a clear mission and the tools to do it, and get the hell out of the way of the American people.