Claudia Tenney

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the CHOICE Arrangement Act and my Small Business Flexibility Act, which is included in the underlying bill as the chairman just recognized. Over the past 10 years, health insurance premiums have gone up 130 percent, and deductibles have increased by 125 percent, and that is on average. It is even greater in some areas, especially for small business owners. This lack of affordability has led to the percentage of small businesses providing health insurance decreasing from almost 45 percent to 31 percent today. In addition, 75 percent of businesses with fewer than 200 employees now only offer one healthcare choice. That is no choice. Small business operators want to provide for their employees. They want to offer competitive benefits that promote choice in the marketplace while prioritizing excellent care, quality, and affordability. The problem is these costs are simply prohibitive. We should not accept this as the status quo, and, thankfully, there are commonsense solutions that can help small businesses lower cost and increase choice for their employees. Recent surveys have found that 70 percent of small businesses are not even aware of the flexible opportunities to help them provide affordable health insurance as a benefit to their employees, such as the Small Business Healthcare Tax Credit, CHOICE Arrangement Act, and Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements. My Small Business Flexibility Act will close this awareness gap by requiring the Treasury Department to notify and educate small businesses on the flexible coverage options. Small employers want to provide these benefits to their employees for, among so many other reasons, long-term retention to allow them to ensure that they have high quality of life, and each of them has access to healthcare. It is time that we increased awareness of these programs and address any obstacles to their successful and effective implementation. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to support the CHOICE Arrangement Act and the Small Business Flexibility Act.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my support once again for this critical, bipartisan legislation to undo the Biden administration's job-crushing solar policies. It is unfortunate that we find ourselves here debating this policy again after both the House and Senate acted in a bipartisan manner to reject President Biden's solar giveaway to China. Instead of siding with the American people and American workers, this administration is putting its Green New Deal agenda ahead of our economic prosperity. Even though H.J. Res. 39 would protect American workers, and despite its bipartisan passage in both Chambers, the President vetoed this critical legislation. Now Congress must unite to override this vote. If we succeed today, we will stop China, the Chinese Communist Party specifically, from continuing to circumvent U.S. trade laws and undermine U.S. manufacturers. If we fail to override this veto today, then Congress will hurt the ability of American manufacturers to compete fairly. I urge my Democrat colleagues: Please do not allow this to happen. Join us in standing up for American jobs. If you support American workers, then join us in overriding this veto. We cannot stand by as this irresponsible proclamation allows Chinese solar companies to flood our market with their products tariff- free, hurting American jobs and industry. President Biden's proclamation also sends the message to trade cheats everywhere that the U.S. trade laws just don't matter. This invites even more cheating which, in turn, hurts American workers. A recent report from the Coalition for a Prosperous America reveals so much about the priorities hidden in the Green New Deal agenda. This report shows that Chinese manufacturers could earn nearly $125 billion in U.S. renewable energy tax credits because of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, aka the Green New Deal, as my colleague just cited its true purpose. That is $125 billion from U.S. taxpayers that could now be going to Chinese companies, all because the partisan Inflation Reduction Act failed to include safeguards that prioritize American manufacturing. I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who haven't already joined us in this bipartisan effort, please join us. Join us in prioritizing American manufacturers. Join us in stopping this giveaway to the Chinese Communist Party. Hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I recently traveled across New York's beautiful and sprawling 24th District as part of my official 2023 farm bill listening tour. Our district is among the largest agricultural and dairy districts in the northeast and the largest apple growing district outside of Washington State. I hosted several open-door roundtables in every part of the district to hear directly from farmers and producers about their concerns for our region's agricultural community. Ahead of our consideration of the farm bill later this year, feedback from farmers and producers is vitally important. The farm bill reauthorization is always critical for communities like mine, but this year it is more important than ever. Our farmers are struggling, and they need advocates in Congress who will stand with them. In New York this is especially true, as a raft of new State laws and regulations from Albany are imposing unprecedented and costly burdens on rural communities. Our farmers are counting on Congress to get this year's farm bill done and get it done right. First of all, based on what I gleaned from my listening sessions, the following requests have been voiced: Do not make any cuts to the farm bill programs that are pivotal to the vitality of the northeast agricultural community; Next, reform the national crop insurance program to cover a wider range of items and better fit the needs of specialty crop farmers, including maple syrup, which is unique to the Northeast; Support funding for the specialty crop block grant program as well as research and monitoring of invasive species that we have been experiencing in New York; and Raise the 5-million-pound dairy margin tier 1 limit to reflect the consolidation that has occurred in the industry. On a personal note, I plead and I beg of the farm bill appropriators and drafters, please don't ban chocolate milk in schools. It was a lifeline for me and my family. Even the one and only Elon Musk has recognized the value in chocolate milk. Mr. Speaker, these were the requests that were echoed by farmers across the 24th District, and they are the priorities I am fighting for in Congress. I thank Chairman G.T. Thompson for his continued leadership as chair of the House Agriculture Committee and look forward to working with him in advancing these priorities. I will continue to advocate for solutions that support our agricultural producers in New York and across the country. Members of this body must realize, without productive farmers, we have no food and we will not achieve prosperity. We must put aside partisan politics and come together to make this year's farm bill a path to growth in all of our agricultural economies.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1163, the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act. This bill makes meaningful strides to recover hundreds of billions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment benefits. Congress has the responsibility to oversee our Nation's unemployment programs and rein in rampant fraud. Unfortunately, for years, Democrats virtually refused to acknowledge the extent of this issue while taxpayers and small businesses in New York's 24th District were forced to foot the bill. Criminal organizations, including international cybercrime rings and other foreign actors, even exploited this national crisis to steal billions from taxpayers. The exact amount of unemployment fraud resulting from the pandemic is not known. Estimates are wide-ranging with some encompassing only improper payments due to fraud, and others focused on all improper payments, including those resulting from administrative error. The Government Accountability Office found at least $60 billion in fraud as they testified before our committee. However, according to recent testimony from the Department of Labor Inspector General, improper payments and pandemic unemployment programs have saddled taxpayers with at least $191 billion in fraud, as was testified before our committee. Some experts suggest this number could be as high as $400 billion. New York alone is estimated to have paid as much as $11 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits since March 2020. On top of all of this, New York has an outstanding trust fund loan of nearly $8 billion, which it has yet to repay. Because of New York's gross mismanagement, taxpayers and small businesses must now make up the difference. After all the hardships they have endured over the past several years, how can it possibly be fair to ask them to pick up the tab for the government's negligence and incompetence? Now, under House Republicans and the leadership of Jason Smith, Congress is finally taking steps to recover these valuable taxpayer dollars. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill from all of my colleagues.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 39, critical legislation to undue to Biden administration's job-crushing solar policies. Last year, an American solar manufacturer petitioned the Commerce Department to investigate whether China was circumventing tariffs on solar products by sneaking them through countries in southeast Asia. Before that investigation even finished, President Biden issued a proclamation to allow the imports of unfairly traded solar products from China. Later, just as we expected, it was discovered by the Commerce Department that China was indeed violating U.S. trade laws. President Biden's irresponsible proclamation is a slap in the face to American manufacturers. It allows Chinese solar companies to flood our market with their products tariff-free, hurting American jobs. It is the Green New Deal agenda at work. President Biden's proclamation also sends the message to trade cheats everywhere that U.S. trade laws don't matter. This invites even more cheating. This is only the tip of the spear of the dangerous Green New Deal agenda. A recent report from the Coalition for a Prosperous America revealed that the Chinese manufacturers could earn nearly $125 billion, and that is with a b, in U.S. renewable energy tax credits as a result of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. This would be a specific boon to Chinese solar manufacturers on top of the massive giveaway given to China by President Biden's proclamation. We must stand with American manufacturers and jobs, not the Chinese Communist Party, and pass this crucial legislation.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which addresses the current debt limit crisis while prioritizing responsible spending practices. Critically, this bill will lead to over $4.5 trillion, with a T, in taxpayer savings over the next decade and reverse a dangerous trend of reckless fiscal mismanagement on the part of the Democrats. Americans and New Yorkers, where I hail from, are facing a fiscal crisis due to persistently high inflation, rising interest rates, and debt at unsustainable levels. This is a direct result of the trillions upon trillions of dollars that the Democrats have spent since President Biden took office in January 2021. Mr. Speaker, my former colleague from the New York State Assembly, now minority leader here, should know that 40 percent of our Nation's debt was incurred under the leadership of the former Speaker, who the minority leader described as the best Speaker of all time. He should know. The State of New York has the highest taxes, the highest spend rate, the highest corporate welfare, and the highest out- migration of people and jobs in the entire Nation. Americans and New Yorkers are facing a fiscal crisis. Instead of politicizing the impending debt limit predicament, Democrats should prioritize responsible spending and work with House Republicans on a solution to reduce reckless spending, save taxpayer money, and grow our economy. It is time for President Biden to come to the negotiating table and work with House Republicans on a path forward to economic stability and growth. Please don't mimic the model that New York has set, where we once had 45 Representatives in the 1960s and are now down to 26. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bill.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Chair, I was a female athlete many years ago and didn't have access to Title IX like women do today. I was a competitive basketball player, equestrian, and, yes, the 1975 teenage curling champion from Utica, New York. Some of these sports are sports where women and men can compete equally, and some are not. I recently attended an event with Riley Gaines, the brave young woman who is standing up for women against the NCAA's unfairness in the women's swimming championship. Riley Gaines tied for first with a biological male and was denied the ability to get her trophy. In fact, they sent it to her in the mail. She couldn't stand on the podium because she was told by an NCAA official that they needed a photo op to put the biological male in that place, a person who had competed as a male for 3 years unsuccessfully before coming in and reaching the top of the women's championships. Unfortunately, Riley did not get to have that title. She did not get to sit on the podium. Today, House Republicans are standing up for Riley and women like her.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chair, this type of unfair competition weakens Title IX protections. I hope that we will all join in and protect women's sports, especially when we have worked so hard as women to gain these rights for women, our grandchildren, and our children of tomorrow. I thank the sponsor, Mr. Steube, and I thank Dr. Foxx for putting this bill on the floor and for her advocacy.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Private Second Class Roger Cordle. This U.S. Army veteran passed away on January 15, 2023, but not without making a strong impact on our community. Mr. Cordle was awarded numerous medals and ribbons during his military career, including the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for serving during Operation Just Cause. Mr. Cordle's dedication to service continued as the commander of VFW Post 2535 in Lockport, New York, and as commander of New York State VFW Post in District 7, which oversees Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming, Livingston, and Genesee Counties. During his time as commander of VFW Post 2535, the post was recognized as an all-state post for several years, one of only 24 in the State of New York. As a leader in our community, Mr. Cordle was active in many of Post 2535's charity events, including providing holiday meals to veterans and families in need and also assisting homeless veterans. Please join me in celebrating the life of Private Second Class Roger Cordle, who is survived by his beloved wife and five children. His was a life well lived, and his commitment to this great Nation is an inspiration to us all. Celebrating the Bicentennial of Hobart College

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the bicentennial of Hobart College. 2022 marked the 200th anniversary of Hobart's founding in Geneva, New York, making it one of America's 50 oldest colleges and universities. When Hobart College, first named Geneva College, was founded in 1822, the United States was less than 50 years old, Washington, D.C., had been the Nation's capital for only 21 years, and Abraham Lincoln was just 13 years old. The college was located on the land of the Seneca Nation that for generations was the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's westernmost territory. Hobart College was named after New York's third Episcopal Bishop, John Henry Hobart. Given Geneva's vibrant community, he saw the beautiful city as the perfect place to establish a college with the mission of educating students with a comprehensive liberal arts curriculum. In 1908, Hobart's sister school, William Smith College for Women, was founded, which eventually merged in 1943 with Hobart to become Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Both colleges have an impressive legacy of producing men and women of leadership and national impact, including graduates like Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, who became the first American woman to receive a medical degree in 1849, and Harry W. Coover, Jr., the inventor of Super Glue. Countless other Hobart and William Smith graduates have made profound contributions to public service, business, education, science, journalism, and spiritual life that endured well beyond their lifetimes. Indeed, my brother John, my cousin Jeff, and many of my friends are graduates of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Today, Hobart College educates students from around the world who study on a campus of incomparable beauty. Guided by programs grounded in exploration and intellectual curiosity, both Hobart and William Smith Colleges challenge students to engage in critical and creative thinking. Under the faculty's mentorship, Hobart and William Smith students have won multiple prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes, Gates Cambridge, Fulbright, and Goldwater scholarships. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Hobart College on this historic milestone and wish the Hobart and William Smith Colleges community all the best as it continues to produce the next generation of leaders and innovators across the world.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the underlying bill and my amendment to the Parents Bill of Rights Act. The amendment would require public schools to inform parents on decisions to terminate college-credit courses, including dual-enrollments and advanced placement courses. As the cost of colleges and universities continues to skyrocket, many students depend on these highly affordable high school college credit courses. It is an essential tool for students to reduce their time and their total cost in attending college. Case in point, I graduated from college in 1983, and the total tuition to attend Colgate University was $12,000. Today, it is nearly $80,000 for room and board and tuition, so this is a way to try to ameliorate that problem with many students who want to seek college admission and college credit. However, unfortunately, the woke, radical leftwing school administrators in States such as New York are working to terminate gifted and talented programs, including college credit courses, in their misguided attempt to further their far-left social equity agenda. These administrators don't actually want equal opportunity, they want to tear down our top-performing students to promote their diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda. This is simply wrong. I have heard from parents across my district who have actually moved out of their own homes to find schools where their children can attend that have these college credit courses offered. Parents should have the right to know if these important programs are terminated and if they are being eliminated in the name of equity. We should be forming education policy that allows children to flourish and not one that is preoccupied with sabotaging those children who choose to succeed academically. At the end of the day, sunlight is often the best disinfectant, and I hope the transparency offered by this amendment ends this harmful attempt at the far left's social engineering. I am grateful to the chair, Dr. Foxx, for her support of my amendment, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment that is much needed today for our parents to have equal rights. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to reclaim my time.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate the bicentennial of Yates County, New York, named after New York State Governor Joseph Yates, the seventh Governor of New York who commissioned the county in 1823. Yates County is home to rolling hills and spectacular lakeside views of three of the Finger Lakes: Keuka, Seneca, and Canandaigua. Comprised of nine townships, Yates County is home to just over 24,000 New Yorkers, only a small increase from the 20,000 people that called Yates County home at the time of its founding in 1823. Yates County has preserved its pristine beauty over these years and played an important role in our State's history, including being home to some of the State's oldest stone mills and the lovely town of Branchport, which served as an important trade hub for steamboats along the Finger Lakes. It was my distinct honor to have as my guest at the State of the Union, Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike, the longest serving sheriff in the history of the State of New York. It is an honor to represent Yates County in Congress, and I am proud to celebrate Yates County on its bicentennial.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, sports and athletic competitions provide essential opportunities for women to thrive at every stage of their life, as children in youth sports and as teens in high school and in college, in order to live a healthy and productive life. As a former competitive athlete, an equestrian, a basketball player, a golfer, and, yes, the teenage curling champion of 1975 in my hometown, I know the unparalleled opportunities that sports offer to women and girls. Competitive sports give women a chance to learn new skills, to develop lifelong friendships, and to challenge themselves to compete at the highest levels. Title IX and the banning of discrimination against women in sports made so much of this possible for me and countless other women. Today, these opportunities are under threat. Joe Biden's Department of Education and State agencies across the Nation are allowing, even encouraging, biological men to participate in women's sports. This is fundamentally unfair. It deprives women and girls of what so many of us fought for decades to achieve: equal opportunity to train, to compete, and to excel in athletics. We witnessed this past year, during the NCAA women's swimming championship, a phenomenal female athlete robbed of her title by a biological male. This is not an isolated incident. The tragedy is playing out in countless other sports and athletic leagues across our Nation. Today, we take a stand, with compassion for all, in defense of women's sports to stop this dangerous precedent. I am honored to be joined by an amazing group of outstanding women athletes who are in our Chamber today and are courageously standing up for women in all sports across our Nation and all women athletes. This is why I am so honored to cosponsor Representative Greg Steube's Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and to announce its introduction today in honor of National Women and Girls in Sports Day. Mr. Speaker, I have here the legislation. This bill will make it a violation of Title IX for biological men to compete in sports designated for women or girls. Further, it sensibly defines sex based on one's biological designation at birth. This bill isn't just anti-woke. It is actually pro-science. This bill will protect opportunities for women and girls to compete fairly on the athletic field and in life without interference from woke agencies or politicians who are making up definitions of sex and gender as they go, all to fit toxic political agendas and ideologies. Women have fought hard over the years for equality of opportunity, and it is essential that we protect these opportunities we cherish today for generations of women and girls to come. The Republican majority has pledged to protect women's sports, and today, we are delivering on that promise with Congressman Steube's bill. Mr. Speaker, I shall introduce Mr. Steube's bill today.

Ms. TENNEY

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues, but unfortunately, this isn't a bipartisan group. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with deep concern about the state of free and diverse speech in American public life. DIRECTV, as part of the extreme negotiation tactic, deplatformed Newsmax and silenced their unique perspective for over 13 million DIRECTV subscribers. This negotiation tactic is a clear example of political bias against conservative news outlets like Newsmax, and it is having a chilling effect on free speech and freedom of the press. Media outlets enjoy certain privileges as members of the fourth estate. Limiting free speech based on political views is against the spirit of the First Amendment and contrary to a country that celebrates and encourages the marketplace of ideas. As a former newspaper owner and publisher, I know what it means to represent all viewpoints in the media and to revere that marketplace of ideas. DIRECTV has a responsibility to reassure its customers and the American people that it is not silencing Newsmax for political reasons. I ask, and all of us are asking, that DIRECTV immediately come to the negotiation table with Newsmax and end this disruption of access rooted in political bias. Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, my colleagues and everyone standing up for this. I just hope that everyone on both sides of the aisle, with all viewpoints, would stand up and fight on behalf of all of us who are now not getting a robust debate as promised by the spirit of our Founders.

Ms. TENNEY

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

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today, we consider an urgent bipartisan concurrent resolution condemning the Iranian regime for its gross human rights abuses against protesters in Iran, who are bravely speaking out and standing up to this terrorist regime after being brutally silenced for two generations. I thank my Democratic co-lead, Mr. Gottheimer, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair McCaul for their support of this resolution. While I was disappointed we were not able to get this resolution to the floor last Congress when I partnered with former Congressman Malinowski, I am grateful that this resolution is now being brought up for a vote so quickly in our new Congress and with such broad bipartisan support. Whether it be China, Iran, or Russia, this new House Republican majority is ready and willing to stand up to our adversaries and protect America's vitally important national security interests. Since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran's religious police in September of last year, the Iranian people have boldly taken to the streets to demand justice. Now, almost 4\1/2\ months later, Iranian men, women, and children continue to protest the regime and its cruelty, despite the immense risk to themselves and their families. They are literally risking their lives for a just cause greater than themselves. These demonstrations are the most significant popular protests against the brutal regime's authoritarian rule since it came to power in 1979. The response from the regime has been vicious, violent, and vindictive, not surprisingly. Hundreds of protesters have been murdered by regime security forces. Thousands more have been detained on trumped-up charges. Many of those in custody, especially women, have been subject to cruel and inhumane torture. The regime has unjustly executed Iranian protesters in sham trials that lack any modicum of due process. Many dozens more face the imminent possibility of execution. The brave Iranian people are not backing down. In fact, they are more resolved than ever. They are demanding a government that respects their rights at home, stops funding terrorism abroad, and makes peace with its neighbors. They are demanding a future built on freedom, justice, the rule of law, and a chance at prosperity. It is vital that we, the U.S. Representatives, a body that is among the greatest symbols of freedom and democracy around the world, stand with one voice to affirm our support for the brave Iranian people. The resolution we are considering today does just this. It reaffirms our resounding support for the brave Iranians who continue to put their lives on the line to secure their fundamental rights and freedoms. The resolution is a call to action. It urges the Biden administration to do more. Instead of negotiating with this brutal regime at a moment of weakness and true vulnerability, the Biden administration must meet the moment and do everything in its power to stand with the Iranian people. It must sanction those responsible for these brutal killings. It must do everything it can to counter the Iranian regime's cowardly attempts to restrict internet access that prevents its citizens from sharing images and videos and communicating with the outside world. We have the power to give the Iranian people the voice they need to tell the truth about their oppression at the hands of the Ayatollah, and we must exercise it. Finally, the Biden administration must lead the effort to press our allies and partners around the world to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uses terror to silence Iranian citizens at home and targets innocent citizens abroad. The United States rightly designated the group a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019. Now, the rest of the world must join in this noble cause. The IRGC's reign of terror must come to an end. Mr. Speaker, this resolution says loudly, clearly, and with a strong bipartisan voice that the American people are on the side of the courageous Iranian people. The U.S. House of Representatives condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the regime's horrific violence. Finally, as we recognize the bravery of the protesters in Iran, I also want to take a moment to remember that we have American citizens being held hostage in Iran today. These innocent American citizens have endured years of false allegations, wretched conditions, and separation from their loved ones simply because they are Americans. They must all be released. No American can be left behind. Mr. Speaker, I thank the 60 Members who have cosponsored this resolution, and I urge the entire House to support its passage. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Meeks for his support, which I greatly appreciate. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Miller).

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 7) commending the bravery, courage, and resolve of the women and men of Iran demonstrating in more than 133 cities and risking their safety to speak out against the Iranian regime's human rights abuses, as amended.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, while I am pleased at the bipartisan support of this resolution, I think it is important to reinforce that there can be no legitimacy or lifeline for this inhumane regime; that means no sanctions relief or nuclear negotiations. Just a few months ago, the Biden administration was actively negotiating sanctions relief as part of a new nuclear deal with a regime that is detaining, torturing, and killing its own citizens. Let me be clear, Iran did not comply with the last nuclear deal. Why would they comply with a new deal? The only thing a new nuclear deal could accomplish is giving the autocratic regime more resources to attack its own people. Mr. Speaker, I implore the Biden administration to not resume these foolhardy efforts. We do not negotiate with terrorists, and the Ayatollah and his regime are terrorists. They use fear, violence, and intimidation to achieve political goals. We must return to a position of firm pressure and strong resolve while enhancing our deterrence in the region. Until this regime changes its behavior, it must remain under pressure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for her strong compassion for these horrific situations in Iran and for the women of Iran. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.