Ann Wagner

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was not present for votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 9 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 10. personal explanation

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was not present for recorded votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 692, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 693, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 694, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 695, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 696, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 697. Personal Explanation

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I rise today with an amendment that would prevent the Department of Labor from finalizing its recently proposed fiduciary rule. This proposal marks the Department of Labor's fourth attempt to issue a fiduciary proposal. Each version of this decade-long effort has drawn significant investor as well as bipartisan congressional concern. Most notably, Congress passed a joint resolution I was proud to lead that would have stopped the Obama administration's 2016 DOL fiduciary rule. The 2016 version of the rule was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 2018 due to DOL's exceeding its statutory authority under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, ERISA, in writing rules. This court-rejected proposal threatened access to affordable and reliable retirement investment advice for millions of low- and middle-income Americans. Furthermore, this rule caused major disruptions in the market, created more retirement insecurity, and resulted in fewer product choices for America's workers and retirees. The Obama administration's DOL fiduciary rule would have left Americans who were just starting to build their retirement savings without access to financial advice or paying more for fewer options and decreased service. The Biden administration's fiduciary rule is no different. As Chairwoman Foxx put it just the other day, the proposal, ``is just new lipstick on the same old pig.'' The last time the Department of Labor meddled with the definition of fiduciary, we watched more than 10 million Americans lose access to financial advice. Do we really want to go down this road again when we know exactly where it leads? The changes that the Department of Labor is proposing contain overly burdensome requirements that will increase consumer costs, limit choices, and cut off access to financial investment products that are known to provide a secure, guaranteed stream of income for retirees. At the end of the day, many businesses offering these safe financial solutions will be forced to switch to a fee-based advisory model, which would require customers to meet account minimums or pay a large up- front fee. Ultimately, this will shut millions of low- and middle-income Americans out of the financial advice market, and we will be left with two classes of investors: those who can afford investment advice and those who cannot. Mr. Chairman, to put it simply, Americans are worried. They are worried about their future. They are struggling to save for their retirement, to put a child through college, or to one day open their own business. On top of all the existing barriers to saving, the Biden administration wants to make that even more challenging with its--ready for this?--500-page regulation. We know these regulations do not work. We have seen them fail. We have seen them hurt those who can least afford it during the savings crisis. Both Chambers of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, have come together in the past to recognize the harm that this rule will have on those looking to save for retirement. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment that protects retail investors and America's savers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, the changes the Department of Labor is proposing contain overly burdensome requirements that will increase consumer costs, limit choices, and cut off access to financial investment products that are known to provide a secure, guaranteed stream of income for retirees. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and shut down the Department of Labor's fourth attempt at a fiduciary rule that will hurt retirees and investment savers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Issa for yielding. I thank the chairman of the full Committee on the Judiciary, Jim Jordan, for his leadership and collaboration with my office in ushering this bill through the Judiciary Committee under thorough regular order. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bipartisan and bicameral bill, H.R. 1105, the Debbie Smith Act of 2023. No woman should ever have to experience the trauma and the pain of a rape or sexual assault. Yet tragically, these crimes are far too common, and approximately one in four women will experience this horrific crime. There must be accountability, Mr. Speaker. That means identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting the attackers to the fullest extent of the law. One of the most important methods of investigating these crimes is through DNA analysis. However, in 2019, the Government Accountability Office found that backlogged DNA analysis requests at State and local crime labs increased by 85 percent over the last decade, and the most recent data estimates that 200,000 sexual assault kits across the country remain untested. This is absolutely unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. My bill, H.R. 1105, addresses this issue directly. H.R. 1105 is a straight reauthorization of the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program through fiscal year 2029. This vital program provides support for law enforcement in all 50 States to help police improve their procedures for collecting DNA evidence from rape kits and crime scenes; support the proper and timely analysis of this evidence with a specific priority placed on rape and sexual assault kits; audit untested DNA evidence from sexual assault cases; and it enhances the capacity of State and local prosecutors to bring these cases to court. This program has been incredibly effective since it was first established, Mr. Speaker. Funding from this program has directly resulted in nearly 1.8 million DNA cases analyzed and processed, including over 600,000 crime scenes and rape kits. Because of these efforts, the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program accounts for over half of all of the matches, or hits, in the Federal criminal DNA database. That is quite literally helping survivors reach the justice, the accountability, and the closure that they need. Mr. Speaker, we must not let this program lapse at the end of this fiscal year. I was proud to lead the previous iteration of this bill in 2019 with my dear friend Representative Carolyn Maloney. I am beyond thankful to the 85 bipartisan Members of Congress who have signed on in support of this legislation. I also thank Majority Leader Steve Scalise and his team--you know who you are--for bringing this bill to the floor, Subcommittee Chairman Andy Biggs for his partnership in moving this bill through the proper legislative process, as well as Senators Cornyn, Klobuchar, Graham, and the Late Senator Dianne Feinstein for their leadership in the Senate. Through our bicameral work, this bill has only gotten stronger. We have added an important provision to ensure that a portion of the funds from this program specifically are set aside for the auditing of untested rape kits. This will support law enforcement's efforts to fully account for the rape kits in their possession so that they can be more efficiently analyzed, processed, and used to put rapists behind bars. I thank Senator Rand Paul for this legislative contribution, and I look forward to seeing an overwhelming bipartisan show of support for this bill and this program on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Speaker, I say to Debbie Smith: I have heard her calls to get this done, and I promise her this program will be reauthorized as soon as possible.

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I rise today to prevent the Financial Stability Oversight Council, FSOC, from making it easier to designate nonbank financial companies as a systemically important financial institution, or SIFI. The 2008 financial crisis was a result of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's poor government housing policy that bilked taxpayers out of billions of dollars and the inability of financial regulators to properly identify systemic risk and take action until it was too late. As a response to the crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. The Democrats' law has dramatically reduced competition in the banking sector, imposed barriers to entry for new banks, and saddled financial institutions with a mountain of new requirements that hit small, midsize, and regional banks particularly hard. Under Dodd-Frank, FSOC has the power to designate companies as a SIFI and, therefore, subject to Federal Reserve supervision and enhanced prudential standards--in other words, too big to fail. Last week, FSOC finalized guidance that would allow it to apply these same ``too big to fail'' burdens to nonbank financial institutions, such as asset managers or broker-dealers, insurance companies, and private funds. It has been reported that the annual consumer cost of designating a nonbank financial institution as a SIFI could range from $5 billion to $8 billion, yet FSOC's new guidance fails to require any cost-benefit analysis when making such a designation. Let me repeat that one more time. These designations would cost consumers, American taxpayers, $5 billion to $8 billion per year. This guidance put forth by the Biden administration rescinds the 2019 changes that rightfully moved FSOC's authority from an entities-based approach to an activities-based approach in determining whether a nonbank entity should be deemed a SIFI. To grant such unfettered discretionary power to a government agency should concern every American, particularly when the body exercising that power, FSOC, is composed almost entirely of members of a single political party. Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment that reins in our regulators, restores Congress' Article I powers, and saves Main Street investors billions of dollars. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for his consideration of the amendment. However, we have, in fact, held a hearing in the Financial Services Committee about this very issue and some of the costs that I am talking about. The $5 billion to $8 billion that this would cost our taxpayers to implement was a part of that discussion within the Financial Services Committee and came from testimony directly there. Again, these designations would cost consumers, American taxpayers, $5 billion to $8 billion per year, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment that reins in our regulators, restores Congress' Article I powers, and saves our Main Street investors billions and billions of dollars. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend across the aisle for his consideration and his kind words. I would just simply urge my colleagues to support this amendment that would rein in our regulators, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 771. Today, the House has an opportunity to demonstrate moral clarity and moral courage. These past few weeks have exposed a level of anti- Semitism in this Nation that is frightening. Whether it is schoolchildren chanting for the genocide of Israelis by calling for removal ``from the river to the sea'' or radicalized college students projecting anti-Semitic slogans on the side of school property, it is clear young Americans are being indoctrinated against Israel. These actions must be condemned. Hamas is a terror organization that slaughtered innocent women and children. Hamas is a terror organization that manipulated Western media into doing their bidding by spreading lies about attacks Israel did not commit. Hamas is a terror organization that steals foreign aid, using it to construct rockets and attack Israel. These are not my opinions, Mr. Speaker, they are facts. Yet too many refuse to call Hamas out for what it is: evil incarnate, focused solely on the destruction of the Jewish people. Mr. Speaker, the United States Government must be united in support of Israel and against Hamas and anti-Semitism. There should be no equivocation from the White House when asked whether the rise of anti-Semitism is wrong. There should be no equivocation from a Member of Congress about whether to stand with Israel or with terrorist groups like Hamas. Today, this body is speaking loudly to the international community that Israel must have the resources to defend itself from genocidal terrorists. With one voice, let us support H. Res. 771 and stand with Israel. If, Mr. Speaker, you cannot bring yourself to support this resolution today, I would encourage any such Member to do the right thing and resign from this body.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I inadvertently voted yes on Roll Call No. 476, Steube of Florida Part D Amendment No. 45. I intended to vote ``nay'' on Rollcall No. 476.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman for yielding, and I thank the ranking member for his support of this amendment also. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment, which has been included in the bipartisan en bloc for the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill. Last year, there were over 32 million reports of online child sexual abuse material previously referred to as ``child pornography.'' That is an 89 percent increase since 2019 and equals over 87,000 reports per day of images and videos of children being raped and sexually exploited spreading across the internet. Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, is on the front lines fighting to locate and rescue these vulnerable children and apprehend their abusers. My amendment would ensure that HSI receives the fully offset $24 million that they requested to investigate these unconscionable crimes. Mr. Chair, Congress must do more to reverse this horrific trend, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to direct Customs and Border Protection to eliminate the serious delay in the Trusted Traveler Program application processing time, known as Global Entry. I have heard from so many frustrated constituents who have paid for Global Entry, a $100 up front processing fee that is not cheap only to wait months in some cases for CBP to approve them for an interview. Those who succeed in getting to that point are finding that there simply are no interview slots available. Today, Global Entry processing time averages 11 months. This is utterly unacceptable. My amendment will direct CBP to do its job and get the situation and backlog under control. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I missed roll call votes today, due to the birth of my fourth grandchild. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 383, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 384, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 385.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which addresses the shocking rise in child sexual abuse and exploitation in the United States and around the world. Last year, there were over 32 million reports of online child sexual abuse material, an 89 percent increase since 2019. The Pentagon's Combating Trafficking in Persons Office coordinates vital programs to prevent human trafficking, bring perpetrators to justice, and to protect victims. My amendment will direct this office to analyze ways that the Department can better combat child sexual abuse and to recommend educational programs for servicemembers to identify and report exploitation, both online and offline, to law enforcement. I thank the chair and the ranking member for their hard work on this legislation, and I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense bipartisan amendment.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1096, a bill that will mint a series of coins to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. I would like to thank my colleagues, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moulton) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), for their work on this bill and for their service. The Marines are one of the most storied branches of the United States Armed Forces. On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, passed a resolution stating that ``two Battalions of Marines be raised'' for service as landing forces with the fleet. This resolution established the Continental Marines and forever marked the birth date of the United States Marine Corps. Now, that may be the official inception of the Marines, but if you ask any corpsman, they will tell you that the Marines were formed in a bar. According to Marine legend, newly commissioned Captains Samuel Nicholas and Robert Mullan organized the first Marine Corps muster at Tun Tavern, a popular watering hole in Philadelphia. The two officers are said to have lured potential marines with mugs of beer and a promise of adventures on the high seas. They were looking for ``a few good men,'' the ``Few and the Proud.'' Their recruits later made up the first five companies who served aboard Continental Navy ships. Shortly after their beginning, the marines became known for their unconventional and fierce combat. The first amphibious assault in Marine Corps history came on March 3, 1776, when a force under Captain Nicholas stormed the beaches of the British-held island of New Providence in the Bahamas. These 220 marines captured the town and successfully seized several brass canons and mortars that were directly shipped to George Washington's Continental Army. The Marines served in every American war of the 18th and 19th centuries, but their role as naval troops was limited until June of 1918. In 1918, under General James Harbord, marines clashed with German forces positioned in a French hunting preserve known as Belleau Wood. Ignoring calls to withdraw, one captain famously said, ``Retreat? Hell, we just got here.'' The marines held their ground against a German assault and later spearheaded an Allied counterattack on June 6, earning their nickname of ``Devil Dogs.'' The Marines have a history that is far too expansive for a floor speech alone. However, every historical battle the Marines took part in left a lasting impact. The ``leathernecks'' of Derna, the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, and the Montford Point marines all paved the way for generations of marines to come, including the 15 corpsmen in the 118th Congress. In August of 2021, marines were among the last U.S. forces on the battleground in Afghanistan, going above and beyond the call of duty to defend Afghan and American civilians alike who were fleeing the Taliban's advance. Eleven of the 13 courageous and honorable servicemembers killed in the terrorist attack on the Kabul airport were members of the United States Marine Corps. These fearless marines lived and embodied their motto, ``Semper Fidelis,'' or ``Always Faithful,'' a motto I am sure will be the centerpiece of the commemorative coin series. I again thank my Congressional colleagues who answered the call to service in the Marine Corps, and especially those marines back home in Missouri's Second Congressional District. It is your warrior spirit that we are honoring here today. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2622) to amend the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to codify certain Securities and Exchange Commission no-action letters that exclude brokers and dealers compensated for certain research services from the definition of investment adviser, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 2622, a bill that would ensure broker- dealers can continue to provide investment research to Europe. This research is incredibly important for smaller and midsize public companies that rely on our capital markets. I thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, Representatives Sessions and Gottheimer, for finding common ground and coming to a sensible agreement to ensure that policies enacted by the European Union's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, MiFID, do not needlessly burden U.S. broker-dealers. H.R. 2622 extends an SEC no-action letter originally issued in 2017, and extended again in 2019, for another 6 months, granting U.S. broker- dealers much-needed relief and giving the SEC time to properly study the impact of the no-action letter's expiration. Widespread dissemination of research by U.S. broker-dealers to investment managers is critical to capital formation and to maintaining the competitiveness and efficiency of the U.S. capital markets. Moreover, non-U.S. and global investment managers rely on the excellent research conducted and provided by U.S. broker-dealers to inform their decisionmaking and fulfill their fiduciary duties to U.S. investors. Unfortunately, the EU's MiFID II threatens to disrupt the current broker-dealer research market by requiring separate payments for research services and trade execution. This small change would capture U.S. broker-dealers receiving unbundled payments for research services and put them under the Investment Advisers Act, subjecting them to an entirely new regulatory regime. The SEC no-action letter, which H.R. 2622 extends, permits broker- dealers to accept separate cash payments from investment advisers without adding new, burdensome regulatory requirements. Studies have shown that since MiFID II was introduced, there has been a reduction in the availability of research. Many broker-dealers have said that they will significantly curtail or eliminate their research services altogether if this no-action letter expires. Plus, as of last month, several European Union member states are seeking to reverse MiFID II. Madam Speaker, to ensure the continued availability of investment research and better understand the consequences of allowing the SEC no- action letter to expire, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2622, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions), the author of this piece of legislation and my friend and colleague.

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I would just simply urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2622, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. WAGNER

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1548) to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to specify that actions of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation are not a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act, as amended.