host: one more call. brent in washington. democrat. caller: spot on to the last caller. i will go with the flags. i hear people whining about people having the palestinian flag at the protest. what about you guys with your rebel flags and your desecration of the american flag when you wear it as a coat or you drive around with it on the back of your pickup truck or you keep it up at night, stuff like that. you do not know proper flag etiquette and yet you whine and snivel about other people waving their flags. it is ok for you to do your thing but when it comes to the other side you are constantly moaning and groaning. host: that is it for today's "washington journal." we will see you again tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern. here is the house.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] eaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. may 7, 2024. i hereby appoint the honorable scott franklin to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, mike johnson, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 9, 2024, the who is will-d -- house will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternative recognition between the parties with time equally allocated between the parties and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip limited to five minutes, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five min minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker.

in less than eight months i'm going to conclude my 28 years here on the house. one of my major priorities and proudest accomplishments has been to chair and -- the animal protection caucus. and lead the effort in a number of those provisions. it didn't start out that way. but the more i listened, the more i studied, this priority stood out. my first major accomplishment dealt with animal fighting. a barbaric practice with hidden support in congress and around the country. there are pockets of some states where this tradition continues. but it is a barbaric tradition. they train dogs and chickens to fight to the death. and it is often organized in rings of criminal elements. people who are involved with

illegal gambling, drugs. there is -- it's inscribable in terms of -- indescribable in terms of the cruelty that's involved. there are times where there are children involved watching this. the drugs, the potential harm to animals, infections took place with the chickens. millions of chickens that had to be destroyed because of infections that spread through animal fighting. this all is hidden from the general public. when the focus was trained on it, we were able to gain momentum here and ultimately enact step by step painful accomplishments that cracked down on this cruel activity. some of the worst people on the planet, as i mentioned, dealing with drugs, gambling, money

laundering, and the risk the animal health. it is -- we watched how agenda broadened to include other areas as well. performing animals, protections of elephants, big cats. again, public attention on the cruel and dangerous practices that helped us make significant progress. the broaden the agenda beyond just animal cruelty, what we found is that care and welfare of people's pets was also important in terms of protecting families. we found repeatedly that people would put themselves in harm's way in conditions of flood and natural disasters because they didn't want to leave their pets. domestic abusers would stay with

the abuser because they were afraid of what would happen to their pets. we worked to expand protections in shelters for disaster, for domestic violence to be able to include people's pets. so they would feel more comfortable availing themselves to the service. i'm pleased with the strength of the movement. it's gained momentum. my law school alma mater, lewis and clark college, had one of the first animal studies programs accost the -- across the country. we are watching these spread in colleges and universities across the country where more and more people are studying, learning, and protecting animal provisions. i was pleased that we recently have a rule now that will end the horrific practice of animal

soaring. this is where you torture a horse with wounding it so that it will have that distinctive ate -- distinctive gait or weight on their legs to develop that gait that is prized by some people who show horses, but is hopelessly cruel to the animals themselves. year after year we had a majority of people in both houses supporting legislation to end this practice, but we were thwarted time and again by the special interests who wanted to promote the tennessee walking horses. finally, we have seen a rule that will -- has been promulgated that will end it after years of struggle. it's one more signal that the animal welfare movement is alive, well, and gaining momentum. it's something i hope to put my

energies in the remaining time i have in congress to build this bipartisan movement to protect animals and meet our responsibilities for their -- i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the importance of music education. we recognize music in our schools month last month, today i want to recognize the 10 school districts and two schools in my district named outstanding support of music education. over the past 25 years the national best communities for music education award has honored more than 1,000 schools and districts in 43 states. for their unwavering commitment to music education as an integral part of a well-rounded education for all students. every year the national association of music merchants

foundation recognize school districts across the country that are among the best communities in the nation for music education. the award program recognizes and celebrates outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders who have made music education part of a well-rounded education. this year they recognize 975 schools districts with 10 across the 15th congressional district, whether it be music class, choir, concert band, the marching band, or the school musical having music access in education is important for students' development. music is incredibly important component of a well-rounded education, support access to music education, and inspire the next generation. congratulations to armstrong county school district, bellefonte school district, clear field area school districts, kerr winceville, by

poise area school district. lewisburg area school district, port allegheny area school district, state college area school district, and west branch area school district on this distinguished award. the foundation also recognizes individual school districts with the support music merit award. this is an opportunity for individual schools, public, private, parochial, or charter to be acknowledged for its commitment to music education. congratulations to the st. francis school and atiu community charter school. this recognition continues to highlight the hard work our educators do to provide a comprehensive education that includes the arts. congratulations to all the schools in our region who have been recognized for their efforts to promote a well-rounded education. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. correa, for five minutes. mr. correa: thank you, mr. speaker.

mr. speaker, today i rise to honor fullerton school district for receiving the usda's turn up the beat award. the turn i beat award recognizes schools that go above and beyond to provide high quality meals for children during the summer. without initiatives like this many students would not have access to nutritional meals throughout the day during the summer. not only did fullerton school district win the turn up the beat award in 2023, they also are one of seven california school districts to win the gold. congratulations to fullerton school district for their commitment to our youth, their health, and for receiving, of course, this well earned recognition. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today i rise to tell you about the work my colleague, general jack bergman, and i are doing as co-chairs of

the congressional psychedelic advancing therapy caucus. the path caucus, is addressing the rising mental health challenges faced by millions of americans. by advancing research on breakthrough therapies like dike dellics. almost 50 million americans struggle with some kind of mental health issue, as well as our veterans. of course as you know our veterans carry those hidden scars from their service for this country. mental health, this issue has never been more urgent for america. that's why we are spreading awareness in congress to increase federal funding for more research and to chart a new path for those that are struggling with mental health. mr. speaker, we have a duty to the american public to study how we can better address mental illness in this country.

mr. speaker, today i rise to recognize troy high school, students for their impressive victory in the national cyber patriots cybersecurity competition. the students on the team placed six among almost 3,000 in the open division. in all the service divisions the troy high students team placed first out of almost 1,400 in the watt competition. led by coach and teacher david kim, these students competed against thousands of other students in a series of cybersecurity tests, finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities like the ones we face on a day-to-day basis. these orange high school students have shown us that

america's safe in the future from cybersecurity attacks. as these troy high school students return home to orange county, they have made us proud and have showed us that we can rely on the next generation to keep america safe in the environment of cybersecurity. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields, the chair now recognizings the gentleman from utah, mr. curtis, for five minutes. mr. curtis: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to honor an exemplary figure in education from utah. mr. ed music of park city high school. just like the olympians that go for gold on the mountains of park city, he's achieved the teaching of excellence award for his unparalleled fifth time. awarded by the park city foundation, this achievement is not just a testament to his excellent but enduring impact on generations of students.

like the champion returning to the field season after season, he has continually elevated educational standards and inspired countless students through his dedication and passion for biology. he has not always been a teacher. after college he worked as a weekend recreation counselor in alaska. he transferred to the state's municipal parks and recreation department. ed and his wife moved to park city after he completed his teaching degree at the university of utah. dana grew up in hebrew where her father worked as a miner. he has worked solely at park city high school during his 34-year career. i'm -- on receiving the award for a fifth time he was humbly quoted as saying, it's quite an honor because there are so many great deserving teachers in the school district. i commend him for his outstanding contributions to education and the lives he's positively shaped. mr. speaker, i yield the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. self, for five minutes. mr. self: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor case gibson from lone oak middle school in hunt county, texas. it is with great honor and admiration i recognize his remarkable gravery and selflessness. during a medical emergency in september of 2023, case gibson demonstrated extraordinary courage and quick thinking. ultimately saving the life of a fellow student. despite the intense and urgent situation, he fearlessly jumped into action displaying a level of empathy, bravery, and maturitiary beyond his years. the heroic actions of casey gibson on this day serve as a no child left behinding example of the exceptional character and leadership qualities he embodies both within lone oak middle school anti-opportunity. ..

reese recognized for his outstanding academic achievements, his leadership skills and his humble, thoughtful demeanor. he's hereby honor and celebrated for his exceptional bravery, selflessness and heroism in saving the life of his fellow student during a medical emergency in september of 2023. and for that i extend my gratitude. mr. speaker, i am privileged to honor staff sergeant j.b. mcnat of greenville, texas, who recently marked his 100th birthday on april 18, 2024. staff sergeant mcnat is a true example of courage, sacrifice and commitment. he served our nation with honor in the u.s. army air corps during world war ii, during which he worked as a pilot in multiple duty assignments. his dedication to our nation and its values extended far beyond his military service, as he

contributed to the betterment of our society in the post-war years in his hometown. staff sergeant mcnat serves as both an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a living reminder of the sacrifices made by the greatest generation in the pursuit of freedom. for this i extend my eternal gratitude. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. griffith, for five minutes. mr. griffith: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the life of nathaniel ray tuck junior who pass -- scwr who passed -- jr. who passed away after battling cancer for the past 2 1/2 years. ray was born in roanoke, virginia, on april 30, 1971, to in a that willian, ray -- in a that willian ray -- nathaniel

ray and barbara z tuck. after graduating, ray joined his father's chiropractic collin bic in -- clinic in southwest virginia. his son, nathaniel r. tuck iii is currently in chiropractic school, hoping to continue the family legacy. during ray's incredible career, he served as the president of the virginia chiropractic association, chairman of the board and later president of the american chiropractic association and was also appointed to the kier -- to be the chiropractor on the virginia board of medicine. ray is survived by his wife of 29 years, his daughter and her husband, grandson, his son, his girlfriend, his son's girlfriend, his mother, his sister, amelia and her husband,

his brother, ben, and his wife. i wish them peace and strength during this difficult time. i was lucky to know ray personally as my daughter abbey has dated his son for a number of years and nathaniel and abbey met when they were both pages in the virginia house of delegates and i have to tell you we were sharing car pooling duty and all the kids said ray was the cool one and somehow i was not. i found this shocking, but it's true. ray was quite a great guy. and i was glad to have the opportunity to know him. he was a good man and we will always greatly miss him -- all greatly miss him. mr. speaker, i rise in recognition of kelly, my chief of staff since my election to congress in 2010. kelly is retiring from capitol hill today and she joins us here on the floor. having served several members in congress for more than 25 years, she's the daughter of former

congressman dan lunde gren. she was born -- lunde gren -- lundgen. she was born in california and moved to washington, d.c. in 1979 and as you can see from the picture, she was a very young member of the reagan revolution. raised in vienna, virginia, kelly attended our lady of good council catholic school. she graduated from high school in three years and started at santa clara university. shortly thereafter, kelly began a career in august of 1994 as a congressional staffer for then-united states representative james enwho have who at that time -- inwho have who at that time -- e nhoff who at that time was running for a seat. kelly returned to capitol hill and entered a new chapter of her professional life, serving as chief of staff to u.s. congressman fortenberry. around the same time she would meet her loving husband jason whom she's been married to for nearly 18 years. that's kelly and i, not jason and kelly, kelly and i earlier this month at the capitol.

kelly would continue in congress dedicating a period of time to the legislative team of louie gohmert before the beginning of a 13.5 year career as my chief of staff. as my chief, she will best be remembered as a true professional, a dedicated servant to the people of virginia's ninth district and a source of responsible leadership for my staff, colleagues and family. and i have to tell you, my wife made it a whole lot easier for her because they'd tell jokes about me back and forth all the time but i also will tell you of one fateful day when it had been kind of a hard day and i am changing the spelling to protect the innocent. but people who know me know that i'm not that great of an administrator. i love legislating and serving the people, but administrator and running an office is not my thing. she had a hard day and she said, i hope they won't think i'm a witch, to which i smile and responded, kelly, i hired you to be the witch. you've got to run this place and i greatly appreciate it. most importantly she's been a great friend. kelly, congratulations on your remarkable career, your

constitutional -- institutional knowledge, loyalty and leadership are qualities that will be missed in my office and many others. i wish you nothing more than the best. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the claire now recognizes the gentlewoman from california, mrs. steel, for five minutes. mrs. steel: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to condemn the unacceptable and insensitive actions of the l.a. county board of supervisors. one week ago the board proclaimed april 30, 2024, as jane fonda day. black april, which the vietnamese community has commemorated on april 30 for decades is a deeply meaningful day because it marks the fall of saigon. instead of spending with the vietnamese civilians and

american soldiers who were displaced, tortured, brutalized and killed during and after vietnam war, jane fonda allied herself with the communist vietcong. for some reason the board chose to honor someone with a history of such disdain for innocent vietnamese and american veterans on the somber anniversary of the fall of saigon. by elevating hanoi jane over the vietnamese community, americans who sacrificed their lives and the loved ones they lost to communism, the board has offended the freedom-loving vietnamese americans who bear such tragic and painful memories of the vietnam war. i call the board to rescind this awful proclamation immediately

and unequivocally stand with the vietnamese community. mr. speaker, as the co-chair of the bipartisan congressional vietnam caucus, i rise today to commemorate vietnam human rights day. the district i represent includes little saigon, which is home to the largest population of vietnamese anywhere in the world outside of vietnam. many of my vietnamese constituents are first generation americans like me. the stories they tell of fleeing communism to find freedom in the united states are both tragic and inspiring. many of them still have families in vietnam where the human rights situation continues to be cause for grave concern. the communist government there routinely oppresses its own

people, arresting and detaining journalists and critics simply for expressing themselves. i am proud to join my vietnamese -- my vietnam caucus co-chair luke correa to introduce a resolution condemning the vietnamese government, calling for the release of political prisoners and standing with the vietnamese people and urging the administration to take immediate action to pressure the vietnamese government to respect human rights. i welcome all of my colleagues to join me and the vietnamese american community as we continue working to ensure human rights for all people. and thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. ciscomani, for five minutes. mr. ciscomani: mr. speaker, i

rise today to recognize the 37th salute hosted by the tucson medical center. the county just hosted its 37th annual salute to senttarians -- centerrians. honorees include retired generals, race car drivers, actors and my friend, walter ram, a world war ii veteran. i am so grateful to represent them in congress. arizona's sixth district has more than 143centea -- 143 100-year-olds. i will continue to fight for our seniors in congress. recently i introduced with don davis from north carolina the oversight of medicare billing code cost act which will increase transparency with the centers of medicare and medicaid. we must do everything in our

power to protect medicare and medicaid for our seniors. i am so proud to represent great people like this in the district and will continue to fight for our seniors like this group. mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate deputy chief lawrence butch boutee. in his retirement from the sierra vista police department in march. he was committed to serving his community both on and off the force. his knowledge and leadership skills helped to shape the police station. even before his career with the police department, butch was no stranger to public service. he served in the army for four years in military intelligence as an electric warfare interceptor locater.

last year butch joined 11 other arizonans in being recognized by the canyon vista medical center and the legacy foundation of southeast arizona in their veterans ceremony. as he enjoys all this well-deserved retirement, he leaves behind an incredible legacy in sierra vista. laura and i join the entire community in thanking the deputy chief for his service. men and women like him dedicate their lives to the safety of their neighbors, they represent the very best of us. mr. speaker, let me be clear. our border is broken. and has been for a long time. for three years americans across the nation and especially in border communities like mine are suffering the consequences of this historic crisis every single day.

the infective open border policies implemented by homeland security secretary mayorkas have made our country less safe at a time when the world is most dangerous. disturbingly, new documents subpoenaed by the homeland security committee uncovered the egregious lengths secretary mayorkas goes to ensure inadmissible migrants are let into the united states. the committee found that d.h.s. used over 50 airports, including in my home state of arizona, to help illegally process more than 400,000 inadmissible migrants into the country through their lawful -- through their unlawful mass parole program. implementing this program was not done for the benefit of the public or for urgent humanitarian need. it was done as be a unlawful -- asen un-- as an unlawful sleight of hand to hide the crisis he

created for the american people. the immigration and nationality act clearly states parole may only be granted on a case by case basis for significant public benefit or urgent humanitarian need. these flights are none of these. granting mass parole to hundreds of thousands of inadmissible migrants in this district -- is this in -- is in direct violation of the law and is yet in another long list of failures by d.h.s. secretary that has been der elect of his duty -- der elect of his -- derelect of his duty. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair now recognizes the gentleman from louisiana, mr. graves, for five minutes. mr. graves: thank mr. graves: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, today we are going to be voting on legislation to name a post office in rayville, louisiana, after congressman elect letlow. madam speaker, i knew luke for many, many years.

had the chance to work with him. want to tell you a little bit about his background. luke, his whole life, was a little guy. he grew up small. and i'll bet when he was growing up he looked at that like a handicap maybe. as being a shorter, smaller person in stature. butt as luke got older and grew taller and got bigger, he never forgot about the lessons that he learned about being the little guy. all throughout his career when he was working for the louisiana congressional delegation for congressman cooksey, for congressman ralph abraham, when he worked for governor incall -- jindal of larks, luke always, always stood up and fought for the little guy. i'm going to say it again, i bet

when he was growing up he looked at it like a deficit, like a handicap. but, wow, what he did later in life and how he took those experiences that he had and he parlayed them. he used them. he never forgot what it was like. oftentimes in government the people are the ones -- the people that are heard, listened to, are the ones that have the lobbyist, money, power, influence. luke made sure that that wasn't the case. it was the person who had an issue. the person who had a problem. no issue was too small. no community was too small. luke was born and raised in the town of start, louisiana. i got to make reference to this. his dad's a firefighter. they say start fire. i got a kick out of that. these people looking for job security, they are pyromaniacs.

seriously, grew up in start, louisiana, in this very, very small community. and throughout his career in government, all he did was stand up for and fight for these small communities. to make sure that these communities were not left out. were not left behind. to tell you a little bit about luke i think he would probably make jeff fox worthy look sophisticated. luke would say some of the funniest things. had these hilariousation. he was one of the brightest -- hilarious sayings. he was one of the brightest -- he was a rascal. incredibly clever in what he did. and always focused on outcomes. i can't even begin to express my sadness for luke's early departure 41 years old. i can't even begin.

if luke were here, if he served in congress, if he were able to continue, his public service, i have no doubt we wouldn't be naming post offices after luke. we would be naming large buildings, large boulevards and streets. part of me's saddened by the fact that we are naming a post office. i'll say it again, because if he were here i know he would accomplish nothing but greatness. but i also think about the fact that luke, where he is now in heaven. i'm sure that up in heaven he's got his own little corner. streets of gold named after him. i'm sure that he's got his gaggle of people, and he's holding court up there doing amazing things. luke -- one. things he was most excited about was when start got a dollar general, he could get the dr. pepper and the resees or kit

cat that he loved. he's an amazing man. it's an absolute honor that we are able to name something after him today. i miss him greatly. i know that he loves his wife julia, his son, jeremiah, his daughter, jaclyn. i know when they look back at his history and the work he's done, the legacy he's left, they are going to be incredibly proud. i love that we are here today able to vote for a post office for him. god bless you, my brother. god bless your family. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess

the hd of the agency ann milligram, testifying before a house subcommittee. left last year you said the only limit on how many fentanyl pills and powder the cartels can make