principle applied to public schools. you have five cases that culminated brown. host: what stood out to you in the oral argument of this case? guest: i was recently writing and reflecting on this case and justice marshall in his final oral argument before the court says something to the effect of why you said of all the people in this country black americans are singled out for this treatment of being excluded and not being worthy? schoolchildren black and white go play together? they played together but they're not allowed to go t order. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the vote on pass only of h.r.

354. the clerk: union calendar number 418, h.r. 354, a bill to amend title 18 united states code to improve the law enforcement officer safety act and provisions relating to the car roifg -- carrying of concealed weapons by law enforcement officers and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 221, the nays are 185. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following enrolled bill. the clerk: senate 546, an act to amend the omnibus crime control and safe streets act of 1968 to authorize law enforce. agencies to use cops grans for equipment, activities and for other purposes. the spethe speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to house resolution 12127 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 8146. will the gentleman from california, mr. oner nolte, kindly take the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 8146 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to require a report by the attorney general of the impact the border crisis is having on law enforcement at the federal, state, local and tribal level. the chair: when the committee of the whole rose earlier today, amendment number 8 printed in

house report 118-511, offered by the gentlewoman from illinois, mrs. miller, had been disposed of. the unfinished business is the request for reported vote on amendment number six printed in part b of house report 118-511, by the gentlewoman from pennsylvania, ms. houlahan, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the yeas and nays prevailed -- on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk: amendment number six printed in part b of house report 118-511, offered by ms. houlahan of pennsylvania. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having reins, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 197, the nays are 213. this amendment is not continued. -- is not adopted. there being no further amendment. under the rule the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union had under consideration h.r. 8146 and pursuant to house resolution 1227 i report the bill as amended by that resolution back to the house with sundry further amendments adopted in the committee of the whole. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the

whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h.r. 8146 and pursuant to house resolution 1227, reports the bill as amended by that resolution back to the house with sundry further amendments adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule, the previous question is ordered. is a separate vote demanded on any amendment reported if the committee of the whole? if not, the chair will put them engross. the question is on adoption of the amendments. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendments are agreed to. the question is on engrossment and third readling of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to require a report by the attorney general on the impact the border crisis is having a at the federal, state, local and tribal level. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the

bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the bill is passed. without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized. . mr. mcclintock: on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a -- pursuant to clause 9 ole rule 20, this five-minute vote on passage of h.r. 8146 will be followed by five minute votes on the motion to recommit h.r. 8369 and passage of h.r. 8369 if ordered. that is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 254, the nays are 157. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the the motion to reconsider on h.r. 8639 offered by the gentleman from mr. meeks. the clerk: motion to recommit h.r. 8369, offered by mr. meeks of new york. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on agreeing to the motion to recommit. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned

coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 202. the nays are 210. the motion is not adopted. the question now occurs on passage of the bill. those in favor, say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. >> i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote will

rise. a sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.].

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 224. the nays are 187. the bill is passed. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. lawler: mr. speaker, i hereby remove my name as co-sponsor of h.r. 5094. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the question is granted.

the house will be in order. members, please take your conversations off the floor. the house will be in order. members, please take your conversations off the floor.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise with my colleagues from the ohio delegation to pay our respects to euclid police officer, jacob durbin. ms. brown: on saturday, while responding to a distress call, officer durbin was ambushed and killed. like so many of our law enforcement officers in northeast ohio and across the country, officer durbin put himself at risk to protect others. and even after he was shot. officer durbin was able to warn others, likely saving other lives. he was just 23 years old.

a new officer who was engaged to be married in july. he had so much ahead of him. officer durbin's life was about service. he was a veteran who served his country and tragically he made the ultimate sacrifice for his community. we ask that god give us the strength to officer durbin's family, friends, and loved ones. mr. speaker, i ask all present in the chamber to please rise for a moment of silence in remembrance of euclid, ohio, police officer durbin, jacob durbin.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mast: mr. speaker, the treasure coast lost a hero this year when florida highway pa patrolman zachary pink was killed in the line of duty. he was the son of st. lucie county, florida.

he had a desire from an early age to help people. that's what led him to a career in law enforcement. i did -- did know trooper fink, i didn't know him well but knew him. i recognized he was willing to lay down the life on the line to protect me and every other member of our community. we all have people in our lives we would sacrifice anything to protect. our siblings, our children, spouses. but very few of us would lay down our life for somebody that we barely know. but law enforcement officers like trooper fink do just that every single day. now, i have introduced legislation to name the u.s. post office building at 290 northwest peacock boulevard in port st. lucie after trooper zachary fink. i would simply say this, we cannot repay his sacrifice in any measure. but we can always remember his sacrifice. i yield back, mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan rise to seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today during police week to honor the service and contributions of law enforcement officials in west michigan and across the country. throughout my time in congress i have had the privilege of meeting with so many brave public servants who put their lives on the line every single day. ms. scholten: to protect our communities. policing is hard work, and not without significant challenges in the year 2024. for some it might be easier to just walk away. it's for that reason that i am constantly in awe of those who continue to serve. their dedication, sacrifice, and willingness to place others

above self in a time where serving our community has become all the more difficult. to all the law enforcement officers in west michigan and around the nation, we honor you this week and we thank you for everything you do to protect our families, neighbors, and our communities. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise to seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in recognition of national police week as we honor and thank our law enforcement officers who courageously serve and protect our communities. mr. allen: as we have seen over the last several years, an anti-police rhetoric and soft on crime policies have led to heightened division and a surge in violent crime across the country. while the rhetoric of many of my colleagues on the other side of

the aisle are further emboldening these criminals, house republicans back the blue and have dedicated this week to considering legislation that highlights our continued support for law enforcement heroes nationwide. i'd also be remiss if i didn't take a moment to honor those who have been tragically lost in the line of duty. the scriptures tell us the greatest love is to offer one's life up for others. our law enforcement put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. and for that we owe them a significant debt of gratitude. i am proud to stand with the brave men and women in blue. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today to honor the memory of sergeant ian taylor, a

reloved -- beloved resident of massachusetts who tragically lost his life in the line of duty earlier in month. mr. moulton: while i didn't have the privilege of knowing him personally, i admire him just from what i have learned. he was a dedicated family man with an exemplary commitment to service. not only did he risk his own safety as an officer for decades, but he was a tireless advocate for substance abuse prevention. he helped so many people, many of whom have shared their stories since he died. i'm devastated for the police department and his family. who will feel this immense loss every day. rest assured his legacy will live on. he'll certainly inspire others to serve with selfless dedication to duty. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for

one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, today i rise to honor a great american hero, clarence eugene sasser, who passed away on may 13, 2024, in sugar land, texas, at 76. mr. nehls: while serving in the united states army as a medic, during the vietnam war, then private first class sasser selflessly sprang into action to administer medical aid to his unit after they came under heavy, heavy fire from three different locations. despite having incurd wounds and loss of -- incurred wounds and loss of tremendous amount of blood, he dragged himself through the mud to tend to his wounded soldiers on an open rice patty. as a result of his extraordinary heroism displayed that day, president nixon present spe

specialist fifth class clarence eugene sasser with the medical of who areon -- medal of honor, our nation's highest and most prestigious military decoration. this week we not only lost a selfless hero but a father, a public servant, and a very proud texan. i have had the distinct honor and privilege to have represented mr. sasser in congress. specialist fifth class clarence sasser is an inspiration for all of us and embodies the very best of our great nation. may specialist fifth class clarence eugene sasser rest in peace, my friend, and may his bravery continue to inspire future generations to come. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise as we mark police week to express my thanks and support for law enforcement officers in new hampshire and across the

country who are dedicated to keeping our community safe. mr. pappas: our mr. pappas: the work our police do is indispensable to fight crime, keep the peace and provide the kind of assistance our families and neighbors need. across new hampshire i've had the great privilege to get to know so many of our law enforcement officials and i'm grateful for their professionalism, their courage and their leadership. recently i had the chance to visit the department in new hampshire to see the long-needed upgrades that they're making from a community project grant secured through our office. congress must continue to invest in public safety infrastructure, technology, training and recruitment and retention efforts to support 21st century policing. and we must commit to valuing and supporting those who swear an oath to protect and serve our communities. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, i rise today as we come together this national police week to honor the brave men and women who answer the call to a life of service. mr. alford: you know, we owe a debt of thanks to our police and law enforcement officers who every day, from the moment they put on their badge, know that they may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice and never come home. officers who give their all to protect our families, our communities, our freedoms. officers who choose to protect those who ridicule them, disrespect them and undermine them. to our law enforcement officers in missouri's fourth congressional district, and officers all over america, we say thank you. thank you for your service. we stand with you. we support you. we will always have your back. thank you. mr. speaker, i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? ms. kaptur: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, i rise to advocate for the brave men and women who serve our nation's defense selflessly, often at great personal sacrifice. congresswoman jen i canning ans of virginia -- i canningens -- kiggans of virginia and i introduced an act to make sure service members can retain services for their children and families no matter where their service assigns them. our service members relocate frequently and uproot their families in service to our nation wherever their orders lead them. yet despite their sacrifices, health care coverage for some of their children remains uncertain due to medicaid and chip coverage being administered at the state level. we cannot allow military

families to face this added burden of health care insecurity. by establishing a streamlined medicaid plan, we provide clarity and consistency, to ensure no child of a service member goes without essential medical services. let's stand together in full support of our military families. over three million children are involved and with the care for military kids act, we have the opportunity to fulfill our duty to those who serve and nobly protect our nation and us. thank you, mr. speaker, i encourage my colleagues to sign on on on this bipartisan bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> thank you, mr. speaker. i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i want to recognize casey herron from greenback, tennessee. she was recently crowned miss tennessee star.

mr. burchett: when she was born, her parents said she would probably never walk or talk, but she's done so much more than that in her life. she's graduating from greenback this year where she cheered for the football and basketball teams all four years. she was asked to come back and be an assistant cheer coach next year, mr. speaker. after that, she hopes to go to college and has dreams of opening her own bakery someday and walking the runway in new york city for fashion week. her siblings have been reading to her since she was born, which has helped her develop a love of books. she also loves hiking and something i love doing, looking for bigfoot. she likes parasailing and all kinds of music but especially reba mcintyre. she has a real heart for community and she volunteers at the second harvest food bank every week. casey started participating in the miss shining star pageant about eight years ago and this year she was crowned miss tennessee star who will go on to compete in the nationals. had err platform for mis-- her platform for ms. tennessee is solidarity for soldiers. her whole family and community

are very proud of he had and i'm proud to -- proud of her and i'm proud to call her my friend. i wish her the best of luck competing in the nationals in july. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks as necessary. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. stevens: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to celebrate the president's announcement of increased tariffs on chinese goods in key sectors. president biden leads once again. he took strong actions this week to give us the tools that we need as a nation to combat unfair trade practices, support cutting-edge american manufacturing and protect our national security. american workers and businesses can outcompete anyone on a level playingfield. but china has undermined that level playing field for decades. the increased tariffs on

electric vehicles, e.v. batteries, steel, aluminum, semiconductors, critical minerals and other fundamental inputs will support american manufacturing and ensure the next generation of good paying jobs are created right here in the united states of america with good union jobs. these measures will also help secure supply chains essential to our national security. president biden's tariff increases will build domestic capacity and insulate critical industries from undue chinese communist party influence. thank you, president biden, and yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. yesterday the labor department released its monthly report showing the consumer prices have

increased again. this time by 3.4%. under biden, families continue to pay nearly $12,000 more for everyday goods and services while jobs are being destroyed. a corrupt judge continues ensuring the re-election of president trump with his bias and unprofessionalism. the corrupt judge created this week a global stage for republican superstars to defend donald trump with speaker mike johnson, congresswoman malliotakis, congressman donalds. in appreciation i will invite the judge in appreciation of his re-electing donald trump to be my guest at the trump inauguration. in conclusion, god bless our troops who have successfully protected america for 20 years as the global war on terrorism continues moving from the afghanistan safe haisken to america. we don't need new border laws, we need to enforce existing

laws. biden shamefully opens the borders for dictators as more 9/11 attacks across america are eminent as repeatedly warned by the f.b.i. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. porter: each year millions of americans pay third party software companies to file their taxes. having to pay hundreds of dollars in fees just to pay your taxes makes no sense. i championed a program called direct file to change that that was included in the inflation reduction act. as a result thousands of americans filed their taxes directly with the government this year for free. despite big tax prep, spend -- big tax prep spending millions lobbying, millions of american,

including 33,000 americans, used the pilot program this year. people want this program. even better, nine out of 10 people who used direct file had a positive experience and said it made them more confident in the i.r.s. let's take the win here, congress. we don't have that many, to be honest. let's make the direct file program permanent and available nationwide. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise in recognition of national police week, a week we set aside to thank more than 800,000 police officers who put on the badge and risk their lives to protect our communities. mr. lahood: we thank them for their brave service.

our police officers play an essential role in our community, working to keep us safe, upholding the rule of law and responding to emergencies. illinois is home to many upstanding, honorable, courageous and self-sacrificing police officers, including peoria police chief eric and the village of durian police chief, michael, that are on this poster here. mr. speaker, we also take the time to mourn the loss of our fallen officers whose lives were lost in the line of duty. on average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the united states every 61 hours. we must never forget their sacrifice. lastly, i want to thank the law enforcement support network, their families, parents, wiveses, husbands -- wives, husbands and children for the sacrifices they make when their loved ones serve as police officers. at a time when our law enforcement is constantly under attack, congress must continue to stand with the police and back the blue.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. davis: mr. speaker, i rise to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the tamil genocide in sri lanka. we must stand with the tamil community, their struggle for justice and accountability continues, with survivors and their families enduring ongoing oppression and seeking recognition for their suffering from the sri lankan government. we must recognize the plight of the tamil people and advocate for a peaceful resolution that respects the rights and dignity of all. the tamil communities' resilience in the face of adversity is a testament of the unwavering spirit for justice,

self-determination. it was a pleasure to meet with so many who traveled to our nation's capital from across the united states and five countries to ensure that such atrocities never happen again. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as the song goes, if there's something strange in your neighborhood, who are you going to call? if there's something weird and it don't look good, who you going to call? mr. bean: mr. speaker, don't call ghostbusters, call the police. mr. speaker, i rise during national police week to salute the brave patriots who keep america safe. i want to share my appreciation to members of our law enforcement community, our officers, deputies and troopers,

especially the families of those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives for the protection of us and the safety and the protection of others. it takes courage to wear a badge, it takes even more courage to respond to an emergency. to step into harm's way, to face dangerous uncertainty. but for our police, it's just part of the job. unfortunately our law enforcement community doesn't get the recognition and the respect that they deserve. so on behalf of a grateful nation, i want to say two words to our incredibly brave patriots who don't hear it enough. thank you. thank you for protecting our families and communities. thank you for your service. as representative for florida's fourth congressional district, i want our law enforcement officers to know we salute you and we will always back the blue. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from alabama is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today during national police week to recognize the historic acts of deputy blue and the members of the fort morgan fire department. mr. carl: on april 19, corporal blue and corporal boris, excuse me, corporal boris and deputy blue and other members of the fort morgan fire department rescued three distressed swimmers off the coast. the fire department began with the operations with special equipment. once deputy blue arrived, he removed his duty belt, his body armor and put on his swim vest. jumped into the water and saved the swimmers. that day three people in the water were saved while swimming. that day three people were saved from drowning.

i cannot be prouder to represent district one which is filled with brave dedicated law enforcement officers like deputy blue. with many voices screaming to defund the police, we must emphasize how vital our officers are to us. every day these men and women tirelessly serve the american people and i cannot thank them enough. i will always back the blue. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. ... the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. danny k. davis of illinois for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the

gentleman from arizona, mr. schweikert, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. schweikert: thank you, mr. speakerrer pro tem, from arizona. i'm going to try to walk us through a couple simple concepts that require really complex math. wish me luck here. last week, and the week before that, i came here and tried to walkthrough a concept of how fragile we are because of our borrowing. the amount of insatiable borrowing we go through. and my sarcastic comment that happens to have the benefit of being almost true that the bond market is the one pretty much now will run this country. i can prove part of my thesis. the last week, because we here

made it a couple weeks without looking like a clown show, we got some decent inflation data. the movement in the u.s. debt market on our interest rates coming down, if you annualize that, do you realize it's more than every dime in foreign aid. think about this for a moment. just those ticks. when a single basis point, remember 1% of interest is o one #00th of a tick of interest. whether this place likes it or not, when we tell the world we are not serious of leading the world, when we don't look serious that we are going to be the country that defends the reserve currency of the world. when we don't look like adults, we pay a price. and many of the folks here, you get your five minutes of theater

and then we add hundreds of billions of dollars of additional interest. i'm going to show you charts here where we are approaching $1.2 trillion of interest this year. i'm going to try to walkthrough a concept that the spending, particularly what the democrats did with the inflation reduction act, where we are saying over the 10 years we are going to be pumping out a couple trillion dollars of subsidies to corporate america. also the fact that because of our debt and these higher interest rates, we are also pumping out $1.2 trillion of interest payments out. so that much cash flow is going out in the marketplace at the same time ■the federal reserve s over here trying to pull liquidity out of the market to slow down inflation. for those of us that live in the phoenix, scottsdale area, you have the right to be cranky. because the day joe biden became president, from that day to

today, if you not making a little over 26% more in your paycheck, you are poorer today. so for all of us who are elected here, our area happens to be probably the second highest inflation in the continental united states right now. you meet people -- they have done fairly well in life. i have one of the more prosperous districts in america. one of the very best educated districts in america. we are out there knocking on doors. you get people -- they want to share with you they are stressed out of their mind. part of it they don't completely understand why they seem to be working harder. why the kids can't afford a place. why price of education for their kids is just crushing them. why they seem to be instinctively understand their

kids are going to live poorer than they did. which is now fact. that isn't rhetorical. every data point, if you are functioning under 45 years old, you will be poorer than my generation, my parents' generation. and it's the debt that's done this. it's inflation. once again let's do a basic economic class. inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods and services. it's also a tax. who is the biggest debtor in the world? it's the united states, congratulations. we did it, yay. we are basically kicking off about $1 trillion every 100, 115 days of borrowing. and that interest helping kick off inflation, and inflation is that tax. the inflation we have had the last three years is the biggest tax in modern history because

here's what happened. there's this massive amount of u.s. debt. we now are going to pay it back with inflated dollars. and your savings just became worth less. we basically -- this country made maid a decision -- made a decision with the crazy spending, screw them, send off inflation. we'll reach in and grab the value of your savings and transfer it to the debt and make the debt -- we'll pay it back with inflated dollars. whether you know it or not, the reason you are poorer today is you got taxed. thank you for your contributions to u.s. debt. did you know you were even doing it? the other thing is also the fragility concept. this is something -- i talked to dozens and dozens of members here. i get that blank stare because we don't all think this way. we are on different types of

committees. i do ways and means and financial services. so maybe my whole world is trying to think about the math. today the world, today the world has the highest level of debt since the napoleonic wars. you may not remember your history, after that the world went into a massive depression for years. the amount of debt -- do you know which two countries are borrowing at extraordinary rates? the united states. and china. when greece has a better credit rating than the united states, you can sell a 10-year bond in greece cheaper than the united states. and you go and read what the credit ratings -- i think the united states now is number 14 in creditworthiness. we are the reserve currency. anyone care?

because the hallways here are just full of people showing up at my door begging for more spending or set up rules to make sure that competition and new technology can't disrupt their business models. if you are under 40, i'm a baby boomer. i'm sorry. i wish we had thought about the math. i wish we had been more honest with ourselves. but there are ways to deal with this. there are ways to make it work. the other thing is we have been grinding through the social security, medicare actuary report. i'm still not done with it. my economists and the joint economic committee, we are not done with this because we are also busy writing the response to the president biden's economic report. i'm going to walkthrough a few

things here where we can't figure out why the actuaries would use the numbers they did because they are completely different than even o.m.b.'s and c.b.o.'s numbers. there's other things going on. so let's start to walkthrough and some of these boards you will have seen before. a lot of you have never seen. and i'm trying to build a theme. the theme basically is this. this place needs to get serious and acting like adults and understanding, it's not our feelings anymore -- feelings anymore. it's not the theater for the patrol that's going to bang on us. if you are the russian troll that will be in my comments when this goes on youtube, screw you, because the fact of the matter is i, we, this country needs the world needs us to act like adults, provide a level of stability, because when we don't, the price of our debt

goes up and when you are clicking off borrowing $1 trillion every, 100, 115 days interest rates matter. remember if we are going to borrow a couple trillion dollars this year, it's actually -- right now our rate is 2.8. this year. our refinancing is several trillion because you have seen treasuriry decided to stay very short on the curb. instead of saying we are going to sell a 10-year bond because the market turns out wasn't excited about 10-year u.s. bonds because they didn't trust us. we are doing here's a one-year paper. one year note. two-year note. there's notes. there's bonds. and it's the definition under duration. we have made ourselves very fragile to the world, to the bond market. and i used to come behind this

microphone and joke that this country basically is an insurance company with an army. now it's a really in debt insurance company with an army. let's walkthrough some of our realities. yay. ok, first thing i need to walkthrough, deficit over the last 12 months, 1.8. if you do gross it's closer to three. in the last 12 months. that was originally we built this board we thought it would be -- that's what we were going to borrow publicly. our burden rate is substantially higher than expected. what's raging about this is the economy is fairly decent. we just weren't prepared for higher interest rates, higher other expenses, and the fact of the matter is, much of the democrats' inflation reduction act, most orwellian name necessary -- orwellian name in

modern history, its distortion affects in the economy, so -- and also the borrowing -- borrowing, when we are handing out cash grants, do you think that money's coming out of tax receipts? it's borrowed. the point i wanted to make shear is when you see this blue, that's what i get to vote on as a member of congress. the red, that's mandatory. it's about 74%, 75% of all spend something on auto pilot. your member of congress doesn't get to vote on it. guess what? every dime i vote on is on borrowed money. plus a sliver of your medicare. every dime a member of congress votes on is on borrowed money. and then we play this game around here, when you are clicking off -- we are just shy of borrowing $100,000 a second. we have debates here where we are debating on saving this tiny

little bit and the borrowing during the debate was greater than the savings. because we are terrified to tell you the truth that the majority of borrowing, every dime of borrowing from this day to the next 30 years, i'm going to say this about a half dozen times tonight. every time of borrowing for today through the next 30 years, interest, medicare, and then nine years from now when the social security trust fund's gone, do we backfill the shortfall. everything else is in balance. all right. let's continue to walkthrough this. give you a sense that through area i was just showing you before. that we get to vote on. nondefense discretionary. everything you think of as government. that's the f.b.i., the park service, state department. this over here is defense. so if you come to me and say

david i want you to cut spending, which i'm all for burning a bunch of this down. i have a really weird ethical question that members of congress need to think about. is it ethical for the federal government to borrow money and send it to an entity that has its own taxes authority? many of those taxes authorities, if they actually had more skin in the game, might be a little more sensible and more discipline how they spend it, because you realize that's one of the great scams here. we borrow it, send it, we get love, and then the groups we send it to act like, hey, we got free money from the federal government, though, you are paying -- your kids will pay it back and your grandkids and great great grandkids because it's borrowed. .. social security, self-finances right now.

social security is the payroll tax and the trust fund. and every month the trust fund gets a little smaller. and we do pay interest for the cash that the federal government, the treasury, has borrowed out of the trust fund. we give them their principle back and then the treasury gives them -- principal back and then the treasury gives them a little bit of interest. but that's continuing to shrink. then you look at everything else. you start to realize. the thing that should annoy anything who pays attention to the math instead of the thee theatrics, national debt increase in the first seven months of this fiscal year. in 2023, at this point we had borrowed about a half a trillion

dollars. yeah. now we're at $1.45 trillion, the same time period this year. yet you got to work through the problem with me. was tree economically that different -- 2023 economically that different than this year? what happened? what happened? well, our interest rates went up so we're burning through tremendous amounts of more cash. we actually had in the last 12 months, i think we had two or three months where we had to borrow money to pay for our borrowing. and forgive me, i've had a stunning amount of coffee today and i'm just -- i haven't slept well and i'm just cranky. and, look, this chart is actually worse now. it's just the only one i have. and some of these numbers i have

trouble believing and we go back and double check ourselves and we go back and double check ourselves because the numbers read differently than the c.b.o. report from four months ago or five months ago or the o.m.b. report from six months ago. because the economy's supposed to be fairly decent. how can we be bleeding like this? so think about this. c.b.o. and those who were saying, hey, we're going to be borrowing about 4.5%, 4.7% of the economy is going to be in borrowed money. but so far this fiscal year our borrow something closer to 9%, 9% -- borrowing is closer to 9, 9% of the entire economy. and why that's important, why also looking at this chart we're saying, here's our tax receipts and we'll get the democrats and we need to talk about this, keep saying, if we would just tax rich people more. i've come here multiple times and shown the analysis of higher taxes on those $400,000 and up.

we take the left and this president's proposal and we say, let's tax maximize everything. let's tax maximize their income taxes, their state tax, their capital gains tax, everything. and then you look at the data and you get about 1.5% of g.d. ok -- g.d.p. ok. so we've usinged the democrats' plan, we're going to tax our way to prosperity. you get about a point and a half of g.d.p. great. for those of you, remember, i showed you the chart of nondefense discretionary. you take 1% of that out of g.d.p. it's like 40% of all nondefense discretionary, you just wiped out. so now you have yourself 2.5% of g.d.p. that we either taxed or we cut. great job, guys. you're seeing a chart here where we're starting to talk about over the coming decade, we're going to be at 31% of the economy is borrowed.

but, hey, twice, everything we talk about we're going to get 1% of cuts and a point and a half of taxes? we're borrowing close to 9% of g.d. right now -- g.d.p. right now. the c.b.o. baseline was like five. anyone here do math? anyone own a calculateer? anyone have a battery in the calculator? you can't cut yourself and you can't tax enough to make this work. yet we are such -- we are so vacuous intellectually around here. the ability to say, we are going to embrace the things that disrupt our cost drivers, we are going to actually adopt technology, we're going to adopt a.i. to change the cost of government, we're going to adopt the things that crush the price of health care, not by making it

more scarce, not by rationalling it, but by making -- rationing it, but by making it more moral. we can do that. except this place will run like hell every time we say, you know, we could have tech nothing that would cure -- technology that would cure that disease. oh, no, that's our business model. in a couple weeks we're going to do a major presentation from the republican side of the joint economic committee. the math is not done yet. we are trying to grind through the number one cost driver of this government. and this is going -- i'm going to get some really, really interesting comments and it's mathematically true. it's obesity. we're starting to chase down some data that says almost half of u.s. health care has a relationship to owes buy. it -- obesity. we're about to have our fifth year of prime age males dying younger.

it's immoral. it's absolutely immoral what this place has become. the debt's immoral, what we do in health care is immoral. it's bad enough that we're destroying our kids. and, look, i'm 62. my wife is 62. maybe i shouldn't tell you that. i have an 8-year-old daughter we adopted. i have a 23-month-old little boy that's a miracle, we adopted. and they're brother and sister. do they have the right to have the same life or even be more pprosperous? because the american sort of societal contract was the next generation will be more prosperous and right now that's mathematically impossible. there's a way i can make it work. the way you can make it work. the way this place can make it work. and we're so busy knifing each other over petty stuff because we're idiots. we're children here.

because doing hard things is hard. my father used to have a saying, if it's a complex problem, there's a simple solution. that's absolutely wrong. complexity requires complexity. and the reason for this portion of this tirade is next year about 3 $380 -- about $380 billion a year in tax hikes, you as an individual, your l.l.c., your subchapter s, your pass-through business, congratulations, your taxes are already going up next year. it's the law as it is already. i will argue it's one of the greatest opportunities we've had in modern times. because we're going to be forced to actually act like adults and do something. now, here's your battle. will we be smart, creative, intellectually robust saying, hey, let's use this as our opportunity to broaden the tax

code, fix it in a way where we maximize prosperity and economic growth? and oh, by the way, because we don't want to add to the debt, can we do things over here to actually change some of the debt drivers? we're going to legalize technology in health care. we're going to adopt technology to make government smaller, but more efficient. we're going to crowd source our data in a way where it's current, accurate, more moral. we have bills on all of this. this isn't just rhetoric. we have done bills on this stuff for years. and they've gotten much better. will the vision for, particularly with those with the responsibility to be on the ways and means committee, will we actually step up and say, it going to be binary? we're going to raise these people's taxes, lower these so it balances out, screw everyone. yeah, we did something. are we going to use the stressor that's coming with the

expiration of those portions of the 2017 tax reform, use that to actually grow the society? but you got ask yourself first, because many of my democrat colleagues, i don't know if they agree with me that prosperity is moral. having a society where every day you have a chance to live a little bit better is moral. having a society where we're not poisoning our swefs what we eat -- ourselves with what we eat, is that moral? a health care system that's better, faster, cheaper is, that moral? because all -- cheaper, is that moral? because all those things are in front of us. because the chart after chart after chart basically says, when we've had very high marginal tax rates, we get about 17%, 18% of g.d.

-- g.d.p. when we've had low, we get 17%, 18% of g.d.p. when we've done lots of extra corporate taxes, we get 17% to 18% of g.d.p. the fact of the matter is there's lots of brilliant economic papers and people have written their ph.d. thesises on this. you have access to the internet, maybe go read. you're going to get about 17% to 18% of g.d.p. and a bunch of the democratic policies are, let's raise the taxes, we'll get 24% of g.d.p. really? tell me a time in u.s. history on a sustained basis that has happened. it just hasn't. in less -- unless the democrats' plan is to do a value-added tax, a v.a.t. tax, which will crush the working middle class, you aren't getting that number. you got to stop making crap up. but yet we know our spending

because it's demographics. remember our point before, interest, medicare, back-filling social security. we got old as a society. and i'm going to show you a couple of charts here that are really rough and they're absolutely factual. only reason i grabbed this one, and we're going to go through some of these pretty quick, is just to show you over the past four quarters, $600 billion, $288 billion, $487 billion, $258 billion. we're borrowing at quart wrrs a few years ago -- quarters where a few years ago that was the entire year. and here's one of the punch lines. social security, $1.452 trillion. that's social security this year. but social security's out of your payroll tax and then part of the trust fund.

interest now. there was a few of our brothers and sisters on that side who mocked me a few months ago when i said, i think we're going to knows on $1.1 trillion in interest this year. oh, you have to stop making crap up. o.m.b.'s own number now, treasury's own number, $1.144 trillion is trt this year. you want this number to go down -- is the interest this year. you want this number to go down? make us look like a stable government. make us look like we're adults. convince the bond markets we're actually going to take on our debt in a meaningful way instead of playing theatrics. this is interesting right now. now there's actually a little bit of squibber here so you got to -- squish here so you got to understand, the most treasury update, defense is number three,

medicare's number four, we actually think that's going to flip again because last month it was flipped and reverse bud they're almost identical -- reversed but they're almost identical right now. but the punch line here now is interest is the second biggest expense in this government. and at our current borrowing rate and if interest rates stay where they're at or go up just a little bit, in a couple years interest, interest will be the number one spend in this government. congratulations. and look, this is a hard chart to read. the point of this one is just interest fragility. what happens with small movements in interest rates on u.s. sovereign debt. the basic point is, where we are interest rate-wise right now in 2033, so we're right now working on the 2025 fiscal year budget.

so, you know, seven, eight budget years from now. our model at today's interest rates, we're at $3.7 trillion baseline borrowing. already -- that's already our model. that's without a recession. that's without a war. that's without a pandemic. without -- that's just where we're at. and i was going to bring here, but i have some other articles, talking about how fragile we've made ourselves. god forbid this year, next year, we go into a true recession. do you have any idea how fragile we've made this government, this country, with our raive news to borrowing? what would happen if tax receipts started to roll over our bid op us because we went into a recession? tax receipts are up 7%. medicare spend something up around 10%. this fiscal year. if that rolled over and wasn't

7%, was closer to 4%, 5%, you want to talk about a blood bath. ... ok. raising interest rates could push the national debt toward 300% of g.d.p. in 30 queers. how many of you think the bond marks will let us get anywhere near 300% of g.d.p. with our savings rates? if you're japan, you can do it. they can almost finance their own debt. actually, they do finance their own debt. do you think the rest of the world is going to keep loaning us money, respecting the sovereignty of the reserve currency that is the dollar? why are we destroying ourselves in why are we destroying your retirement? why are we dede stroying your kids, my young kids? but once again the hallway are

full of people wanting more money. let's talk through a couple of things that are even more uncomfortable than talking about the debt. you all saw a week ago friday the update on u.s. fertility rates. yes. going to have an idiot congressman talk about how many children we're having in society because that's important. we sit there in our office, and i'm blessed to have some freaky smart staff, people much smarter than i ever could dream to be. a bunch of economists. we're trying to figure out, say, over the next decade, two decades, how do we pay social security? how to we pay medicare in how do we -- democrats are, just raise more taxes. you show them studies that that math doesn't work. we're going to lie to our voters to survive the next election. great job, guys. buff we have a little problem. a week ago friday, you saw the update red port on the 2023 fertility rates. i was wrong in my number. it's worse.

it is worse than the speeches i came here and gave. we're down to 1.62, meaning we are way below, way he below replacement rates now. the united states is dying. and one of the things i'm frustrated with is the census bureau numbers basically say, when we start to get beyond -- remember, the census bureau had us at 1.64, turns out they were wrong, it's 1.62, they were projecting as we go through the rest of the century, a long time, but think about it. your kids, you have a young child right now, they're going to live hopefully with the lord's blessing 100 years. we start to collapse the population. and we're going to walk you

through a couple of why these are such a big deal. deaths are projected to exceed births. this chart said 2040. it's a little sooner. if you take last week's fertility number, in about 15 year, the united states will have more deaths than births. there's no industrialized country that is -- that has succeeded in adopting policy that changed their fertility rates. on the long run. so you have hungary and others, your future life, have a fourth kid, pay no income taxes in the future. we'll buy you a house. you get a little pop but then it moves right back to mean after a few years. got to deal with the reality. it turns out all over the world, as the world has gotten more

prosperous, we have a collapse in fertility. but yet we built a social entitlement system. it's earned benefits. you earned your medicare, you earned your social security but they were based on the concept that there would be this many workers. because the reality, today's fica taxpayer, payroll taxpayer, their paycheck went into your social security check today. or your medicare. just the way it's always been. what happens when that next generation gets small her are we also emotionally and mentally prepared for the number of schools that will be closed? because it's starting to happen all over the country. because u.s. fertility is starting to roll over in 1990. it's just now accelerate wesmed had a tiny little blip, a tiny blip, during the pandemic. now it's gone back. and the trendline continues to get uglier and uglier. but it's reality. you live in a country where in

15 years, we'll have more deaths than births. are we prepared for that? are you ready, are we ready, is this body intellectually ready for saying ok, you're going to adopt policies that are child friendly, this and that. but there's no other country that's come up with an example where it raised the number of children. are we really to adopt policy to embrace technology? this is where it gets really uncomfortable. how many robots are you ready to embrace? how much a.i. are you ready to embrace? when you call the i.r.s., instead of having a person, are you ready to be talking to chatgpt. in that case you might prefer the chat. we are going to have to adopt the -- embrace technology in ways to keep the economy growing without more people. and this is happening all over the industrialized world. how many times behind these

microphones have you heard a congressman say, hey, i care about the future, i care about prs perty. we're going to adopt technology to keep having prosperity. huh? the math is the math and the math will always win. and one of the things i'm also annoyed with is as reading through the social security actuary report, they're making crap up. they have fertility numbers in here, they have us growing. c.b.o. actually has numbers growing. and yet we talk to the census pew roe, the census bureau is dunn here. could our government agencies actually who spend a fortune with all these actuaries maybe have a cocktail party. preferably no alcohol. make it coffee.

we'll do coffee. that's what we need a bunch of well-caffeinated actuaries in the same room from social security, from maybe o.m.b., c.b.o., a couple of these others, census bureau. can you give us a number? because you're making it miserable around here trying to actually say here's what our fawch looks like. because so far they keep being wrong. it's a little geeky but that's important. that was my mocking them for the number of times i send them memos saying can you explain your number and why it's so different than each other? the other point, and i got some quoans this from last week so i just brought the board back. you had the president stand right there and he said we're going to do this for medicare. we're going to raise this tax and this. ok. the red portion here is when you pay your payroll taxes. that's the portion that goes to the medicare trust fund.

the rest you functionally pay for. this is -- this comes out of the general fund, we're borrowing part of it. over here, that's actually your premiums. and a little bit of this is some other transfers and then we also have a little slice here which is those who are seniors but maybe in medicare, medicaid. so we have to get a little sliver from the state. once again, the majority of spending in medicare is not the trust fund. i'm elated that the current model on the trust fund is extended for another few years. that's wonderful. we need to study that. except if you read the actuary report, the reason it extended is really fragile. this dark blue there that and

interest are the primary drivers of u.s. debt. tell the truth. maybe gets you unelected. but how do you make public policy in a world where you're not allowed to tell the truth. that's what members of cong congressdo. social security and medicare shortfalls drive nearly the entire 2019-2023 deficit rise. that's the facts. that's c.b.o.'s own quote. and here's the board that i promise will be in the attack ad going at me in the next election. except it's c.b.o.'s own numbers. except it's two years out of date. there's a number right here that basically says social security and medicare, $160 trillion deficit the rest of the budget,

$3 trillion is functionally in balance except the problem is, for anyone right now, you care enough, grab your phone, use a search engine, look up c.b.o.'s report from six weeks ago. 30-year number is not $116 trillion. it's $143 trillion is now our model. that's what higher interest rates did. $143 trillion. 100% of that borrowing. medicare and the interest financing of that. backfilling of social security and the interest financing of that. we can revolutionize this if you'd be willing to legalize technology. the morality of moving and pushing cures. why does this place seem to like to finance people's misery? instead of working with the

f.d.a., working with biopharma, working with people out there who are disrupting disease and misery? we seem to have a place around here that wants to build diabetic clinics instead of cure diabetes. what's wrong with the morality of this place? another thing we're trying to figure out in the social security actuary report is, they play this game where, when we get the out years things collapse. we'll do that in a week or two. it's a little complex. another chart just trying to explain once again what is the part a trust fund. part b yen fund. this here, part d, also is a combination of some of the fees you pay. that's your medicare. and back to the last couple of points i want to make here.

when i just told you we're about to have our fifth year of prime age males dying younger. is it moral to stand here and say, remember, this chart functionally ends in 2020. it's actually gotten uglier. the u.s. is an outlie for the disease and disability trends. we're sicker than the rest of the industrialized world. is it we're not spending enough on health care? that's absurd. because let's be honest. we engage in agricultural policy, nutrition support policy where you can take your e.b.t. card and go buy onion rings. is that moral? why isn't there a fixation in

this place, when we have states where over half the population statistically is obese. they're dying on us. we have a society that finances crap in our diet. why would we do this to each other? is that republican or democrat? i'm just trying to make the arguments immoral. and if you took it on, it's the single biggest thing you could do for u.s. debt. take on the very things that are killing us. and i've done presentations before, they were a little geeky, trying to explain that if we could make our society healthier, it's the single biggest thing i can do to reduce u.s. debt and then there's these things, we all remember your high school economics class.

first degree effects. second degree effects. third degree effects. knockoff effects. remember all the weird language? you want more of our brothers and sisters to be able to marry, family formation. participate in society, and be able to participate in the economy. help us make our society healthier. i'm trying to make, mr. speaker pro tem, trying to make a morality argument. that the very thing that we most effective for us to take on the u.s. debt, legalizing technology to crash the price of health care, putting technology into this government to make government smaller and more efficient, it requires thinking. it requires annoying people in our hall ways demanding more money from us and incredibly moral to give our kids a chance, a chance the

prosperity that we and previous generations have. think about it. we have done it to ourselves and there is a way out. it's not easy. it requires some complexity and are these republican or democrat ideas? they're just hard. they're just hard. with that, mr. speaker pro tempore, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the gentlewoman from vermont, ms. bay lint, is recognized as the designee of the minority leader.

ms. balint: thank you, mr. speaker. tonight my colleagues and i are here on the floor to talk about the mental health crisis we are seeing across the country in each of our congressional districts. this issue can be hard for many people to talk about. it's personal, it's complex and many americans don't feel comfortable talking about because they fear the reaction from their family, friends and co-workers. seeking mental health treatment is not a sign of weakness. the body does not stop at the neck and mental health care is health care, period. all of us here tonight are fighting for a future in which anyone who wants mental health care gets it when we finally end the unequal treatment of mental health. i yield to the the gentlewoman

from michigan, ms. tlaib. ms. tlaib: thank you so much. it says facing mental health challenges doesn't make you weak, it makes you human. i think about damon in my community who took his life. he was a veteran and he served our country and came home and was one of our firefighters. i read that every single day 17 veterans die by suicide, i was shocked. that's 17 families, mr. speaker, whose lives will never be the same. this is one of the heartbreaking effects of war and the reality of mental health. we must work harder to make sure that no human person or veteran is left behind and everyone receives the mental health

support and love they need to survive. the forever wars have left immense trauma and our government fails to provide our veteran with the support they need and deserve. if we cannot provide the necessary mental health care to our veterans, we should not be sending them to war. this mental health awareness month we must prioritize to every single american and family. this is critical to creating a better quality of life for our community and their families and everyone in our communities that continue to struggle. i want to let every veteran in this moment that you hear me, i hope i can save a life. you can call the national suicide at 988 which offers free confidential support 24 hours a

day, 7 days a week those experiencing a mental health crisis or those contemplating suicide. for veterans looking for care designed facing your community, you can access the veterans' crisis hotline and dial 988 and pressing 1. you may be connected to a veteran who understands how you feel. by shedding light on the reality, we can create an agreement. we must break the stigma and mental health care. if you are a veteran in crisis, please know there are people that care deeply about you and we want to support you. that crisis line is 988 and simply dial 988.

believe me when i tell you, you are not alone. i yield. ms. balint: mr. speaker, we are in the midst of a nationwide mental health crisis and important for of us and positions in power to pass legislation and funding programs that will meet the needs of our constituents. it's also important we use our position to help create opportunities for connection in our communities right now because we have a crisis and a disconnection in our nation. it has become such an issue, our surgeon general has revealed a new strategy to address this. murphy has said that social connections must be a top priority in terms of public health. he believes, as i do, that the epidemic of loneliness has

fueled other problems in our society that is making us very sick. his research shows that about one in every two americans is experiencing loneliness at any given time. it's shocking and it isn't just emotionally uncomfortable to be lonely but has real consequences on our health, it can increase heart disease, stroke and data indicates that the risk of a premature stroke is comparable to the risks associated with being a daily smoker. this disconnection feels anger and distrust and adds to the disconnection that many americans experience. the science is clear and compelling. research has found that our need for connection has been fundamental as our need for food and water. many studies over the past

decade have come to the same conclusion. social connectiveness generates a positive loop of social, emotional and physical well-being. people who feel more connected to others shows levels of anxiety and depression -- excuse me, people who feel more connected to others show lower levels of anxiety and depression and greater empathy. they tend to be more cooperative and trusting and a lack of social connection can have a range of negative effects. one study of different ages, gender and health, people who were disconnected were three times more likely to die over that nine-year study. and surprisingly regardless of demographics, people who had

unhealthy lifetimes styles but close social ties lived longer. not only are relationships fundamental to our health and happiness, but research shows it may shape how our brains work to make decisions. we must craft policy and make investments to address our national mental health crisis. at this time, mr. speaker, i yield to the the gentlewoman from california, ms. kamala dove. >> thank you for hosting this special order hour on mental health. so long before i came to congress when i served on the board of the los angeles community college, we would hold monthly board meetings throughout the district and it's the largest community college

district in the district. we had nine campuses and so we would visit them regularly. these meetings were very long. they were open to the public. and lots of people would come. lots of people, lots of characters and lots of mental wellness issues were often on display. so the los angeles county sheriff's department was contracted with the district and it was the sheriff's department that would provide security for these meeting. and i would watch these officers, mostly men, but i would keep my eye on them to see how they were doing. and i would watch them take into account the changing surrounding based on the meeting and topic and adapt to the circumstances.

and on occasion, these men, good men, would have to manage a mental health episode by an attendee of the meeting, a mental health episode that verged on the unsafe. and these sheriffs were not trained for that. they did not apply to become a sheriff to do that kind of work. and in reality, they should not have been doing that. and yet, we dump more and more social, economic, mental and physical health care issues on their plate. we are asking ill-equipped law enforcement members to be responsible for managing the mental health crises of our communities. no wonder they are under duress. police officers report higher rates of depression.

30% of responders develop some kind of behavioral health condition compared to 20% of the general public. law enforcement officers have a 54% increase in suicide risk when compared to the civilian population. and correctional officers in our prince have suicide rates much higher than other law enforcement fee agencies or even the military. and yet, republicans want to crack down on mental unwellness in every incident except in cases involving fentanyl. and i wonder why that is the case. by boosting the status quo, you are not helping the mental health of our officers or those that they interact with. i am actually floored that republicans have the audacity to

talk about supporting police when they have done nothing but put these folks more in danger. for the pass two years, they have closed health and human services account, obstructing funding from flowing into our descripghts to support those struggling with mental health. they barred nonprofits for applying within the community development initiative for hud, preventing organizations that specialize in addressing homelessness from receiving funding and placing additional purdz on law enforcement. it is hypocritical to say this is police week and you want to support law enforcement when you oppose to funding or uplifting the initiatives that would do

the most to help the least, including mental health and the mental health of those they interact with. let's commit to legislation like h.r. 66082. this legislation diverts funding away from the presence of police in schools and foreign services that address the needs of marginalized students. i have to tell you the most concern that police officers are called that are issues for noise, poverty, domestic violence and mental health episodes. and none of them require police intervention. many of them demand mental

health intervention. by ininvesting in these initiatives, we can better ensure the safety of both our communities and law enforcement. now i don't like to talk about another state or somebody else's district but what has been happening in oregon. in eugene, oregon, they instituted this initiative called crisis assistance helping out on the streets. and it has has had resounding success. for nearly 30 years, the program has dispatched crisis response professionals to assist people who are intoxicated rnghts mentally ill or dison the other hand reducing police service

calls by almost 9% every year. it's cut down on workers' compensation issues and other liability claps. this program infiertd me to pass into law the crisis basket . in the california state legislature which established a pilot program that provide that provides safely and appropriate responses to mental health crisis to people experiencing homelessness and challenges to domestic violencees and also to natural disasters. law enforcement law enforcement was supportive of this because they don't want to take crisis calls. but i don't know if republicans care about them or about this country's mental wellness. because they are certainly

unwilling to support policy changes and crucial investments at the federal level that would address mental health crises and mental health episodes. so you know, in closing, i'm going to think back to my time in the california state legislature, working with the california department of corrections and rehabilitation. and listening to stories of correctional officers battling depression, battling alcoholism, feeling isolated, being abused by other correctional officers, and being afraid to talk about it. i think about the conversations i had with parents of correctional officers who died

by suicide. at their job. all of these examples are examples of a mental health crisis. happening in our homes, happening in our streets, happening in our facilities, where we are asking folks to show up every day of sound mind, and work on behalf of a locality, or a country, or a community, to help keep it safe. and we are not even doing our part. republicans are not even doing their part, to help them be safe. i hope that republicans are done playing hooky at a courthouse in new york today and will come back here and focus on this immediate, on this critical, on

this important epidemic that has taken hold of the very people they claim to support. with that, i yield back. ms. bay lint: -- ms. balint: at this time i yield to the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. tokuda. ms. tokuda: thank you. mr. speaker, nine months ago, the lahaina fires took the lives of hundreds of people and deed hundreds of structures, including homes, class rupees, historic parks and feature, and businesses. while we have come a long way to repair the physical damage inflicted on our community, the trauma and emotional pain from the fires cons to take root in the lives of our maui ohana. first responders and disaster workers and volunteers are on the frontlines and have been there from day one delivering

physical and emotional support to our people and families during this time of crisis. while we know they often, and you've heard this from the previous speaker, they often put the needs of others before themselves, the realty is they too need help dealing with the challenges and the dangers that come with experiences and the things they see every day on the job, situations that they are faced with. you know, i'll digress a bit and tell you stories of some up thes i saw in the first days, weeks and months after the fires. it was not uncommon for me to come across even some of the top brass and leadership of our emergency management, our fire department, police department and they'd stop me. you could sey the look in their eyes it was hard for them to continue. as they talked about the things they saw. as they talked about the experiences that they went through as victims and survivors themselves, and many of them asking me, how can i go on?

what do i do now? i need help too. statistically, sadly, we know that police officers and firefighters, first responders, find themselves in this very situation time and time again. we know that these first responders are more likely to die from suicide but in the line of duty -- than in the line of duty. and depression and ptsd are five times more common in first responders. unfortunately there are only a limited number of services and resource available specifically to address the mental health needs of our first responders. too often first responders are directed to services that fail to meet them where they're at and are inadequate to support their mental health and well being, to truly understand the situation they are dealing with every single day, reliving the trauma, reliving the moment. that they've experienced. and yet on the surface having to put up that happy face and continue to serve the public. this is unacceptable.

that's why i introduced the care for first responders act which would make sure first responders and disaster workers and volunteers have immediate access to on site specialized crisis counseling services and resources. our bill would also establish a peer support program and a national hotline to provide 24-7 comp rehencive, confidential crisis services to first responders and their loved ones. every day, these brave individuals risk their lives to keep our communities safe. they are our superheroes. but they are still human. all of us need to be there for them. and we must do everything we can to provide all of our survivors and disaster survivors with the mental help and support they need now. the reality is we can clear away the debris we feel can rebuild our schools. we can reopen our roads. we can see houses coming up. but healing from the pain and draw? that's a lot more difficult and

it takes time. as we recognize mental health awareness month, i want to thank my colleague from vermont for giving thus opportunity to call attention to the mental health crisis that is ravaging our people right now. i urge my colleagues that while we have made incredible progress to expand access to mental health and substance abuse disorder there's much, much more work to be done and it must be done now. we must continue to fight to ensure everyone can get the care they need, when they need it, where they're at. we must pass critical life-saving measures like h.r. 6415, our care for first responders act, a truly bipartisan measure, with 44 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, to support those who support and care and protect us every single day. we must prioritize and act with urgency to fund and pass progressive policy changes to support mental health in our community and for the sake of all of the people that we loved,

for every single person even in this building, we must do it now. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. ms. balint: mr. speaker, as this time, i yield to the gentleman from california, mr. desaulnier. mr. desaulnier: i want to thank my colleague, my wonderful colleague from vermont, for yielding and for holding this important conversation. this discussion could not be more timely, mr. speaker. rates of mental health conditions for america's children have been rising for years and new they're rising exponentially. in 2019, one in three high school students reported persistent feelings of hopelessness and depression. representing a 40% increase over 10 years. social media has had a profoundly negative impact on mental health with adolescents who spend more than three hours

per day on social media facing twice the risk of developing symptoms of depression and anxiety. the youth mental health epidemic in america is also -- has also caught the attention of our top public health authorities. over the last several years, the surgeon general has issued advisories about youth mental health and the harm caused by social media. included in the advizris as -- is guidance on how young people, their family, educator, health professionals tech companies and other take tolders -- other stake holders can address these challenges by encouraging healthy relationships, modeling good behavior, improving data privacy on social media for children and more. the c.b.c. has also been involved including thru research about covid pandemic's negative impact on youth mental health. the isolation. the agency found during the

pandemic, youth experienced a very low rate of social connectedness, understandably. a sense of being cared for, supported, and belonging at school and that lack of feeling connected to school was associated with nearly 20 percentage point increase in persistent feelings of hopelessness and depression amongst american young people. these statisticsle of are deeply troubling and a warning sign to us here in corning and to america. we have a responsibility to the future of this country in congress to support children and families. where struggling. i'm proud to have led legislation like the early childhood mental health support act which was -- which would provide head start and early head start programs with funding to conduct behavioral health interventions for young american children. i'm proud to say that this bill passed the house last congress in a bipartisan -- with bipartisan support in my broader

mental health matters act. but we have to keep pressing on until this bill and other legislation to protect the mental health of young americans get across the finish line, sign and implemented. we know that failure to address mental health disorders and adverse childhood experiences early on can lead to a lifetime of bigger issues. and serious outcomes for the individual and for our country and the community. as we continue to -- our work in congress to address children's mental health, we must ensure that our efforts meet the critical needs of this moment. thanks again for convening this and thank you for leading the effort to raise the consciousness of this epidemic. ms. balint: thank you. so mr. speaker, we have heard from members from many different parts of the country. from vermont, to michigan, to

california, to hawaii. and as i said before, we must prioritize human connection and healthy relationships and we have to crack policy and make bold investments to address our national mental health crisis. the percentage of u.s. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached nearly 30%. this is almost a 0% percentage point increase since 2015. and the percentage of americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased to almost 18%. these rates are the highest recorded by gallup polling since it began measuring depression using the current form of data collection in 2015. it is impacting all of us. but i'm particularly concerned about the toll it's having on our kids and teens.

30 years ago, the greatest health threats to teenagers came from binge drinking, drunk driving, teen pregnancy and smoking. these have all fallen sharply since then. but they have been surpassed by soaring rates of mental health disorders in. a little over a decade the number of adolescents reporting depression has increased by 60%. emergency room visits by adolescents are up as parents seek help for their teen who are struggling with anxiety and depression or self-harm. and suicide rates among adolescents are up sharply as well. the public health crisis has intensified since the pandemic but it didn't cause it. we've seen a steady increase over the past 20 years. young people now are getting less sleep. less exercise. and less in-person time with friends. all crucial for physical and mental health.

adolescent brains are being exposed to a huge wave of incoming stimulation via social media and technology. teens in my district have told me they feel anxious, disconnected and depressed. many fear that their constant use of cell phones and social media is impacting their mental health. so we have important work to do, all of us, every single congressional district is experiencing this. my work on mental health will be a cornerstone of the work that i do in congress. i'm working toward a future in which anyone who wants mental health care gets it and when we finally end the unequal treatment of mental health and addiction. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the chair

recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. moore, for 30 minutes. ms. moore: i ask that all members may revise and extend their remarks and extend it on this special order. american citizens from alabama and texas have made it their mission to spread the hope of the gospel to the people of nick wowing ray and they are leading on disaster recovery and with the assistance of the government. in january, the attorney general in nicaragua pursued charges with mountain gateway on trumped up charges on money you laundering and from being barred. the lawyers on their case were

denied case to the case files and other vessel rant documentation against the pastors. during the sham trial, the government was unable to produce evidence of the alleged illicit activities and they have been sentenced to 15 years in prison. they were working to bless the people of nicaragua and thrown in prison and they are left without income and children without mothers and fathers simply for sharing the good news of jesus. they were targeted for sharing. matthew 5. 10 blessed are they for there is the kingdom of heaven. i introduced house resolution 1019 condemning the government of unjust imprisonment of these

people and i hope you will join and i am praying for a swift resolution so they can be returned to their families and sharing the gospel and grateful to the members of congress to highlight this issue and call the government to release the imprisoned pastors immediately. i yield five minutes to the gentleman from alabama one of my first co-sponsors, mr. aderholt. mr. aderholt: mr. speaker, i rise today on behalf of these pastors, ministry leaders of mountain gateway. i want to say thank my colleague from alabama for taking this time of special order to discuss this issue to bring it to the attention of the american people and to the world. and he has been a great champion

on they. there's many members of our delegation in alabama and across the country that are very concerned about what we have heard going on in nicaragua and the situation down there and so many of the american people are very unaware of what the situation is, just a few hundred miles south of our border here in the united states of america. these leaders that has already been mentioned, but it should be repeated. these leaders have been convicted on sham charges. they now face up to 15 years in prison and 80 million in fines each. the rest came after the courageous pastors led a series of revivals that was authorized by the government. they were rounded up and

imprisoned after a mass outpouring of faith in the capital city. mr. speaker, it is an act of religious persecution that put these men and women in prison, these pastors, these leaders, these spiritual leaders, ministry leaders and it is human rights violations that have kept them in prison. again, i am so thankful we live in a country where we do not have to worry about going to prison. so many americans take it for granted all the many grimes we have in this country, one of those main freedoms that we have is we get to worship freely and we can worship freely whether it be at an outdoor reviefl, large event or at home reading bible, we don't have to be worried

about being sentenced to 15 years in i accepted christ in my own life, i can now be in congress and be a citizen here in this united states and not worry about the threat of prison being hung over my head and whether it's to go to an outdoor revival program which happened in nicaragua or to go to a small church service or be at home with some other crist tans sitting around and reading and praying the bible together. on this time of when we are reflecting what is going on here, i want to encourage the american people to reach out to their members of congress and encourage them to do wall they can to stand with tuesday those who are calling attention to

this issue. this goes on in many other parts of the world as well. but today, we want to call attention to those pastors and ministry leaders from mountain gateway and be a voice here in the united states house of representatives. and we ask for their release. and i would call on the government to take action to address these indisputable violations and to free these men and women to be returned to their homes and families. with that, i yield back. ms. moore: at this point, i yield one minute to palmer from alabama. mr. palmer: thank you, mr. speaker and i thank the gentleman from alabama. support passage of house resolution 1019 introduced by my

colleague, mr. moore, in response to the nicaragua government of 11 pastors associated with mountain gateway, a group. this wrongful imprisonment isn't the first time they have persecuted good samaritans. they have arrested catholic ministers and members of the red cross. we have a vested interest of upholding religious freedom in the safety of american citizens. i call on the government to rescind these unjust charges immediately. to the pastors, i encourage you with this passage from isaiah 141-10. i am your god. i will strengthen you and help you and i will uphold you in my

righteous right hand. i yield back. ms. moore: you know, previously our colleagues were talking about hope and mental health in america. and i think in nicaragua these missionaries were bringing them hope and just a shame and i would like to yield five minutes tore my gentlelady from wyoming. mr. hagedorn: thank you for this. since its founding in 2006, mountain gateway ministries has been changing peoples' lives through the preachings. the feeding and clothing of those in need and provision of water, food, and recovery assistance during and after natural disasters. these efforts have had far reaching impacts on the lives of so many individuals extending

far beyond the borders of any individual nation. in 2013, mountain gateway ministries spreading the lord's word to hundreds of thousands of people. the ministry started and supported multiple churches across the country and provided aid and helping hands through hurricanes and other humanitarian relief projects and run a fair trade coffee farm with the goal of providing local income for residents. over the course of 10 years, they have operated with the cooperation and approval of the authorities of nicaragua. this all changed after the ministry held a series of services in 2023 which nearly one million people attended. shortly after those services ended, the government rapidly changed its position and began a

campaign of wrongful persecution. in december of 2023, under the guys of false money laundering claims, the government of nick wowing what assisted several ministry partners and threatened the arrests and seized the properties and froze its bank accounts. after spending months in a prison with no access to legal counsel, no visits from relatives and unable to hear the allegations against them, the trial against those commenced. during the trial, the he free siding judge elevated the charges against these individuals to aggravated money laundering claims. all the defendants were found guilty of the elevated charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison and fines of tens of

millions of dollars. these instances have unfortunately become routine actions by the government, the same government has taken similar steps against the catholic church, the international committee of the red cross and many other religious groups, charities and civic organizations. mr. speaker, what is currently unfolding in nicaragua is a travesty, an injustice on the greater scale. from the time of their arrests to the handing down of their sentences, the treatment is incomplete contradiction to the most fundamental freedoms and beliefs including the freedom of religion, presumption of innocence and guarantee of due process and equal treatment under the law. i commend the founder and his family who are constituents of

mine in wyoming for bringing this to my attention and for their tireless efforts to advocate for the release of these individuals. i urge president biden, the state department and all of my colleagues to take prompt action of violations of religious freedom and abandonment of due process. i yield back. >> get on this house resolution and bring attention to this. and with that, sir, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. bob good, for 30 minutes.

the speaker pro tempore: not required that you go the entire 30 minutes. mr. good: thank you, mr. speaker. and i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of the subject of this special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. good: mr. speaker, of all of the harm done over the past three years by democrats, perhaps most damaging has been the loss of faith and trust in our most sacred institutions, especially our judicial system and our federal law enforcement. like never before, the department of injustice has explicitly demonstrated a willingness to target conservatives and political

opponents. they are not even pretending anymore. conducting swat raids and tactical gear at the home of pro-life protestors and arresting parents at school board meetings, buying private data on those exercising their second amendment rights, surveilling catholics in richmond or the treatment of january 6 prisoners, it's no surprise that half of the country doesn't trust the people in power of this administration-t the biggest and most immediate target is the 47th president of the united states because they know donald j. trump is the obstacle to conquer and control the citizens and stripping them of their constitutional freedoms. . . . .

the abusive legal persecution of president trump is nothing more than election interference at the highest levels. it's a violation of voters rights. criminal conspiracy. their aim is to put in jail the only person, president trump, who is protecting the person meme from four more years of dissent into an abyss from which we would never recover. democrats know with our country and every american far worse off than they were three years ago, they cannot beat president trump at the ballot box. when you are talking about the border invasion, whether you are talking about the surrender of our energy independence, whether you are talking about the onslaught of regulations that's causing the average family thousands of dollars, whether you are talking about the inflation, the 40-year high inflation americans are suffering under, whether you are talking about our weakened military, or our weakened foreign policy and the conflicts all over the world that didn't exist when president trump was in office, americans in this

country are much worse off than they were three years ago when president trump was in office. so the department of injustice, because they cannot beat them at the ballot box in november, they collude illegally and unconstitutionally with these rogue prosecutors and judges in new york and atlanta. they send matthew colangelo from the department of justice to new york. they collaborate with fani willis' boyfriend who bills the taxpayers for hours spent working with the department of justice. the judge in new york city, who just happens to be assigned somehow every high profile case of persecution of high profile conservatives, he abuses his power by declaring a gag order. not to ensure the defendant, president trump, gets a fair trial, but to prevent president trump, the defendant, from defending himself in the court of public opinion. the efforts to rig the 2020

election included the suppression of conservative views. the phony russia collusion scandal, the spying on the trump campaign, the dirty steel dossier, the reactionation of voting procedures in the name of covid to facilitate the ability to cheat. their efforts to rig the 2024 election, however, are much more exbliss its and trap. pre-- explicit and trap. prevent donald trump from being on the ballot. when that failed, keep him off the campaign trail and bleed his resources. or better skill, the coup de grace for them, put him in jail via dishonest convictions and crocked courts while he waits what will certainly be certain victory by appeal. as always with these people the process is the punishment. this judge in this new york city trial, his daughter is raising millions of dollars off the trial for the democrat party. the ex-con, the star witness,

admitted today to multiple counts of perjury in his testimony under oath. these ridiculous trials, so-called improper business records, so-called overvaluation of assets, alleged document mishandling in florida for a president who can declare anything be declassified by simply possessing it. election interference alleged that's rich coming from the democrat party and rogue prosecutors colluding with the d.o.j. all of this began when president trump declared his candidacy for re-election. who was harmed with these alleged crimes? who were the victims? what was the real crime? of course no one, no one, and nothing. but this is not going to work. the american people know it for what it is. the truth and the law on the side of president trump. he's going to be the 47th president. with that, i yield as much time as he would like to my friend from arizona, chairman andy

bigs. mr. biggs: thank you, mr. good. thank you for doing this. thanks, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, are you speaker? are you acting as chairman? speaker, ok. speaker pro tempore. very good. i'll call you mr. speaker. let's -- i'm going to try to dovetail on what mr. good has talked about, that is the weaponization of the federal government against american citizens for political purposes. it's bad enough when it becomes weaponized against american citizens, but it becomes actually exponentially worse when it becomes a tool of authoritarianism to actually attack political opponents. why is it worse? it's worse because it undermines the very foundation of the rule

of law and of the free association and of the free speech of america, american citizens, which is -- from which we recognize all of our political apparatus. let's think about this. we know the committee of weaponization, subcommittee on weaponization put out a report dealing with the misuse of financial records of americans. now, imagine if the federal government could get hold of everybody's credit card statement. well, they can. actually. why can they? because they have asked for it. and the banks and the credit card companies, many of them, have actually turned that information over to the f.b.i., department of justice, for what reason? there is no particular reason. there is no indicia of probable cause or suspicious behavior.

they are just acquiring metadata so they can go after and pursue individuals. we see the same thing with this movement to buy up additional metadata from data brokers, private commercial data brokers. they do that so they can avoid the requirements of suspicious conduct or probable cause. that's what went on in -- when the f.b.i. actually did millions of queries on american citizens and did hundreds of thousands of illegal searches of the data of american citizens. they didn't have probable cause. there was nothing, according to statute, which is -- this is part of the problem with the fisa statute, they had no reason to believe that any of those

searches would lead to finding criminal conduct. and yet they still went after these american citizens. the d.o.j. and judiciary are joined by the a.t.f. the a.t.f. has been going after federally firearm licenseees, distributors, and going after them trying to find technical errors showing up because this is the way the biden administration is trying to disarm the american public. it just goes on. every institution has been weaponized. the military has been weaponized. looks like general perry is here. he might want to talk about that. the education system is weaponized. you know what happens when you have a generation or two that has been indoctrinated into how bad this country is, we have no moral high ground. we don't respect freedom. that we are going to basically

embrace critical race theory. first of all you remember when they did this they said there is no such thing as critical race theory. that's what the democrats said here. we were in judiciary. we had debates. there is no such thing. of course there is such a thing. critical theory grew right out of the frank for the school -- frank fort school, the group led by folks who came in the frankfurt school and they came over. they created critical theory. and then in the early 1970's a law professor created the notion of critical race theory. he published articles. it was adopted. and the reality is what's happened with that is you have an indoctrinated generation which believes that america is no good, was no good, and will never be good, but it's

systemically and inherently problematic. it's not just critical race they'rery. there are a whole bundle of other critical arguments related to critical theory. you have district attorneys and county attorneys who have run on the notion that those who commit violent crimes are misunderstood and should be released into the public. and that those who are vic victimized become marginalized. which is why i introduced the alvin bill, which was to get at mr. bragg in new york and the willis act. what are these meant to do? they are meant to use what the founders gave us within the constitution which is our opportunity to use the funding streams and the pursestrings to actually try to bring a run away

executive branch back in. well, this all culminates in today's actions. so, what do we see happening? i won't steal my friend's thunder because he was talking about former president donald trump who is undergoing four pieces of law fair. and those law fair originated right in the white house. they are coming down from president biden. how do we know that? because the paramour of fani willis came up and met in the white house to get instructions. how do we know that? because jack smith who is prosecuting him here on the mar-a-lago case, he went to the white house multiple times to get instructions. how do we knee that? because alvin bragg also met with the white house. how do we know that? because michael colangelo, one

of the high ranking d.o.j. lawyers left that d.o.j. and went to alvin bragg's office after alvin bragg and everybody else who looked at the case going on in new york city said there is no there there. by the way, they probably were also told your two star witnesses are stormy daniels, who's basically said multiple times four different times she said there was never any interaction between me and donald trump. and then michael cohen who has a long string of convictions for lying. he lied about lying. he lied about lying about lying today. we saw it in the hours of testimony we saw. so the next step is how else do you weaponize government? you use it to shield bad acts from the public. let me give you one, before i yield. this is my last one.

today the judiciary committee voted to hold merrick garland in contempt of court. tonight i anticipate the oversight committee will do the same. what did the biden administration do? president biden has exerted -- asserted executive privilege. i want you to think about this for just a moment. the executive -- the rationale for executive privilege based on what merrick garland said today both in an oral and written statement was this, he said, look, two reasons. number one, we are not going to be able to pursue sensitive investigations. he didn't say how that works, but that is not a reason for executive privilege. it isn't. the other thing with regard to executive privilege is they

talked about politics and the political ramification if this audio recording was released. you have already released the transcript. by the way, both of those arguments are undercut you released a written transcript. the only reason not to bring out the recording is because you were abashed, embarrassed, because you either doctored your transcript, your written transcript, or because the performance is so egregiously bad on the oral transcript. neither of those will work. i'm going to call right now and remind everybody that we can take actions here. we should. i would just tell you that that is another way that you can weaponize government. that is to hide information,

fail to be transparent. and that's what this administration has done. with that i thank the gentleman for yielding me time. i yield back to him. mr. good: thank you, chairman biggs, esteemed member of the judiciary committee. now it's my pleasure to recognize my good friend from pennsylvania, the general and chairman, scott perry. mr. perry: i thank the chairman of the house freedom caucus and former house chairman -- chairman of the house freedom caucus. i'm happy to join in the colloquy with them over the abuses of power and the dangers of the abuse of power. the framers of the constitution noted it was the afterries of mankind, the greed of mankind that compelled them to set this government up the way they did so that there were three separate but co-equal branches that would compete with one another and hold each other in check, mr. speaker.

but it all depended upon a few things. it depended on a public. it depended on men and women that would take care, that would put things above themselves that are bigger than themselves. it depended on a people that believed in the sanctity and the providence of god. mr. speaker, it's a little ripped up here, but this is the constitution of the united states of america. i think you can clearly see it is a piece of paper, for all intents and purposes. it cannot defend itself. it rides around in my pocket. it depends on people of integrity to defend it, to uphold it. and this system we have is no

different. if people are willing to abuse it. it can no more defend itself than this piece of paper known as the constitution can defend itself. it depends on us. and when it is so willingly abused for the greed of mankind, there is little that can be done about it. this body can do little. and unfortunately, the little we can do has shown no interest in doing, which is the power of funding it. unfortunately, while we see the abuses front and center, the power that we have to say, we will stop it, unfortunately given them more money and continue to abuse it. my friends and colleagues, visited the courthouse with the

former president of the united states for a case where there is a no crime enumerated, because there is no crime. speeshous witnesses. it is a sad sad tale. mr. colangelo, the former speaker, you know who can't bring it up, the former president of the united states can't bring it up because there is a gag order placed on him. mr. speaker, the gag orders -- and i'm not an attorney but i think my good friend from arizona would protect the accused and he can't speak on his own defense. meanwhile the people that are accusing him, the awesome unbelievable power of the state, the federal government,

unlimited resources provided by taxpayers. that is what the the accused is up against. because we know, we have seen from history that the accused is the one is little able to defend themselves, guilty or not guilty and provide every single protection to the accused just in case, just in case that they may not be guilty as charged. the guilt, the greed of mankind has compelled this side of the aisle, this side of the aisle to go after with such a vengence and use the instruments and authority of the federal government to go after their political rifles. they are blinded by their greed and hatred and their need to control power so much that

they'll do anything. we are watching the case in florida where now we found out the evidence was tampered with and it sure appears forget the evidence is being tampered with because the same people have set up the whole charade in the first place, against their political rifle, the former -- rival of the united states who may be the next president of the united states. and i say history has shown it and watched conflicts around the world that these injuries that occur from one side to the other tend to repeat themselves because, because then if there's going to be a redress, in other words, if there's a fix or solution to that egregious misuse of power, then the other side is compelled to it when

they are in position of authority. and takes the unbelievable will and integrity to say we aren't going to engage in that kind of thing if we are in a position of authority. we are not going to succumb to the greed of mankind if you put us in authority. we all fall short of the grace of god and the temptation can be overwhelming and it is so important that both sides, both sides lay down their greed and say we are going to do this fair and square and do it the right way and try and win the argument and not use the instruments of federal power where we could. we are not going to do that. unfortunately we are in the unchartered territory of the united states of america that is not the case. this is the chartered territory of dictators, december pots

throughout the globe and come home to america unfortunately in one of the major political parties in the united states of america and watching it weaponnized not only against president trump but average citizens who fear they might speak and might be held in contempt and bankrupted by somebody that degrees with -- descries with them politically and i thank you for that. mr. good: i go back to chairman biggs. mr. biggs: i appreciate chairman good and chairman perry and their comments. i want to add just a couple of things. we are a constitutional republic. we are not a democracy. a constitutional republic elects representatives to represent the

will of a district or a state. that's the distinction. democracy is actually -- it's where the people are voting directly on the issues and decisions to be made. that's really what happens in a democracy, which is why the founders warped us. you have a constitutional republic. you don't have a democracy. because democracies have been short and turbulent in their destruction. and as one historian said in 1804, it has been the sad history of democracies as soon as people can vote themselves benefits from the government, they do so and the government terminates. so we have a constitutional republic. and we have separation of powers. both horizontally and vertically. james madison taught us clearly

we should honor those separations rigidly. so when we talk about horizontally, we think of the legislative branch, executive branch and judiciary. the founders were very clear on this. they described the judiciary as the weakest branch. we control their jurisdiction, especially for in a few cases of original jurisdiction. we create the article 3 courts with the exception of the united states supreme court. the executive branch, very limited powers. in fact, they thought the executive branch itself, the presidency would be more ceremonial than substantive. and the legislative branch would be small with enumerated

powers. but because the house of representatives was elected directly by the people, it would have the purse strings and the senate was to be elected by the state legislatures. and they were to represent the states' interests. well, what's happened is we are upside down and so upside down because every state, having spent many years in the state legislature, you know this. what happens is this. we spent about 80% of our time in the state of arizona trying to respond to federal mandates passed by this bunch of yo-yos. or the bureaucracy where they were telling us things, like in phoenix, arizona, what we want you to do is we want you to water down your dust because the number one articulate in the

phoenix area is dust. that is your biggest pollutant. water it down. and e.p.a. saying you can't water it down because we are watching you on your water usage. these are from people who are cubicle dwellers and controlling without any understanding 5 1/2 million people in the phoenix metro area. and they become weaponized. they're nameless, they are faceless and d.c. cartel which con kisses of media, lob ivities. that is your cartel. and taken the institutions and weaponized them against the american people. it's time for this body to say we are the ones closest to the people and we must do all we

can. we may not have leverage over the senate or executive branch now, but we must do everything possible to restore the separation of powers, horizontally and vertically. if we did that, i guarantee you, what would happen is this weaponization would dissipate. wouldn't go quietly in the night, but we have felt it wrapped around our next like the flaxing cords of sin and we have to begin cutting it off. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. good: we have seen over the last three years the consequence of electing people who will abuse power and weapon nighs and carry dispar ate treatment based on political views. you have spoken about the

constitution, our new north our compass, a minor inconvenience who take the mentality of show me the man, i'll show you the crime. we cannot let them win in this endeavor and hold them accountable. it was a privilege to go up and defend our former president, future president of the united states for the abuse of power being directed at him as and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman have a motion? mr. good: i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor, say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly

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