Steve Scalise

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Once again, Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the other side would talk about cutting healthcare benefits when we just had a bill to fund healthcare benefits to the tune of $138 billion, and every Democrat voted ``no.'' We passed the bill with Republican votes. We will continue to do our work. We will continue standing up to the extremists on the left who want to bring our country to a socialist direction with lies and misrepresentations. We heard it. They said that benefits would be cut. We just passed a bill that strengthened those benefits. They voted ``no,'' so maybe that means they wanted to cut those benefits. We didn't. We stood in the brink, and we voted to support our veterans. We are going to continue negotiations during this work period to keep working to get the job done and to work for the people who sent us here; not to work for the people who want to change this country to something that is unrecognizable in socialist nations. Let's stand up for America. Let's keep getting the job done. We have more work to do. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I would agree with the gentlewoman on one thing that she just said: The American people are watching. What the American people just watched is every single Democrat vote against funding veterans benefits--every single one. Nevertheless, thank goodness this Republican majority stuck together and put the votes on the board, $138 billion, so our veterans will get the benefits that they deserve and earned. If the Democrats are going to be extreme and walk away from that responsibility, we will be here standing to make the call, to make the tough votes, and to get that work done as the Appropriations Committee has done over and over again on bills that in committee Democrats have walked away from over and over again. So it is a little rich to complain about going home. We could stay here and watch you vote against every single other appropriations bill. We are going to continue the negotiations during the August recess to make sure we get back to funding the priorities of the Nation. By the way, Mr. Speaker, when I talk about funding the priorities of the Nation, let's talk about our Nation's defense, as we just funded our Nation's veterans. Let's get back to funding things that actually help our military focus on the threats from China, not teaching hatred of America from within. Yes, we defunded that. So, Mr. Speaker, we will continue to do our job through the next weeks and months. We invite all to come to work, as we have, to try to come to an agreement, not just to vote ``no,'' but to come to an agreement to solve these problems and to pass these bills. If both sides won't, we still will do that work. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark).

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of making a scheduling announcement. Mr. Speaker, Members are advised that votes are no longer expected in the House tomorrow. We still have more work to do. Don't celebrate too early. Last votes for the week and the month are expected now at approximately 2:50 today. We will have one more vote series today and then we will be finished for the August work period. Mr. Speaker, I will remind the House that just this month, this House has completed the National Defense Authorization Act, the FAA Reauthorization Act, the Schools Not Shelter Act, and we just passed, of course, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act to make sure that we fully fund healthcare for our veterans, we support suicide prevention, and we also fund housing and other services for our men and women in uniform who keep us safe. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), the minority whip.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez), the manager of the Democratic team.

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, with that, let's resume voting.

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, there is a baseball game that is played between the Republicans and Democrats. It goes back many decades and raises a lot of money for local charities. In this game, they do keep score, and there are winners and there are losers, and there is a trophy, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams) the manager of the Republican team, who happens to be the coach of the winning team.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker, I, too, want to thank our guest chaplain, Dan Borne. For so many years, over 30 years, I have known Dan and known him wearing many different hats. Anybody in Louisiana who has encountered a number of different interests, whether it is philanthropic, religious, business, you have run into Dan Borne. I know Dan through the Louisiana Chemical Association, as the head, representing thousands of workers throughout Louisiana, making things that all of us use in our everyday life and making sure that those great men and women have the ability to do their jobs with the pride that they have. That was the first role in which I really got to know Dan Borne and his dear friend, Greg Bowser. Also, of course, as an LSU alum, when you are in Tiger Stadium, everybody knows that voice. When you hear the voice of Dan Borne, it is just one that gets people excited, most people get excited. There are other people in Tiger Stadium that might not be as excited when they are on the other end of what happens in Death Valley, but Dan is the one who really keeps things going as the voice of the LSU Tigers. Then, of course, there is his role as a deacon and also a spokesperson for the diocese of Baton Rouge. Dan Borne wears many hats, but he wears them all with great pride and distinction. He carries himself the way all of us should, a true man of God. We are honored to have Dan here with us today. I am glad he was able to open the House up in prayer today. God bless him.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend, Mr. Bilirakis, for yielding. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of this bill. Mr. Armstrong brings forward a really important bill that follows with a number of other pieces of legislation you are seeing on the floor. Tomorrow, you will see Mrs. Lesko's bill dealing with the same issue, the same idea that the Federal Government wants to ban gas stoves. Mr. Chairman, most Americans are looking all across the country and saying that inflation is still skyrocketing for families and that energy costs are skyrocketing for families. You are paying 50 percent more at the pump when you fill up your car. By the way, they want to ban the combustion engine, not through a congressional act, but through unelected bureaucrat regulations to get rid of gasoline-powered cars. It is all part of this government control agenda that we are seeing from this administration. It seems like in every single department of the Biden administration--the CFPB here, the Department of Energy over there, and EPA in another place--they are trying to tell people what they can and can't do with their lives--what kind of stove you can use in your house, for goodness' sake. First of all, just look at the premise of what they are trying to do--to ban the gas stove, which means you have to then use an electric stove. Maybe a coal stove they would support, I don't know. If you are choosing between a gas stove and an electric stove, we already know the gas stove is cheaper. They are targeting lower income families and raising the costs on lower income families. They are taking money out of the pockets of families who can least afford it. Look at the energy side of this. I know this administration, more than any I have ever seen, has issued an all-out assault on American energy, not all energy. President Biden didn't cancel every pipeline. He canceled the Keystone pipeline and American pipelines. He green- lighted Russia's pipeline. He didn't cancel all fossil fuels around the world. He said he just wants to make it harder to produce fossil fuels in the United States of America. Then, he went and begged Putin to produce more oil. He begged Saudi Arabia to produce more oil, and Venezuela. It just seems like, over and over again, it is American energy that they go after. If you get rid of the gas stove, you are not getting rid of natural gas. Most places, a lot of places, get their electric from natural gas. You are going to ban the gas stove, and then you are going to take your electric stove--you don't plug it into a tree. You plug it into a socket that is probably fueled by natural gas, but they are probably going to try to ban that, too. Who are the people that come up with these ideas when sitting around in a room? They are not trying to figure out how to lower inflation, not trying to figure out how to get spending under control, not trying to figure out how to secure America's border. They are trying to figure out how to take choices away from Americans, whether or not you can even buy a gas stove. Mr. Chair, they are trying to take away the Second Amendment rights of disabled veterans on a bill we will be voting on later tonight on pistol braces. It is something that was designed for military veterans who risked their lives for our country and got so injured that their arms weren't able to use and hold a weapon like most people do. They came up with these braces to help them exercise their Second Amendment constitutional right. They want to get rid of that, too, and retroactively make felons out of millions of Americans. Mr. Chairman, this government control is out of control. It is about time we push back. You are seeing this whole week we are bringing bills, as we have in the past, to finally start standing up for those hardworking families who are struggling and are sick and tired of attacks on their freedom and their opportunities by this Federal Government. Today it is gas stoves. A couple of weeks ago, EPA started coming up with rules that they haven't even finalized yet to try to ban the combustion engine. They want to do these things that are major changes that will affect people's lives adversely. I used to watch how a bill becomes law. I think most Americans watched that, too. I hope they still teach civics in school instead of hatred of America, which they seem to want to do all the time. It used to be that if you wanted to change the way something works, you file a bill and go talk to your Member of Congress. You file a bill and go to committee and explain your idea. If it is a really dumb, nutty idea, it gets voted down. I guess they got voted down so many times that they decided: Why go run for Congress? They just got into the unelected bureaucracy where they can come up with these ideas and where there is no accountability, which, by the way, is why we are bringing the REINS Act later this week, a bill that says any kind of change from an unelected bureaucrat that affects your life--these hardworking families who are sick and tired of waking up and saying: What did the government do to me today, and how am I going to now live my life and have my freedoms when they are trying to take them away at every different angle? The REINS Act says that if an unelected bureaucrat does that, they have to come before Congress first. The elected people who are held accountable every 2 years were on the ballot. If it is a really good idea, present it in public view on C- SPAN. Can anybody tell me who the person is that came up with this rule that is going to affect every American's life? No one can name who they are. Why don't you make them come? If it is a great idea, they should be proud to present it in open view like this forum is right here. They can tell everybody what it is about. If we vote it up, it becomes law. If we vote it down, the dumb idea dies. That is not how it works, which is why we need things like the REINS Act. This unelected bureaucracy, these Big Government socialists that want to control every aspect of your life, we are sick and tired of it. We need to pass this bill. We need to pass the pistol brace bill. Tomorrow, we need to pass Mrs. Lesko's bill. We need to pass the REINS Act and the Chevron deference bill. That is just this week. Every single week, we are seeing this administration go after the rights of hardworking people, and they are sick and tired of it. I am glad this Republican majority is standing up for those families who are struggling and tired, too. Mr. Chair, let's get this done. Let's pass this bill.

Mr. SCALISE

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

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker, while some in this town might be interested in theatrics, House Republicans took action. We passed a bill to address the problem. It is time for my friends on the other side to start doing their job. Call the Senate back in to take up the bill. If they don't like it, they can amend it. That is part of the legislative process. Let's get our jobs done. We have done ours. They need to do theirs. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker, reclaiming my time. Maybe my colleagues on the other side are having buyer's remorse, or should I say voter's remorse, that every single one of them voted against addressing the debt ceiling over a month ago when we brought that bill to the floor. Now, Madam Speaker, there is a remedy. If anyone in this Chamber, including my friends on the other side, would like to see this problem addressed, they should go over to the Senate side. Frankly, there is no one there. They should get on the phone and call the Democrat Senators who run the Senate and chose to be out this whole week because they took this so seriously or call the White House and ask the President why he took 97 days off after the first meeting with Speaker McCarthy when the Speaker was ready to negotiate. We are still here. We have done our job. We have acted. We are, in fact, the only body in this town who has actually taken steps to address the debt ceiling and the spending problem in Washington. I encourage the Senate to take up the bill. I encourage the President to get engaged and address this problem, but we already have the votes on the board. I ask that the House be in order and there be some decorum on the other side.

Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker, as we all know, the House has already voted to address the debt ceiling. Madam Speaker, on April 26, this House passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act. I should say some of this House, but a majority of this House passed a bill to address not only the debt ceiling but also the spending problem in Washington that has brought us to this point. Now, I will also say, Madam Speaker, that for more than 4 weeks, the Senate has not even taken up action on that bill. In fact, the Senate is not even in session today or this week. Madam Speaker, following tomorrow's votes, if some new agreement is reached between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy, Members will receive 24 hours' notice in the event we need to return to Washington for any additional votes either over the weekend or next week. Additionally, we will allow all Members to have 72 hours to review any such legislative text that may come before us relating to the debt ceiling before final passage of that bill. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark).

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend for yielding. I also want to thank you for your unwavering support of American agriculture. The industry is lucky to have such a strong advocate and champion in Congress. I am proud to bring H.R. 2 to the Floor today--it is the strongest border security bill this House has ever considered. I want to thank Chairmen Jordan, Green, and McCaul for their tireless work to put together this bill at such a pivotal time with Title 42 expiring today and our border crisis only getting worse. And I'd like to thank our lead sponsors, Mario Diaz-Balart and Tom McClintock--they were both instrumental in getting this deal done. Dan, I want to thank you for working with us--I know you have some concerns, but I am glad we have been able to work through those concerns. As Majority Leader, I can commit to you that we will continue to work with you on legislation to address the workforce needs of our agriculture industry.

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for yielding. To respond to my friend Mr. Newhouse's question, first, I thank him for his unwavering support for American agriculture. The industry is lucky to have such a champion. He has been very vocal in addressing some of the questions. I also thank him for working with us on those questions. I know he has those concerns, which he brought up, but I am glad that we have been able to work through many of those. As majority leader, I can commit that we will continue to work with Mr. Newhouse on legislation to address the workforce needs of our agriculture industry. Mr. Speaker, we have a crisis at our Nation's border. That is why we are bringing the Secure the Border Act to the floor today. It is why the President and Secretary Mayorkas should be doing everything in their power to stop the surge that we are seeing today--maybe 10,000 people coming across illegally. That is something that Secretary Mayorkas says is not an open border. I would hate to see his description of an open border if 10,000 people coming across in 1 day is not. They are derelict in their duty because they have opened up the border to the tune of over 5 million people who have come into our country. That is more than my home State of Louisiana who have come into our country illegally just in the last 2 years that Joe Biden has been President. We have asked where they are going. We asked how they are taking care of them, who is housing them, whether the kids are going to school. They don't know. In fact, The New York Times just reported that the Biden administration lost track of 85,000 young kids who have come into our country illegally. How do you lose 85,000 young kids and then say you don't have a problem and you won't work with Republicans to fix it? The President actually issued a veto threat on this bill. What does this bill do? It secures America's border again. It ends catch and release. It says: Let's get back to rule of law. We are actually a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. We can do both, but this President has abandoned the rule of law to the point where more than 5 million people have come across illegally. What has it also done? It has brought drugs into our country. The cartels are running our southern border. Today, we are going to lose 300 young people to fentanyl deaths because President Biden opened our southern border. Yesterday, 300 young people died. Tomorrow, another 300 young people in America will die because the President opened the southern border, and he doesn't care about it. He issued a veto threat on the bill that would fix it. House Republicans are not going to sit on the sidelines. We brought a bill to the floor that everybody should vote for. Again, get back to rule of law. Give our Border Patrol agents the tools they need so that if somebody actually has an asylum claim, they can come and seek asylum the legal way. Do you want to come to America? We are the most generous Nation in the world. Legal immigration works. When you open up the border and bring 5 million people in 2 years, it undermines the entire legal system, and it breaks down communities not just at the border but all across America. This is wreaking devastation all across America, not only the deaths but all the other things that go with it, and the President won't fix it. Today, we can take a step to fix this problem. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to vote for this bill, and I urge the President to get engaged in working with us to solve this problem. Let's pass the bill.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas, not only a leader but the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Mr. Arrington, for bringing this bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker, we all know our Nation is at a crossroads. This is a very fragile time for the American people. They are looking at inflation that is going through the roof, decades high, paying more for everything, and they know why that happened. They are paying more for everything when they go to the grocery store, the gas pump, and anywhere else because Washington has spent trillions of dollars that this country doesn't have. Over the last 2 years, President Biden has maxed out the Nation's credit card. That is what the debt ceiling is. That is what this debate is about. As the President has maxed out the Nation's credit card, Americans know what that means. They have credit cards. They work hard not to max out theirs. They all know that we are going to make the minimum payment on those cards. If somebody maxed out the credit card like President Biden did, the first thing you do is not give them another credit card to max out, as President Biden has asked and demanded. He said to just give him more money to keep spending money that we don't have to rack up more inflation on hardworking families. Mr. Speaker, that would be irresponsible, yet that is what the President has asked for. What House Republicans have done is come together to say there is a better way. Sure, we need to address the debt ceiling, but we also need to address, at the same time, the problems that have brought us to this moment. It is not by accident that the Nation's credit card got maxed out. This is how bad the problem is. We can talk trillions all day long, and the numbers get so big that people just tune it out. Let's talk some basic numbers. For every $100 that the Federal Government takes in, the Federal Government is spending $129. Now, if a family did that, it wouldn't last long before they would go under, before they would lose their house, before they would go bankrupt. $100 coming in and $129 going out, that is the spending problem in Washington. President Biden said he wants to spend another $129 with $100 still coming in. Most families would look at that and say it is irresponsible to do that, and we agree, as House Republicans. You would think the President has acknowledged this finally and said: ``Okay, why don't we sit down at the table and figure this out? We do not need a debt crisis in this Nation.'' Instead of sitting down to negotiate, which is what anybody responsible would do, Speaker McCarthy has said: Mr. President, let's sit down. They did it once over 2 months ago. The President himself, in fact, days later said: Do you know what? We ought to do it again. The problem is the President then went into hiding. The President will not sit down and meet with the Speaker to negotiate how to solve this problem because the President wants to run the clock out and create a debt crisis. That is the height of irresponsibility, Mr. Speaker. If the President is going to shirk his responsibility and try to hide and wait until the clock strikes midnight, House Republicans are not going to sit on the sidelines. We are going to lead and present a solution. That is what this bill is. That is what Mr. Arrington's legislation does, Mr. Speaker. It says, as we deal with the debt ceiling, let's also deal with the spending problem that got us here. How do we do it? I think reading the bill would be really important. We will send an extra copy down to the White House so that they can actually see some of the basic things we are talking about. These are things that families get. Right now, in America, if you talk to any small business owner, they are all looking for workers. You would think we have full employment, that everybody who wants to work and is capable of working is working. Unfortunately, that is not the case. President Biden put in place over the last few years different changes to welfare so that people who are fully able-bodied, that aren't even--they are not turning down work. They are not even looking for work, some of them making over $35,000 a year to sit at home. That is costing taxpayers over $100 billion. What we say is, frankly, a question a lot of people have asked over the years. I am just going to read it to you as the voters of the State of Wisconsin had presented to them just a few weeks ago, Mr. Speaker: ``Shall able-bodied, childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits?'' That is a pretty straightforward question. In fact, 79.5 percent of Wisconsin voters just a few weeks ago said, yes, they should look for work before they get taxpayer benefits. Should a single mom who is working two jobs have to pay for somebody who is just sitting at home and who just chooses not to work? This is America. If you want to sit at home and not work, that is your prerogative, but should you be asking a hardworking taxpayer to pay $35,000 or more a year for you to sit at home when everybody is looking for workers? We say let's just put those basic work requirements back in place, just like the voters of Wisconsin said a few weeks ago. Now, you would think the White House--that that is some kind of far- reaching idea. Most people get this. This isn't just about saving taxpayer money. It saves a lot of taxpayer money to do this. Do you know what else it does, Mr. Speaker? Our bill strengthens Social Security because when President Biden is sending tens of billions of dollars every month to pay people not to work, not only are they not working, not only are they eating up all kind of money that our children are ultimately going to have to pay back, they are also taking money out of Social Security because they are not paying into it. By putting these basic work requirements back in place, there are millions of people who are sitting on the sidelines that would finally get back into the workplace, finally have an opportunity to achieve the American Dream again, finally be able to lift up their standard of living. Do you know what else they are going to be doing, Mr. Speaker? They are going to be paying into Social Security. They will be paying into Medicare. That would add tens of billions of dollars to strengthen Social Security and Medicare. Why would the President be against that? We claw back some of the unspent COVID money. President Biden himself said the COVID emergency is over. Yet, there are tens of billions of dollars out there being spent on things that have nothing to do with COVID, all under the name of the pandemic. Why not save that money for taxpayers? In addition to saving taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, we also put in pro-growth policies in this bill, things like the Lower Energy Cost Act. When you talk to families about the things that are angering them that are coming out of Washington, clearly, inflation and the cost of everything going up is the biggest item. The biggest item driving inflation is President Biden's anti-American energy policies. Families today are paying 50 percent more when they go fill up their cars at the pump, 50 percent more than the day President Biden took office. There is no reason for that. Instead of President Biden getting on Air Force One and going to beg Saudi princes to produce more energy, or begging Putin to produce more energy, we can make it here in America cleaner than anywhere else in the world, actually lowering carbon emissions. Yet, President Biden keeps saying no to American energy. He says ``yes'' to foreign oil but no to American oil. That doesn't pass the smell test. In our bill, we actually fix that and allow Americans to produce more energy here, to produce more critical minerals. Why should we be relying on China for computer chips? Over 90 percent of solar panels in the world are made in China. Why not make more of those things here? Car batteries--they talk about electric cars all day, yet over 90 percent of car batteries are made in China because they won't let America access our minerals here, so we have become dependent on foreign countries. I am tired of being dependent on countries like China because President Biden has gotten the policies wrong over and over again. Let's fix this. We do fix these problems in this bill. If President Biden has got a better idea, it is long past time he puts those ideas on the table. This is not a problem you run and hide from. In fact, when you ask to be President of the United States, you are the Commander in Chief, you are the leader of the free world, Mr. Speaker. This is not a job where you run and hide from the tough things. These are the moments where you step up, you rise to the moment. The American people are calling for us all to do that. Some people want to sit and hide and hope that the clock strikes midnight, and they can just force some bad deal on the taxpayers of America. Well, that is what they are sick about Washington over. Time and time again, Washington doesn't answer the needs of hardworking families who are struggling and just waits until the midnight hour to jam a bad deal down the throats of people. Let's not wait until that midnight hour. We are standing up and leading. It is long past time that President Biden gets off the sidelines and does his job, too, and gets to the negotiating table with Speaker McCarthy so we can solve this problem and put America on a stronger financial footing that will benefit all Americans. It is time to end this madness. Let's pass this legislation. Let's start this conversation that families have been having for a long time. It is long past time Washington gets into the middle of this conversation, too. Let's pass this bill. Let's solve this problem.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Tulane University football team for winning the American Athletic Conference championship, and for then winning the 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic! The Tulane football team, under the leadership of Coach Willie Fritz, just completed the greatest turnaround in NCAA football history with a commanding 12-2 record after finishing 2-10 in their 2021-2022 season. This magical turnaround season was crystallized on Monday, January 2, 2023, when No. 14 ranked Tulane faced off against the No. 8 University of Southern California in the Cotton Bowl and won a thrilling instant- classic by a score of 46-45, with sixteen of Tulane's points scored in the final four minutes. Tulane finished the season ranked No. 9 in all of college football, which is their highest national ranking since 1998. Tulane's march to victory included: defeating three top 25 teams in the nation; defeating the three teams leaving the American Athletic Conference for the Big 12; and defeating Kansas State who went on to be the Big 12 champion. Prior to winning the Cotton Bowl, Tulane defeated the No. 22 University of Central Florida in a rematch for the AAC championship to capture the university's first-ever AAC title. Tulane's electric championship season also included individual honors. Tyjae Spears, a native of Ponchatoula, LA, was named AAC Offensive Player of the Year, and Coach Willie Fritz won the AAC Coach of the Year award, the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award, and was a finalist for both the Bear Bryant and George Munger Coach of the Year awards. This is the fourth time in the last five years that Coach Fritz has led his team to a bowl game, and I commend him for his continued leadership of these talented young men. Roll Wave.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend from Louisiana (Mr. Graves) for yielding, for his leadership on introducing this amendment, which I support, and especially introducing this bill. Mr. Chairman, we all ought to be focused on helping low-income families who are struggling. Families all across America are struggling under the weight of high inflation, all the spending that has come out of Washington under President Biden, but especially led and driven by this anti-American energy policy that we have seen from President Biden that has dramatically increased costs on American families. How are people getting hit by all of President Biden's anti-American energy policies? You can see it right here. Gas prices, every time you go to the pump, people are paying 50 percent more. That takes money out of families' paychecks every single week when they go to fill up their vehicle. You look at the utility bills people are paying. They are paying 40 percent more, 25 percent more on their utility bills in some areas of the country, making it harder for them to heat their homes during a cold winter. As we approach summer, people want to turn on their air conditioner. They are going to be paying a lot more. That takes money out of their pocket. Oh, by the way, when you look at what President Biden passed last year, he passed a $6 billion tax increase on natural gas, which is one of the drivers of higher electricity bills. The good news is, Mr. Chairman, Republicans have answered the pleas that so many families have been raising by bringing H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, to the floor. This is a bill focused on helping those families who have been struggling, who have been saying for the last 2 years: Is anybody in Washington looking out for the families who are living paycheck to paycheck, who cannot make ends meet, who are sick and tired of runaway inflation and higher costs? The answer is yes. House Republicans are here with an answer to this problem. I think it is important to understand how we got here. It wasn't by accident. President Biden as a candidate said he was going to go and try to destroy the energy industry, stop drilling in America. Day one, the day President Biden took office, he started taking immediate action to attack American energy. He canceled the Keystone pipeline. He started putting his bureaucrats in place to put red tape in the way of American production of oil and natural gas. Now, you may think that is because the President is against pipelines and the President is against oil and natural gas. He is not. In fact, while President Biden was canceling the Keystone pipeline from Canada to the United States, he green-lighted a pipeline from Russia to Germany. He bailed out Putin while he was sticking it to families in America, and they paid a higher price for it here at home. Then, at the same time, he was making it harder to produce energy in America: Getting agencies to stop issuing permits and canceling lease sales. It wasn't because he was against oil and gas. No. During the time that he was making it harder to get oil and gas in America, he was calling Vladimir Putin--again there is that name-- calling Russia, asking them to produce more oil for America. Putin said no. Then he got on Air Force One and begged the Saudis to produce more oil. The Saudis said no, because the Saudis want a high price for gasoline. Who pays for that? Hardworking families. All these climate justice warriors who fly all around the world on their private jets, they take jet fuel. The last time I checked, there are no solar panels on the wings of Air Force One. Again, the President is not against oil. He is just against American oil. Why don't we ask this question? If the President is not against oil, he is just against American oil, where are we getting our energy from? Where are we getting our critical minerals from? They talk about electric vehicles as if everybody is driving electric cars. One day, maybe that is where the world goes. Technology still needs to advance a lot to get to that point. Today, maybe 5-10 percent of the cars on the road are electric. If you are going to advance it, like, California says they are going to ban fossil fuel cars in California. Of course, ironically, days after the Governor said he was going to ban fossil fuel cars, he told people they cannot plug their electric car into the socket because they are about to have power outages because the grid can't handle it. Again, where does the energy come from? You don't plug that electric car into a tree. You have got to actually use baseload energy. Where does the battery come from, by the way, that you are charging? We know right now the batteries are coming from China. President Biden has made it very clear, he wants to make it harder to produce in America, but he is not against the production. He is going to countries like Russia, China, and Venezuela. Look at the list. Are these the people we want to become dependent on? The question is no longer do we or do we not get oil. It is where we get it from. Now, what Republicans have said and what H.R. 1 gets us back to is why don't we get our energy from America? It is a pretty straightforward answer. President Biden said no to America. But, again, he was begging Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. He is trying to ease sanctions on Venezuela right now to get more of their oil. If it is all about carbon emissions and saving the planet, why don't we use the facts? Let's talk science for a moment. Where is the cleanest place to make things in the world? Who has the highest standards? I know some on the left wake up every day, and they just want to trash America. We have the best standards in the world. If you want to make oil anywhere in the world--and, again, they are not against oil; they just don't want it made in America. However, look at the countries they are begging to make more oil, countries that emit more carbon to make the same oil. Then they put that oil on a tanker and send it to the United States. Think of the lunacy of that policy. We would love to make it here and put it in a pipeline, which is the safest way to transport it. They don't even want you to be able to build the pipelines. We eased that in the bill so we can actually build real infrastructure in America. If you are worried about carbon emissions, there is good news for you: the Lower Energy Costs Act solves that problem because by making it in America, you make it in the best place in the world. We also address critical minerals. You want to make computer chips? You want to make electric car batteries? They are going to be made somewhere in the world. Where are they going to be made? Right now, under President Biden's policies, it is almost impossible to get permits to mine for those minerals in America. They are getting made. The problem is, they are getting made in countries like China. Go look at the environmental standards of China. I know the President's Energy Secretary said, just a few days ago, that we can learn something from China on clean energy. I am not sure if she has been traveling around America. I know she is traveling around to other countries. How could you possibly say we could learn from China? No one does it cleaner than America. Many would argue no one does it dirtier than China. Why would you want to be making our country more dependent on China? In our bill, we actually say we can make those things in America again. We have them here. Look at the plaque right above the Speaker's rostrum. ``Let us develop the resources of our land. . . . `' Well, Mr. Speaker, we actually do fulfill that promise in this bill by letting us develop the resources in our land, not in China. They can go make stuff in China. We shouldn't be addicted to those products because President Biden shut off our ability to make things in America. These policies make nothing but common sense. The good thing about it is you don't just get the advantages of lower carbon emissions globally by passing this bill. For families across America who are sick and tired of the lunacy and hypocrisy of the left's policies, it lowers costs for families. There is only one free market country in the world that has abundant resources. That is America. If you look at the other countries that we have become dependent on, they want a higher price. They are part of cartels like OPEC. We can make OPEC irrelevant if we make more energy in America. We have got the resources. You can go to Port Fourchon in south Louisiana, my district, and see areas where we can produce hundreds of thousands of barrels a day that are being closed off, where it is almost impossible for them to get permits. They can't even move pipelines. Go to Pennsylvania where they can produce oil and natural gas, but they can't even get it to their neighbors in New York and the New England States because they are abusing Federal laws in all of these different agencies to stop the building of the infrastructure for pipelines. Their argument is that they don't want oil and natural gas. Well, they are getting the oil and natural gas. They are just getting it from other countries, from tankers coming into the New England States instead of pipelines made in America. None of this makes any sense. There is an answer. The answer is let's stand up for those families who are sick and tired of paying more when they know we have the ability here to do it ourselves. We can become energy independent again. It is a national security issue, but it is a bread and butter, kitchen table issue for those families who are struggling. Stop being dependent on foreign countries like President Biden has made us. Let's get back to the sound principles that have been proven to work, again, in the cleanest place to make things in the world--the United States of America. Let's stand up for those families who are sick and tired of paying too much. Let's actually get good policy put into law that fights for those families who have been left behind for far too long. Let's pass the Lower Energy Costs Act. Let's get this country back on track, and let's lower prices for those families who are struggling. Mr. Chair, I urge passage of this amendment.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Chair, I thank my dear friend from West Virginia (Mrs. Miller) for her leadership and for yielding. I truly appreciate her leadership on energy policy, as we are seeing here today, and also for her working with us on getting this Lower Energy Costs Act to the floor, and, hopefully, passed over to the Senate shortly. She has been a champion on energy issues of all kinds, but especially on the pipeline issue specific to West Virginia. Pipelines are so critical to America's energy independence. In fact, we deal with making it easier to move pipelines and build pipelines in America. A lot of the infrastructure that we need to make this country grow is being held up right now from a lot of radical regulations on the left and outside groups that don't want American energy. They are fine with getting dirty energy from foreign countries, but they want to make it harder to get American energy. Pipelines are part of that ability for us to bring back energy production to America and provide for our own energy needs and not be dependent on other countries. Although construction on the Mountain Valley pipeline is essentially complete, it continues to be tied up in the courts. I understand the frustration that proponents of the pipeline are experiencing. I especially want to thank Congresswoman Miller for her leadership because she has truly been fighting to get this project done. At the end of the day, until this project is done, it is not only going to be helping the people of West Virginia, but so many other people. I look forward to continuing to work through this issue with my friend from West Virginia and others in our Conference as we continue to push for more American energy production that will lower costs for families, not just in my home State of Louisiana or my friend from West Virginia's home State, but also for people all across America. Bad energy policy hurts families everywhere, especially low-income families. It is time we get this policy right. I thank my friend from West Virginia for her leadership.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for yielding and for her amendment to such an important bill. The Parents Bill of Rights Act is a basic concept, but it is a powerful statement that says we stand with parents and children in the ability for them to have a say in their kids' education. You would think: Who would be against this? Why do we need a law to do what everybody should think is the right thing to do? Unfortunately, what we have seen through this debate is that the left is scared to death of parents having more of a say in their kids' education. Union bosses are scared to death of parents having a say in their kids' education. It begs the question: Why would they be so afraid of parents wanting to see the curriculum that their kids are experiencing when they go to school? I think we all saw why their concern is so vocal. This all happened during COVID. As we went from classroom learning to virtual learning, millions of parents actually got a glimpse into what was going on in the classrooms of their kids. I am sure most of those parents thought they were just going to be watching their kids learn how to read, how to write, how to break down sentence structures, and how to learn math. Some of that was going on, but what alarmed parents were all the other things that had absolutely nothing to do with their kids having an opportunity to achieve the American Dream. In fact, some of the things that were going on undermined the basic values that those parents are teaching their kids at home, things that had nothing to do with helping those kids learn and be prepared for better opportunities in the future. They started asking questions, and they were right to ask those questions. Except the Biden administration got concerned because the union bosses didn't want those parents to see what was going on. You had the Justice Department trying to tag parents as domestic terrorists for showing up at school board meetings, for God's sake, because they cared about what was happening in their kids' schools. It shouldn't have taken an act of Congress to give parents that right. If it does, I am proud to stand with the parents and kids against the union bosses who don't want parents to have that right to care about their kids' education. For God's sake, we shouldn't have to be here doing this. The unions shouldn't be fighting this every step of the way, but it really shows you what they care about if they don't want parents to have these rights. Thank goodness we have Virginia Foxx's committee, Julia Letlow's bill, and Members of Congress coming together and saying parents ought to have that ability. Republican, Democrat, Independent, it doesn't matter what your political viewpoint is because, for anybody in this country, part of the American Dream is being able to pass on better opportunities to your kids than what you had. The best way to do that, the greatest equalizer, is education. If you have to be concerned about what is happening in your kid's classroom, and the school doesn't want you to see what is happening in your kid's classroom, you really ought to be alarmed. Every parent ought to have that right because when kids are sent to school, they should be learning how to get more opportunities, how to advance and have more success than we had. If they are being taught things that undermine that, every parent ought to be able to know about that. Under this bill, they finally will. This is a power that every parent should already have. We saw during COVID some parents had that ability, but unfortunately, many parents were denied that ability to have a basic understanding of what was happening in their kids' classrooms. Millions of kids were denied education, which ultimately means those millions of kids are denied opportunity. No one should stand for that. Mr. Chair, on this day and on every day, I am proud to stand with the parents and the kids. Nobody should get in their way, especially union bosses who don't want parents to be able to have that opportunity to stand up for their kids. Let's stand with the parents and the kids. Let's pass this bill.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Arkansas for the introduction, but I especially thank him for having the idea to call Coach Rollo, as we call him, and say: Can these Members of Congress come on over and spend a few minutes to see what true excellence is all about? That was a treat that we got to experience for that next hour and a half or so, to watch what so many young men through the years got to experience. You can only think of the joy and the treat it was for those students at Mater Dei High School who had the great fortune to play for Coach Bruce Rollinson over those years. We just saw it in a brief period of time, and since getting to know him over these last few months, we see what kind of leader of men Coach Rollo is. We surely saw it in the eyes of those young high school students. Although, I will say, when I was looking up to some of those six- foot-plus linemen, many of them looked like they might have played for the New Orleans Saints. I would have encouraged a few of them to go and play for--I didn't want to get into trouble and encourage them to play for my alma mater of LSU, but they could have been playing in the NFL. In fact, many have gone on to play at higher levels. This year, maybe the number one pick in the NFL draft, Bryce Young, had the honor of playing for Coach Rollo, as did Matt Leinart, who tried to throw a pass to my colleague, Congressman Gallagher. The treat was just watching the character of those young men at Mater Dei High School. That doesn't happen by accident, it comes through leadership. As Coach Rollo and I were talking about earlier, I am sure when people look at his career--and we didn't know at the time that he was going to retire when we met with him just a few months ago. At the time, his team was the number one high school team in the country. That was not anything new to Coach Rollo. A lot of people would look at all of the accolades. For a State as large as California to win eight State championships, six of those were deemed national titles--a high school national champion. That doesn't just happen by itself. Sure, it takes great players, but to do it year-in and year-out and to build that record of excellence, it takes a special leader--a leader who touches the hearts of young men and shapes them. What I recognized the most, it wasn't about the size or the physical abilities of these high school players, it was their character. You could see it just as we were talking to them. They were all incredibly polite and respectful. They were eager to learn from Coach Rollo. They came to learn from him, and that is what a real leader is all about. As we talked about earlier, we had the opportunity to listen to Drew Brees a few days ago. Of course, I have known Drew for many years, as a fan of the New Orleans Saints I had gotten to know him--talk about a person of character who led us not only to a Super Bowl, but he would probably tell you the NFL Man of the Year Award--the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award might be the accomplishment he appreciates the most because it really signifies what he did in communities. One of the things he said to us the other day, he was talking about how young people--he was talking about it in relation to his kids. They might not always listen to what you say, but they watch everything you do. All of those young men got to watch Coach Rollo and watch his leadership. That is what really lasts with them. The trophies and the championships, those are all things that you can put up on a shelf. You saw three Heisman trophies in a box in that school, but it was really the character and the values that he stands for. The old sports adage that ``game recognizes game.'' I have another great high school coach in my State, Coach J.T. Curtis--John Curtis. He won State championships, multiple championships, over the years. He was the second most-winning high school coach in the country. He won this year's State championship in Louisiana. I texted him. I said: I don't know if you know him, but I am here with Coach Rollo at Mater Dei High School. He texted me back, and he said: I know Coach Rollo. We got to run into each other. He knew who you were, and he had nothing but tremendous respect for you and what you have done. When I saw him the night when he won the State championship a few weeks ago in Louisiana, I said: Do you know that Coach Rollo just announced he is retiring? He didn't know that yet. He almost teared up because of the respect that he has for you. So as Congressman Gallagher said a little while ago, while you have touched the hearts of so many at Mater Dei High School, your legendary character and your values transcend and reach people all across this great country. I appreciate that my colleague from Arkansas took the time to reach out and that we got to go and spend some time with you because everybody who has gotten the opportunity to meet with you has come out a better person. Thank you for your years dedicated to young men. I know there are better things ahead for you in the future. This isn't the last chapter. What a legacy you have left for so many. Congratulations to you, Coach, on your many years of service at Mater Dei.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Kentucky, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, for yielding. I also thank Congressman Clyde for bringing H.J. Res. 26, the bill to address this serious problem of crime. You have been hearing this debate on the floor. I am sure people watching at home are watching in amazement that this is not a unanimous discussion, that we are not all standing up here on the House floor deploring the crime that is out of control in the District of Columbia. We have seen it in so many communities around America. You see it in so many big cities--pretty much all run by Democrats, I will point out--where crime is out of control after they have dropped penalties for criminals, where they have defunded the police, this massive shift against law enforcement, against keeping communities safe. You would think we would all be in agreement on that. The fact is that in D.C., sexual abuse is up 157 percent. You would think you would hear the other side joining us in speaking out against that, not trying to defend laws that make it easier to get criminals out of jail. Motor vehicle theft up 88 percent. Total property crime up 31 percent. Homicides increased 22 percent. We see stories of carjackings every day, and what did the D.C. Council do? They passed a resolution to get rid of mandatory minimums on many violent crimes. This isn't some petty crime we are talking about. We are talking about violent crimes. Armed carjackings. The mandatory minimum used to be 15 years for an armed carjacking; dropped to zero. Not a day. You can hold somebody up at gunpoint and take their car from them, and you could literally walk out of jail the next day without serving a day in prison, and you wonder why crime is out of control. The D.C. Mayor vetoed the ordinance; the council overrode it. Now, you hear a lot of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talking about why is Congress even doing this? Well, you know, Mr. Speaker, just the other day, we actually spent a day reading the entire United States Constitution on the House floor. Maybe my Democrat colleagues didn't listen to that discussion. Maybe they haven't read the United States Constitution in a long time, but I will break the copy out. It is easy to read. Article I, Section 8 talks about the District of Columbia. It says, ``Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District. . . .'' Yes. Congress is given the exclusive right to legislate in all cases dealing with the District of Columbia. You can talk about debates that go on in statehouses. The District of Columbia is not a State for a lot of reasons. Our Founding Fathers actually wanted a Capitol of the United States that wasn't part of a State. There is a lot of debate about why that happened. In fact, this land that we are standing on right now used to be part of a State. The State is called Maryland. It is still there. Maryland gave land to the United States because our Nation decided we wanted the Capitol to be in a place that is not tied to the other States, that is just the home of the Nation's Capital. It gave Congress in the Constitution the authority to get involved in these kinds of issues. It doesn't happen often, but my God, if we can't come together with crime out of control, with people being killed, with criminals being let out the next day after violent crimes are committed, and mandatory minimums are dropped from 15 years to zero, if you hold a gun to somebody's head and carjack them, that is why we are coming together, to take a stand. Everybody can vote. If they are okay with letting the carjackers walk scot-free, they will have that opportunity. Don't count me in that number. I would say don't count the people that live in the District of Columbia, living in fear of crime. They don't want that crime. The millions of people that come as tourists to visit our Nation's Capital should not live in fear of that violent crime every day because criminals get to walk free. How is the governance determined? They allow people that are here illegally to vote in D.C. We have another bill that we are bringing up to say that people here illegally cannot vote in D.C. elections. It is bizarre, listening to the debate on the other side that wants to defend that ability for illegals. We went and verified. There is not even an exception for foreign nationals. So people that work at the Chinese Embassy, we saw how they respect our laws in the United States. They flew a spy balloon over most of the sensitive military bases of our Nation last week. Yet, people that work at the Chinese Embassy are Chinese citizens and can vote in D.C. elections. There is a piece of legislation that repeals that, as well. Obviously, there are some in this Chamber who want to defend the right for people here illegally, including people that work for the CCP that are Chinese nationals, that are Russian nationals, they want them to be able to vote in D.C. elections. Enough is enough. We are exercising our constitutional right to say no to this madness. Let's restore law and order. Let's stand up for law and order and the people of the District of Columbia and all the millions of people who come to visit this Nation's Capital who don't want to live in fear, who don't think that the carjackers should be able to walk scot-free if they pull out a gun and put it to somebody's head to take their car or to break into their house or to do so many other violent things that are causing fear through our communities. We can do something about this. We ought to do this. We ought to pass both of these pieces of legislation. I urge passage.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Amendment XXVI, Section 1: ``The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.'' Section 2: ``The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.''

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I move that the message of the President be referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered printed.

Mr. SCALISE

Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.