| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
Without Objection, One Minute
00:15:20
|
||
| And 21 people were shot. | ||
| This is in three weeks. | ||
| So in three weeks, I lost almost 35 people were killed. | ||
| It could have been stopped. | ||
| If you look at Washington, D.C., three weeks ago, it was the same or worse. | ||
| And now it's considered a totally safe zone. | ||
| Restaurants are open. | ||
| They're bustling. | ||
| Restaurants. | ||
| You have to see. | ||
| Restaurants were dying. | ||
| Nobody wanted to go out. | ||
| They didn't want to be attacked. | ||
| They didn't want to be mugged. | ||
| They didn't want to be attacked even in the restaurant. | ||
| And you take a look at what's happened. | ||
| Friends of mine that haven't gone to a restaurant in four years, one of them went out five times in the last two weeks to a restaurant with his family. | ||
| They feel totally safe. | ||
| Washington, D.C. is a totally safe city. | ||
| You're not reporting any crime because there is none. | ||
| They said crime is down anymore. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You can continue watching this Oval Office meeting. | |
| If you go to our companion network, C-SPAN3, we are going to leave it here and take you to the U.S. Capitol, where the U.S. House is about to gavel in. | ||
| This is live coverage on C-SPAN. | ||
| Sovereign God, establish your purpose for this day. | ||
| Though we come to the business of this place with many plans and purposes, our minds filled with cares and concerns, and our spirits guided by the best of intentions. | ||
| None of this will prosper unless we have your blessing. | ||
| So we humble ourselves under your mighty hand, laying before you all that we could hope for or desire, that you will exalt only that which reveals your grace plan. | ||
| We cast our worries before you, trusting that you will care for us. | ||
| Into your keeping, we commend this day and pray that all that we say and do will bring glory to you. | ||
| Certain of your abiding presence and sure of your salvation, we pray in the power of your name. | ||
| Amen. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the House the approval thereof. | |
| Pursuant to clause one of Rule One, the journal stands approved. | ||
| The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Vindman. | ||
| I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, justice, and all. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. | |
| Purpose does the gentleman from South Carolina seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Returning, Speaker of the Land and Secretary Resident House, one minute reminded to extend my remarks. | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Illegal alien crossings have fallen to an historic low, with the fewest arrests by the Border Patrol at the southern border in July being a 24% drop from the previous record low in June. | ||
| Compared to July 2024 under Biden, this achieves an amazing 92% decrease of illegal aliens and terrorists coming into America. | ||
| Since President Donald Trump took office, the administration has arrested nearly 150,000 illegal aliens, with 50,000 arrests occurring in just the past eight weeks, as coordinated by Border Czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam. | ||
| Republicans are sending a clear message to traffickers, cartels, and criminals that they would be held to the full extent of the law. | ||
| In conclusion, God bless our troops as the global war on terrorism continues. | ||
| Trump is reinstituting existing laws to protect American families with peace through strength, revealing that war Criminal Putin lies, insulting Trump and mocking Trump, defiantly embracing fellow dictators today in Beijing. | ||
| As Trump correctly interpreted, this threatens American families. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman's time has expired. | |
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Virginia seek recognition? | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I'm honored to recognize this week's constituent of the week, Ernisha Hall, on her work as co-founder, president, and CEO of the Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce. | ||
| For over half a decade, Ernisha has been leading the chamber and working to foster economic stability for black business owners. | ||
| Serving over 2,700 business owners to date, the chamber has introduced programs throughout Virginia that are aimed at strengthening the visibility of black business owners. | ||
| Ernisha, your commitment to your community and continued success serve as an inspiration to us all. | ||
| As your representative in Congress, I am grateful for the work you do each day in pursuit of economic justice. | ||
| Congratulations again on your accomplishments. | ||
| It is a privilege to highlight your story on the floor of the U.S. House. | ||
| I'm thankful for all that you do. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields back. | |
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Georgia seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I request unanimous consent to address the House for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the dawn of a new college football rivalry in the great state of Georgia, the clash of Highway 29 between the LaGrange College Panthers and the Point University Skyhawks. | ||
| On Saturday, September 6th, these two incredible institutions will meet on the gridiron for the very first time. | ||
| Both schools call Troop County home in the heart of Georgia's 3rd Congressional District and less than one hour away from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. | ||
| Founded in 1831, LaGrange College is the oldest private college in Georgia and its vision is to be an innovative institution holistically educating students to connect with and contribute to an ever-changing world. | ||
| Competing in NCAA Division III, its athletic program has won national and conference championships in baseball, basketball, golf, and soccer, and softball, instilling excellence and pride across generations of Panthers. | ||
| Point University was originally founded in Atlanta Christian College in 1937 and its mission is to educate and equip students for Christ-centered service and leadership throughout the world. | ||
| For three consecutive years, Point has been recognized as an NAIA champion of character five-star institution, a designation that honors their commitment to integrity, respect, and servant leadership. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I am proud to recognize the newest college football rivalry in the great state of Georgia, and I encourage you and all of my colleagues to tune in on Saturday night and watch the clash of Highway 29 between the LaGrange College Panthers and the Point University Skyhawks. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields back. | |
| For what purpose does the gentlelady from Minnesota seek recognition? | ||
| Minister Feinstein. | ||
| Without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Today I rise in recognition of the brave hospital workers who responded to the Annunciation School shooting last week. | ||
| Whenever a mass shooting happens, the ripple effects of the trauma it causes in that community are profound. | ||
| I want to take a moment to thank every health care worker who helped save lives in responding to this event. | ||
| Children's, Masonic, and particularly the staff at Hennepin Healthcare, who took in nearly a dozen children in critical condition. | ||
| These children arrived alone, unidentified, and ripped apart by gunshot wounds. | ||
| The hospital staff leapt into action immediately, removing shrapnel, performing emergency surgery, providing stabilizing care and comfort to these little children. | ||
| While we're immensely grateful for their expertise, we should not normalize that doctors and nurses in the United States have had to become expert in managing war wounds. | ||
| The toll it takes on them is real. | ||
| This event reminds us of how critically important our level one trauma centers are in our communities. | ||
| They are life-saving, and these hospital workers are our heroes. | ||
| I am immeasurably grateful. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Indiana seek recognition? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, I ask the announcement to address the House in one minute. | |
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I rise today to recognize Carroll High School for their accomplishments in teaching future generations of leaders. | |
| As President Trump has highlighted, Indiana does education right, and Carroll High School is no exception. | ||
| The U.S. News and World Report ranked Carroll High School as the number one high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and number 15 in the state. | ||
| Carroll has demonstrated their high standards through excellent performance on state-required tests, a 95% graduation rate, and exceeding expectations for college readiness. | ||
| In high school, students learn more than just math and chemistry equations. | ||
| Rather, students build their work ethic, establish critical thinking skills, and learn what it means to be a citizen of our great country. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Teachers are endowed with educating our teachers, which is why I'm incredibly thankful to all the educators at Carroll High School for carrying out this mission. | |
| Your dedication to teaching Fort Wayne's next generation of leaders is incredible, and our community is extremely appreciative. | ||
| Congratulations to Carroll High School on this accomplishment, and I'm excited to see the future achievements of Carroll High School students. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I yield back. | |
| The gentleman yields. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentlewoman from Illinois seek recognition? | ||
| Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in defiance of President Trump's threats to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. | ||
| He wasted $1 million every day to house a National Guard in D.C., and now he wants to further misuse taxpayer dollars instead of investing in real permanent solutions to gun violence. | ||
| Like D.C., I'm sure Chicago can use money for more police, mental health counselors, social workers, and community violence intervention programs. | ||
| President Trump is actively making gun violence worse. | ||
| He froze funding allocated to community violence and prevention organizations, shut down the Office of Violence, and shut down the Office of Violence Prevention, and made it easier to buy guns. | ||
| Gun violence is a public health issue, but the CDC has been stripped of medical experts and leaders. | ||
| Let's be truthful about the real reason why President Trump wants to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. | ||
| It's not to reduce crime. | ||
| It's to instill fear and abuse his power. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. | |
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Pennsylvania seek recognition? | ||
| I'll consent to address the House for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Wild Sunshine Factory. | ||
| That's a distillery in McKean County, Kane, Pennsylvania, that makes a great product using sunflowers for that beverage. | ||
| But I commend them today for honoring a vital piece of the Commonwealth's logging and conservation heritage, the Colossal Cherry. | ||
| The Colossal Cherry is now an artifact, but at one time it was the largest black cherry tree in the world. | ||
| The Wild Sunshine Factory hosted a dedication ceremony on October on August 22nd in honor of the Colossal Cherry, which is also known as the Sheffield Log. | ||
| Discovered and preserved through efforts of local historians and conservation advocates, the Sheffield Log stands as a powerful symbol of the region's natural history, the resilience of its people, and the enduring value of sustainable forestry. | ||
| It once stood in the woods of the Allegheny National Forest before being knocked down during the tornado of 1985. | ||
| It was informally homed in Sheffield, Pennsylvania, to mark its centennial in 1986, and now the newly restored Colossal Black Cherry sits at its permanent home at the Wild Sunshine Factory. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this rededication is a story worth celebrating. | ||
| I thank everyone who took part in the preservation of the colossal black cherry. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields back. | |
| For what purpose does the gentleman from North Carolina seek recognition? | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize four-year-old Grayson Ellis from Windsor, North Carolina. | ||
| Grayson is full of energy and curiosity. | ||
| In his spare time, he loves baseball and fishing. | ||
| He learned to count to 50 from playing hide and seek. | ||
| But what makes Grayson so special to me is his love for politics and civics. | ||
| He wanted to meet with his congressman, so we met. | ||
| I'm sure his mom, Samantha, and Dad Ryan were proud of him because he even dressed apart, too. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, young people like Grayson are watching us every single day. | ||
| Grace reminds us that we must inspire the next generation, work to open new doors of opportunity, and help every child live the American dream. | ||
| Thank you, Grayson, for this reminder. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields back. | |
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Virginia seek recognition? | ||
| Senator Reidmar Marks. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the life and legacy of Jim Damarai, a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. | ||
| Jim was a passionate photographer and framed the world through his camera, capturing nature and small family moments. | ||
| And he and his wife, Maria, moved to Northern Virginia over 30 years ago, raising four children and making countless contributions to our community. | ||
| As we mourn his passing, we celebrate a life well lived, one that embodied the principles of hard work, integrity, and love. | ||
| Jim's memory will continue to inspire all who knew him to live fully, love deeply, speak truthfully, laugh often, and always take the picture. | ||
| May he rest in peace. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
For what purpose does the gentlelady from New York seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2A1 of Rule 9, I rise to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the privileges of the House, the form in the form of a resolution, as as follows. | ||
|
Corey Mills Censured
00:09:36
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||
| Whereas Representative Corey Mills has on several occasions conducted himself in a manner that reflects discredit upon the House of Representatives. | ||
| Whereas on February 19th of 2025, Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to resolve a private matter at Representative Corey Mills' residence, where officers were called to the 1300th block of Maryland Avenue Southwest around 1.15 p.m. for the report of an assault. | ||
| Whereas the police reports obtained by MBC4 Washington confirmed that the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department was investigating Representative Corey Mills for an alleged assault of a 27-year-old woman that took place on February 19th, 2025 at the residence of Representative Corey Mills. | ||
| And whereas the first police report provided to MBC4 Washington by a source and confirmed by a second source familiar with the investigation said that the 27-year-old woman accused her significant other for over a year of having grabbed her, shoved her, and pushed her out the door. | ||
| And also said the woman involved showed the officers bruises on her arm, which appeared fresh. | ||
| And whereas MBC4 Washington also reported that the Metropolitan Police Department identified Representative Corey Mills as the significant other of the alleged victim of assault, which alleged victim was a 27-year-old woman who was not the wife of Representative Corey Mills, and that the alleged victim let officers hear Subject 1, | ||
| now identified by MPD as Mills, instruct her to lie about the origin of her bruises. | ||
| Eventually, Subject One made contact with police and admitted that the situation escalated from verbal to physical, but it was severe enough to create bruising. | ||
| Whereas on February 21st, 2025, the Washington POST also confirmed two D.C. | ||
| Police officers, officials said that the alleged victim of assault initially told a 911 operator and police that she had been assaulted and that officers said she also had what seemed to be visible injuries and that, while a supervisor initially classified the offense internally as a family disturbance, police commanders later learned of the incident, | ||
| reviewed the reports and body cam footage from the responding officers and classified the case as domestic violence Assault. | ||
| And whereas on February 21st, 2025, MBC4 Washington also reported that the Metropolitan Police Department determined that probable cause to arrest Representative Corey Mills for misdemeanor assault existed and sent an arrest warrant for Representative Corey Mills to the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. | ||
| However, then acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, refused to sign the arrest warrant for Representative Corey Mills and instead returned the case to the Metropolitan Police Department for further investigation. | ||
| Whereas on July 14th, 2025, a different former romantic partner of Representative Corey Mills, who was apparently in a relationship with Representative Mills from November 2021 to February of 2025, | ||
| reported to authorities in Florida that Representative Mills threatened to release nude images and other intimate videos of her and threatened to harm her future romantic partners in retaliation for her decision to end a relationship with Representative Mills after seeing the public records described above concerning the alleged February 2025 physical assault. | ||
| Whereas in August of 2024, the Office of Congressional Conduct adopted and transmitted to the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives a report indicating that there was substantial reason to believe that Representative Corey Mills may have omitted or misrepresented required information in his financial disclosure statements, | ||
| accepted excessive contributions to his campaign committee in the form of personal loans and contributions may not have been, excuse me, may not have derived from Representative Corey Mills' personal funds entered into, | ||
| held, or enjoyed contracts with federal agencies while he was a member of Congress and may have accepted through his campaign committee in-kind contributions or other contributions not lawfully made. | ||
| Whereas individuals who served with Representative Corey Mills have called into question the veracity of the accounts of events which formed the basis of a recommendation that Representative Corey Mills receive an award of a bronze star bestowed in 2021 for his service under enemy fire in Iraq in 2023, excuse me, in 2003. | ||
| Whereas in August of 2024, Representative Corey Mills provided the Daytona Beach News with documents purporting to prove that he earned a bronze star with heroism, including a Department of Army Form 638 recommending Representative Corey Mills for a bronze star, which includes a signature from then Army Brigade Commander Arnold N. Gordon Bray. | ||
| However, Brigadier General retired Brigadier General Bray told the Daytona Beach News Journal in August of 2024 that he did not sign a bronze store recommendation for Representative Corey Mills. | ||
| And whereas five people who served with Representative Corey Mills, including two men who were reported as having been personally saved by Representative Corey Mills at great risk to his own life as a basis for the recommendation for his bronze star in the Department of the Army Form 638, disputed that Representative Corey Mills was involved in their rescue or providing life-saving care. | ||
| Whereas one private first class cited as having been involved in one of the listed achievements on Representative Corey Mills Army Form 638 recommending him for a bronze star denied that Representative Corey Mills provided him any aid and also denied his injuries were life-threatening. | ||
| Whereas one sergeant cited as having been involved in one of the listed achievements on Representative Corey Mills Army Form 638 recommending him for a bronze star called into account, called the account, excuse me, a fabrication and claimed that he was not involved in any claims that Corey Mills makes about me. | ||
| And whereas despite the numerous available contradictions of the accounts forming the basis of the recommendation for his bronze star, Representative Corey Mills described the legitimate factual disputes raised by individuals he purportedly served with and rescued as, quote, slander and defamation, end quote, in a statement to the Daytona Beach News. | ||
| Now, therefore be it resolved that Representative Corey Mills be censured. | ||
| Representative Corey Mills forthwith presents himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure. | ||
| And whereas Representative Corey Mills be censured with the public reading of the resolution by the Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of the House and offer the resolution that was previously noticed. | ||
| A resolution offered from the floor by a member other than the majority leader or the minority leader as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence only at a time designated by the chair within two legislative days after the resolution is properly noticed. | ||
|
House Resolution 672 Considered
00:10:47
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||
| Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the gentlelady from New York will appear in the record at this point. | ||
| The chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution constitutes a question of privilege. | ||
| That determination will be made at the time designated for consideration of the resolution. | ||
| What purpose does the gentleman from Virginia seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, by the direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 672 and ask for its immediate consideration. | ||
| The clerk will report the resolution. | ||
| House calendar number 42, House Resolution 672. | ||
| Resolve that at any time after adoption of this resolution, the Speaker may, pursuant to Clause 2B of Rule 18, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for consideration of the bill, H.R. 4553, making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 2026, and for other purposes. | ||
| The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. | ||
| All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. | ||
| General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or their respective designees. | ||
| After general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. | ||
| The bill shall be considered as read. | ||
| Points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause two or clause 5A of rule 21 are waived. | ||
| Section 2. | ||
| A. | ||
| No amendment to H.R. 4553 shall be in order except those printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution. | ||
| Amendments on block described in Section 3 of this resolution and pro forma amendments described in Section 4 of this resolution. | ||
| B. Each amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules shall be considered only in the order printed in the report. | ||
| May be offered only by a member designated in the report. | ||
| Shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent. | ||
| Shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by Section 4 of this resolution and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. | ||
| C, all points of order against amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules or against amendments on block described in Section 3 of this resolution are waived. | ||
| Section 3: It shall be in order at any time for the chair of the committee on appropriations or his designee to offer amendments on block consisting of amendments printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution, not earlier disposed of. | ||
| Amendments on block offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read. | ||
| Shall be debatable for 20 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or their respective designees. | ||
| Shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by section 4 of this resolution and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. | ||
| Section 4. | ||
| During consideration of H.R. 4553 for amendment, the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at any point for the purpose of debate. | ||
| Section 5. | ||
| At the conclusion of consideration of H.R. 4553 for amendment, the committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. | ||
| The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit. | ||
| Section six, upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to consider in the House any joint resolution specified in Section 7 of this resolution. | ||
| All points of order against consideration of each such joint resolution are waived. | ||
| Each such joint resolution shall be considered as read. | ||
| All points of order against provision in each such joint resolution are waived. | ||
| The previous question shall be considered as order on each such joint resolution and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one, one hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources or their respective designees and two one motion to recommit. | ||
| Section seven, the joint resolutions referred to in section six of this resolution are as follows. | ||
| A, the joint resolution, House Joint Resolution 104, providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code, of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment. | ||
| B, the joint resolution, House Joint Resolution 105, providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to North Dakota Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan. | ||
| C, the joint resolution, House Joint Resolution 106, providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Central Yukon Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan. | ||
| Section 8, House Resolution 668 is hereby adopted. | ||
| Section 9, House Resolution 605 is hereby adopted. | ||
| Section 10, House Resolution 598 is laid on the table. | ||
| The gentleman from Virginia is recognized for one hour. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| The Rules Committee met last night and reported out a rule providing for consideration of four measures. | ||
| H.R. 5453, the Energy and Water Development Related Agencies Appropriations Act. | ||
| HJ Res 104, providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, the United States Code of the Rules Submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Miles City Field Office record of decision and approved resource management plan amendment. | ||
| HJ Res 105 providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, the United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to North Dakota Field Office record decision and approved resource management plan. | ||
| HJ Res 106 providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Central Yukon record of decision and approved resource management plan. | ||
| House Resolution 672 provides for consideration of H.R. 4553, the Energy and Water Development Related Agency Appropriation Act under a structured rule making in order 36 amendments. | ||
| The rule provides one hour general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or their respective designees and provides for one motion to recommit. | ||
| The rule further provides for consideration of HJ Res 104, HJ Res 105, HJ Res 106, all under closed rules with one hour of general debate, each equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources and provides each one motion to recommit. | ||
| Finally, the rule provides that House Resolution 668 and House Resolution 605 are hereby adopted and House Resolution 598 is laid on the table. | ||
| Today's rule, H Res 672, allows for debate on several measures, including HR 4553, the Energy and Water Development Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. | ||
| This appropriations bill funds many programs at the center of helping to assert our country's energy dominance. | ||
| The bill cuts $766.4 million when compared to last year's funding bill by focusing our efforts on energy innovation and water infrastructure. | ||
| This appropriations bill provides funding to numerous scientific energy endeavors from nuclear fusion research, small modular reactors, nuclear fuel production, electric transmission system enhancements, energy storage, and traditional fossil fuel research. | ||
| At a time when energy demand from data centers and new manufacturing is increasing, these research efforts will greatly contribute to meeting the new normal. | ||
| Our example is the increase of funding for nuclear energy projects, which will make more advanced nuclear fuel available and accelerate small modular and advanced reactor testing. | ||
| The department is also essential to our national security. | ||
| This appropriations bill has over $20 billion in funds for the management of our nuclear weapons stockpile and over $2 billion for our nuclear Navy. | ||
| This bill also funds numerous Army Corps of Engineer and Bureau of Reclamation projects to provide dredging to maintain navigable ports and rivers and water storage projects to increase the water supply in drought-ridden sections of our country, as well as helping to forestall flooding in areas from coastal areas to mountainous valley regions such as the area that I represent. | ||
| The rule would also provide for debate on HJ Res 104, HJ Res 105, HJ Res 106, all of which are Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval. | ||
| These resolutions overturn Biden administration Bureau of Land Management plans that were aimed at restricting coal mining and oil and gas drilling on federal land. | ||
| HJ Res 104, sponsored by Congressman Downing of Montana, overturns the Montana Resource Management Plan, which would prohibit new coal mining on about 2.75 million acres of federal land in Montana. | ||
| This Bureau of Land Management rule would stop an estimated 30 percent of our country's coal reserves from being mined, even as electricity demand is increasing in the United States for the first time in over 10 years. | ||
| HJ Res 105, sponsored by my Energy and Commerce colleague, Congressman Fidorchak, would overturn a similar Bureau of Land Management Resource Management plan for North Dakota. | ||
| Under this Biden-Harris administration rule, 4 million acres of federal land in North Dakota would not be available for coal mining or oil and gas extraction. | ||
| Additionally, the rule allows for debate on HJ Res 106, sponsored by Congressman Nick Begich of Alaska, which would nullify the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan. | ||
|
Epstein Files Transparency Push
00:15:21
|
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| Under this rule, which affects 13.3 million acres of federal land in Alaska, millions of acres would be barred from energy development. | ||
| Disallowing energy development on these lands will also hamstring efforts to get more American liquid natural gas onto the international market and improve our country's standing as the leading energy producer in the world. | ||
| We will also be considering a resolution that will direct the House Oversight Committee to continue their investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell files. | ||
| The committee has already undertaken important steps in their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| Just this week, the committee met with victims of Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| They have already issued subpoenas to the Department of Justice related to the Epstein records. | ||
| Further, they have already received over 33,000 documents from the Department of Justice with more on the way. | ||
| Those 33,000 documents, Mr. Speaker, were released last night to the public. | ||
| The committee already has transcribed interviews scheduled and have other subpoenas out as well. | ||
| They are also doing this work in a bipartisan manner, and we must give them all the necessary tools necessary to continue this important investigation. | ||
| This resolution will bring transparency to all the documents and records related to Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, flight logs, any individuals referenced in connection to Epstein, any entities with ties to Epstein, any agency internal documents, documents related to Epstein detention and Epstein's detention and death, and other areas. | ||
| There are strings attached to this resolution as well to ensure, Mr. Speaker, that we have full transparency, such as requiring written justification requirements for certain documents that are redacted unless they fall under certain sensitive categories. | ||
| This is a critical step forward in providing transparency into the Epstein files and will give the public all the necessary information. | ||
| This vote will show the American people that we are committed to full transparency and cooperation when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein and the investigation thereof. | ||
| Lastly, this rule is standing up a new select committee to continue investigation of the events surrounding January 6th. | ||
| They will bring more transparency and continue to investigate what happened that day so the American public is aware of the facts involved. | ||
| I believe this new subcommittee is another critical step forward to bringing more transparency to everyone about the events and details surrounding that day. | ||
| I hope members of this House support the passage of the rule and the underlying bills and resolutions. | ||
| And with that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the remainder of my time. | ||
| Gentleman from Virginia reserves his time. | ||
| The distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| Gentlemen are recognized. | ||
| Here we go again, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Here we go again. | ||
| This rule is insane. | ||
| And notwithstanding the gentleman's monotone delivery, there's a lot going on here in this rule, and much of it is not good. | ||
| What are Republicans doing the first week back? | ||
| Something to lower food costs as Trump's tariffs drive up prices? | ||
| Nope. | ||
| Something to fully fund the government before it shuts down in less than a month? | ||
| Nope. | ||
| Something to help with skyrocketing health care prices or reversing their devastating cuts to Medicaid? | ||
| Nope. | ||
| None of that. | ||
| Nothing to help regular people. | ||
| Nothing to help workers or families or people struggling to get by. | ||
| Instead, Mr. Speaker, these guys are continuing to cover up the Epstein files. | ||
| Republicans are deeming as passed, which means no debate, no hearing, no markup, they are deeming as past a new fake Epstein resolution and killing their last fake Epstein resolution. | ||
| All the while, we already have a real bipartisan bill to unseal all these files. | ||
| It's the Massey Conno Bill. | ||
| And last night, every single Republican on the Rules Committee voted against that bipartisan bill. | ||
| Every single one. | ||
| And as if that's not bad enough, every single Republican on the Rules Committee also voted to create out of thin air a brand new committee to rewrite the history of what happened here on January 6, 2021. | ||
| They are so desperate to paper over what happened that day, to whitewash it, and to pretend it was a normal tourist visit. | ||
| I was here, Mr. Speaker, here in this chamber where you are sitting right now, and you can be damn sure I'm not going to let anyone pretend that January 6th was a normal tourist visit. | ||
| But Republicans, the gentleman from Virginia included, refused to even display a plaque to honor the police officers who were here that day. | ||
| I'm so sick of this BS about how Republicans support law enforcement. | ||
| Mr. Griffith and every other Republican on the Rules Committee voted against displaying a plaque to honor the law enforcement officers who were here on January 6th. | ||
| That plaque, Mr. Speaker, already exists. | ||
| Congress already passed a law to create it. | ||
| The Speaker just refuses to display it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Why? | |
| Why would he refuse to do it? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I know why, and we all know why. | |
| It's the same reason why every Republican voted against releasing the Epstein files. | ||
| It's because rules Republicans are scared as hell. | ||
| This is not a deliberative body anymore. | ||
| Under this Republican majority, Congress has become a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. | ||
| This is all about the ego of the man who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. | ||
| You guys think you work for Trump. | ||
| You're obsessed with him. | ||
| It's pathetic. | ||
| Republicans are ruining this institution, Mr. Speaker, destroying this institution. | ||
| Again, let me repeat: every single Republican on the Rules Committee voted against releasing the Epstein files. | ||
| Every single one. | ||
| I mean, we heard last night that all Republicans want full transparency, but that's just not true. | ||
| Let me read you a quote from the top Republican in this country, President Donald J. Trump. | ||
| This is what he says about the Epstein files. | ||
| And I quote: it's all been a big hoax. | ||
| It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans, end quote. | ||
| And at a press availability just minutes ago, the president again said that this is all a hoax. | ||
| Now, what do Republicans think of that? | ||
| Donald Trump says this is all a hoax, and if you want to release the files, you're stupid. | ||
| Now, I'm not surprised. | ||
| I'm not surprised that the guy who once called Epstein a quote terrific guy and who Epstein considered his quote closest friend is not actually interested in getting to the truth. | ||
| But you know what? | ||
| You know when this clicked in for me, Mr. Speaker, and for a lot of people? | ||
| It clicked after Trump won, and then the backtracking began. | ||
| It clicked again yesterday. | ||
| You know, it clicked after Republicans, it clicked after the same Republican leaders who invited influence to the White House and then passed out binders about the soon-to-be-released client list suddenly changed their tune. | ||
| And it clicked again yesterday when phase two of the binders came out. | ||
| More information released that's already been released. | ||
| 97% of it has already been released. | ||
| It clicked when the same MAGA politicians who once pledged to release everything suddenly came up with more excuses, more delays, and more stalling tactics. | ||
| And what is obvious to everyone is that someone is hiding something. | ||
| And while all this stalling goes on, what happens? | ||
| Ghillain Maxwell, Epstein's partner in crime, winds up in a cushy country club prison courtesy of Trump's political appointees. | ||
| Not a word, not a word of outrage from this Republican majority, not a whisper of accountability, just silence. | ||
| Now, let's not pretend that this is complicated. | ||
| It's pretty obvious what's going on. | ||
| The Trump administration has the power to release the Epstein files today. | ||
| They could redact names to protect victims and survivors and deliver the truth, but they refuse. | ||
| And there's a simple through line to all of this, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| We all know why Republicans are doing this with the Epstein files. | ||
| We all know why Republicans refuse to display the plaque honoring the brave law enforcement officers who protected our democracy and protected all of us on January 6th. | ||
| We all know why Republicans vote again and again and again for all these giveaways for the rich and powerful. | ||
| It's Donald Trump. | ||
| He wants to rewrite history. | ||
| He wants to hide the truth about Jeffrey Epstein, and he wants to continue his giveaways to the well-off and the well-connected. | ||
| This is all straight out of the authoritarian playbook, and you can bet your ass we are going to continue fighting like hell to oppose this insanity. | ||
| I reserve my time. | ||
| Does the gentleman reserve his time? | ||
| Gentleman reserves his time. | ||
| Members should be reminded that they need to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the President of the United States. | ||
| The gentleman apply to members of Congress standing on the floor being called by name. | ||
| The gentleman from Virginia is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I appreciate that very much. | ||
| You know, it's so fascinating how facts don't seem to matter sometimes on the floor. | ||
| The only administration that has ever released anything on the Epstein files is the Trump administration. | ||
| And last night, House Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee released, or committee, excuse me, released over 33,000 files. | ||
| Now, they say that 97% of it had already been released. | ||
| 33,000 files, that's a lot of files. | ||
| Let's take that 97 and say it's accurate for argument and for argument only. | ||
| That means that of 33,000 files, 3% of that is new. | ||
| And in fact, Mr. Speaker, I will tell you, as I was going through clips this morning, I noticed one conservative news source that said, Eureka, the missing minute surrounding Epstein's death is in the material that's been released. | ||
| There's been a lot of controversy about that. | ||
| A lot of people wanted to know about it. | ||
| Well, there it is. | ||
| So more and more information is coming out, and it's coming out because of the Trump administration and because of the House Oversight Investigation Committee. | ||
| But somehow, if we don't adhere to the exact demands of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we're not doing it right. | ||
| And I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, that the House Oversight and Investigations Committee is doing it right. | ||
| They're going through it. | ||
| And as I pointed out in my opening, Mr. Speaker, if they decide to use one of the limited areas that they could do a redaction, they have to explain why. | ||
| And if the administration doesn't turn over some information, if they redact information before sending it to the House, they have to explain why. | ||
| And of course, some of the information you want to protect, Mr. Speaker, is information related to victims that has not yet been in the press. | ||
| Why would we want to take young women who were victims of Epstein and his colleagues, and they don't want to have their name in the press, why would we suddenly expose them to that? | ||
| Of course, we don't want to do that. | ||
| So there have to be some limited areas where redactions have to occur, but all of that has to be explained. | ||
| And then they bring up the president's comments this morning about a hoax and are trying to mislead, in my opinion, some are trying to mislead the American people into thinking that the president said that Epstein in the investigation was a hoax. | ||
| That's not what he said. | ||
| If you look at what he said, it was the controversy over the Epstein files that was a hoax because they've been releasing more data than any other administration. | ||
| And I say that because the Biden administration had all this information and they didn't release it. | ||
| They had four years. | ||
| They could have released it all. | ||
| Didn't choose to do it. | ||
| And now my colleagues on the other side of the aisle somehow want to claim it's a conspiracy by Trump to hide information that was in the hands of their party's president and their party's DOJ was in their hands and they didn't release it. | ||
| But somehow it's our fault, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| It's the Republicans' fault that the Biden administration didn't do what they now claim that the Trump administration should be doing. | ||
| It's hard to understand that logic, but somehow we are at fault, Mr. Speaker, for them not doing the job that they think we should have made their president do. | ||
| Fascinating. | ||
| Absolutely fascinating. | ||
| And then, of course, we get to all the consternation about this J6 committee. | ||
| This is an outgrowth of an investigation that started as a part of House Admin. | ||
| I served on the subcommittee that was doing that investigation, and it's really interesting that group, and I was a part of it, found that there was more than one terabyte of missing data Based on the inventory of the digest data and statements from Chairman Thompson, there should have been four terabytes turned over and there were only three. | ||
|
Missing Committee Files
00:08:26
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| That's equivalent to 6.5 million document pages as PDFs or office files, 500 hours of high-definition video or 250,000 photos. | ||
| The depositions were not filed properly or they weren't filed at all and archived as they are supposed to be and as the rule that set up the prior committee said they were supposed to be there. | ||
| I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that as a former member of this preceding group, we're just trying to get the data that's missing. | ||
| We're trying to make sure we put all the information on the table. | ||
| We want the files released that were out there. | ||
| We want to find that missing terabyte of information. | ||
| Some of it has been recovered, but not all of it. | ||
| And that work needs to continue. | ||
| Further, the House Admin Subcommittee didn't have the power to subpoena records. | ||
| And it is necessary, and I would submit to you, Mr. Speaker, it is necessary, just to get all the information out. | ||
| And as I said last night to my colleagues, as a person who loves history and has a history degree, we need to get all the documents on the table, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and let history determine what occurred on that day. | ||
| There's no point in trying to hide it. | ||
| And if my colleague, I don't understand why my colleagues on the other side want to hide a terabyte. | ||
| A fourth of what the prior committee did was never properly turned over to the House. | ||
| That information belongs to the House and to the people of the United States. | ||
| It does not belong hidden somewhere in a hidden drawer or destroyed. | ||
| And unfortunately, because of that lack of turning over the records in a proper manner to the House, we have to continue the work that was not done by the previous Democrat-controlled, I know they had two Republicans on it, but they weren't the members picked by the House Republicans. | ||
| And it wasn't in the numbers usually allocated or originally called for for a select committee. | ||
| We're going to do it right. | ||
| We're going to put the information on the table and we're going to let the American people make a judgment now and historians to be able to argue over what happened on that day as time moves forward. | ||
| And with that, I reserve the remainder of my time. | ||
| Gentleman reserves his time. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts are recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this is laughable and it's also unconscionable. | ||
| I mean, we know what's going on here. | ||
| There's an attempt to distract and to rewrite the history of January 6th. | ||
| And quite frankly, it's offensive. | ||
| It's offensive to the brave men and women who protected our lives on that day. | ||
| You know, there's not a bunch of evidence that destroyed evidence like the gentleman claims. | ||
| That's just not accurate. | ||
| And the select committee complied with the requirements of the resolution establishing it in consultation with the clerk of the House and the document retention precedents of other committees of this House. | ||
| The Select Committee's final report and its support materials are posted publicly online. | ||
| And just to be sure, I checked again today, all of them, every single page of every transcript is posted online publicly. | ||
| Maybe the gentleman can't find them. | ||
| I'd be happy to give him the website information. | ||
| The truth is, you just don't like what the evidence shows. | ||
| So you want to go on a phishing expedition to try to twist the truth instead of accepting the fact of that day. | ||
| And the fact is this, the people that stormed the Capitol beat police officers in order to try to stop the peaceful transition of power. | ||
| And they were supporters of the president of Donald Trump. | ||
| Period. | ||
| It was one of the most shameful and darkest episodes in our democracy. | ||
| And no phishing expedition for alternative facts is going to change the reality. | ||
| What is particularly offensive is Donald Trump pardoned all these people, pardoned the people who beat the police officers who protect all of us every single day. | ||
| It is shameful. | ||
| And it's speaking about the Epstein files. | ||
| Again, I'm looking at the video. of a few minutes ago. | ||
| Donald Trump speaking to reporters, calling all this a hoax. | ||
| All this, the Epstein files a hoax. | ||
| He's not talking about what we're doing here. | ||
| And by the way, let me just say to the gentleman and anybody else who wants to know, listen to what the victims were asking for outside this Capitol just a few minutes ago, the survivors, the survivors of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. | ||
| Listen to what the survivors have been saying. | ||
| They want the Massey Connor bill passed. | ||
| They want something with teeth in it that will force this administration to comply because they don't trust that they will. | ||
| And with that, I yield three minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico, a distinguished member of the Rules Committee, Ms. Ledra Fernandez. | ||
| The gentlewoman's recognized for three minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, last night the Rules Committee spent hours helping Trump and the White House cover up the Epstein files. | ||
| Trump is terrified the House will pass the Massey Connor resolution to require that his administration release the damn files. | ||
| He's lobbying against it. | ||
| What's he afraid of? | ||
| To kill the Massey bill, Republicans are pushing a resolution that will give Chairman Comer of the Oversight Committee sole power over what gets released. | ||
| I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust a self-proclaimed, and these are his words, Trump man, to decide what to redact and therefore what Americans get to see. | ||
| Remember, Trump repeatedly, not just today, but repeatedly called the Epstein scandal a hoax, and he has called Epstein himself a terrific guy. | ||
| And oversight acted only because Democrats forced the subpoenas. | ||
| Today, Republicans, as you heard it, are patting themselves on the back for releasing the same documents that were given to right-wing influences months ago. | ||
| We want the Oversight Committee to do its job, hold the hearings, follow the money, pursue the truth, and protect the victims. | ||
| But we can do both. | ||
| The committee can do its job, and we can get all we need is two more Republicans to sign Massey's discharge petition so the files get released to the public. | ||
| Let's not forget this is about the women and children who were terrorized and abused by a pedophile and his rich friend. | ||
| It's about the cover-up that started with the rich and powerful and is still coming from a gold-plated oval office. | ||
| We've listened to the survivors share their stories. | ||
| They've made many of us cry. | ||
| But we won't stop at tears. | ||
| We will work to bring justice to these brave women, to do what they've asked, which is release the files. | ||
| The rule, by the way, is also a Republican attempt to cover up how they are raising energy prices for American families in the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. | ||
| Renewable energy brings down the cost of electricity. | ||
| Trump and Republicans are destroying this clean and affordable energy by cutting its funding in half. | ||
| They are doing this to benefit the fossil fuel companies that donated to their campaigns. | ||
| Finally, they're also rewriting the history of January 6th. | ||
| They quietly slipped into the rule a brand new Select Committee on Selective Memory designed to protect the very insurrectionists who stormed this Capitol. | ||
| These were violent thugs who attacked our democracy and brutalized police officers. | ||
| Donald Trump pardoned those violent criminals. | ||
| Now Republicans want to give them cover in the same halls of Congress the thugs once attacked. | ||
|
Supporting American Energy Leadership
00:06:21
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|
unidentified
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Shame, shame, shame. | |
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentlewoman yields back her time. | ||
| Does the gentleman wish to reserve his time? | ||
| I reserve, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts reserves his time. | ||
| Distinguished gentleman from Virginia is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Let me state up front. | ||
| I make no apology for being pro-U.S. energy. | ||
| I make no apology in saying that the United States needs more electric power. | ||
| I make no apology in saying that we can get that electric power with things like these bills that are in this rule today. | ||
| It works on small modular reactors. | ||
| It works on nuclear. | ||
| It works on fusion. | ||
| It works on coal. | ||
| It works on making sure that we have the ability to mine the coal in the United States. | ||
| It makes sure that we have the ability to extract our oil and our natural gas resources. | ||
| And if we want to compete with the Chinese, Mr. Speaker, we're going to have to up our game on producing electric power. | ||
| And it's fascinating to me that when we hear these debates, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will often point out, in fact, they did it last night, point out that the Chinese are doing so much more with wind and solar. | ||
| And they never mention that the Chinese are building dozens of new power plants as we speak, powered by coal. | ||
| And so if we're going to use the Chinese as the model that we're supposed to follow in generating electricity, we should therefore not be closing down all of our coal power plants. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, as you know, the coal in the United States and the way that we burn it is much cleaner than the way the Chinese burn it in their plants. | ||
| And we need to be working on making sure that we have new energy development, which the Energy and Water Bill does, energy ways that we can burn that coal and burn our natural gas even cleaner than we're doing it today, even though we produce electricity cleaner with our fossil fuels than any other country in the world. | ||
| And guess what we can do, Mr. Speaker? | ||
| If we can continue to move forward and build new plants and show how this new technology can be used, we can then be the ones exporting it to sub-Saharan Africa and to India instead of having the Chinese exporting facilities and the technologies that are from the 1960s and 70s instead of the technology that are available today. | ||
| When you talk about the air in the planet Earth, ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you that the air is shared by all of us. | ||
| In fact, there's a NASA study that I often cite that says it takes 10 days to get from the middle of the Gobi Desert to the eastern shore of Virginia, and that's why a majority of the mercury in California comes from Asia and not from the plants in California. | ||
| It comes from overseas. | ||
| And so the more we can do with our fossil fuel plants and our technologies to make our processes cleaner and then export it to the rest of the world, the more we can do to clean up the air in the world as a whole, because the air is not something that uniquely belongs to the United States. | ||
| It doesn't sit over one town very long. | ||
| Sometimes we get a little inversion in the Roanoke area and it sits there for a few days, but it doesn't sit there for weeks and months and years. | ||
| And so we need to be looking at the worldwide issue in regard to that. | ||
| So I make no apology for supporting bills that will take care of making sure that we can, in this nation, as a nation, all of us, profit and have the AI needed and have the electricity for data centers needed Instead of giving it and ceding it to the Chinese, | ||
| because we don't want to work on oil, natural gas, and coal, because somehow my colleagues on the other side of the aisle decided that those resources are not appropriate to be used in the United States. | ||
| And if we want to be a second-rate country, have at it. | ||
| But that's not what I stand for, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I stand for us being the leading energy producer in the world and making sure that we do it as clean as possible so we can export our clean coal technology, our clean natural gas facilities, new fusion if we can get there, new modular reactors, and export that technology to the world and be the leader in the world when it comes to energy production. | ||
| But number one, making sure that we take care of our needs in the United States as we are looking at not having enough electricity going forward to keep our economy as the number one economy in the world. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I often tell people back home this is important not just for today but for the generations to come because when you look at the powers in the economic sphere in the past, some very small nations have reached into the future and benefited their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. | ||
| In fact, I often talk about Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Oil, which was a derivative. | ||
| Now you can attack how they got the money because it was all part of colonialism, and I get that. | ||
| But because they were number one economic nation in the world from roughly 1650 to 1700, there are still people and families in the Netherlands who are benefiting, notwithstanding the fact they moved their headquarters to London. | ||
| They are benefiting from the fact that at one time their nation was the number one economic nation in the world. | ||
| I want that for the United States. | ||
| I want us to be number one economic nation as long as possible so that children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren out 10 generations will benefit. | ||
| So I make no apologies for supporting these bills that we have in this rule today and supporting the fact that American energy is predominant and should remain a major force in the world instead of ceding everything to the Chinese. | ||
| With that, I reserve the remainder of my time. | ||
| Gentleman reserves his time. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Yeah, well, Mr. Speaker, that's an awful lot of words to defend the fossil fuel industry. | ||
| And while the gentleman's defending big oil and, you know, all these big corporations that rip off the American people, charging exorbitant prices for energy. | ||
| You know, while he was going on that tie rate, I went back and I listened to Donald Trump's press conference at the White House. | ||
| And not only did he call the move to release the Epstein files a Democratic hoax, he said it was designed to get the American people to focus in on something that was irrelevant. | ||
|
Bipartisan Push for Justice
00:13:19
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| Now let that sink in. | ||
| I mean, if you listen to the survivors that were in front of the Capitol just a few minutes ago, listen to their horror stories, that's irrelevant. | ||
| I mean, that the President of the United America would say something like that is pathetic. | ||
| And, you know, I mean, he could, you know, very easily put all this controversy to rest by just releasing the files. | ||
| And that is why we need to pass the Mass Economic bill, because we could actually pass a bill that would compel him to do that. | ||
| What you all did in the Rules Committee last night is a resolution that doesn't really mean anything. | ||
| It's designed as cover. | ||
| And quite frankly, it's not enough. | ||
| I now yield two and a half minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico, Ms. Stansbury. | ||
| Gentlewoman from New Mexico is recognized for two and a half minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I have to say, I'm always amazed, disturbed. | ||
| Sometimes I can't believe what I hear on this floor. | ||
| We're sitting here today as a government shutdown is looming. | ||
| Survivors of the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his associates are here on this campus sharing their harrowing and heartbreaking stories. | ||
| A court has just ordered that Trump's illegal tariffs have been put in place and are harming Americans and violating the law. | ||
| And the president is deploying our brave men and women who serve in the National Guard to occupy American cities. | ||
| And what is the GOP's agenda for this? | ||
| We crammed into this one bill that we're here to debate. | ||
| One fake appropriations bill that they know will never pass. | ||
| Three resolutions to undermine protections for the environment. | ||
| One resolution snuck in in the dark of night to reconvene the January 6th Commission to try to rewrite history. | ||
| And one resolution designed to provide Donald Trump and the White House cover in one of the largest Epstein cover-ups we've seen. | ||
| This isn't about protecting people. | ||
| We have a bipartisan discharge petition right there at the clerk's desk. | ||
| If my colleagues would like to see the files released, the two of you who are in this chamber right now could literally walk down there and sign that petition right now. | ||
| But you don't want the files released. | ||
| You want it controlled by the Oversight Committee. | ||
| Because if you did, you could sign that petition right there that would release those unredacted files. | ||
| Now let's also be clear. | ||
| Donald Trump issued a statement today that said to all of you, you Republicans here in this chamber, that if you sign that discharge petition, he will count it as a hostile act. | ||
| That's right. | ||
| The United States President is threatening members of his own party in this chamber from signing a petition that would release the full unredacted Epstein file. | ||
| So my question is, what are they hiding? | ||
| Who are they protecting? | ||
| And why are our colleagues failing to have a backbone not only to stand up for the survivors, but to stand up for the American people? | ||
| I yield. | ||
| The gentlewoman's time has expired. | ||
| Does the gentleman wish to reserve his time? | ||
| I would remind my colleagues that they need to address the speaker and not the audience that is here. | ||
| The gentleman from Virginia is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| You know, this Epstein situation is very serious, and I take it as such. | ||
| We have victims whose lives can never be made whole. | ||
| And this debate has taken on a life of its own, and in many ways, it's illogical. | ||
| On the one hand, we have the resolution included in the rule that has subpoena power and has broader authority than the Massey-Rocana piece of legislation that my colleagues on the other side want. | ||
| It gives us the ability to subpoena banking records, estate files, and depositions, none of which are required in the Massey bill. | ||
| Further, I find it interesting because ours is a resolution that gets the endorsement of the House, gives more power in the oomph behind the Oversight Committee's hard work. | ||
| The opposing piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker, should it pass the House, goes over to the Senate. | ||
| And should it pass the Senate, requires the signature of the very president they say wants to block it. | ||
| It would only seem logical, I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, and to the American people. | ||
| It would only be logical to go with the one that we can get voted on in the House and have action going forward and have action taking place that deals with these serious issues and brings to light every piece of information that we can put on the table, | ||
| with the rare exceptions of a few redactions which have to be explained and some of which are necessary to protect some of the victims themselves because they don't want to have their names out there in the public. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, I don't understand it. | ||
| If what we want is the information, we should pass this rule and move forward and not have to rely on passage in the Senate and signature by the President. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Reserves this time. | ||
|
unidentified
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John from Massachusetts is recognized. | |
| Well, Mr. Speaker, first of all, I'm going to thank the gentleman for publicly splitting with the President of the United States. | ||
| He said that the Epstein matter was a serious matter. | ||
| The President, just a few minutes ago, said it was irrelevant. | ||
| So I think it takes a little courage for Republicans these days to stand up to the president. | ||
| But I do want to point out for the record that the resolution that is deemed passed in this rule grants no new authority, no new power, no new nothing to the oversight committee. | ||
| It just, it doesn't do anything. | ||
| You know, if you want to do something, you can go to the well and you can sign the discharge petition to allow us to vote on the Massey counter bill, which would compel and force the Justice Department to release the files. | ||
| And if the President, by the way, wants to veto that bill, I would like to think that Democrats and Republicans unanimously will join together to override such a veto. | ||
| I can't imagine anybody here wanting to defend the indefensible. | ||
| And we have another way you could be helpful here. | ||
| If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of H.R. 4405, the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act introduced by Representatives Conna and Massey. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Republican leadership is twisting themselves into knots, trying to look like they're doing something on Epstein to give their members something to vote on, anything for political cover, while also not upsetting the president. | ||
| That is why they have deemed in this rule a non-binding resolution to tell the oversight committee to keep doing what they are already doing, which, best as I can tell, is to slow roll the release of documents that the DOJ seems to think are acceptable to the president for release. | ||
| Well, Mr. Speaker, the American people didn't ask for an Oversight Committee investigation. | ||
| They asked for all the Epstein files to be released. | ||
| The very thing that the Trump administration promised and then suspiciously backtracked on. | ||
| This bill is bipartisan, and it is the only legislation on Epstein that has the force of law. | ||
| It has the votes to pass. | ||
| The survivors of Epstein's and Maxwell's crimes spoke today at the Capitol demanding this very bill get passed. | ||
| Republican leaders need to stop standing in the way, and now is their chance. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from California, the sponsor of this bipartisan legislation, Mr. Connor. | ||
| Gentleman from California is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I'm just returning from hearing the survivors tell their stories, and I was so deeply moved. | ||
| This is not a political issue. | ||
| This is an issue of 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds who told the stories of how they were solicited by Jeffrey Epstein and raped and assaulted. | ||
| And then they went to the police. | ||
| And the police didn't do anything because Jeffrey Epstein knew rich people, because he knew presidents, because he knew donors. | ||
| This is not a Republican issue. | ||
| This is not a Democratic issue. | ||
| Marjorie Taylor Greene was there speaking out for the survivors. | ||
| Nancy Mace was in tears because she's a survivor when she heard their stories. | ||
| Lauren Boebert has said we need to speak up for the survivors. | ||
| This is an issue that could actually bring this country together to say that a nation in which rich and powerful men can rape young girls without consequence is a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual soul. | ||
| We can fight about a lot of things. | ||
| We shouldn't fight about this. | ||
| We need two more Republicans to sign the discharge petition. | ||
| I have a pretty simple rule. | ||
| Most people don't understand all the jargon of Congress, but the survivors very clearly said they want the Massey Conno bill. | ||
| They want it for closure. | ||
| They want it for the release of the files. | ||
| You know what the irony here is? | ||
| President Trump could actually be the person who does good in this. | ||
| He can still change his mind. | ||
| Speaker Johnson is a true Christian. | ||
| I know him. | ||
| I know his family. | ||
| He's a good Christian man. | ||
| He can be for bringing justice. | ||
| I really don't understand why we're fighting over this. | ||
| Why don't we do something good for this country? | ||
| Why don't we stand with these survivors and show this nation we're still capable of coming together when it matters for truth and justice? | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Does the gentleman from Massachusetts choose to reserve his time? | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts reserves his time. | ||
| Gentleman from Virginia is recognized. | ||
| Reserve, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Gentleman reserves his time. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| It seems lonely over there, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I now yield two minutes to the gentleman from Virginia, Ms. McClellan. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Excuse me. | |
| I'm sorry. | ||
| How much time does the gentleman yield? | ||
| The gentleman is yielding two minutes to the gentleman from Virginia, gentlemen is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| For the last six weeks, I traveled around not just my district, but the entire Commonwealth of Virginia to talk about the work that we're doing here in Washington as we headed back to try to avoid a government shutdown in the next 28 days. | ||
| And frankly, I didn't hear a lot about Jeffrey Epstein, although what happened is very serious, and the victims do indeed. | ||
| The survivors do indeed need closure. | ||
|
Defending Democracy Amid Rising Costs
00:15:15
|
||
| I didn't hear very much about January 6th, although that was a serious stain on American history. | ||
| What I did hear about were concerns about rising costs. | ||
| The cost of everything from health care to child care, energy, food, technology, everything's going up. | ||
| And the President's illegal tariff policy is making that worse. | ||
| I heard concerns from providers and patients about the impact that Medicaid cuts are going to have on hundreds of thousands of Virginians. | ||
| I heard from state legislators and local government officials about the concerns they have about shifting costs on their budgets. | ||
| And that's why I oppose the energy appropriations bill here today, because one way to reduce costs while meeting our energy demands is through energy efficiency programs and clean and renewable energy. | ||
| But this bill cuts in half the Department of Energy, Office of Energy and Efficiency, Renewable Office, and by extension, the programs for energy efficiency and clean energy. | ||
| And we will never meet our exploding energy demands affordably, reliably, and quickly without energy efficiency and clean energy programs. | ||
| And that's why I stand to oppose this. | ||
| Time has expired. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentlewoman yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts reserves his time. | ||
| Gentleman reserves his time. | ||
| Gentleman from Virginia is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| In regard to energy, I can tell you that I represent a region of the country where when we were using our coal resources, which God has blessed us with abundantly, we had the third or fourth lowest electric rates in the country. | ||
| And then suddenly fossil fuels became a bad idea. | ||
| Even natural gas, oh my gosh, we can't use it. | ||
| And the electric rates keep going up and up and up. | ||
| And the people in my district, which is not a wealthy district, the people in my district are complaining because their electricity rates are going up. | ||
| And one of the major drivers are prior Democrat policies, Mr. Speaker, that said we're not going to be doing any more coal-fired power plants. | ||
| We're not going to encourage natural gas to be used to create electricity. | ||
| And we stranded the assets. | ||
| Now, as you know, Mr. Speaker, what that means is that they're paying for the electricity generated by wind and solar, and they're paying for the electricity that was there for plants that were opened who have not met their full expectation or life cycle. | ||
| For example, there's a facility in my district that I went to the ribbon cutting on in 2012, 2012, that Democrats in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including some of my esteemed colleagues on the other side from that Commonwealth, that great Commonwealth, thought it was appropriate to say, let's close that down early. | ||
| It opened in 2012 with a 50 to 60 year life expectancy, and they wanted to close it down somewhere around 2035 or 2040, well before its life expectancy is up. | ||
| And what that does is that pushes the power companies to have to find different and more expensive ways, as it turns out, to create that electricity. | ||
| And what this bill does is it pushes us on nuclear, which if you don't want to use fossil, that's the only way you can get the baseload power to supply us and make us competitive with the Chinese in the field of AI. | ||
| And yet somehow, once again, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cannot realize that it's the policies of their prior Congresses and their prior administrations, which in large measure, not exclusively, but in large measure have caused the spike, the spike, not a general increase, not an inflation level, but a spike. | ||
| over and above your general inflation on the cost of energy in this country. | ||
| If we get back to the basics, if we pass this rule, we have three CRAs, we have the Energy and Water Act, all of which help make the United States of America more viable when it comes to energy and makes those electric prices that my colleague said it was one of the bigger concerns that she heard when touring around the Commonwealth. | ||
| The cost of those energy prices will go down if we pass this rule and pass the underlying bills of reserve. | ||
| Gentleman from Virginia reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from New Jersey, Ms. Poe. | ||
| The gentlewoman from New Jersey is recognized for two minutes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and our Ranking Member, Mr. McGovern. | ||
| Across New Jersey and our country, Americans are struggling with skyrocketing energy costs and are demanding relief. | ||
| Yet, that did not stop the Congressional Republicans from repealing the energy-efficient home improvement tax credit, a major mistake that could not have come at a worse time. | ||
| Amidst the rising cost of living, Americans are now being denied an important tool to lower their energy costs solely so billionaires could get another unneeded tax giveaway. | ||
| That is why I introduced a common sense amendment to study the impacts of tearing this program away from American homeowners. | ||
| I am absolutely disappointed, but not surprised, that the House majority continues to hide the impacts of their big, ugly bill and block Americans from seeing how it raises their electric bills. | ||
| I came to Congress to lower high costs, and I will not stop working to lower energy costs for the hardworking Americans. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Virginia is recognized. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| The gentleman from Virginia reserves, gentlemen from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself two minutes. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, a vote for this rule is also a vote to create a new select subcommittee to investigate the remaining questions regarding the insurrection of January 6, 2021. | ||
| You know, I've got a radical idea. | ||
| Instead of wasting time creating a select subcommittee to investigate January 6th, maybe, just maybe, we should read the report that the January 6th Select Committee already finished in 2022. | ||
| Here it is, thousands of pages, millions of records, testimony from Trump's own people. | ||
| You could use it as a doorstop. | ||
| It's so thorough. | ||
| But no, Republicans want to rewrite history because if we were all being honest here, that's what this is all about. | ||
| Pretend January 6th was just a field trip gone wrong. | ||
| Pretend the police weren't bludgeoned, crushed, or tased. | ||
| Pretend the gallows outside this building were just some kind of art installation. | ||
| It's insulting. | ||
| It's a slap in the face to every officer who put their body on the line to save ours. | ||
| And here's the kicker. | ||
| This majority still hasn't even hung the plaque honoring those officers, a plaque required by law, required by law. | ||
| So instead of a sham committee, how about you get a screwdriver and hang the damn plaque? | ||
| Because every day it sits in a box is another day Republicans dishonor the heroes who defended this place. | ||
| But if they insist on this little circus, at least investigate something real, like why Donald Trump pardoned people who assaulted police officers. | ||
| One of those men is now serving a life sentence for plotting to murder nearly 40 law enforcement officers and blow up the FBI. | ||
| His lawyers even tried to argue that Trump's pardon should cover his murder plot. | ||
| Another pardon rider committed a home invasion less than four months later. | ||
| And I bet those homeowners wish he'd be behind bars serving his eight-year sentence for assaulting cops instead of terrorizing their family. | ||
| In fact, at least 10 of Trump's pardoned insurrectionists have already been rearrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes. | ||
| I yield myself 15 additional seconds. | ||
| Quite a record. | ||
| But maybe we should call this new panel the Subcommittee on Criminal Recidivism by Trump's friends. | ||
| But let's be honest, that's not what this is about. | ||
| This is about distraction, another shiny object, because the majority doesn't want to talk about the things that they're actually blocking, like the bipartisan effort to release the Epstein files. | ||
| So I'll make it simple. | ||
| Stop rewriting history. | ||
| Stop wasting time. | ||
| Stop dishonoring the police. | ||
| Follow the law, for God's sakes. | ||
| Hang the plaque. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts Reserves, gentlemen from Virginia, is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I reserve. | ||
| Gentleman from Virginia Reserves, the gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, is the gentleman prepared to close? | ||
| I am. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| He has no more speakers. | ||
| That is great. | ||
| All right. | ||
| May I inquire how much time is remaining? | ||
| Two and a quarter minutes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay. | |
| Five. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself to remaining time. | ||
| Gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, what we have heard today is excuse after excuse after excuse, diversion after diversion, but no answers to the questions that I've asked. | ||
| Why won't the Trump administration release the Epstein files? | ||
| Why won't the Speaker hang up the plaque honoring the law enforcement officers who defended our democracy on January 6th? | ||
| Why do Republicans continue voting time and time and time again to help their rich and powerful friends? | ||
| I know the answer, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The answer is because of the man who occupies the Oval Office. | ||
| Republicans want to let Trump rewrite history to protect the rich, powerful perpetrators of Epstein's crimes, to protect the people to this building, to desecrate our democracy, and to protect his wealthy donors in big oil who want another giveaway. | ||
| And at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, this is about trust. | ||
| How can the American people trust Republicans when they promised to release the Epstein files and then they broke that promise? | ||
| How can Americans trust Republicans when they claim to support law enforcement and then they want to rewrite the truth about what happened on January 6th? | ||
| Republicans who want to ignore the fact that Trump pardoned people who brutally assaulted law enforcement officers. | ||
| How can they be trusted? | ||
| How can anyone trust Republicans when they negotiated spending bills, bills which have become law, only to let Donald Trump illegally shut down federal agencies in direct violation of those negotiations? | ||
| I don't trust these guys to tell me the correct time, let alone trust them to do what's right for the American people. | ||
| The way to restore trust is simple. | ||
| Hang the January 6th plaque honoring the officers who defended our democracy on that day. | ||
| Stop the giveaways for those at the top and release the damn Epstein files. | ||
| The victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Gheline Maxwell's horrific crimes were outside the Capitol building this morning to demand that we pass the bipartisan Connomassey bill to release these files. | ||
| We have a bill to do it. | ||
| Stop delaying. | ||
| Stop obstructing. | ||
| Stop protecting the powerful perpetrators of these crimes and just release the damn files. | ||
| I urge you to receive this rule, and I yield the remainder of my time. | ||
| Gentlemen, time has expired. | ||
| The gentleman from Virginia is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this rule covers a number of topics. | ||
| We've been over energy, water. | ||
| We didn't get much into the full funding of Army Corps so they can help take care of flooding problems in my district and other districts, take care of water problems, etc. | ||
| We have argued for over an hour, most of it being the same repetitive things. | ||
| This rule gives that extra oomph. | ||
| It shows the support for the work that the Oversight Committee is doing regarding the Epstein files. | ||
| It moves us forward on energy and water. | ||
| It moves us forward on energy production in the United States. | ||
| It moves us forward on nuclear power and making sure that we're using it in a responsible but effective way so that we can continue to be the world's leader when it comes to energy production instead of handcuffing our capabilities. | ||
| We've gone over a lot of serious issues. | ||
| The American people who are paying attention to this have already heard all those arguments. | ||
| And so, Mr. Speaker, I will simply say that I hope that all the members of this House will support the passage of this rule. | ||
| It's important for a number of reasons. | ||
| And I hope they will pass the underlying bills and resolutions when those come up. | ||
| And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on this important resolution. | ||
| The gentleman yields back. | ||
| The question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| Independent chair, the ayes have it. | ||
| Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Gentleman. | ||
| Massachusetts. | ||
| I ask for the yays and nays. | ||
| The yays and nays are requested. | ||
| Those favoring the vote of the yays and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having arisen, the yays and nays are ordered. | ||
| Members will record their votes by electronic device. | ||
| Pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of adoption of the resolution. | ||
| This is a 15-minute vote. | ||
|
Voting on Debate Rules and Censures
00:01:43
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||
|
unidentified
|
I've got a series of three, possibly four votes in this series as members have been working on the debate rules pertaining to four bills, including 2026 energy and water spending legislation. | |
| It's one of the 12 spending bills that the House must pass every year. | ||
| The rules also cover debate on three resolutions to overturn Biden-era Bureau of Land Management plans in Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota. | ||
| This rule, if approved, it would deem past the following resolutions. | ||
| This would be H. Res 668, which directs the House Oversight Committee to continue its ongoing investigation into the possible mismanagement of the federal government's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| Also, H.Rez 605, which establishes the House Select Subcommittee to investigate the remaining questions surrounding January 6th, 2021, or the January 6th attack on the Capitol. | ||
| We'll likely see a vote on approval of the debate rules, and then we could see members vote on two resolutions calling for censures on two members. | ||
| We'll have more details on that as we go. | ||
| While members vote here on this procedural motion, we'll show you a news conference from earlier today with lawmakers urging colleagues to sign a petition that would compel the release of all files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. | ||
| They were joined by multiple Epstein abuse survivors as well as their attorneys. | ||
|
Thanking Courageous Survivors
00:15:37
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|
unidentified
|
You'll come back here. | |
| But I'll end my channel. | ||
| Perfect. | ||
| Good morning, everybody. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| Please, if we could just out of respect for particularly the survivors who are going to speak, if we could have some silence. | ||
| And if folks could just please calm down, people can speak when members of Congress are speaking. | ||
| I just want to make sure that the victims and survivors are going to be heard today. | ||
| I want to begin by thanking Brittany Henderson and Brad Edwards for their tireless work in the pursuit of justice. | ||
| And I want to thank Sarah Drury on my team for working with them. | ||
| Above all, I want to thank the survivors who are here today, whose courage and strength have brought us to this moment. | ||
| I want to thank my co-lead, Congressman Thomas Massey, and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, for standing with survivors here today. | ||
| Today, as you can see, we're united in restoring trust in government. | ||
| We're here not as partisans, we're here as patriots. | ||
| We begin the work of bringing this country together, progressives, independents, moderates, and yes, mega supporters, to demand truth and justice. | ||
| A nation that allows rich and powerful men to traffic and abuse young girls without consequence is a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual core. | ||
| Americans are asking a very simple question: How is it possible that in the richest, most powerful country in the world, there are corrupt special interest forces, both foreign or domestic, that are preventing the release, that have a stranglehold on our government and are preventing the release of the full Epstein files? | ||
| There is something that is rotten in Washington. | ||
| Less than 1% of these files have been released. | ||
| We are demanding today on the discharge petition that all of the files be released. | ||
| We know we have 212 Democrats and we have four Republicans, courageous Republicans like Thomas Massey, Nancy Mace, who was so emotional yesterday after talking to the survivors, Congresswoman Boebert, and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. | ||
| We need just two more signatures to force the release. | ||
| So we gather here on the steps of the Capitol to confront these corrupt forces. | ||
| Today we stand with survivors. | ||
| We stand against big money. | ||
| We stand to protect America's children. | ||
| That is really what this is about. | ||
| I now want to bring up my Republican colleague, Thomas Massey. | ||
| He has shown so much courage, so much leadership. | ||
| And I saw some people, I say the same thing about Marjorie Taylor Green. | ||
| She has shown so much courage on this issue. | ||
| I saw some people when I was coming here calling her names. | ||
| We've got to stop that. | ||
| We've got to stop the partisanship on this issue. | ||
| This is an issue where they both have shown real courage and leadership, and I appreciate them joining us today. | ||
| Congressman Massey. | ||
| I want to thank my colleague Roe Cona for co-leading this effort to bring transparency and justice for these victims. | ||
| I hope my colleagues are watching this press conference. | ||
| I want them to think: what if this was your sister? | ||
| What if this was your daughter? | ||
| When these survivors speak, the Washington establishment is asking the American public to believe something that is not believable. | ||
| They're asking you to believe that two individuals created hundreds of victims and they acted alone, and that the DOJ has no idea of who else might have been involved, that nobody else did anything that rose to a criminal enterprise. | ||
| The American people know that's not true. | ||
| Now, the Speaker of the House just offered a fig leaf to my colleagues. | ||
| They're going to vote on a non-binding resolution today that does absolutely nothing. | ||
| I appreciate the efforts of my colleague James Comer, who's leading the Oversight Committee. | ||
| They may find some information, but they're allowing the DOJ to curate all of the information that the DOJ is giving them. | ||
| If you've looked at the pages they've released so far, they're heavily redacted. | ||
| Some pages are entirely redacted. | ||
| And 97% of this is already in the public domain. | ||
| So I'm calling on my colleagues. | ||
| Be one of the next two who sponsors this discharge petition. | ||
| I think it's shameful that this has been called a hoax. | ||
| Hopefully today, we can clear that up. | ||
| This is not a hoax. | ||
| This is real. | ||
| There are real survivors. | ||
| There are real victims to this criminal enterprise. | ||
| And the perpetrators are being protected because they're rich and powerful and political donors to the establishment here in Washington, D.C. | ||
| So today we're standing with these survivors and we're giving them a voice and I want to close by thanking them. | ||
| They are brave. | ||
| I hope they encourage other survivors to come forward and to tell their stories, not just of Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell, but anywhere in the country. | ||
| This is a message that we are sending. | ||
| This is a litmus test. | ||
| Can we drain the swamp? | ||
| Are there people who are outside of the reach of the law? | ||
| I don't think there should be. | ||
| So hopefully today we'll get two more signatures on the discharge petition. | ||
| That's all we need. | ||
| And with that, I want to introduce the bravest woman in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene. | ||
| I find it interesting that the three Republican co-sponsors are women. | ||
| These are women standing up for women. | ||
| And Marjorie was the first to do it. | ||
| And I think she deserves all of our gratitude for breaking that barrier and leading the way for the other Republicans. | ||
| Hopefully they can find their spines as well. | ||
| And with that, I give you Marjorie Taylor Greene. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| This is my fifth year in Congress, and this is the largest press conference that I've seen since I've been here. | ||
| And this is because this is an issue that matters so much to Americans. | ||
| This is an issue that doesn't have political boundaries. | ||
| It's an issue that Republicans and Democrats should never fight about. | ||
| As a matter of fact, it's such an important issue that it should bring us all together. | ||
| It's grieved me to watch the arguments and debates take place among my colleagues and even the administration. | ||
| I think this is something that was worth fighting for. | ||
| You see, the women behind me are going to tell you stories that you've never heard before. | ||
| These are unimaginable horrors that they've lived with for their entire lives since they were very, very young. | ||
| But these are also similar stories that many children, teenagers, women, and even men are enduring nightmares right now as we speak. | ||
| You see, these women have been fighting since the 1990s. | ||
| I heard one woman tell us yesterday since 1996, and they have carried with them shame. | ||
| But I want to tell you something. | ||
| The shame does not fall on these brave, courageous women. | ||
| The shame falls on every single person that coldly turned a blind eye to their abuse. | ||
| The shame falls on every single person that enabled it. | ||
| The shame falls on every single person that took money to continue it. | ||
| And the shame falls on the people in power over the past several decades that protected the monster, Jeffrey Epstein, and his cabal that continued a nightmare. | ||
| Those people deserve the shame. | ||
| And today, we are coming forward and we are going to fight like hell for these women because we have to fight like hell for those that are enduring sexual abuse and are living in a prison of shame. | ||
| Anyone that is being abused, it is not your fault. | ||
| You should live with no guilt or fear or shame. | ||
| All of the fault belongs to the evil people that do these things to the innocent. | ||
| This is the most important fight we can wage here in Congress is fighting for innocent people that never received justice. | ||
| And the women behind me have never received justice. | ||
| And do you want to know why? | ||
| It's because Jeffrey Epstein somehow was able to walk among the most rich, powerful people, not only in America, but foreign countries. | ||
| Yesterday I heard countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, and even Israel and other countries. | ||
| The truth needs to come out. | ||
| And the government holds the truth. | ||
| The cases that are sealed hold the truth. | ||
| Jeffrey Epstein's estate holds the truth. | ||
| The FBI, the DOJ, and the CIA holds the truth. | ||
| And the truth we are demanding come out on behalf of these women, but also as a strong message to every innocent child, teenager, woman, and man that is being held captive in abuse. | ||
| This should never happen in America, and it should never be a political issue that divides us. | ||
| And I want to thank Rocana and Thomas Massey for doing something brave, crossing political boundaries for a very important fight. | ||
| And I'm honored to join both of them. | ||
| And I'm honored that Nancy Mace and Lauren Bobert signed the discharge petition along with myself. | ||
| And I asked my Republican colleagues not to choose just one path for justice and transparency and accountability, but I asked my Republican colleagues to choose every path for justice and accountability and transparency. | ||
| And with that, I'd like to bring back Congressman Rocana to start this important press conference. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Congresswoman Green for your courage and for being here. | ||
| And thank you again to Congressman Massey for co-leading it. | ||
| I now would like to introduce two people who have been fighting this for decades. | ||
| They haven't had their voice heard. | ||
| The victims haven't been heard. | ||
| They haven't just been on this in the last few months. | ||
| They've been doing this in the wilderness for years. | ||
| And they are really models of courage. | ||
| Bradley Edwards and Brittany Henderson, who are the attorneys for the victims. | ||
| Thank you for being here. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Woo! | |
| Woo! | ||
| Thank you, Roe and Thomas Massey. | ||
| I really appreciate you putting forth this discharge petition. | ||
| It's tough to understand that we have to be here because this doesn't seem like a partisan issue. | ||
| This is an issue. | ||
| Sex trafficking and sexual abuse transcends politics. | ||
| We as Americans expect equal protection under the law, and there can be no doubt that Jeffrey Epstein received far greater protection than any of the victims that he abused for years. | ||
| In 2008, Courtney Wilde walked into my office because she was a part of a federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein where all she wanted was the government to talk to her. | ||
| Little did she know the government had worked out a secret immunity deal for Jeffrey Epstein, and we had to file Jane Doe versus United States of America to prove that Jeffrey Epstein worked out an illegal non-prosecution agreement with the government. | ||
| That was 2008. | ||
| It took us 10 years battling the government pro bono for the judge to ultimately determine that the victims' rights were violated. | ||
| The government has mistreated them after Jeffrey Epstein mistreated them. | ||
| We then filed civil lawsuits against Gillen Maxwell, which has resulted in her being in prison. | ||
| Our civil lawsuits led to her prosecution. | ||
| We filed lawsuits against Jeffrey Epstein, against his estate, and against two financial institutions, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, that proved that they provided, knowingly provided the financial infrastructure for a sex trafficking operation. | ||
| Unfortunately, all of the documents and evidence that we have worked so hard to gather hide behind protective orders, confidentiality agreements, and bank secrecy laws. | ||
| That is why this discharge petition is so important. | ||
| While we have seen the documents, you haven't. | ||
| And when you see the documents, you're going to be appalled. | ||
| And the American people deserve to see everything. | ||
| When you sign this discharge petition, it should mean nothing is off limits. | ||
| That means the documents in the possession of the CIA should be made available. | ||
| Those in the possession of the FBI going back decades should be made available. | ||
| The SEC, financial records in the possession of FinCEN, should be made available. | ||
| Everybody knows that evil, evil flourishes in the darkness. | ||
| Corruption flourishes in secrecy. | ||
| It is time right now to make a difference for the women that are behind me right now. | ||
| They have been courageous and fought through this whole thing. | ||
| Whether you're a Republican or you're a Democrat, this one is an easy call. | ||
| You're an American who cares about equal rights and equal protection under the law. | ||
| If you care about these women, if you care about our country, and you care about this issue, this should pass with flying colors. | ||
| I really appreciate everybody being here. | ||
| All right, good morning. | ||
| My name is Brittany Henderson, and I think, in addition to thanking the wonderful congressmen and women who are here today, we need to thank the women and not just the women who are going to speak, but the other women who are standing behind them, along with other lawyers, Sigrid McCauley, and people who have been fighting for a very, very long time for the world to give this kind of attention to an issue that it should have had forever. | ||
| This administration has the opportunity to do what the past administrations did not do. | ||
|
Stand With the Victims
00:09:18
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| This administration can either stand with the victims and stand for the victims, or it can continue to hurt the victims like has happened in the past. | ||
| We aren't here just to ask for transparency, though. | ||
| We're here to ask for protection. | ||
| The women here represent hundreds of other women who we have spoken to, many of whom were trafficked from other countries, from Eastern European countries, where women don't have the rights that we have here. | ||
| Women don't have the protections that we have here. | ||
| And those women are terrified that their names will be released in these files. | ||
| The government won't know that they're victims to redact and protect them. | ||
| So we ask that you please, whoever is going to be in charge of redacting these files and in charge of this transparency, do it in a way that protects the women brave enough to be here, but also protects the women who are terrified that every day when they turn the TV on, something bad is going to happen to them in Ukraine, in Russia, in whatever country they live in, because no one is listening to them there. | ||
| So thank you for being here. | ||
| Thank you for listening, and please protect these women while we seek transparency. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| My name is Anoushka DiGiorgio, and I stand before you today as a survivor of both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghillenne Maxwell. | ||
| I want to thank Congressman Massey and Cana for their role in putting together this very, very important bill. | ||
| Every day of this journey toward healing has come at a profound cost to my mental health. | ||
| But I am here. | ||
| I chose to come because this bill really matters. | ||
| I speak today not only in service of my own recovery from trauma inflicted by Maxwell and Epstein, but to honour the lives, the courage, and sacrifices of Virginia Dufray, Caroline Andreano, and others who could not continue. | ||
| Their voices mattered. | ||
| Their stories must not be forgotten. | ||
| Accountability is what makes a society civilized. | ||
| Equal opportunity and equal consequence for all. | ||
| Consequences are not about punishment alone. | ||
| They exist to deter future harm, to protect vulnerable, and to set a standard of justice. | ||
| If Guillene Maxwell were pardoned, it would undermine all the sacrifices I made to testify and make mockery of mine and all survivors' suffering. | ||
| That is why the Epstein Files Transparency Act is so essential. | ||
| It requires the Department of Justice release all the records related to Epstein and Maxwell investigations, flight logs, immunity deals, internal communications, and even the records surrounding Epstein's detention and death. | ||
| And crucially, it forbids withholding documents simply because of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity. | ||
| This is about ending secrecy wherever abuse of power takes root. | ||
| But transparency alone is not enough. | ||
| Survivors need protection, resources, and legal support. | ||
| If this Congress is serious about justice, then let this moment also affirm your commitment to provide victims with the legal aid they need to confront abusers, to navigate complex systems and to reclaim their power. | ||
| Transparency must be matched by support, or else too many victims will remain silent out of fear and lack of access. | ||
| The statistics demand action. | ||
| Nearly one in five women in America will experience rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. | ||
| Every 74 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted. | ||
| Every nine minutes, that person is a child. | ||
| These are not numbers. | ||
| They are people. | ||
| They are your daughters, your sons, your constituents, your friends. | ||
| Statistically, one in five of your families will face this nightmare. | ||
| The days of sweeping this under the rug are over. | ||
| We, the survivors, say no more. | ||
| I want to help create a world where survivors of sexual abuse and abuse of power can come forward safely. | ||
| And I ask Congress to join me in that effort, not only by passing this bill, but by ensuring that those who step forward have legal support to face their abusers and see justice done. | ||
| When Judge Berman gave Epstein survivors the chance to finally speak, the world listened. | ||
| After so many years, survivors were heard. | ||
| That moment was historic, and so is this moment. | ||
| For me, the turning point was when I had my daughter. | ||
| And on the day she was born, I knew I had a responsibility to protect her and to protect all children. | ||
| I have to use my voice, the voice that had been silenced by fear and shame for so many years. | ||
| Make no mistake, my polished exterior is a shield hiding a wound that still bleeds. | ||
| But through this wound, I have found purpose to be part of lasting change in how we confront exploitation and abuse. | ||
| And to be clear, the only motive for opposing this bill would be to conceal wrongdoing. | ||
| You have a choice. | ||
| Stand with the truth or with the lies that have protected predators for decades. | ||
| I am no longer weak. | ||
| I am no longer powerless. | ||
| And I'm no longer alone. | ||
| And with your vote, neither will the next generation be. | ||
| President Trump, you have so much influence and power in this situation. | ||
| Please use that influence and power to help us because we need it now and this country needs it now. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Hello. | ||
| My name is Annie Farmer and I was 16 years old when I was flown to New Mexico to spend a weekend with Epstein and Maxwell. | ||
| That same year, 1996, my sister, Maria Farmer, reported what happened to me there, along with reporting her own assault at their hands and their theft of sensitive photos of herself, of me, and our younger sister that she had taken for her work as a figurative painter. | ||
| I am now 46 years old. | ||
| 30 years later, we still do not know why that report wasn't properly investigated or why Epstein and his associates were allowed to harm hundreds, if not thousands, of other girls and young women. | ||
| We have never been told whether those images were found when they discovered a large amount of child sexual abuse material on his property. | ||
| As a psychologist, I understand that when the systems meant to protect us recreate the abuse cycle, the betrayal that occurs can be just as damaging as the original trauma. | ||
| This happens when survivors of these crimes are not believed, when our well-being is not weighed as heavily as those who have more resources or more privilege, and when perpetrators of these crimes are given a platform rather than the survivors of them. | ||
| For so many years, it felt like Epstein's criminal behavior was an open secret. | ||
| Not only did many others participate in the abuse, it is clear that many were aware of his interest in girls and very young women and chose to look the other way because it benefited them to do so. | ||
| They wanted access to his circle and his money. | ||
| Their choice to align with his power left those of us who had been harmed by this man and his associates feeling very isolated. | ||
| I could never have imagined being here today and this chorus of support that we have all received. | ||
| I have been sent so many notes and messages from people with no direct connection to this case who have expressed their solidarity with us. | ||
| And I believe that is because, in part, as Anoushka so explained so well, this is an extremely widespread issue of child sexual abuse, of sexual exploitation, of sexual violence. | ||
| This affects almost every family in some way. | ||
| From my conversations with women in these last few days and from all of the support that we've received. | ||
| The previous question is order. | ||
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House Votes on Four Bills
00:02:56
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| The question is on the adoption of the resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. | ||
| A recorded vote is requested. | ||
| Those favoring a recorded vote will rise, a suspicion number having risen. | ||
| A recorded vote is ordered. | ||
| Members will record their votes by electronic device. | ||
| This is a five-minute vote. | ||
|
unidentified
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House votes now on approval of the debate rolls on four bills. | |
| It covers 2026 energy and water spending legislation, as well as three resolutions to overturn Biden-era Bureau of Land Management plans in Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota. | ||
| If the House approves the debate rules for these two resolutions, directing the House Oversight Committee to continue its investigation into the possible mismanagement of the federal government's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, along with a resolution calling for the House Select Subcommittee to investigate the remaining questions surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. | ||
| Important to note here that if the House does approve the debate rules, the resolutions themselves will be considered approved, meaning that the House will not hold general debate on the measures. | ||
| After this, the House expected to vote on a Democratic motion to table a resolution calling for the censure of New Jersey Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, and it would remove her from the Homeland Security Committee. | ||
| It's in response to the Democratic lawmaker being charged for assaulting an ICE officer at a Newark, New Jersey detention facility. | ||
| While members vote here, we're going to show you more of that news conference with lawmakers urging colleagues to sign a discharge petition that would compel the release of all files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. | ||
| We've just learned, though, that about 141 House members have signed that discharge petition, including four Republicans, Thomas Massey, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Nancy Mace. | ||
| This is a five minute vote before ninth grade. | ||
| And I never went back from 14 to 17 years old. | ||
| I went and worked for Jeffrey instead of receiving an education. | ||
| Every day I hoped that he would offer me a real job as one of his assistants or something, something important. | ||
| I would finally have made it big, as like we say, the American dream. | ||
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Could Have Saved So Many Lives
00:05:12
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| That day never came. | ||
| I had no way. | ||
| I had no way out. | ||
| I was until he finally told me that I was too old. | ||
| There are many pieces of my story that I can't remember no matter how hard I try. | ||
| The constant state of wonder causes me so much fear and so much confusion. | ||
| My therapist says that my brain is just trying to protect itself, but it's so hard to begin to heal knowing that there are people out there who know more about my abuse than I do. | ||
| The worst part is that the government is still in possession right now of the documents and information about that could help me remember and get over all of this maybe and help me heal. | ||
| They have documents with my name on them that were confiscated from Jeffrey Epstein's house and could help me put the pieces of my own life back together. | ||
| But I don't have any of it. | ||
| And I know the same is true for many of these women. | ||
| We are here to support this bill today, not only for transparency, but for the American people. | ||
| But if the government is going to release these documents to the public describing the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and others, the least that they can do is give me my documents that they have about me. | ||
| The other survivors deserve the same respect from our government. | ||
| While our identifying information must be redacted to the public, it is equally important to provide the victims themselves with unredacted information. | ||
| I will never forget when the FBI agents showed up in my door in 2008. | ||
| Jeffrey Epstein hired a lawyer to represent me, or more like to represent him, I like to say. | ||
| I couldn't ask any questions, and I had no idea what was going on. | ||
| I was terrified. | ||
| Until today, I think most of us are still terrified. | ||
| I thought somebody was going to kill me. | ||
| I thought something was going to happen to my sister or my mother. | ||
| It went further out to even maybe thinking something would happen in Brazil with my family. | ||
| And then one day, the lawyer said that everything was just going to go away. | ||
| Like nothing happened. | ||
| I didn't need to testify. | ||
| When I asked him why, he gave no explanation. | ||
| That was it. | ||
| So why? | ||
| Why was I never called to testify then? | ||
| We could have saved so many women. | ||
| We could have saved so many lives from being abused. | ||
| Why did he get away with it in 2008? | ||
| Why was he able to go on in the abuse with hundreds of girls after the Florida investigation? | ||
| Why didn't they let me testify to help stop him? | ||
| Our government could have saved so many women, but Jeffrey Epstein was too important and those women didn't matter. | ||
| Why? | ||
| Well, we matter now. | ||
| We are here today, and we are speaking, and we are not going to stop speaking. | ||
| Today, I stand here with the women who have really helped me to find the strength to come out and come forward to share my story for the very first time. | ||
| Together, we are stronger than ever. | ||
| While she may not be with us, Virginia Roberts, we will continue to use our voices to strengthen yours always. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Hi, my name is Courtney Wilde. | ||
| I just wanted to take a second and just have a moment of silence for all the women survivors that aren't here with us today that passed away due to anxiety, depression, trying to keep up with this case. | ||
| A moment of silence, please. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| My name is Courtney Wilde. | ||
| I was only 14 years old when I was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein by a 13-year-old friend of mine. | ||
| The details of the abuse that he inflicted on me for years is not important today. | ||
| In 2028, I was cooperating with the federal government. | ||
| The nays are 208 and one voting present. | ||
| The resolution is adopted. | ||
| Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. | ||
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Censure Of MacIver
00:06:19
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| Pursuant to the adoption of the House Resolution 672, House Resolution 668 and House Resolution 605 are adopted. | ||
| The house will be in order. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| What purpose does a gentleman from Louisiana seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of the House and offer the resolution that was previously noticed. | ||
| The clerk will report the resolution. | ||
| House Resolution 539. | ||
| Whereas on May 9th, 2025, Representative MacIver took part in an incident at the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility located in Newark, New Jersey. | ||
| Whereas Representative LaMonica MacIver of New Jersey, as a result of her actions on May 9, 2025, has been charged in a three-count indictment by a federal grand jury for assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with federal officers. | ||
| Whereas Representative MacGyver is alleged to have challenged guidance from a federal officer regarding access to the secure immigration detention facility. | ||
| Whereas Representative MacIver is alleged to have interfered with Homeland Security investigations, HSI officials from making an arrest of an unauthorized visitor. | ||
| Whereas Representative MacIver is alleged to have slammed the House is not in order. | ||
| Clerk will continue whereas Representative MacIver is alleged to have slammed her forearm into the body and restrained an HSI officer by forcibly grabbing him. | ||
| Whereas Representative MacIver is alleged to have further interfered with an immigration and customs enforcement deportation officer engaged in the performance of his official duties. | ||
| Members, the House is not in order. | ||
| Whereas Representative MacIver is alleged to have further interfered with an immigration and customs enforcement deportation officer engaged in the performance of his official duties. | ||
| Whereas body camera and other video evidence support allegations made within the federal indictment. | ||
| Whereas such actions constitute a violation of section 111A1 of Title 18, United States Code relating to assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with a federal officer. | ||
| Whereas Clause 1 of Rule 23 of the Rules of the House of Representatives provides a member, delegate, resident commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect credibly on the House. | ||
| Whereas such actions of a member of the House of Representatives do not reflect credibly on the House, and whereas Representative MacIver's continued service on the Committee on Homeland Security, which is charged with oversight of federal immigration enforcement and other national security matters, would represent a significant conflict of interest. | ||
| Now therefore be it resolved. | ||
| Section one, censure of Representative LaMonica MacIver. | ||
| Representative La Monica MacIver, one, is censured. | ||
| Two, shall forthwith present herself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure. | ||
| And three, is censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker. | ||
| Section two, removal from the Committee on Homeland Security. | ||
| The following name member be and is hereby removed from the following standing committee of the House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security, Mrs. McIver. | ||
| The resolution presents a question of privilege of the House. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentlewoman from Massachusetts seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk. | ||
| The clerk will report the motion. | ||
| Ms. Clark of Massachusetts moves to lay the resolution on the table. | ||
| The question is on the motion to table. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| In the opinion of the chair, the no's have it. | ||
| Motion is not adopted. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I request to call the yays and nays. | ||
| The yays and nays are requested. | ||
| Those favoring a vote for the yays and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, the yays and nays are orders. | ||
| Members will record their votes by electronic device. | ||
| This is a five-minute vote. | ||
|
Congresswoman's Plea
00:03:48
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|
unidentified
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And votes now on a Democratic motion to table or basically kill a resolution censuring Congresswoman LaMonica McIber and removing her from the House Homeland Security Committee. | |
| This is in response to the Democratic lawmaker being charged with assaulting an ICE officer at a Newark, New Jersey detention facility. | ||
| Now, also, if you look closely at your screen, you can see there on the left, members lined up on the floor to sign the discharge petition for the Epstein files. | ||
| So far, four Republican members, as we know, have signed that petition. | ||
| During this vote, we'll take you now back to the news conference earlier today with Epstein survivors. | ||
| Brought me over to Jeffrey Epstein's house in Palm Beach in 2003. | ||
| I had a terrible home life, but I was such an innocent kid then. | ||
| I always did my best in school, and I had such a positive outlook on life. | ||
| Until that day that I met Jeffrey, I have never been more scared in my life than I was that first time that he hurt me. | ||
| I remember crying the entire way home, thinking about how I couldn't ever tell anyone about what actually happened in that house. | ||
| This guy was so rich and had so many pictures with so many famous people, and no one would have ever believed me if I told them. | ||
| I want to thank Congressman Roe and Congressman Thomas Massey for having me here today. | ||
| It was really hard for me to find my voice and to become strong enough to speak about my abuse. | ||
| I didn't come forward until 2019, and even when it was like I was afraid of a ghost. | ||
| I know that I was just a little kid, but sometimes I still feel like it is my fault that this happened. | ||
| Being given the opportunity to speak at the United States Capitol building about something that is so important, not just to me and the women before you, but to the entire country. | ||
| Together, we can finally make a change, and that is thanks to the people like these two congressmen and their teams who actually care about the victims. | ||
| If you are a member of Congress and you are listening to all of us speak here today, please really listen to us. | ||
| Please vote for this bill to be passed. | ||
| Please recognize how important it is for transparency relating to Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, this does not matter. | ||
| This is not about sides. | ||
| You are an American and you are a person who has chosen to serve in an elected position to stand up for those you represent who cannot always stand up for themselves. | ||
| We are those people. | ||
| We are the Americans that you promised to protect. | ||
| And we need your help. | ||
| Please, President Trump, pass this bill and help us. | ||
| Make us feel like our voices are finally being heard. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Good afternoon. | ||
| My name is Haley Robson. | ||
| I was a 16-year-old high school student athlete who made good grades and had high aspirations for college when I was recruited and asked by a classmate of mine alongside with a 20-year-old male if I wanted to give an old rich guy a massage. | ||
|
A 16-Year-Old's Trauma
00:04:00
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| But what high school girl would not want to do that? | ||
| That day changed my life forever. | ||
| And when I got into the massage room, Jeffrey Epstein undressed and asked me to do things to him. | ||
| My eyes welled up with tears, and I have never been more scared in my life. | ||
| When it was over, he paid me $200 and requested in exchange that I bring a girl each time to make another $200. | ||
| I told him I did not want to do that, and then he gave me an ultimatum: either you come here and massage me when I call you, or you bring me friends of yours to massage, and I will give you $200 per girl for each time she comes. | ||
| I felt and hoped to never hear from him again, but he called me every day. | ||
| He was so wealthy and powerful, and he would not let me go. | ||
| I felt I had no choice. | ||
| If I disobeyed him, I knew something bad would happen. | ||
| So, knowing I did not want to be sexually abused, I'm sorry, I started to bring him other girls from my high school, and he paid me $200, $200 for bringing them. | ||
| I just hoped each time it would be the last time. | ||
| One day, the stepmom of one of the girls brought him and called the police on Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| The police then called me, called me in for questioning. | ||
| I had told them the truth, despite the fact that I was a teenager and a minor, and I was able to tell the police the names of all the other victims. | ||
| The police treated me like a criminal. | ||
| I had, by this time, had turned 18. | ||
| I had been with Jeffrey since I was 16 and for two years. | ||
| So they had told me I distribute, I distributed to the, so they told me I was going to be arrested. | ||
| My name was then distributed to the press as a co-conspirator of my abuser, who I detested. | ||
| My entire world was crashing in around me, and I started being threatened and bullied, till this day, still receiving death threats. | ||
| I was singled out and for many years had to suffer a smear campaign of lies about me because of the way that I was portrayed by the press. | ||
| The press made me out to be a predator when I was just a 16-year-old little girl who was sexually abused by a powerful man and an evil man. | ||
| For years, I had no friends. | ||
| My boyfriend was murdered, and there was nowhere to turn. | ||
| The government, after investigating more, learned that I was true a victim, but the damage was done and it was too late. | ||
| There was no way to undo the harm the press had caused me. | ||
| In 2019, I met Brad and Brittany, I met Brad Edwards and Brittany Henderson. | ||
| They changed my life and they believed in me and have helped me to finally heal. | ||
| Healing is a process and I may never get there. | ||
| But the passage of this bill requiring the government to produce all the evidence that it has gathered on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghelene Maxwell is a huge component of healing for me and for the many other women who have suffered for so long. | ||
| For many reasons. | ||
| First, we and the rest of the world need answers. | ||
| Why was he so protected? | ||
| And why didn't anyone ever care to stop him? | ||
| It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that if he is spending thousands of dollars a day paying high school girls he abuses and other access to and had a lot of access to cash. | ||
| I learned through my attorneys in the JPM JP Morgan class action case that there were years when his staff withdrew over a million dollars in cash a year. | ||
| Was that not a big enough red flag? | ||
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Mr. Speaker Calls Up HJ Res 104
00:07:13
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| There were riot transfers to other victims and the government did not protect us. | ||
| The banks did not protect us. | ||
| The motion is adopted and with objection to reconsider is laid on the table. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| House will be in order. | ||
| Members are asked to take your conversations off the floor. | ||
| Gentlemen, what purpose does the gentlemen from Arkansas seek recognition? | ||
|
unidentified
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Mr. President. | |
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 672, I call up HJ Res 104 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. | ||
| The clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. | ||
| House Joint Resolution 104. | ||
| A joint resolution provided for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Miles City Field Office record of decision and approval resource management planned amendment. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, please remove your conversations from the floor so we can conduct the business of the House. | ||
| Pursuant to House Resolution 672, the joint resolution is considered red. | ||
| The joint resolution shall be debated for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, and the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Newgoose, each will control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on HJ Res 104. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| I rise in strong support of HJ Res 104, sponsored by Representative Downing of Montana. | ||
| This Congressional Review Act resolution would permanently repeal the Bureau of Land Management's Misguided Resource Management Plan amendment for the Miles City Field Office in Montana, finalized under the Biden administration. | ||
| This resource management plan or RMP amendment locked up 11.7 million acres of land and mineral estate. | ||
|
Debating RMPs
00:15:44
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| To put that in perspective, that is an area roughly the size of the states of Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, and New Jersey combined. | ||
| RMPs are meant to be collaborative approaches to land management that balance multiple uses, including energy and mineral production, outdoor recreation, grazing, and timber harvesting. | ||
| When done correctly, RMPs help guide public land management in a way that provides fuel, food, and fiber for the nation and conserves our natural resources. | ||
| RMPs manage the resources that are the backbone of Western rural economies and support thousands of good-paying jobs. | ||
| That's what makes the Miles City Resource Management Plan amendment so egregious. | ||
| This RMP amendment virtually ended future coal leasing across Montana's entire Powder River basin, dealing a severe blow to America's energy security and threatening Montana jobs and economic growth. | ||
| The national security and economic importance of this region cannot be overstated. | ||
| Montana holds nearly 30 percent of our nation's coal reserves. | ||
| In total, Coal from the Powder River Basin produced in Montana and Wyoming makes up about 85 percent of federal coal production and 40 percent of overall coal production in the entire United States. | ||
| Coal is reliable, it's affordable, and we know we're going to need this critical resource of baseload power as electricity demands continue to skyrocket. | ||
| If your state has coal, we should be developing it, not burying it under bureaucracy. | ||
| And no one produces coal cleaner or more responsibly than the United States. | ||
| Nobody understands this better than President Trump, who is reversing the war on American energy and ushering in a new age of energy dominance. | ||
| He's putting Montana over Moscow and the Powder River Basin over the PRC. | ||
| By passing the CRA today, we're advancing President Trump's executive orders on unleashing American energy and reinvigorating America's beautiful clean coal industry. | ||
| The CRA will immediately reinstate future coal leasing and open access to 37.8 billion short tons of coal, enough to meet U.S. demand for the next 73 years. | ||
| In addition, passing Representative Downing's CRA will unleash Montana's coal industry and generate millions of dollars in revenue for the federal government and the state of Montana. | ||
| According to the Congressional Budget Office, this CRA will generate $16 million in revenue for the federal government over the next decade. | ||
| This resolution also protects approximately $46 million in annual revenue for Montana's K-12 public education system. | ||
| These estimates are conservative as they don't account for the thousands of good-paying jobs supported by Montana's coal industry and the broad positive economic effects of producing energy here at home. | ||
| The CRA isn't just about Montana. | ||
| Energy security is a national security, and Montana's mining industry plays a vital role in ensuring America and our allies maintain a strategic energy advantage over our adversaries. | ||
| We can be sure of one thing. | ||
| The people who benefit from America not harnessing our abundant natural resources are currently sitting in Beijing, China, and where they are building new coal-fired power plants at a rate of one per week. | ||
| In this global energy race, we cannot afford to lose. | ||
| Unleashing American energy should not be a partisan issue. | ||
| Harnessing and unleashing American energy brings down electricity prices for families and boosts real wages for hardworking Americans who keep our economy running. | ||
| This CRA is about grid reliability, energy affordability, and ensuring that states across the country have access to dispatchable baseload power, especially during extreme weather and peak demand. | ||
| It will create jobs, generate millions of dollars in revenue, and provide for our national security. | ||
| I think and commend the entire Montana delegation, Representative Downing and Zinke, and Senators Danes and Sheehy for their tireless work and leadership on this issue. | ||
| I encourage my colleagues to support the CRA and reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| Gentlemen from Arkansas Reserves, gentlemen of Colorado, is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we're on the floor this week debating three Congressional Review Act resolutions that would overturn balanced, forward-looking resource management plans, or RMPs, that have been carefully developed over the past four years. | ||
| Now, with all due respect to my friend and colleague, the Chairman, I heard a lot of slogans, a couple references to Moscow. | ||
| I will just tell you, the CRA before this body is very simple. | ||
| It is an effort by House Republicans to do something that has never been done before in the history of the Congressional Review Act, which is to overturn a resource management plan. | ||
| Why? | ||
| You might ask, Mr. Speaker, do Republicans intend to take this unprecedented step? | ||
| Simple. | ||
| Because they'd like to open up millions of acres in Montana, in North Dakota, and elsewhere to coal extraction. | ||
| That's it. | ||
| Very simple. | ||
| We can probably dispense with the, I guess there's an hour of debate that were allocated for purposes of these CRAs. | ||
| It doesn't really get more complicated than that. | ||
| Balanced resource management plans that were developed in consultation with the communities and the states at issue. | ||
| And this Republican Congress has decided that it is of the utmost priority to, via legislative action, overturn resource management plans that, by the way, Mr. Speaker, could simply be reversed with a phone call to the Secretary of the Interior. | ||
| Last time I checked, the Secretary of the Interior happens to be the former governor of North Dakota. | ||
| So insofar as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are so invested in overturning this resource management plan, perhaps they should call the former governor of North Dakota, who now works two miles from the U.S. Capitol, as the Secretary of the Interior and ask the agency to follow the process by which a resource management plan is historically reconsidered. | ||
| Instead, we're here on the House floor debating a CRA on the resource management plan, a giveaway to some of the biggest mining and oil companies on the planet. | ||
| That's how House Republicans have decided to spend our time on the floor today. | ||
| There are a lot of priorities, Mr. Speaker, that my constituents back in Colorado believe this House should consider. | ||
| Reversing the draconian and cruel health care cuts that House Republicans pushed through just a mere seven weeks ago. | ||
| That is at the top of the list. | ||
| I can tell you what's not on the list. | ||
| CRA resolutions to overturn resource management plans so that more coal extraction and mining can be done in Montana. | ||
| That's not on the list of priorities of my constituents. | ||
| And I suspect that's the case for the vast majority of Americans. | ||
| With that, Mr. Speaker, I'll reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| Gentlemen from Colorado Reserves, gentlemen from Arkansas is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, all Americans should have on the top of their priority list energy security and national security. | ||
| And when we block off millions of acres of land from any kind of energy development, that's something that should come right up to the top on priorities. | ||
| I heard mention of balance. | ||
| To think that there was balance in the RMP that the Biden administration put out, especially on this land in Montana, is no kind of balance that I've ever seen. | ||
| It's totally unbalanced. | ||
| It locks things down, shuts things off, and gives the American people To deal with the ramifications of it with higher energy prices, with less reliable energy, and also less national security. | ||
| So, with that, I yield four minutes to the gentleman from Montana, who knows more about Montana than, well, I guess he and Representative Zinke know more about Montana than anybody else in the House. | ||
| Here, he's the lead sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Downing. | ||
| The gentleman from Montana is recognized for four minutes. | ||
| I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for yielding me time. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my resolution, HJ Res 104. | ||
| For four years, President Biden and his autopen waged war on American energy. | ||
| He targeted the very foundations of our energy independence. | ||
| No industry felt the brunt of the administration's attack more than the coal industry. | ||
| Coal mines, coal-fired power plants, and the communities they support were pushed to the brink of collapse. | ||
| The 2024 amendment to the Miles City Resource Management Plan would have cut off access to 30 percent of the nation's coal reserves. | ||
| 30 percent. | ||
| The vast majority of Americans rely on coal for at least part of their electricity every single day. | ||
| And at no point did Biden's Bureau of Land Management stop to consider the $46 million in lost revenue to the state of Montana, money that helps pay for K-12 education. | ||
| Now, make no mistake, this amendment was not a moderate, science-based decision. | ||
| This was the heavy hand of big government crushing an entire industry in the name of a radical Green New Deal agenda. | ||
| It was the inevitable result of an anti-human, America-last ideology that has been knocked on its heels in the wake of President Trump's election. | ||
| Today, I am thankful that we have the opportunity to reverse this rule before any permanent damage could be done. | ||
| Today, we are advancing President Trump's executive order to expand American energy production and achieve energy dominance. | ||
| We are standing up for the people of Coal Strip, for the workers of eastern Montana, for the thousands of Montanans whose livelihoods depend on responsible coal production. | ||
| We are standing up for affordable electricity, for state and local governments that rely on revenue from federal leases, and for a common sense energy strategy that does not depend on imports from adversaries like China. | ||
| This resolution is not about politics. | ||
| It's about putting working families before bureaucrats. | ||
| It is about keeping the lights on in America, keeping paychecks flowing in Montana. | ||
| When the federal government acts recklessly, it is the responsibility of Congress to step in and course correct. | ||
| That is exactly what HJ Res 104 does. | ||
| The war on coal must end. | ||
| It must end here with a vote to overturn this dangerous and short-sighted rule. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to vote yes on HJ Res 104 and send a clear message that energy security, economic stability, and the voices of rural America will not be ignored. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I yield back. | |
| The gentleman yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Colorado is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield to the distinguished ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee as much time as he may consume. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the gentleman from Colorado. | ||
| Mr. Chairman, I strongly oppose all three of these Congressional Review Act resolutions on the floor because the reality is these would overhaul years of public input. | ||
| They would silence tribal voices, erase science-based planning, all so that this administration can hand millions of acres of our public lands over to the fossil fuel industry for extraction. | ||
| Now, public lands should be our country's proudest legacy. | ||
| They're our natural heritage, a national treasure. | ||
| And the agencies responsible for stewarding them, like the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, diligently manage these resources for the future through the development, the careful development of these resource management plans and forest lands. | ||
| The BLM plans, or the RMPs, are carefully crafted to establish safeguards for wildlife, recreation areas, watersheds, and to identify suitable areas for energy development as well. | ||
| And that includes also grazing and logging and other commercial activities. | ||
| They have to balance all of it in these RMPs. | ||
| And it's based on a robust input from communities, stakeholders, the public, on government-to-government consultation with the impacted tribes as well. | ||
| But the Republican majority has proven time and again that they don't want any of that public process. | ||
| They simply want to hand things over to big oil and big coal. | ||
| And this week they are right back at it. | ||
| They're making us vote on legislation that would turn public lands, the management of public lands, upside down, throwing it into chaos and all to just score that quick win for their fossil fuel buddies because the existing plans don't give away the store the way they would like to do. | ||
| And it doesn't matter that this might upend the system that grants land ownership to Alaska Native veterans of the Vietnam War, which is what one of these RMPs does, or that tribal governments have spent years working in good faith with the federal government to develop land management plans that both allow for energy development and protect subsistence hunting and fishing resources. | ||
| That's what they're blowing up with these CRAs. | ||
| Not to mention that if these CRAs are signed into law, the validity of every single permit, lease, and federal approval that's been issued based on one of these RMPs would suddenly be called into question and subject to litigation. | ||
| So I will remind my colleagues once again, they don't have to go down this road. | ||
| The gentleman from Colorado mentioned that the CRA has never been used to overturn a resource management plan. | ||
| There are perfectly valid ways for achieving the same goals in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. | ||
| It's what the Biden administration did to update these plans, and it's what the Trump administration has already announced it intends to do. | ||
| And so I certainly expect to disagree with the outcomes and the objectives of the Trump administration's efforts to amend these RMPs. | ||
| If they followed the formal process, at least, though, we would have a chance to make our case in that process, and it wouldn't imperil existing permits and leases. | ||
|
Strong Support for CRA Resolutions
00:15:32
|
||
| And most importantly, it would require community input and tribal consultation. | ||
| So I strongly urge my colleagues, let's not continue this race to the bottom. | ||
| You have already thrown so many norms out the window. | ||
| You have already disregarded Democrats in all of your legislation. | ||
| You've started this radical appropriations process where it's party line, Republican only. | ||
| So many norms being trashed. | ||
| And now, for the first time, you're going to do this using the CRA to resource management plans. | ||
| Stop the race to the bottom. | ||
| Vote against this CRA resolution package. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields back. | |
| The gentleman from Colorado Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out that these CRAs do have tribal consultation. | ||
| If there wasn't tribal consultation, it was during the development of the RMP. | ||
| In fact, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter from the Navajo Transitional Energy Company in support of the CRA repealing the Miles City RMP amendment. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| The Navajo Transitional Energy Company is the third largest coal producer in the United States and operates three mines in the Powder River Basin. | ||
| They were strongly opposed to the previous RMP amendment and support this CRA to, quote, preserve family sustaining wages for miners, engineers, and support staff across Montana, end quote. | ||
| The NTDC also stated that the RMP, quote, prohibits the leasing of federal coal, leaving skilled workers questioning the sustainability of the current economic environment. | ||
| Passing the CRA resolution sends a clear message to families, small businesses, and energy partners that Montana is open for responsible development, end quote. | ||
| With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from Wyoming, Ms. Hageman. | ||
| The gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| I rise today in strong support of the Congressional Review Act joint resolutions that we are bringing forward to overturn the Biden administration's disastrous and radical resource management plans, beginning with HJ Res 104 to repeal the Miles City RMP in Montana to ensure continued access to the Powder River Basin. | ||
| These Biden-era plans lacked balanced resource management and in fact are mineral withdrawals in disguise, which runs contrary to federal law. | ||
| They lock up America's resources, kill jobs, and undermine energy security. | ||
| The Miles City Resource Management Plan Amendment, combined with the Buffalo RMP amendment in Wyoming, bans future coal leasing across the Powder River Basin, which holds roughly 30 percent of our nation's coal reserves. | ||
| The Powder River Basin does not just power Montana and Wyoming, however, but our nation at large. | ||
| The Miles City Plan strips away access to 37.8 billion short tons of coal, which is enough to meet U.S. demand for the next 73 years. | ||
| The consequences are vast, including higher energy costs for American families, the loss of $46 million annually in Montana state revenue that supports public education, and the elimination of countless high-paying jobs that sustain rural communities. | ||
| Wyoming knows this fight all too well, where the Buffalo Field Office was hit with the same environmentalist-driven lawsuits and agency overreach, with bureaucrats pushing no-leasing alternatives that amount to nothing more than backdoor energy bans. | ||
| To this day, I am still baffled and horrified that for four years, our government intentionally tried to impose energy poverty on the American people, all to please the vocal but minority climate lobby. | ||
| When the Powder River Basin turns off, so does America. | ||
| Energy security is national security. | ||
| The Biden administration's RMPA undermines both. | ||
| By restricting access to our own resources, it pushes America towards greater dependence on foreign nations, including our adversaries. | ||
| I applaud Congressional Downing of Montana for introducing this joint resolution, which aligns with President Trump's executive orders to reinvigorate America's clean coal and unleash American energy, to restore strength to our energy policy and put the needs of its constituents and all Americans first. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to support this resolution to restore American energy dominance. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield the balance of my time. | ||
| Jennifer from Arkansas Reserves, Colorado. | ||
| Jennifer, Colorado. | ||
| I thank the Speaker. | ||
| With respect to the Miles City Resource Management Plan, the update, rather, it's just important contextually to say that it was a very extensive and inclusive public comment period. | ||
| BLM provided a 90-day public comment period, two public meetings, a 30-day public period, and a 60-day review period for the governor. | ||
| BLM directly contacted over 40 private landowners, all according to BLM, to help refine and guide development of that RMP amendment, and that robust public input was instrumental in shaping a plan that reflects the values of the communities it impacts. | ||
| But I want to go back to, I guess, a core point that the ranking member articulated previously, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And I wonder, perhaps the chairman, you know, it's a fairly empty chamber here. | ||
| I don't see any other members. | ||
| Maybe he might engage in a bit of discourse here and a colloquy. | ||
| I'm trying to understand why the CRA is necessary, given that the Interior Department retains the ability to amend and modify these resource management plans in any way that the Secretary deems necessary. | ||
| And I wonder, Mr. Speaker, if I might inquire through you as to whether the Chair could help us better understand why they've decided to pursue the CRA rather than just simply amending the resource management plan. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| I'll reserve, you know, in response to that colloquy. | ||
| General from Colorado Reserves. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I don't think my microphone is on. | ||
| I can hear you. | ||
| All right. | ||
| You know, in regards to my colleagues' requests for a colloquy, I'll just say that it's necessary to do a CRA because the previous administration issued bad resource management plans. | ||
| Had they not issued bad resource management plans, then we wouldn't be here today. | ||
| The thing about a CRA is if Congress passes this law, then another administration can't go back and put it in place. | ||
| I think that's why my colleagues fear this process of using the CRA, because then it would be up to future Congress to go back and undo what we do in this Congress if we actually pass a Congressional Review Act. | ||
| And again, we're here today because the Biden administration decided to unbalance the scales and put onerous burdens on states and on our natural resources and on the ability to produce our energy here. | ||
| So they started it by issuing the bad RMP. | ||
| Hopefully we're going to finish it by passing a CRA. | ||
| And I recognize and yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado, Ms. Boebert. | ||
| Gentlewoman is recognized. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to Chairman Westerman for bringing this important issue up today. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of HJ Res 104, which nullifies the Bureau of Land Management's restrictive Miles City Field Office Resource Management Plan. | ||
| This resolution is a critical step toward restoring American energy dominance, a cornerstone of President Trump's agenda to secure our nation's economic and energy future. | ||
| The BLM's rule stifles resource development in Montana, limiting access to our abundant natural resources and threatening the livelihoods of our ranchers, energy workers, and small businesses. | ||
| By imposing burdensome land management policies, it undermines the very communities that power our great nation. | ||
| HJ Res 104 aligns directly with President Trump's vision to unleash American energy by removing regulatory barriers and prioritizing domestic production. | ||
| This resolution ensures our lands are used to bolster energy security, not obstruct it. | ||
| By passing HJ Res 104, we reject bureaucratic overreach and champion affordable, reliable energy for all Americans. | ||
| Let's stand with President Trump's mission to make America energy dominant, protect jobs, and empower our communities. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution, and I yield back. | ||
| Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| First and foremost, facts matter. | ||
| Under President Trump, Americans are paying more for their electricity than ever before. | ||
| Ever before. | ||
| Energy costs right now are higher than they have ever been. | ||
| They're increasing at twice the rate of inflation. | ||
| So, you know, spare us lectures about energy costs as Republicans preside over an economy in which everything is getting more expensive. | ||
| Health care more expensive, groceries more expensive, energy costs going through the roof. | ||
| Seriously? | ||
| Their answer to all of this? | ||
|
unidentified
|
More coal. | |
| That's it. | ||
| That's the sum total of the Republican response to the cost of living crisis in the United States of America today, from Arkansas to Colorado to Minnesota and everywhere in between. | ||
| More coal. | ||
| That's their prescription, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I can tell you in Colorado, we certainly don't think that's a prudent approach. | ||
| And I will also say, I regret that the Speaker didn't indulge me in the colloquy that I had hoped I could engage in with the chairman, whom of course I greatly respect. | ||
| But he did reveal the plot here, Mr. Speaker, in his answer as to what the impetus was for the CRA. | ||
| Because of course it's not as simple as amending or modifying the resource management plan. | ||
| The reason House Republicans are pursuing this tool is to prevent not just this Interior Department, but any Interior Department into perpetuity from issuing a resource management plan that is in any way substantially similar to the one that is at issue here. | ||
| That's what this is about. | ||
| That's this effort. | ||
| So I don't think my colleagues on my side of the aisle will be confused by the chairman's arguments. | ||
| But just in case, I want to make sure it's crystal clear for the record that a vote in favor of this CRA is not a vote to modify or amend the resource management plan. | ||
| It's a vote to prevent the agency and sub-agency, in the case of the BLM, from promulgating any resource management plan that remotely tries to do something similar to what's been done here. | ||
| And I understand my colleague, again, on the other side of the aisle, they have their ideological reasons for pursuing that. | ||
| More coal. | ||
| Again, some total, two words. | ||
| In my view, I think most Americans would think and agree that this isn't how we should be spending our time. | ||
| And with that, I reserve. | ||
| Chairman Reserves. | ||
| General from Arkansas. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I do have ideological reasons for wanting to lower energy costs across America. | ||
| Last time I checked at the gas pump, the energy prices are going down there, but we are seeing a huge demand for energy across this country. | ||
| It's being driven even more by AI and data centers with unimaginable amounts of energy required for these facilities. | ||
| I heard about a data center that's been announced that would require the amount of electricity to run the city of Denver five times over in a year. | ||
| One data center needing that much energy. | ||
| We are seeing electric prices increase because there's more demand for electricity, and we've had a horrible energy policy in the past, and we haven't kept up with the demand. | ||
| The Chinese, on the other hand, are building a new coal-fired plant at the rate of about two per day, or every two days they're building a new coal-fired plant, which is hard to even imagine, but they're trying to beat us in this race on AI, and they're not going to let energy be the deciding factor on that. | ||
| I now yield five minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Sauber. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| Recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, thank you. | ||
| I rise today in strong support of these three CRA resolutions that reverse the Biden administration's Bureau of Land Management resource management plans that attack Alaska, attack North Dakota, and attack Montana, locking up millions of acres of land from responsible oil and gas and coal development. | ||
| Last year, on their way out of the office, the Biden administration finalized these three resource management plans that not only threaten the hardworking miners and energy workers across Alaska, North Dakota, and Montana, but also millions of dollars in direct state and federal taxes and royalties. | ||
| These dangerous policies also jeopardize the entire United States and our access to reliable, affordable energy. | ||
| These resource management plans were just another example of the Biden administration's anywhere but America, any worker but American energy agenda. | ||
| They just couldn't help themselves launching one last attack on American energy, on our energy independence, even on their way out of office. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, over the past four years, my colleagues in this chamber have heard me speak out against the Biden administration's attempt after attempt to attack my constituents and shut down northern Minnesota. | ||
|
Reversing Biden's Bad Policy
00:11:43
|
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| At every single turn, the Biden administration tried to shut down responsible mining in northern Minnesota, home to the largest untapped copper nickel find in the entire world. | ||
| What the administration did to northern Minnesota, they also did to Alaska, North Dakota, and Montana. | ||
| The CRAs before us today will reverse the Biden administration's anti-responsible resource development policies and will allow responsible mining, oil and gas projects to continue through the regulatory and environmental review process, allowing them to fight another day. | ||
| Most importantly, these resolutions will prevent future anti-American energy administrations from taking similar actions in the future. | ||
| I want to thank my colleagues from Alaska, North Dakota, and Montana for introducing these important resolutions to reverse the disastrous Biden administration's policies. | ||
| And I urge my colleagues to join and support me today. | ||
| You know what this, the prior administration, Mr. Speaker, they were the most anti-mining, anti-oil and gas administration in the history of this country. | ||
| I was just up in the great state of Alaska in a national refuge. | ||
| They're extracting oil safely, responsibly, that Alaskans need. | ||
| They're going to put an LNG pipeline, the safest, best pipeline in the world, for Alaskans and our country and our allies. | ||
| It's going to take a lot of years to fix the disastrous policies of the last administration. | ||
| Remember, that Secretary of Interior banned mining in northeastern Minnesota, and when asked in the Senate, why did you stop these critical minerals from coming forward, her answer was, I didn't think there were critical minerals there. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, it was the biggest find in the world. | |
| We have an opportunity right now, today, to start changing these disastrous Biden policies and get this economy turning. | ||
| We must become American and energy independent and critical mineral dominant. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We need to. | |
| COVID taught us so much. | ||
| We cannot rely on foreign adversarial nations for our much-needed strategic national security supply. | ||
| Our supply chains need to be coming from American workers, American development, American communities, American technology, American workers, American families. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We can do it. | |
| We have to have the political will to do it. | ||
| And these three CRAs are worth voting for. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And I commend my colleagues from these three states. | |
| And I have a suspicion there might be several more coming in the near future because of the disastrous decisions of that prior administration. | ||
|
unidentified
|
There's a breath of fresh air across America right now. | |
| As the chairman just talked about, the reduction in the gas prices. | ||
| That's real money for the working-class, middle-class Americans when they can save $15 or $20 at the gas pump. | ||
| That's real money when they can save money on their natural gas or propane to heat their house. | ||
| That's real money for the constituents that I serve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
These are good. | |
| This time has expired. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is a good policy, and I urge my colleagues to vote, and I yield back. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. | ||
| I'm prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| Gentleman Reserves. | ||
| Gentleman from Colorado recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| You know, I was trying to keep track. | ||
| I lost track at some point, but my colleague from Minnesota, I think, said the word Biden eight times, if I'm not mistaken. | ||
| You couple that with references to the prior administration that jumps up to 12 or 13. | ||
| It's unclear to me when Republicans are going to stop complaining and actually do something to address the challenges that face our country. | ||
| They spend more time talking about Joe Biden than they do about reducing costs. | ||
| Every sentence from that side of the aisle, Biden, a verb, an adjective, and more coal. | ||
| That's essentially the sum total of every sentence. | ||
| And by the way, my colleagues, I suspect, are watching from their offices. | ||
| Know that more of my colleagues are going to come to the floor here to engage in debate on, I don't know, how many CRAs are they putting on the floor today? | ||
| Three, four, five. | ||
| That's all we do around here is CRAs. | ||
| So I encourage them as they're watching, please, when you come to the floor, maybe spend some time talking about your affirmative vision for the country and not so much time talking about the prior president. | ||
| You are in charge. | ||
| Republicans have a majority in the House, a majority in the Senate and the presidency. | ||
| And we spend all of our time on the House floor doing CRAs, resolutions of disapproval. | ||
| The weakest vehicle that this House could consider. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I know you're aware of this, but the House has been on vacation for like the last six weeks. | ||
| Republicans recessed us out of session early. | ||
| Six-week vacation for Republicans. | ||
| Finally, we're back in Washington, September, 10 months into the Trump presidency. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And this is how you choose to spend your time. | |
| Resolutions of disapproval, reversing resource management plans for North Dakota? | ||
| Of all of the concerns of the people in Arkansas or Colorado, this is the priority. | ||
| It's a shame, Mr. Speaker, deeply disappointing and disheartening, I suspect, to most Americans, those who might be watching C-SPAN, to learn that this august body in the world's greatest democracy is wasting its time debating resource management plans issued by the prior administration. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Reserves? | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Gentlemen from Arkansas, our reserves. | ||
| Colorado? | ||
| I think, Mr. Speaker, I will simply close. | ||
| I'll give a brief closing because, as I said, this is, I guess, as I think all we're doing today are these resolutions of disapproval. | ||
| So I'm going to have more opportunities apparently to make this argument. | ||
| But I would encourage my colleagues to dispense with what, in my view, are very intellectually dishonest arguments about these resource management plans. | ||
| I think fundamentally they should continue the work that was done by the prior administration through an open and a transparent process. | ||
| That's the way these resource management plans are meant to be developed. | ||
| I get it. | ||
| I understand that my Republican colleagues have disagreements about the resource management plans. | ||
| Understood. | ||
| Call Secretary Bergham. | ||
| Call the BLM director. | ||
| Well, I guess I don't think there is a BLM director 10 months into the administration. | ||
| Call whoever's running the show, I guess, over there at the BLM now. | ||
| And ask them to reopen the process. | ||
| Listen to tribes. | ||
| Listen to the American people. | ||
| Update the resource management plan. | ||
| That's the way it's done. | ||
| Using the Congressional Review Act to overturn the plan is the wrong approach. | ||
| And I understand why it may seem easier for Republicans to just bring the hammer down and use this blunt instrument, but all you will be left with are smashed pieces. | ||
| And you will foreclose the ability of these agencies to protect some of the most treasured lands in our country. | ||
| Lands that belong to the citizens of this country, to you, Mr. Speaker, and your children, your grandchildren, to future generations. | ||
| I urge a no vote on this CRA, and I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
| Yield back? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it's a good thing that we have this tool called the Congressional Review Act that asserts the Article I authority that Congress has. | ||
| You see, we don't have to go begging a secretary or asking the administration what actions we take. | ||
| We get to determine which actions we take. | ||
| And the Congressional Review Act is one of those tools that we have to take a big hammer to a bad policy. | ||
| And I'm glad that we're taking that big hammer to a terrible policy. | ||
| And we're also making it so that a future administration can't enact another bad policy like the ones that were put into place with these three RMPs that we'll be addressing today. | ||
| That is a good thing. | ||
| It's a good thing that we're focusing on unleashing American energy. | ||
| And the time to do that is now. | ||
| The time to restore balanced management to our public lands is now. | ||
| It's now time to put Big Sky Country ahead of Beijing. | ||
| It's past time that we do that. | ||
| If allowed to continue, the Miles City RMP amendment developed by the previous administration could have devastating impacts on Montana and the entire U.S. economy. | ||
| Passing this CRA will help reinvigorate America's coal industry, and also it will unleash American energy. | ||
| In my district, I have a coal-fired plant that was built in 2010, and to my knowledge, that was the last coal-fired plant built in the United States. | ||
| And again, I mentioned earlier that China is building 120 gigawatts a year. | ||
| That's one every two days. | ||
| One of those 650 megawatt coal plants every two days that they're putting online. | ||
| What are we doing with coal plants across America? | ||
| We've been closing them down. | ||
| They provide reliable baseload energy. | ||
| But you know, that coal plant in my district that provides energy to businesses, energy to homes, it can't operate without coal, and that coal comes from the Powder River basin. | ||
| When we harness our resources out west and use those, it's a good thing. | ||
| But when we lock them up, we keep electricity from being affordable. | ||
| We keep it from being reliable, not just for constituents in Montana, but for people all across this country. | ||
|
Passing the Joint Resolution
00:03:53
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| And that's exactly one of the many reasons I'm supporting this CRA today. | ||
| It means affordable, reliable energy. | ||
| It means improved national security. | ||
| It means good-paying jobs for rural Americans and millions of dollars in revenue for the U.S. Treasury. | ||
| I urge the adoption of this bill. | ||
| I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
| Gentleman yields back. | ||
| All time for the debate has expired. | ||
| Persuade to House Resolution 672. | ||
| The previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. | ||
| The question is on engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| Third reading. | ||
| Joint resolution provided for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code, of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approval Resource Management Plan Amendment. | ||
| The question is on the passage of the joint resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| The joint resolution is passed. | ||
| Yays and nays. | ||
| What purpose does the joint of Colorado? | ||
| I would ask the yeas and nays. | ||
| The yeas and nays have been requested. | ||
| Those favoring a vote by the yeas and the nays will rise. | ||
| Sufficient number have risen. | ||
| The yeas and nays are ordered. | ||
| Pursuant to clause 8 of the rule 20. | ||
| The further proceedings on the question will be postponed. | ||
| Okay, for what purpose does the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 672, I call up HJ Res 106 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. | ||
| Clerk reports the title of the joint resolution. | ||
| House Joint Resolution 106, joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Central Yukon record of decision and approval resource management plan. | ||
| Pursuant to House Resolution 672, the joint resolution is considered read. | ||
| The joint resolution shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Natural Resources, their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westman, the gentleman for Colorado, Mr. Ngusi, each will control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask that all members be given unanimous or ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and also to include extraneous material on HJ Res 106. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| So moved. | ||
| I rise in strong support of HJA Resolution 106, a Congressional Review Act resolution led by Congressman Nick Begich of Alaska. | ||
| This CRA reverses a resource management plan, or RMP, for the Central Yukon region in Alaska, which locked up an astonishing 13.3 million acres of land. | ||
| Alaska is crucial to our national security and economic prosperity. | ||
| In 2020, President Trump announced a draft RMP for the central Yukon that, among other provisions, revoked Public Land Order 5150 and unleashed American Energy. | ||
|
Unlocking Alaska's Mineral Potential
00:05:37
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| For more than a decade, the state of Alaska has worked on this RMP to revoke Public Land Order 5150, which would unlock millions of acres of land from restrictive de facto wilderness management and return it to multiple use. | ||
| Unfortunately, the previous administration reversed this decision against the wishes of Alaskans and finalized a new RMP that enshrined Public Land Order 5150. | ||
| On his first day in office in 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14153 on unleashing Alaska's extraordinary resource potential, which directly called for repealing the Biden administration's Central Yukon RMP. | ||
| This CRA advances President Trump's executive order. | ||
| So why is this CRA so important? | ||
| Revoking Public Land Order 5150 is the first step in allowing the state of Alaska to acquire lands that are critical to two essential projects, Ambler Road and the Alaska LNG pipeline. | ||
| Currently, our adversaries have a chokehold on worldwide mineral supply chains. | ||
| Alaska, our 49th state, has reached deposits of 49 out of the 50 minerals on the critical minerals list. | ||
| With such abundant resources in our own backyard, it should be appalling to every American that the United States relies 100 percent on imports for 12 of the 50 critical minerals on the critical minerals list. | ||
| What's more, our nation is 50 percent net import reliant for an additional 29 critical minerals on the list. | ||
| The smartphones that we carry around every day in our pockets contain 15 critical minerals. | ||
| Computers, home appliances, and batteries all rely on critical minerals. | ||
| The Ambler Mining District in Alaska is home to some of the largest deposits of these minerals, including copper, cobalt, and zinc. | ||
| Just four deposits in the Ambler Mining District alone have an estimated resource value of $26 billion. | ||
| But currently, there is no way to access these minerals. | ||
| To do so, we need to construct Ambler Road. | ||
| Last year, the Biden administration denied a permit for Ambler Road, effectively preventing Alaskans from developing their own resources. | ||
| Passing this CRA is the first step in allowing Alaska to acquire these lands outright, create long-term certainty for this project. | ||
| Constructing this road and allowing access to the Ambler Mining District is expected to create thousands of new jobs and produce $1.1 billion of revenue for Alaska. | ||
| Road construction alone will create more than 350 jobs, creating economic opportunity desperately needed in rural Alaska. | ||
| Now keep in mind, this is only one project unlocked by this CRA. | ||
| This CRA will also help the advancement of the Alaska LNG pipeline project. | ||
| Global demand for energy is expected to double by 2050, and our domestic energy production must rise to meet that demand. | ||
| With the rise of data centers and AI fueling this growth, it is more important than ever that we produce energy here at home rather than ceding energy dominance to hostile foreign nations like China and Russia. | ||
| Once online, the Alaska LNG Project will produce 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily and sustain more than 10,000 jobs. | ||
| Through this project, Alaskans will gain long-term and affordable gas for home heating and industrial needs. | ||
| Currently, the gas supply for Alaska from the Cook Inlet is uncertain, and local utilities are evaluating alternate supplies, including importing LNG. | ||
| It goes against all common sense to import LNG into Alaska when the state is blessed with abundant resources that can supply the state and beyond. | ||
| Every action must be taken to provide North Slope-produced gas to Alaskans for their home heating and local industry needs. | ||
| In addition to providing gas to Alaska, the Alaska LNG pipeline will be able to export 20 million tons of LNG yearly, reaching our Asian allies in six days with no strategic choke points. | ||
| It's no exaggeration to say that creating this pipeline is one of the most crucial steps we can take to counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific. | ||
| Earlier this year, I led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. | ||
| Taiwan has already signed a letter of intent with the state of Alaska to purchase Alaskan LNG, and both Japan and South Korea are deeply interested in pursuing American energy from Alaska, as well as other Pacific Rim nations. | ||
| But the message we heard at each stop was universal and resounding. | ||
| Without certainty in the timeline and our permitting system, these countries won't be able to buy our energy. | ||
| Make no mistake, these are our allies, and they desperately want to buy American. | ||
| They'd much rather get their energy from the North Slope than from China and Russia, the friends of North Korea. | ||
| Today's CRA is the first step in providing energy certainty to Alaska and our allies abroad. | ||
| We're taking strong, decisive action to remove barriers that prevent us from accessing our own energy and minerals. | ||
| By unleashing Alaska's extraordinary resource potential, we're providing energy certainty and affordability to Alaska and creating thousands of well-paying jobs, generating billions of dollars in revenue for federal and state coffers, and keeping America and our allies safe from foreign adversaries. | ||
| I'd like to commend Representative Begis, the entire Alaska delegation, and Governor Dunleavy for their work on this effort. | ||
|
Alaska's Cultural Lands Debate
00:15:39
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| I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
General Reserves, thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| As promised, we're back debating another Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution. | ||
| This time, as was referenced, it's in regards to the resource management plan for the central Yukon in the heart of Alaska, governing over 13 million acres of public land in central and northern Alaska, some of the most culturally significant landscapes in the United States. | ||
| This region includes the Central Yukon River watershed and the Dalton Highway Corridor, areas that are vital to both biodiversity and community survival. | ||
| These lands are also interconnected with the gates of the Arctic National Park, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. | ||
| They are home to caribou, salmon, sheep species that Alaska native and rural communities depend on for food and cultural traditions. | ||
| The existing RMP sets strong protections in response to declining populations of these important species. | ||
| It created 3.6 million acres of areas of critical environmental concern. | ||
| But I will just also mention here, because of course, the one voice we haven't heard from on the House floor are from the tribal communities impacted by both the resource management plan and this particular resolution to reverse the resource management plan. | ||
| These lands promote community health, support subsidence, and sustain the wild food economies that numerous Alaska Native communities rely on. | ||
| The current resource management plan is a result of over a decade, 10 years of work between the tribes in the central Yukon, as well as the Bureau of Land Management and other stakeholders. | ||
| Six tribes worked as cooperating agencies in the development of this plan. | ||
| Now, rather than, and I know I've belabored this, Mr. Speaker, but it merits mentioning again, rather than simply amending the resource management plan, doing the hard work required in the agency to perform the consultations necessary to then change the RMP if folks have concerns, good faith concerns, about the contours of that resource management plan. | ||
| That's the way to do it. | ||
| But instead, my colleagues have chosen to use the Congressional Review Act, a very blunt instrument. | ||
| And using the CRA, unlike pursuing an administrative update, would lock out, lock out tribal engagement in BLM's existing processes. | ||
| Using the CRA to overturn an RMP would also ban the agency not from issuing this resource management plan, but from issuing any resource management plan like it. | ||
| That is reckless. | ||
| I understand my colleagues have a disagreement with respect to the contours of this resource management plan. | ||
| Work through the Interior Department to change it. | ||
| That's the way that it should be done. | ||
| So there's a lot on the line with respect to the fate of this particular CRA resolution before us. | ||
| I mentioned before, we are in unchartered territory because we've not, the House has not pursued this type of vehicle to overturn resource management plans in the past. | ||
| That it is unprecedented. | ||
| And it's important for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to recognize the gravity of taking this step. | ||
| It's one that I would hope some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle might reconsider. | ||
| So I oppose the resolution for those reasons, and I reverse the balance of my time. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield four minutes to the gentleman from Alaska, the lead sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Begich. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| We are in uncharted territory. | ||
| We're in uncharted territory because the previous administration took us here. | ||
| At the end of the day, we hear from voices across America, but we don't hear from the voices of the people of my home state. | ||
| And the people that I've spoken with, the landowners, the Alaskan Natives, who were not consulted by the previous administration in the development and approval of this resource management plan, they have asked, they have stepped forward and said, we need to remove this plan. | ||
| And we need to make sure that something like this does not happen again in the future. | ||
| I rise today in strong support of House Joint Resolution 106, a resolution to overturn the Bureau of Land Management's 2024 Central Yukon Resource Management Plan. | ||
| This Biden-era management plan locks up more than 13 million acres of land in Alaska, part of a region that spans 56 million acres in my state. | ||
| The plan threatens economic opportunity and undermines national security while ignoring the needs of everyday Alaskans. | ||
| The plan also designates more than 3.6 million acres as critical as areas of critical environmental concern with little or no justification. | ||
| The Biden plan restricts access to native lands, violating commitments made under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. | ||
| Sadly, the plan also continues outdated land withdrawals that block responsible access to our nation's critical mineral resources. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this is not balance. | ||
| It is federal overreach, ensuring that Alaska's wealth stays in the ground, unavailable to people of one of America's most impoverished regions. | ||
| The plan also obstructs projects vital to America's future, such as the Ambler Road, which will bring access to strategic and critical minerals, and the Alaska LNG Project, which is projected to deliver 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and create more than 10,000 jobs in Alaska. | ||
| These projects are essential to American energy security. | ||
| They are essential to Alaska's economic growth, and they are essential to lowering costs for America's working families. | ||
| This resolution supports President Trump's commitment to unleashing Alaska's extraordinary energy and resource potential. | ||
| It restores balance to public land policy, ensures that we meet our commitments to Alaska's native communities, and allows for opportunity in an area of my state that is desperately in need. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support House Joint Resolution 106 to strengthen America's energy and mineral dominance, to strengthen our economic and national security, and to keep our promises to the people of Alaska. | ||
| Thank you, and I yield back. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out the great work that my colleague from Alaska has done on this issue and the potential that's in Alaska. | ||
| We had the committee up there last week, had a bipartisan group there, turning around looking at all the many, many resources that's in Alaska, the vast size of Alaska, and the burdens that the federal government has put on the state, and really, I think, falling short of living up to the promises that were made when Alaska became a state. | ||
| We talked about Native Americans and their input in the process, and I ask unanimous consent to submit to the record this letter from Doyen Limited. | ||
| And I just want to read from this letter to show you what's really happening in Alaska. | ||
| It says, Dorian strongly supports this joint resolution and urges Congress and the President's swift action to reject this misguided and harmful planning decision. | ||
| Many large tracts of land that were conveyed to Dorian under the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act are surrounded by or abut BLM managed public lands. | ||
| Dorian owns substantial interest in the central Yukon planning area, holding an ownership interest in approximately 4.65 million acres. | ||
| Dorian's land base shares Indigenous land or shares approximately 3,000 miles of border with BLM lands, potentially more than any other Indigenous landowner in the nation. | ||
| Consistent with ANCSA's intent, much of the land that Dorian selected was selected for its economic development potential. | ||
| As Doyen explained to BLM throughout the Central Yukon RMP planning process, further developing Doyen's lands within new or expanded areas of critical environmental concern and other restrictive land designations and otherwise imposing restrictions on use of surrounding lands will further complicate access to and use of Doyen lands and potentially prevent Doyen from fully realizing the economic and other benefits that Congress intended it would enjoy as a result of ANSCA's settlement. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Aboriginal land claims. | ||
| That's from the people who are affected on the ground by this misguided resource management plan that the previous administration put in place. | ||
| And it's an honor to be here today to be able to use the CRA to hopefully reverse that plan and prevent other administrations in the future from either party from putting such ridiculous management plans in place. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| Gentlemen of Reserves, Gentleman Colorado, recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you know, the chairman read from a letter there. | ||
| I'd like to read from a letter I think the speaker might find interesting. | ||
| This is a letter from the Tanana Chiefs Conference in opposition to this resolution. | ||
| Who is this conference made up of, you might ask, Mr. Speaker? | ||
| It's made up of 37 federally recognized tribes and villages across the Yukon River basin. | ||
| These tribes served as cooperating agencies in the RMP development process, working to ensure protection for critical salmon habitat and other interests, and they endorsed the RMP after extensive consultation. | ||
| They opposed this resolution, among many others. | ||
| Now, I do want to say, Mr. Speaker, it's important to recognize what this, I think the chairman, if I'm not misquoting him, called a hammer, what this hammer will do. | ||
| My view is very simple. | ||
| This hammer that Republicans have proposed risks precluding these agencies from engaging in any type of rulemaking resource management planning that is substantially similar to the resource management plan before us. | ||
| I want to give a simple example of what that looks like in practice. | ||
| This resource management plan, the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan, opens up 11 million acres to selection by eligible Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans under the Dingell Act. | ||
| So for those who are watching, the resource management plan allows, it enables Alaska Natives who served our country so bravely during the Vietnam War to access upwards of 11 million acres of lands at issue. | ||
| Here's the problem, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| By passing this resolution of disapproval, this CRA vehicle, it is not simply eliminating that provision along with all the other provisions in the resource management plan. | ||
| It is potentially risking the ability of a future administration, including this one, from issuing any resource management plan that provides a similar benefit. | ||
| What happens when a court two years from now, three years from now, five years from now rules that the Republican resolution that you all are poised to pass today precludes the BLM from giving any access to Native Vietnam-era veterans in accessing this land. | ||
| When we call this a blunt instrument, that's what we're referencing. | ||
| So I understand, again, my colleagues disagree with the variety of different components of the resource management plan. | ||
| They are fortunate that the Secretary of the Interior happens to be the former Republican governor of North Dakota. | ||
| And I imagine if they call him that he'll pursue a reopening of this resource management plan. | ||
| But taking this step for closing the ability of those Alaska natives who are Vietnam-era veterans from being able to access these lands and precluding that kind of benefit into perpetuity by virtue of using the CRA is reckless. | ||
| No other word to describe it. | ||
| So I would hope my colleagues would, again, reconsider, follow the process, regular order. | ||
| That's the way to pursue the changes that they seek. | ||
| And with that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Colorado Reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| You know, this idea that Alaska Native Vietnam era veterans can't select lands is just factually inaccurate and fear-mongering. | ||
| Congress has already statutorily codified the Alaska Native Vietnam Veterans Allotment Program in 2019. | ||
|
CRA and Land Conveyances
00:12:21
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| Nothing in this CRA repeals those requirements under the 2019 law. | ||
| In fact, the House just passed a five-year extension of this program in July. | ||
| To suggest that we are now somehow unsupportive of this program is ludicrous. | ||
| Congress is using the CRA for this RMP because there weren't enough public land order revocations, not because there were too many. | ||
| Keeping the withdrawal revocations for Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans and adding new withdrawal revocations will be entirely consistent with the CRA. | ||
| The argument is ironic coming from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle as Secretary Holland unnecessarily delayed the implementation of this program for years, despite strong demands from the Alaska delegation that outdated PLOs be lifted so land selections could begin. | ||
| And for more on that issue, I want to yield, I'm going to yield time, two minutes to the gentleman from Alaska who understands this better than anyone, Mr. Begins. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Alaska is recognized for two minutes. | |
| Mr. Speaker, fewer than 20 Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans have received their conveyances. | ||
| And a big part of the reason why so few of the 2,000, more than 2,000 eligible Vietnam-era veterans or their heirs have received those lands is because they were delayed or outright blocked by the previous administration. | ||
| The previous administration blocked their ability to select and receive their lands. | ||
| So to hear from my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, in this chamber suggesting that somehow Republicans are standing in the way of Vietnam-era veteran land conveyances in my home state, that's ludicrous. | ||
| It's simply not true. | ||
| In fact, my bill extends the available time for them to make those selections by five years. | ||
| And there is nothing in this CRA that prevents them from making those selections. | ||
| And we hope that they do. | ||
| In fact, we want more land to be available to those families. | ||
| In fact, there are some communities in Alaska where Vietnam-era veterans who are eligible in this program have to select land hundreds of miles away from their own community, hundreds of miles away. | ||
| We're trying to unlock the state of Alaska, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And it's my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in this chamber that have repeatedly blocked our ability to do so. | ||
| Thank you, and I yield back. | ||
| Serve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman reserves, the gentleman from Colorado is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I'm not in the, Mr. Speaker, I'm not in the predictions business, but I can confidently predict, and that's why one of the reasons this exchange is so important, that this particular exchange will appear in litigation two years from now, three years from now, five years from now, ten years from now. | ||
| This is untested. | ||
| The Congressional Review Act has never been used before to repeal a resource management plan. | ||
| So we don't know how a federal court is going to construe this Congress's decision to en masse disapprove of a resource management plan that did provide for the allotment for Alaska Natives who are Vietnam-era veterans to access these lands. | ||
| I understand the chairman is making the case here on the floor. | ||
| He made it during the debate on the Rules Committee. | ||
| I remember this back in July. | ||
| He maintains, no, no, no, no, no. | ||
| This congressional resolution of approval, it's just limited to the energy portions of the resource management plan. | ||
| Just the energy portions. | ||
| Well, that's not what the resolution says. | ||
| The resolution of disapproval disapproves of the resource management plan in its entirety. | ||
| I understand that the statutory provisions that provide Alaska Natives with the ability, those who are Vietnam era veterans, to access these lands, remains codified. | ||
| That's not up for debate. | ||
| The problem is that Republicans have decided to disapprove, to use this blunt instrument of this particular allotment, or rather, access that the prior administration, as was noted, included in this resource management plan. | ||
| We have no idea how a federal court is going to construe the actions of the Congress as it relates to the different component pieces in the resource management plan, if and when a future administration, including this one, decides to take that step. | ||
| It's one of the reasons why a Congressional Review Act, or rather the Congressional Review Act, has not been deployed in this way previously. | ||
| Because it's risky. | ||
| So I understand my colleague from Alaska seemed very upset. | ||
| I don't disagree. | ||
| I share his frustration. | ||
| I support, by the way, the legislation that he mentioned. | ||
| The legislation he was referencing is not the bill that's before this Congress. | ||
| I don't quite understand the impetus behind extending the time, as he noted, to five years while you're simultaneously passing a resolution disapproving of a resource management plan that provided the very access to these lands that you purport to want, but that's for him to explain. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman in reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for Tom. | ||
| I'm prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is prepared to close and reserves of Dallas at this time. | |
| The gentleman from Colorado is recognized. | ||
| I thank the Speaker. | ||
| Again, not to belabor the point here, but I do think that last exchange was instructive and revealing. | ||
| You know, I remember very well the debate that this House engaged in a mere three months ago, two and a half months ago, regarding the budget bill and the terrible cuts to Medicaid that this chamber, Republicans, passed and that the President signed into law. | ||
| And I remember after that legislation was signed into law, several of my Republican colleagues, including one Republican senator in particular, bemoaning the Medicaid cuts that he had just voted for. | ||
| Mark Twain's old adage, Mr. Speaker, are sure you're familiar with it, that history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. | ||
| It does feel a little bit like deja vu because in the case of these CRAs, I have no doubt that several of my colleagues, including several of my colleagues who are championing these resolutions, will find that down the road they'll regret being so vociferous in their support for the resolutions of disapproval of these resource management plans. | ||
| When a federal court decides that the agencies, the BLM, the Interior Department writ large, can't protect or rather enact protections in the way that it had in the past because Republicans decided to use this blunt instrument. | ||
| So again, for all the reasons, I think we're going on hour number two here. | ||
| I believe we have another hour of debate on another resolution of disapproval that will be coming up next. | ||
| So for all the reasons that I've articulated, I would hope my colleagues would oppose this. | ||
| And I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| The gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this CRA is crucial to unleashing Alaska's abundant natural resources. | ||
| It will unleash billions of dollars worth of oil, natural gas, and critical minerals that are critical not only to Alaska's economy and security, but also to the economic and energy security of the United States and extended further to our allies around the world. | ||
| This is a very important issue as this CRA shifts land management back to Alaskans and away from NGOs and environmentalists in the lower 48 who have had way too much of an oversized impact on the decisions made in Alaska. | ||
| It is essential to projects that will create tens of thousands of jobs, generate billions of dollars in revenue for the U.S. Treasury and the state of Alaska, and again, make our nation less reliant on hostile foreign nations. | ||
| I commend Representative Begich once again for his work on this effort. | ||
| He is a tremendous and fierce advocate for Alaska. | ||
| Through his efforts, we're helping President Trump and his administration advance his executive orders and usher in the golden age of American and Alaska energy dominance. | ||
| I urge adoption of this bill and I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| All time for debate has expired pursuant to House Resolution 672. | ||
| The previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. | ||
| The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| Third reading. | ||
| Joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code, of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Central Yukon record of decision and approval resource management plan. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The question is on the passage of the joint resolution. | |
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed say no. | ||
| The ayes have it, and the joint resolution is passed. | ||
| Mr. Speaker. | ||
|
unidentified
|
For what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Speaker, I'd ask for the yays and nays. | ||
|
unidentified
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The yays 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. | ||
| Pursuant to Clause 8 of Rule 20, further proceedings on the question will be postponed. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 672, I'll call up HJ Resolution 105 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. | ||
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The clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. | |
| House Joint Resolution House Joint Resolution 105, Joint Resolution providing for congressional disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title V, United States Code, of the rules submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to North Dakota Field Office record of decision and approval and approved resource management plan. | ||
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Resolution 672, the joint resolution is considered read. | |
| The joint resolution shall be debated for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee of Natural Resources or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, and the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Nagoos, will each control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on HGA Resolution 105. | ||
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Without objection. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
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The gentleman is recognized. | |
| I rise in strong support of HGA Resolution 105, led by Representative Federchak of North Dakota. | ||
|
Repealing North Dakota's RMP
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| This Congressional Review Act resolution reverses a resource management plan or an RMP finalized in the waning days of the last administration that locked up more than 4 million acres of land in North Dakota. | ||
| Astonishingly, this RMP blocked coal leasing on 99 percent of coal deposits in North Dakota and prohibited oil and gas leasing on an additional 44 percent of federal land. | ||
| North Dakota is a top 10 coal-producing state and the number three oil and gas producer in the nation. | ||
| According to state estimates, North Dakota produces 400 million barrels of oil, 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 27.5 million tons of lignite coal annually. | ||
| To put this in perspective, North Dakota produces enough natural gas to heat 15 million homes for an entire year, equivalent to 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. | ||
| U.S. electricity consumption is projected to hit an all-time high this year, and electricity demand will grow by as much as 128 gigawatts through 2029. | ||
| Fueled by new data centers and AI, these estimates of electricity demand are five times higher than earlier forecast. | ||
| The United States should be the world leader in energy and mineral production. | ||
| We are blessed with abundant resources, we have the brightest minds, and we maintain the most rigorous and clean production standards in the world. | ||
| Yet the anti-American energy policies pursued by radical environmentalists in the previous administration crippled communities reliant on energy jobs, weakened us on the global stage, and enriched adversarial nations that were able to cash in as we took a back seat in the global energy market. | ||
| The road to energy dominance and meeting this growing demand runs through North Dakota. | ||
| Advancing the CRA is the first step in helping to unleash American energy and reinvigorate America's beautiful coal industry, as President Trump has called for in his recent executive orders. | ||
| This CRA is important not just to the people of North Dakota, but also our collective American energy and mineral security. | ||
| If you've ever worried about your electricity bill or wondered if prices at the pump might cancel a family vacation, then you should care about reversing ill-advised lockups of our energy and mineral resources. | ||
| Energy production is critically important to the Western way of life, sustaining small rural communities and generating much needed economic activity. | ||
| Passing this CRA will save an estimated 12,000 jobs in North Dakota just in the coal industry alone. | ||
| This CRA is also crucial to prevent an estimated loss of $34 million annually in state revenues from oil and gas production. | ||
| These funds are used to finance K-12 public education in the state. | ||
| What does this mean for children in North Dakota? | ||
| Failing to pass this CRA could result in a $441 reduction in the amount of funds spent on each child's education annually. | ||
| This means fewer after-school programs, outdated textbooks, and more teachers having to reach into their own pockets to fund basic schoolroom supplies. | ||
| It should come as no surprise that the previous administration finalized this RMP over the strong objections of the state of North Dakota. | ||
| The state's concerns were ignored. | ||
| Instead, the BLM plowed ahead with this harmful RMP. | ||
| Good land management requires local buy-in and support. | ||
| This RMP is not supported by North Dakotans. | ||
| The only people who support this plan are the radical environmentalists that called the shots under the previous administration. | ||
| I commend our current Secretary of the Interior, Doug Bergham, who is spearheading the administration's efforts to restore energy dominance and listen to rural America. | ||
| Secretary Bergham was the governor when this RMP was finalized, and he led the charge in opposing this Biden-era preservationist plan. | ||
| I have full confidence that under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Bergham, the BLM will emerge as an agency that works for North Dakotans and all those rural Western Americans who live closest to the lands. | ||
| I applaud Representative Federichek for her leadership on this effort on behalf of her constituents to right this wrong. | ||
| I also recognize Senators Kramer and Hoeven, as well as my former House colleagues and good friend Governor Kelly Armstrong for their work in supporting the CRA. | ||
| This CRA allows us to turn the page on a disgraceful chapter of radical environmentalism pursued at the expense of the American people. | ||
| HJA Resolution 105 removes the bureaucratic barriers designed to prevent the use of our abundant natural resources, is an important step necessary to unshackle American energy and minerals and unleash the full potential of our great natural resources. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to support this bill and I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
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The gentleman in reserves, the gentleman from Colorado, is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| More coal. | ||
| More coal. | ||
| That's their answer. | ||
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Again, for the third time. | |
| Their answer, apparently, to every question: more coal. | ||
| Frustrated with energy costs going up across the board, state to state, community to community, more coal is their answer. | ||
| Health insurance costs going up, grocery prices going up, economy in free fall, more coal. | ||
| I don't know what piece of legislation we're going to be debating tomorrow, but I suspect it will involve coal production. | ||
| It is bordering on obsession for the House Republican caucus, and it would be comical if not for the real-world consequences for my constituents and for your constituents, Mr. Speaker, and for Americans across the country who are dealing with a real cost-of-living crisis and who expect more from this Congress than yet another disapproval resolution 10 months into the Trump presidency. | ||
| Laser focused on passing resolutions of disapproval of agency actions by the Biden administration. | ||
| Real sense of priorities. | ||
| It's disappointing, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Deeply disappointing. | ||
| And if one digs into this particular resource management plan, I think he will find that using this blunt instrument, as I've called it during our prior debate, in this instance is probably the most insidious of all. | ||
| A couple reasons why. | ||
| One, the resource management plan that was adopted replaced a plan that was nearly 40 years old. | ||
| This resource management plan provided a modern framework that balances responsible energy and mineral development with the protection of wildlife habitat, water resources, cultural sites, and recreational opportunities. | ||
| It provides a stable and predictable framework to guide and to balance the multiple uses of our public lands and resources based on the needs of today and into the future. | ||
| But it's important to recognize that even if one disagrees with the way in which this resource management plan balances public land uses. | ||
| And I understand there are good faith disagreements with the resource management plan. | ||
| The chairman mentioned our mutual good friend, my dear friend, Kelly Armstrong, now the governor of North Dakota, I recognize we may disagree with respect to the nuances of the resource management plan. | ||
| But again, the broader point here is that the CRA is not the proper vehicle for registering one's objection to a resource management plan. | ||
| Why is that? | ||
| It's because using the CRA does not return the resource management plan to the status quo. | ||
| The Federal Land Policy and Management Act outlines the proper process for updating a resource management plan. | ||
| That's a process that centers on voices and the needs of local land users while preserving regulatory certainty. | ||
| By contrast, the CRA strips the public out of the process and it throws public lands into chaos. | ||
| What do I mean by that, Mr. Speaker? | ||
| Here's what I mean. | ||
| If Congress passes this resolution, if the President signs this resolution into law, it will call into question all of the leases, all of the permits, and any other related authorizations that stem from the resource management plan. | ||
| Grazing permits, resource development projects, transmission rights of way, all of those leases and permits and so on will be tied up in litigation if you pass this resolution. | ||
| It makes no sense to me why my colleagues have chosen to take this approach, endanger grazing permits in North Dakota, when there's a much easier way to do this. | ||
| Because interestingly enough, Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of the Interior is the former governor of North Dakota. | ||
| It's true. | ||
| He could simply change this. | ||
| He could go through administrative fiat and modify the resource management plan for the state for which he served as the chief executive. | ||
| He could do that now. | ||
| And it would not call into question any of the permits or the leases. | ||
| But instead, House Republicans have taken this approach. | ||
| And I don't think it's going to achieve your stated objective, or rather, not you, Mr. Speaker, but my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, their stated objective. | ||
| Far from it. | ||
| So again, hope my colleagues might reconsider. | ||
| And I don't have the Secretary of Interior's phone number, but I suspect my colleagues do. | ||
| So they can call him. | ||
| I'm sure it can get this worked out. | ||
| And we can save you, Mr. Speaker, and the few Americans watching on C-SPAN this stale debate over yet another resolution of disapproval. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
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Gentleman Reserves, the gentleman from Arkansas is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, what is ironic is the fact that Secretary Berghum, when he was the governor of North Dakota, vehemently opposed this resource management plan, but the prior administration just brushed him off. | ||
| They didn't care what he thought. | ||
| They didn't care what the people of North Dakota thought, just like they didn't care what the governor of Montana thought, what the governor of Alaska thought, and what the people who lived in Montana and Alaska thought. | ||
| All they cared about was what their NGO and environmentalist friends in Washington, D.C., and New York and Los Angeles thought about lands in faraway rural places and how they wanted to impose their will on what happens in these rural areas where our resources abound. | ||
| Isn't it ironic that the three states that we're talking about, these resource management plans, are Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota, states with very large land masses, with abundant resources, and not a lot of people. | ||
| That's the definition of rural America. | ||
| The previous administration was attacking rural America, and they used these misguided resource management plans as their tool to do that. | ||
| With that, I yield four minutes to the gentlelady from North Dakota, the lead sponsor of this legislation, the only representative from North Dakota, Ms. Federichek. | ||
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The gentlelady from North Dakota is recognized. | |
| The gentleman yields to the gentlelady from North Dakota is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Westman, Chairman, thank you for your leadership on this issue and all energy-related issues. | ||
| You're providing a great service to our conference and to the country. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today in strong support of my resolution to repeal the Biden administration's Bureau of Land Management Resource Management Plan for North Dakota. | ||
| But first, let me respond briefly to my colleague from Colorado's comments about energy costs. | ||
| His constituents, the dear people of Colorado, and many other constituents in blue states like New York and California, probably are paying record prices for electricity and other energy products, but it's because of their very own state's unrealistic and radical energy policies. | ||
| I promise you, in North Dakota, citizens are not paying record prices. | ||
| In fact, they're paying the lowest prices of any other state for electricity. | ||
| And I know this because for the last 12 years, I helped set those policies. | ||
| And changing these policies so that the rest of America could also pay lower energy prices was one of the driving forces of my running for this office. | ||
| In my state, energy production isn't a political debate. | ||
| It's our way of life. | ||
| It provides paychecks that feed our families, revenue that funds our schools, and power that keeps Americans moving forward. | ||
| But unfortunately, President Biden, in his very last week of office, chose to put special interests above all of that. | ||
| North Dakotans saw the Biden administration's plan for exactly what it was: a backdoor attempt to shut down fossil fuels in our state. | ||