act to make sure that we have the recovery services in place. i want to invite the caller to come and visit kentucky it is a beautiful place with wonderful people and we are not miserable. host: we are taking a caller from north carolina next. guest: good morning i have a quick question. i guess back in the 70's and 80's, this is something i talked about with my friends. in the 70's and 80's where cocaine was a big thing, a lot of black people went to jail because of that they were targeted and now, it diction is considered to be a condition, a disease. so i'm just looking about how it has changed over time. now it seems like a lot of people who are being affected are white people, middle-class white a lot of my postponed.

votes will be taken in the following order. passage of h.r. 139 and passage of h.j.res. 7. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. pursuant to clause 9, rule 20, remaining votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is passage of h.r. 139 which the yeas and nays are ordered the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to require executive agencies to submit to congress a study of the impact of telework by agency employees during the covid-19 pandemic and telework and promote work and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the bill. record -- members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the

national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 229 and the nays are 197. the joint resolution is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, by direction of the democratic caucus, i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 87. resolved that the following named members be and are hereby -- >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be considered as read. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is

agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at 9:30 a.m. on february 2, 2023. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding section 1-a-2-a of house resolution 12, as amended by section 1-c of house resolution 78, and the order of the house of today, the select subcommittee on weaponnization of the federal government be composed of not more than 21 members, delegates or the resident commissioner appointed by the speaker of whom not more than nine shall be appointed in consultation with the minority leader. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> thank you, mr. speaker. i hereby remove myself as co-sponsor of h house resolution 29. the speaker pro tempore: the question is accepted. the house will be in order. the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without

objection. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to applaud the house for passing the pandemic is over act, the freedom for health care workers act, the show up act, and for ending the national emergency. i was in the new york state assembly when the covid vaccine mandate was passed and i argued against it. even then we knew it would cause irreparable damage to our health care facilities, forcing thousands of health care workers out of their jobs. and we were right. which is why it is so important for congress to take this step and right that wrong. mr. lawler: another refrain i heard over and over again from my constituents is that we need to end the national emergency declaration. we get calls every day in my office, from small business owners, teachers, carpenters and other constituents, who simply don't understand why we haven't fully reopened our state and country. covid cases have dropped dramatically across the country and the number of cases today

compared to the same date last year are down over 600,000 cases. the fact is that we no longer constitute a national emergency and we should absolutely end the declaration. i urge the senate to pass these important pieces of legislation and encourage the administration to accelerate their timeline on this important matter. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. payne: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate black history

month. this month we celebrate the tremendous contributions of african-americans to the growth of our nation. just one example of that contribution is the beautiful edifice that we are in today. it was built by people that were uncompensated for their work, but a beautiful testament in our nation's example. black history month started as negro history week in february of 1926. that week was chosen because it included the birthdays of president lincoln and famed abolitionist frederick douglass. in 1976, they expanded it to -- and created black history month. today african-americans make a difference in every aspect of american life. and highlight the fact that the

african-american story is the greatest success story in our nation's history. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces without objection the speaker's appoi appointment pursuant to clause 11 of rule 1, the order of the house of january 9, 2023 and notwithstanding the requirements of clause 11-a-1-d and clause 11-a-4-a of rule 10 of the following members of the house to the permanent select committee on intelligence. the clerk: mr. turner of ohio, chair. mr. wenstrup of ohio. mr. stewart of utah. mr. crawford of arkansas. ms. stefanik of new york. mr. kelly of mississippi. mr. lahood of illinois. mr. fitzpatrick of pennsylvania. mr. gallagher of wisconsin.

mr. austin scott of georgia. mr. hill of arkansas. mr. crenshaw of texas. mr. waltz of florida. mr. garcia of california. mr. himes of connecticut. mr. carson of indiana. mr. castro of texas. mr. krishnamoorthi of illinois. mr. crow of colorado. ms. plaskett of the u.s. virgin islands. mr. gottheimer of new jersey. mr. gomez of california. ms. houlahan of pennsylvania. ms. spanberger of virginia. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's appointment pursuant to section 1-a-2-a of house resolution 11, the 118th congress, as amended, by section 1-b of house resolution 78, 118th congress, and the order of the house of january 9, 2023, of the following members to the select committee on the strategic competition between the united states and the chinese communist

party. the speaker pro tempore: mr. gallagher of -- the clerk: mr. gallagher of wisconsin, chair. mr. wittman of virginia. mr. luetkemeyer of missouri. mr. barr of kentucky. mr. newhouse of washington. mr. moolenaar of michigan. mr. lahood of illinois. mr. dunn of florida. mr. banks of indiana. mr. johnson of south dakota. mrs. steel of california. mrs. hinson of ohio. mr. gimenez of florida. mr. krishnamoorthi of illinois. ms. caster of florida. mr. moulton of massachusetts. mr. khanna of california. mr. kemp of new jersey. ms. sherrill of new jersey. ms. stevens of michigan. mr. auchincloss of massachusetts. mr. torres of new york. ms. brown of ohio. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's appoi appointment pursuant to section 4-a-1-b-1 of house resolution 5, 118th congress, as amended by section 1-d of house resolution 78, 118th congress, and the order of the house of january 9,

2023, of the following members to the select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic. the clerk: mr. wenstrup of ohio, chair. ms. malliotakis of new york. mrs. miller-meeks of iowa. mrs. lesko of arizona. mr. cloud of texas. mr. joyce of pennsylvania. ms. green of georgia -- ms. greene of georgia. mr. mccormick of georgia. mr. ruiz of california. mrs. dingell of michigan. mr. mfume of maryland. ms. ross of north carolina. mr. robert garcia of california. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's appointment pursuant to section 1-a-2-a of house resolution 12, 118th congress, the second order of the house of today and the order of the house of january 9, 2023, of the following members to the select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government. the clerk: mr. jordan of ohio,

chair. mr. issa of california. mr. massie of kentucky. mr. stewart of utah. ms. stefanik of new york. mr. johnson of louisiana. mr. gaetz of florida. mr. armstrong of north dakota. mr. stuby of florida. -- mr. steube of florida. mrs. cammack of florida. ms. hagueman of wyoming. ms. plaskett of the u.s. virgin islands. mr. lynch of massachusetts. ms. sanchez of california. ms. wasserman schultz. mr. connolly of virginia. mr. garamendi of california. mr. allred of texas. ms. garcia of texas. mr. goldman of new york. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from -- the gentlewoman from louisiana seek recognition? ms. let lowe: -- ms. letlow: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. letlow: i pay tribute to

dr. charles mcdonald, an outstanding public servant who has left an incredible legacy across the state of louisiana. dr. mcdonald dedicated his career to education, working as a high school teacher and principal before becoming an administrator at the university of louisiana-monroe. after working 17 years on the campus, dr. mcdonald won a seat in the louisiana house of representatives. while serving in the legislature, he authored the bill that created the taylor opportunity program for students, or tops, scholarship. it's a program which has enabled hundreds of thousands of louisiana's best and brightest to obtain a college education. and i was fortunate to be one of the recipients of the program over 25 years ago. to this day, dr. mcdonald's work in higher education continues as he currently serves on the louisiana board of regents. he's been a mentor and friend to so many, including myself, helping guide young educators on

their career paths and we are so thankful. mr. speaker, today the house honors an outstanding louisianian, dr. charles mcdonald. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from minnesota seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today as a representative from minnesota's fourth congressional district in support of my colleague, representative ilhan omar of minnesota's fifth congressional district. together, we're the twin cities. representative omar, alongside with our colleagues, representative schiff and swalwell, had been targeted despite their experience,

perspectives. the american people elected us to solve problems, to strengthen social security and medicare and to lower everyday costs, but instead, there's prioritizing of issues that the republicans are engaged in. well, it's a political stunt. ms. mccollum: my fellow minnesotans and i see this for what it is. a petty vendetta, not only undermining our democracy, but it puts the safety of those members at risk. minnesota and all america deserves better and i ask my colleagues to support representative omar and vote no on h. resolution 76. i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i would loike t be recognized for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i rise today to bring more attention of censorship from big

tech corporations, particularly with direct tv and at&t's decision to remove news max, the second conservative-leaning news channel, in 12 months from their programming lineup in their customers' televisions. the fact that they have this very important outlet stolen from this is unacceptable. this is just another great example of the big tech censorship that we have see time and again and we should not stand for this as americans. the american people deserve to hear all sides of political discussions, to be able to form their own opinions on any given issue. corporation it's should not have free rein in dishing out their woke agendas to censor content their paying customers consume. i will fight to get more answers on this as a member of the house oversight and accountability committee. mr. langworthy: di directtv will be -- directv will be hearing

from us. they are advocates for the first amendment. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise in support of responsibly ending the covid-19 emergencies and in opposition to showmanship that would unnecessarily disrupt americans' access to health care. president biden has committed to end the covid-19 public health and national emergency designations by may 11, choosing an orderly, predictable windown over the disruptions and dislocations proposed by house republicans. their actions this week could immediately kick tens of millions off their health insurance, leaving nursing home residents without staff to care for them and cutting off telehealth.

governing requires planning and deliberation. unfortunately, republicans have put messaging over substance. we can and will keep schools open and make sure that government officials are delivering everything necessary. mr. auchincloss: i ask members to support president biden's responsible drawdown of emergency authorities. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my comments as necessary. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, as biden's border crisis continues to cost american taxpayers' billions per year, i rise to introduce my first bill, the border security investment act. this legislation will target the millions of immigrants who entered our country illegally, use american resources, don't pay taxes, and then proceed to send money back to foreign countries.

more specifically, it would place a 37% user-based transaction fee on remittance transfers made through money services, businesses, where it originates in the u.s. and sent back to one of the top five nations of origin for illegal immigration. revenue collected is placed under two trusts. both for border security. the first trust, the funds will be used by the federal government, specifically for salaries and wages for custom and bored protection, barriers. the second trust is allocated to reimburse states for their expenditures for border security and enforcement measures. mr. moran: what's more, any unspent money under this legislation from these two funds exceeding $50 is allocated to the treasury solely for the purpose of reducing national debt. while there's still mrplenty of work to be done, this bill is the first step in securing our border, keeping our communities safe and working towards a balanced budget. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek

recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house floor for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. shotten: i am -- ms. scholten: i'm on the house floor to talk about water. my home state of michigan is surrounded by four of the five great lakes, our nation's largest fresh water reserve. the great lakes renal is home to 51 million jobs and has a g.d.p. of $6 trillion. it is an economic powerhouse. yet, despite the abundance of fresh water surrounded us, many of our constituents do not have access to a reliable and safe drinking water. pfas and lead contamination continues to be a harm to most michiganders. we must protect our fresh water supply nationally and internationally.

the great lakes contain 90% of the united states fresh water supply and 20% of the global supply. we have to work with urgency to protect this precious resource. the importance of water nationwide cannot be understated. it's an environmental matter, an economic matter and a matter of national security. this week i'm going to work to protect this vital resource and i invite my colleagues to join me. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to extend and revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, america's always been a nation of trailblazers, from the automobile to the iphone, the entrepreneurial spirit of the american people is the engine of progress that moves our world forward toward a better tomorrow.

as we chart a course toward rebuilding the world's greatest economy, we must ensure that this energy has the fuel it needs to get us where we want to go. that's why earlier today i introduced the startup act, alongside my colleague from california, mr. desaulnier. this bipartisan bill equips in entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs with the training and resources they need to start a business, create jobs, and grow our economy. having built several small businesses from the ground up, i know just how difficult that process is. mr. allen: and i wonder how many americans never make that leap simply because they don't know where to start. the startup act is about removing barriers to entrepreneurship and expanding access to programs and tools that will help countless people turn their version of the american dream into a reality. and i yield back. .

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary of the thursday lunch ongroup which was founded in 1973 to elevate the voices of african-americans in u.s. foreign policy. since the early days of the state department, patriotic african-americans have raised their hands to join our diplomatic service, only to find their pathways too often narrowed by bigotry. in the face of this discrimination, early trail blazers like ambassador terrence toddman, a six-time career ambassador and founding member of the thursday lunchian group, successfully pushed the state department to root out segregation and expand opportunities for all employees. mr. castro: today the group plays an integral role and as worked to -- as i've worked to

increase opportunities for underrepresented groups, congratulations to the thursday luncheon group op their anniversary. i look forward to working with similar groups to recruit and retain a diverse diplomatic corps that proudly promotes american values at home and around the world. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise to seek recognition? mr. carter: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. carter: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize and honor the life of marcy goodyear. marcy was born in 1971 in east point, georgia. she moved to albany in 1974 where she attended westover high school. in 2009, after living in albany for many years, she found her way to derrian, georgia, located

in the first congressional district of georgia. marcy loved traveling and spending time with friends and family. she enjoyed working at skippers fish camp with her family, as well as her time as a city councilwoman with the city of derrian. marcy's smile was infectious and she never met a stranger. she will be dearly missed by all of those who knew her. on behalf of myself and everyone in the first congressional district, our thoughts and prayers are with marcy's family and friends. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. takano: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. takano: mr. speaker, we are -- >> mr. speaker, we are mourning today the loss of officer gonzalo carrasco jr., who was sadly shot and killed in the line of duty yesterday

protecting the citizens of selma, california. selma, california, is a wonderful community of about 30,000 people in the heart of the san joaquin valley. officer carrasco was the son of farm workers, a graduate of ridley high school, and worked constantly to increase his opportunities, to become a police officer. he also sadly was preparing to become a father. he served with the selma police department for two years and did all he could to protect the community. mr. costa: his service, bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten. it is a sad, sad day for the people of selma. my heartfelt condolences to his family, the police department and the people of the valley. may he rest in peace. god bless him. we owe him a debt of gratitude. i give back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, today i rise to honor mr. christopher marion balban, a constituent, war hero and holocaust surviver in -- survivor in new york's third congressional district. he reached his centennial. i would like to enter onto the congressional record a token of appreciation for his long and heroic journey. christopher was born in poland and joined the russian resistance against the soviets at the young age of 16. mr. santos: throughout his entire life, he was held in multiple slave camps throughout europe. after escaping the final camp, christopher eventually joined the british army and fought against nazis in germany and other enemy forces. finally, in the early 1950's, he found his way home to the united states. i could not be more honored to have a man of such valor

residing in the district that i represent. let this serve as a public declaration of respect and admiration for mr. bali about, a, n -- baliban and his family. i would like to send the happiest birthdays to christopher and i hope our paths cross soon. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. >> i rise today to condemn the azerbaijany government's blockade of the only road connecting the armenian population to the world. today marks the 52nd day of the blockade. my district is home to one of the first armenian communities in southern california formed by survivors of the armenian genocide. now in the face of azerbaijan aggression, many of my constituents fear a second

genocide. last week i spoke with a constituent who was stuck behind the blockade and he reported a dire situation. over 100,000 armenians have been denied access to food, fuel and medicine. and the region has been left without heat or power this winter. if this continues, i fear a humanitarian catastrophe. mr. sanford: we must -- ms. sanchez: we must make it clear that this is unacceptable. and i call on the administration to ensure that aid reaches the people. today my thoughts are with those suffering under these inhumane conditions and i reaffirm my commitment to ensure azerbaijan is held accountable for its aggression against the armenian people. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr.

speaker. socialism has failed everywhere it's been tried and caused millions of deaths over the last century. in 1932 and 1933 soviet leader josef stalin engineered a man-made famine in ukraine that killed more than three million people. in 1938 a million people were executed by the soviet union's secret police in a campaign of organized terror. 1960 to 1962, over 50 million people died in communist china during the great leap forward. again, in 1966, over three million people were killed by mao's cultural revolution. in cambodia, communist dictator pol pot killed two million people, 25% of his country's population. almost two million north korea north koreans have -- north koreans have been killed by that country's communist government. this is just a few examples of socialism that led to massive death and suffering for millions of people. these are a feature, not a bug or anomaly.

socialism never works, as its critics must be silenced by force. it might sound attractive going in but people who may vote it in usually having to fight their way out of it. let's be on the side of the victims of socialism, the tens of millions of them, and speak out and condemn it in all its forms. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. clarke: mr. speaker, i rise on this day, the first day of black history month, unfortunately during a moment of unprecedented assaults on truth by those desperate to rewrite america's history. in this troubling time of banned books and canceled curriculums, it is with great urgency that i stand before you to celebrate the profound history of our nation that far too many far-right zealots are fighting to conceal.

this is a special month, defined in equal parts triumph and tragedy and centered in pride and appreciation. because our african-american forbearers rose above oppression and helped create the greatest nation the modern world has ever seen. make no mistake, only the ashamed and the afraid hide from history. black americans never have and never will. for ours is a story of victory over adversity. determination in the face of uncertainty. and the courage of our convictions. our story is america's story. so let us never forget. let us never concedes. let us never be silenced when we say that black history is american history. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition? mr. grothman: i'd like unanimous consent to speak for a minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. grothman: as i go about my

district, i like to meet with the average wisconsinnite to see what's on their -- wisconsinite to see what's on their mind. it's.[newline]so more illuminating than -- it's so much more illuminating than hanging out in washington. when i stop at food stores, inevitably the talk turns to abuse of the e.b.t. card. i hear stories again and again of people selling e.b.t. cards for 50 cents on the dollar. which apparently means that some people don't need them. another complaint is sometimes they're able to look at the card or it turns up on the receipt how much money they have left on the card and there might be thousands of dollars there. which is also a problem. so i thought, what can we do to prevent some of this abuse? we introduced a bill, i.d. for e.b.t. card in which a person's photo would have to appear on the card. when i speak to the clerks in my convenience stores, they unanimously believe that this would be a good idea and be a step towards fighting the fraud and the abuse in this program.

thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to express my appreciation for another recent success for the first district of indiana, from the infrastructure investment in jobs act. just this week, the department of transportation shared that the cities of east chicago, gary and hammond received funding under the streets -- safe streets and roads for all grant. mr. mrvan: a program to develop plans for infrastructure projects designed to reduce transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries. i'm grateful for all the leaders and public servants in these cities for putting in the work to successfully obtain and utilize this new federal resource. as we proceed, i look forward to

continuing to work with all local stakeholders and my colleagues to promote the safety of our transportation infrastructure so that all individuals and businesses can continue to thrive and attract new economic activity in our communities. i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, to address the body for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. correa: mr. speaker, today i rise to honor my good friend, world war ii veteran, a member of the greatest generation. he passed away at the age of 98. born in 1924, at the age of 19, he had recently graduated from anaheim high school, and he joined the military in 1943. jess was one of 50 young men from the historic segregated

mexican american community in my hometown of anaheim, california. he was one of 50 who fought the great war. jess fought the germans in france and would later tell us the stories of how he lived in fox holes for 14 months, with standing cold win the -- withstanding cold winters and drenching rains. the war, he said, taught him to be responsible and made him a greater man. upon his return to the united states in 1946, he married nellie and raised four children, became a carpenter and helped build this great country. please join me in saluting world war ii veteran jess, a true american hero and member of the greatest generation. mr. speaker, i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the

following personal request. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. boyle of pennsylvania for today after 3:00 p.m. leave of absence requested for ms. jackson lee of texas for today after 12:00 p.m. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the gentleman from louisiana, mr. johnson, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. johnson: thank you, mr.

speaker. the 118th congress is in full swing. i just want to take a few moments tonight here on the house floor to clarify some things about how this new congress has begun. i'd point out, first, for scheduling purposes, of course, the state of the union is next week. it's a time for the president to take stock and speak to the american people about where our country is today and where we are heading. i hope the president's able to make good use of the opportunity, but i'm afraid we're going to be subjected to more spend and few solutions to the major challenges. even the crises facing the american people. mr. speaker, much has been made by the democrats and the press about how house republicans have kicked off the 118th congress, but we all know the chatter is not an accurate representation about what's really going on around here. the cameras don't capture it all. we're delighted that the c-span camera are roving about the floor now. it gives a little more personal

view of what's happening here in the chamber. but so much of what goes on outside these walls is not apparent to the american people. so let's be -- let's be plain about this. let's put it plainly in real terms what's actually happening now. there's some real reforms that's been brought forward by the new house republican majority. we now have a much more open legislative process. as i explained to some friends back home over the weekend, we all remember the cartoon -- i'm 51 years old. we remember the cartoon saturday mornings, i'm just a bill on capitol hill, and it explained how a bill becomes a law. i explained to our friends from louisiana who were in town that has not actually been the way a bill becomes a law in this congress for several years now. we're getting back to that process. we're getting back to what we were taught in civics about how this is supposed to work. bills have to be limited now to one single subject. no longer vote on a bill without giving members at least 72 hours

notice to review it first. what a concept. might have to actually read that legislation before you vote on it. any tax increase now -- this is an important change. any tax increase now must meet a higher threshold to pass. it was a simple majority but now it's a 2/3 vote. that's a really important reform to the american people given the state of the economy. there have been no new federal mandatory increases without equal or greater budget offsets. we got a $31.5 trillion federal debt. we can't continue on this trajectory. and these reforms are important to us. by the way, remote voting and work are no longer. you won't see them phoning in. they have to come to work. let's contrast with the old way of doing business. under nancy pelosi, as speaker, when they did it we had bills written behind closed doors. sometimes literally by a handful

of people. they were loaded up with unrelated policies. these bills were unveiled, then brought for a remote vote before anybody could possibly read them. much less debate or amend the legislation. and we all know the democrats are obsessed of having a top-down approach to legislating. they all but shouted it from the r rooftops over the past few weeks. that may have made former speaker pelosi's job easier, but it was not good for the american people, it was not good for this country, it was not good for this revered institution. i suspect if you ask the american people they would all agree. this is common sense. and we're restoring here common sense. we made commitments to america and we're going to fulfill them. now, here's the reality. house republicans have started this year by instituting the most positive reforms to this house in a generation. with republicans back in charge, the status quo, where there's no transparency, no accountability, outright disregard for regular order is finally over.

and that is a very, very good thing for the country. mr. speaker, this week we're voting to end the covid pandemic emergency order. this is one of the topics we've taken up. we committed to the american people we would do when we started the congress and we had. president biden said the pandemic is over. his press secretary says it isn't. we voted now to put an end to the public health declaration. since the pandemic is over, the emergency declaration should be over as well. mr. speaker, this week we're also passing the show up act. talk about something that's popular with the american people. this house has ended remote work in this body. the senate did it long ago across the hall. and now we're doing it for the remainder of the federal government. it is beyond time to require that the teleworking federal employees return to work in order to remedy widespread, terribly poor customer service. consider this, the i.r.s., just the i.r.s., they have a backlog

right now of more than eight million tax returns from 2021. prior to widespread teleworking, the backlog was approximately one million. this is an unacceptable thing. we have federal employees at all these agencies who literally have not come to work. well, we're going to end that. it's clear that these backlogs and customer service problems are do at least in part to teleworking. mr. speaker, with republicans back in charge, i could give you many examples of things that are going to be improving around here. that's just a couple of. the house is back to -- that's just a couple. the house is back to work and we intend to get the american people back to work as well, whether our colleagues like that or not. mr. speaker, i wanted to yield tonight to the gentleman from the great state of california, my new colleague on the house judiciary committee, mr. kiley, to address another important issue from this week. and i'll yield to him so much

time as he may consume. mr. kiley: thank you, mr. speaker. this week the house passed the pandemic is overact, terminating the national covid-19 state of emergency. now, of course, the pandemic is over. it has been over for some time. americans are well aware of this. it seems only the government has not been aware of it at the national level and in certain states in this country. so we passed this bill, the house of representatives did, ending the state of emergency, ending the national emergency. and the president responded in a very interesting way. he agreed with us. he said, yes. the emergency is over on may 11, which is a very interesting concept. emergency that you can schedule to end in advance.

this is a page out of gavin newsom's book in california where the state of emergency there had continued month after month, year after year, and as the absurdities piled up, as california last year hosted the super bowl during a state of emergency and as, by the way, the governor refused to abide personally by the dictates issued pursuant to that emergency, eventually he was forced to say, ok, i'll end it. he decided to end it six months in advance. so the state of emergency in california will now be lapsing on february 28. for those keeping score at home. and the national emergency will be lapsing on may 11. this is inherently against the very concept of an emergency. to say that we can schedule it to end at a specific date in the future. and it's also against the very concept of an emergency to say that it can last for three

years. we have in this country for now almost three years experienced our form of government being turned on its head. as at the national level, in particular in certain states, our entire separation of powers, checks and balances, and representative government collapsed under a one-man rule. and now that we have moved on from most of that -- although there are still some remnants of the controls that were put in place still in effect -- we're in a position to assess, what was the outcome of all of this? because, yes, there was some uniformity in terms of federal policy, but there was a great degree of difference in terms of how different states responded. now, in my state of california, we had the highest level of government coercion and control throughout the entire covid-19 experience. we had the most onerous business shutdowns, the longest school shutdowns, the worst church shutdowns.

we had the most onerous mask mandates and vaccine mandates and vaccine passports each and every step of the way. california had the highest level of government coercion and control generally done via executive orders without the say of the people, without the say of the legislature, without meaningful judicial review, with 40 million people of our state expected to simply comply. that was the california experience. that was the experience to a lesser extent of many other states. but then you had states like florida that decided that citizens could be trusted to make decisions for themselves. that empowered local communities to govern themselves. that focused on disease control rather than population control. and so we can now look, having now been through this for a few years and had very different approaches, what was the result of this difference in policy? well, economically speaking,

california had basically the highest unemployment rate in the entire country throughout the covid-19 state of emergency, whereas florida had just about the lowest unemployment rate in the country throughout the state of emergency. california has experienced student learning loss unlike anything that has ever been seen before in this country. there's been a 6% decline in third graders reading at grade level over the last few years. 7% decline for fourth graders in meeting e.l.a. standards. whereas florida achieved the highest national assessment of educational progress rankings in their history across math and reading for fourth and eighth graders in 2022. in california, to take another example in l.a., our students lost an equivalent of six months of math in terms of their overall education in that period of time and we will be grappling with the consequences of this for a long, long time.

so california had an educational clapity that -- calamity that states like florida did not. what did we all get in return? because we were all told this is done for the purpose of safety, it was done to save lives. we can assess that claim and when you look at the actual numbers, there was no difference. age adjusted mortality rates between california and florida were awash. it was the same. despite the unbelievable toll that the lockdowns and related policies took on the people of california. you can also make comparisons within our state. i represent a number of counties that did everything possible to take the approach that florida did despite what we were dealing with at the state level. so in laster county, for example, we were the first county in the state to end the state of emergency. we had our kids back to school earlier than anywhere in california. we were the first to end mask

mandates and vaccine mandates. and we did everything possible to keep our businesses open. all the while we took all the steps necessary to give vulnerable individuals the tools that they needed to protect themselves. now, all the while, those of us who favored trusting citizens, who favored freedom were attacked viciously by the likes of the governor of california who personally attacked me by name and said that i believed it would have been better to let californians die. well, again, you can look at the results in laster county as -- plaster county as compared to other parts of california. our students did much better. our employment rate was -- unemployment rate was roughly half. and a covid mortality rate about 2/3 that of the rest of the state. so the evidence now is very clear. as to what approach worked and what approached didn't. that those states that tried as much as possible to maintain the

structure of our constitutional form of government did a lot better than those states that decided an emergency could be used to effectuate an indeterminant one-man rule. but there are some who are now saying, as a recent headline in the "atlantic" magazine put it, we should simply declare pandemic amnesty. we should forget all of the damage done to our kids who may never get the education learning loss, may never make up for the learning loss. we should forget the damage done to businesses. that in many cases have been permanently lost. 200,000 businesses throughout the country that were shuttered. we should simply move on and forget about it and forgive and forget. look, i'm all for letting bygones be bygones and i am willing to work with anyone

who's interested in creating good policy going forward. but we do need to pause and consider how it is that this happened in our country. how did we get to a point where the appearance of a virus could cause our entire form of government to collapse? our founders were not unfamiliar with emergencies. after all, they had just been through a war of independence and yet, they still believed that combining the executive, legislative, and judicial powers in a single set of hands, as james madison put it, was the very definition of tyranny. so how, over two centuries now after the founding did we get to the point where our institutions were so susceptible to collapse? and i think that's a question that merits serious scrutiny. because it could point us in the direction of getting back to some of the founding principles that we lost touch with. the fact is that we have seen governmental power become more and more centralized and

consolidated in recent decades in this country, and it became simply all too easy to fast forward that process it became more and more possible to have one-man rule. we have seen our government becoming less and less representative and it became too easy to make them not representative at all. and we've seep more and more of the levers of power in government controlled by special interest group, especially in california, my state, so it became too easy to let special interests completely run the show when it came -- as they did when it came to school shutdowns. i don't believe we can simply move on and turn the page and forget about what happened in this country for the past few years. i think we need to give serious thought as to what led us to this point, because that -- and how we can move ahead and actually now get the pendulum

swinging in the other direction. that's a for more in depth conversation than my time today would permit. i would like to offer a few ideas. the first is that we need to definitively end the emergency, not on may 11, but now. not on february 28, but now. and any other states retaining the altered legal forms put in place through the emergency. along with that, we need to end all remaining mandates that exist. we took a major step in that direction yesterday in this house by passing legislation to end president biden's vaccine mandate for health care workers. we also need to look at reforming our emergency laws. to make it so you cannot so easily declare an emergency that lasts for years and is allowed to continue i indefinitely without any serious review of what the covens emergency continue to exist. in a broader sense, i think that

this is a moment where we as a country need to look at the consolidation and centralization of political power in this country. yes, at the state level, but largely at the federal level, and especially in bureaucracies that operate outside any sort of accountability on the part of the -- of voters. we simply have seen this happen over the course of decades in this country and it's veered us farther and farther from the idea of self-government that was the great american institution. innovation. the institution of self-government. now i am seeing encouraging signs in many ways that this is beginning to happen. for example, i'm starting to see at the school board level parents are getting involved like never before. parents are running for school board. and changing the way that local school districts operate. and trying to fight against mandates from the state level that tell them how they should run their schools. the beauty of this is that it gives parents a direct access

point in teems of how their local schools are run. that's idea of self-government. and i think that's something to build on going forward. finally, on the note of education. i do think we need to get much more serious in this country about zivic education. which used to be something that was not simply sum addendum to one of your classes but was part and par shovel your entire education. what it was about. to prepare you for active citizenship. to be well-grounded in what has made america such a unique clint in our nation's history. the greatest country in this -- in the world's history. what the constitution is about. why we have institutions like freedom of speech. why the separation of powers and checks and balances are important. i think if we start to teach these things more meaningfully in our schools, then it will reinforce our zivic institutions. it will leave them less vulnerable to the sort of transformation that they were put through over the course of the last few years.

and should we ever face another pandemic or whatever ore threat that may come our way, i think we'll be much better prefide get through it in the way florida did, in the way placer county did and not unfortunately in the way california and many other parts of this clint had to suffer through with such a high cost to so many people. thank you and i yield. mr. johnson: i thank my friend from california. that's some very important insights from the west coast. we pray that america does not make the same decisions in the other states. grateful for principled leadership out in california here in the house. mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield next to my good friend and colleague from the great state of wisconsin, mr. grothman. mr. grothman: thank you. it's unfortunate that this week things have -- the quality of intellectual thought in this country has declined to the degree to which we have to bring a resolution to the floor

condemning socialism. but that's the way it is. recently polls have shown among young people about half have a positive view of socialism. now of course these are young people whose opinions are largely gathered not by personal experience but by what their school teachers tell them or what they see on television so that may be part of the problem and hopefully they'll grow their way out of it. nevertheless, i do feel it necessary to make some statements as to why socialism is an inferior way to govern and is completely incompatible with people who want to live in a free society. the first thing to know about socialism, of course, it leads to material goods which are not as good as those under a free market system. a lot of that means because the government controls everything, you don't have an opportunity to have competition. the poorer restaurant, the poorer manufacturer, is never forced out of business. never forced to improve.

and as a result it means a poorer society. and a lot of times the material goods by itself is one of the reasons throughout history you see people leave the marxist, totalitarian -- marxist, social itself sort of society and flee toward the free market system. cubans leaving to come to the united states, when i'm at the southern border, the border patrol talks about the cubans. some wealthy by cuban standards. a lot of cuban doctors chirming. wealthy by cuban standards but still they can become much more wealthy in the u.s. in the old day, the cold war, people from east germany fleeing to west germany from north vietnam to south vietnam. to get to a country in which there are more goods and more quality. but i always feel it's a little bit wrong to overly focus on the fact that the free market inevitably means much better material wealth. it also deals with the freedom

to do anything else. when you have a socialist society, the government, a pure socialist society, employs everybody. and 9/11 a partial socialist society, a higher percentage end up working for the government and have to work for the government. and like all republican, in my political career, again an again i've had people come up to me and tell me things privately that they can't say publicly because they work for the government. ok. school teachers who come up to me and give a republican perspective on things. or things they disagree that maybe the school board is doing. but because they work for the government they can only talk to me quietly. like they were in the soviet union. or communist china. when i was in wisconsin and we changed the laws to give more flexibility in how we deal with public employees about 12 years ago.

all republicans knew that -- it was under governor walker. all republicans knew public employees who quietly syed with governor walker but because they worked for the government, the little socialist part of america, they couldn't be openlh governor walker. they had to quietly whisper like we were in a communist country. that's what happens when you have too many people working for the government. the department of natural resources is another example of that. again, people come in saying they're doing things wrong but they dare not say so publicly because they work for the government. and of course in addition to employees who work for the d.n.r., work for the university, it's not just political beliefs that they may have to hide. in the intolerance area of a very liberal political entity, i'm thinking of dame county where madison, wisconsin, is.

people are again in that -- where the government is so big they're forced not only to hide their political belief they may have to hide their religious beliefs. because they are afraid that when it comes to promotions, when it cops to hire, when it comes to firings, it could affect them negatively because such a high percentage of jobs come with the government. but it's not just that. in a pure socialist society, because there's a shortage of goods, the ability to purchase goods can also be dependent on toeing the party line. we know that in russia, or previously cuba, the ability to purchase things is dependent on toeing the party line. you can work all you want but unless you're a member of the party or toe the party line you can't get the good quality goods that are there. that's inevitably something that happens when the government becomes so powerful. other perks are restricted if

you don't toe the party line. things like travel in a socialist state. over time, you begin to have restrictions and maybe the opportunities to travel abroad are only given to people who have displayed fealty to the state. one of the things i'm told in cuba to look out for is cuban of course being an island nation, you would expect to have lots of boats. all around the island for people to go and fish, people just to take advantage of the caribbean. but in fact there are very few boats because cuba is a socialist country and they're afraid people will use the boats to leave the country. that's another trait that you have in advanced socialism. other things that -- they may stamp down on you for. they restrict your free speech because they don't want anybody

saying anything that might be something the government disagrees with. you look at communist china. even though they to a degree have a free market, the huge government, because they're afraid of any dissent, anybody telling the truth, cracks down on churches. and it seems hard to believe that you cannot openly talk about christianity, openly talk about christ in china, but i'm afraid you can't. falun gong you hear about in china saying things that maybe aren't approved by the government and therefore people crack down on that organization as well. so in any event, when young people say they're for socialism or if you have any children or grandchildren out there who say they're socialism, point out to them the inevitable lack of

freedom that comes with it. that a high number of people have to work for the government. and if you have to work for the government, they can promote you or hire you or fire you based upon political beliefs, based upon religious beliefs. in a free market system there always are, well, really unlimited, almost unlimited number of people you can work with. so many different businesses and in a free market system if you don't like to work for someone else you can always start your own business. that's something you can't do under socialism or they want to make it very difficult. so i am glad that we -- the united states congress, at least late they are week, or early next week, is going to go on record saying that we don't like socialism. it should be completely unnecessary. and the fact that so many young people think socialism might be ok is really a damning indictment of the educational,

both k-12 and university system in this country. thank you. i yield my time. mr. johnson: i thank my friend, the gentleman from wisconsin. that is very well said. the evils of socialism have crept into all manner of our politics and areas of the culture. mr. speaker, i will end our special order hour by just reminding the american people who are watching and keeping track of this that again as i said in the opening, the republican majority is in charge. the congress is now fully operational. and we are back to work for the american people. every week now we'll be passing substantive legislation that will send a message to the people that there's a new sheriff in town. today in our house judiciary committee, we had an hours-long hearing about the catastrophe on the border, hearing from those who are down there contending with that situation every single day. and hearings like that one will lead us to repairs to some of

these problems after the democrats being in charge the last couple of years. this week we're voting to end the covid-19 emergency order at long last. we're passing the show up act to get federal workers back to work. tomorrow we'll be voting to condemn socialism. there's going to be a dramatic change between the republicans in charge of this house and the democrats. and we're grateful for the opportunity to lead. we'll do that every day. and we'll make the american people proud with our policy reforms and our process reforms. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. clyde, for 30 minutes. mr. clyde: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials. on january 13 of this year, the

a.t.f. finalizedded unconstitutional rule. under this new rule, any pistol-braced firearm would be considered an illegal short barrel rifle sunting these to regulations under the national firearms act of 1934 and turning gun owners into criminals. they informed law abiding owners that they will have only 120 days to register them once the rule is published in the federal register. this 120-day amnesty window started yesterday. as we have seen across the world time and time again, what comes before gun confiscation? gun registration. that is what a.t.f. is now

demanding. for stabilizer owners, the a.t.f. provides for alternatives. turn in the firearm with the attached slaiblizing brace. second, destroy the whole firearm. another forfeiture. the third, convert the brace that does not require registration but more difficult to use with a brace. number 4, permanently and from the firearm so it cannot be re-attached. if gun owners refuse to register, destroy, turn in or alter their firearm after this 120-day window they face violations. and 10 years in prison for

having an unregistered short-barreled rifle. it turns law a-biding people into felons for doing nothing. if they do knowing, after 120 days, they are in felony violation of a.t.f.'s reinterpreted law. so what exactly are these alleged stabilizing bracees, a pistol brace an access other attached to the rear of a large firearm to anchor to the shooter's arm to more accurately shoot one-handed. this is a stable idesser -- stabilizer brace. these bracees were designed to help disabled veterans to enjoy. my company has sold many of

these firearms to assist disabled veterans. unfortunately, these beneficial bracees have faced uniformed and unwarranted backlash from unelected bureaucrats for years. in 2012, the a.t.f. had a letter saying they were legal to use. this decision was then reversed three years later by the a.t.f. in wish establishic bracees were illegal and turning them into short-barreled rifles. they are legalful held at arm's length but illegal if at the shoulder. this flip flop in 2017 when stabilizing bracees were determined to be legal to shoulder by the a.t.f. as the original design of the brace remained unmodified. as brace pistols are villified

once again declared by the a.t.f. to be short barrel rifles requiring registration and reclassified as felons if they do knowing. clearly, unelected bureaucrats who have no knowledge or no respect for the second amendment rights are steam rolling ahead with unlawful restrictions which will impact statements say from three million to 40 million firearms across the country? why? to dismantle our second amendment rights. that's what gun control is all about. it is an unarmed and subjugated america. i and second amendment second amendment colleagues will never allow it to happen. we are fighting this and we are

not going to give up. congress cannot allow the a.t.f. to regard both our constitution and congress' role, its sole role in the legislation, it's legislative authority. i don't know if a.t.f. director needs a copy to revisit the language of the second amendment or the direct powers directed to the three powers of government. only congress has the authority to make laws. let me say that again, congress makes laws not unelected bureaucrats or any others. given the misguyeded decision to advance its pistol brace rule i'm leading the fight to stop this grave injustice. we have three key tools to fate this. the first, first is h.r. 646,

stop with the short act which i introduced yesterday. this repeals the national firearms act prohibiting the a.t.f. from banning pistols with stabilizing brace dances the second element is a joint resolution of disapproval under the congressional review act which we will address to block the rule on infringing. our n.r.c.c. chair has joined me and senators kennedy and marshall will introduce the resolution in the senate. and the third way we can fight this is through the power of the purse. as we write the appropriations for fiscal 2024, we can prevent this. through what is called a

limitation amendment. as a new member on the appropriations committee and the commerce, justice and science subcommittee, i look forward tore assisting in this effort. with these three initiatives, we can work together to stop the a.t.f.'s constitutional overreach. it would be better if they rescind the pistol brace rule so we wouldn't have to take these permanent measures, but we are fully prepared to do so if they don't rescind it. we will expose the a.t.f.'s unconstitutional rule and how congress can stop on infringe fringing on americans' second amendment freedoms. i yield to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. van drew.

mr. drew: i thank the gentleman for doing this today and i thank him for his lead in the fight. yesterday, i stood on this floor fighting to protect americans' first amendment rights. today i'm standing here fighting to protect americans' second amendment rights. god help our constitution. congress has afforded far too much deferens to d.c. federal bureaucrats in d.c. agencies. and it is our time to rein that are extreme power. the left has talked about taking your gas stoves away, censored your speech and no coming to take away millions of pistols from law-abiding gun owners,

law-abiding gun owners, individuals who own pistol bracees which were originally approved by the a.t.f. themselves. what's changed? what's different? what's new? i will tell you, we have an administration that is desperate to erode our second amendment rights in more and more pervasive ways as every years passes and chipped away at americans' constitutional rights because of the lack of understanding of what the actual roots of gun violence are. the administration is abusing the powers delegated to the a.t.f. to illegally track gun owners, perform unauthorized compliance checks at peoples' homes and now banning popular

modifications that again, i will say it again, they approved in the first place. it's got to stop. we're tired of it. americans are tired of it. this has to end. that's why i am proud to join these efforts to protect gun owners across this great united states of america. as their dual elected representatives, we must fight back and stand tall and we must be tough and stand against this abuse of power on their behalf. and let me say this, as a duly elected official and gun owner myself, all i have to say to the a.t.f. is enough is enough. our right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. i yield back. mr. clyde: thank you to my good

friend from new jersey, from a blue state and i appreciate those words. mr. drew: south jersey is a lot different. mr. clyde: i yield three minutes to my good friend from colorado, representative boebert who is the co-chair of our second amendment caucus here in congress. mrs.boebert: i thank my friend and fellow freedom caucus colleague and proven fighter for the second amendment. thank you so much for highlighting what's going on here. mr. speaker, the a.t.f. knew the pistol brace rule violates the separation of powers. bureaucrats don't create laws, congress does. this rule functions like a law that congress never passed. a.t.f., alcohol, tobacco and

firearms, western colorado, we call that a fun weekend. but d.c. bureaucrats have used this agency to infringe on the rights of the american people. when you reebb search how many pistol bracees are expected to be registered, some say 10 million, some say 20 million and may even be 40 million. why such disparities because the a.t.f. doesn't know how many are out there because americans don't trust them enough to tell them. in fact, there is going to be many more boating accidents this spring and summer than we have encountered. we don't trust the a.t.f. because of their overreaching actions exactly like we are seeing with this rule. we have been talking about the

a.t.f. and i'm waiting to hear a good reason why the a.t.f. should remain an agency at all and i have yet to hear one. instead of providing regulations that keep our communities safe, this agency has made our communities more dangerous by laundering weapons to the cartels, operation fast and fewer russ exposed the recklessness. and americans have had a hard time viewing these agencies and its rules as legitimate. 6:45.

6:45. and not have the appropriation features of their agency pus under another like the f.b.i. once we clean that out. but other than that, the second amendment, it is absolute. all the regulations, the bureaucrats make, the laws that bureaucrats are trying to make, the unconstitutional laws that are passed by the federal government, the state

legislatures. they make our country less safe. gun-free zones are the most dangerous places in our country. the second amendment is absolute and it's here to stay. a recent report states that americans own 46% of the world's guns. i think we need to get our numbers up, boys and girls. i thank you so much, mr. collide, for hosting this special order. -- mr. clyde for hosting this special order. thank you for bringing us together on this topic. hopefully we can shed some light to the american people and let them know we're fighting against this agency and their abuse of separation of powers. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. thank you to the gentlewoman from colorado and they are unwavering defense of the second amendment of our constitution. and now i would like to yield three minutes to my good friend from texas, mr. crenshaw. mr. crenshaw: thank you, mr. clyde, thank you for your leadership on this important issue. unelected bureaucrats are at it again, launching attacks on our

constitutional rights. the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners. this seems to be the sole purpose of the agecy lately. now they want to ban pistol braces. americans who don't know what pistol brace is may have obvious questions after hearing about this ban. what is a pistol brace? obviously it makes guns more deadly, right? more deadly, right? and only for people who want to kill people. but americans who use pistol brace know there's zero logical reason to ban pistol braces. it's a device used by a lot of disabled veterans to provide more stability when shooting a gun. tens of millions of americans own this brace but they would immediately become felons when this go into effect. that's not even practical from a law enforcement perspective. you could argue the pistol brace makes the gun safer. makes it less likely for people to shoot things they're not aiming at. but no, the impulsive leaders at

a.t.f. have failed to apply simple lonlic and reason to their decision making and instead chose to apply the mind set of an authoritarian, gun grbing bureaucrats we all know they are. congress cannot sit idly by. i recently reintroduced a bipartisan piece of legislation that would create an appeals process for small business owners hurt by these haphazard rulings. right now the only real recourse that exists is for these gun shop owners and manufacturers to sue the federal government in court. now for the average american, that's not exactly doable. it takes time and a lot of money and a lot of resources. my bill would put the a.t.f. in line with every other federal regulatory agency's appeal possess and ensure americans can appeal to their government for redress of grievances and get decisions handed down in a timely manner. these taxpayer funned, anti-gun people at the a.t.f. cannot continue to trample on our second amendment rights without

response from congress. we must never cease fighting against these shameless power grabs. republicans must use our house majority to protect law-abiding gun owners. thank you and i yield back. mr. clyde: thank you to my good friend from texas for those inspiring words. i will now yield three minutes to my good friend from kentucky, representative massie. mr. massie: i want to thank mr. clyde from georgia for organizing this time on the floor. i think it's so important. we're talking about the brace ruling for fry -- ruling from the a.t.f. a brace is a firearm accessory for disabled individuals. but i'm sure biden went to his attorney general and to the a.t.f. and said you know what? i hate guns. how can i take millions of them off the street? without regard for if they're legally owned. and how can i do it without going to congress because i don't want to do that. keep in mind this is administrative law. our founders were against this

type of thing. because they knew that the law shouldn't change with each administration. when democrats controlled both chambers of congress and the white house, they didn't pass this legislation. this a.t.f. rule says that gun owners have 120 days of amnesty to register or destroy their firearm if it has this firearm accessory. if you don't obey you'll become a felon. what this administrative rule does not do is it does not make people safer. this ruling turns millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals. tens of millions of pistol braces have been sold in the united states. with the permission of the a.t.f. the written permission of the a.t.f. they're tell jug to take this off or transfer it or register it like a machine gun basically. the same paperwork. if you want to turn it into a short barreled rifle, guess what? there's 26% of americans live in

a state where the a.t.f. has left them with no option. they will create an illegal gun in their state if they comply with the a.t.f. ruling in order to keep their gun. how much compliance do we think there's going to be? well, there was a bump stock rule similar to this. there are about a half million bump stocks estimated in circulation. 526 having returned to the government. so they've made half a million felons, is what they've done. now, mr. clyde has several bills to fix this. i can anticipate, or i believe, justice scalia, if he were alive, i can tell you based on a meeting i had with him, which one he'd prefer. several of us had breakfast with scalia and we said, obama is so bad. we don't have the constitutional balance of government. fix this for us. supreme court. and scalia said this is not my job.

to referee fights between you and the executive branch. by the way, you're the most powerful, powerful branch. article 1. and you can't -- you have all the tools you need to stop what he's doing. and one of my colleagues said, well, impeachment is so hard. scalia said i'm not talking about impeachment. you are funding everything you complain about. so i believe that his favorite method here and it's my favorite method would be to defund this activity. the ruling is unconstitutional. the second amendment is clear. shall not be infringed means shall not be infringed. i urge all members to call their representatives and support andrew clyde's bill. thank you. mr. clyde: thank you to my good friend from kentucky. he's right. we have the power of the purse. now i would like to yield two minutes to any good friend from texas, representative weber. mr. weber: i thank the gentleman from georgia for yielding to me and thank you for your efforts leading this fight. let's get something straight.

i'm a proud texan and let me tell you, texans are not happy when the government comes after their second amendment right. my district 14 on the gulf coast of texas has more concealed handgun licensees than any other congressional district in texas and i have to assume in the country for that matter. the second amendment is extremely clear, quote, the right of the people to keep and bear arms hall not be infringed. what is so hard to understand about that? but let's face it, folks. the far left's dangerous attack on the united states constitution continues unabated with yet another example right here with the a.t.f.'s unconstitutional pistol brace rule which bans millions of firearms with stabilizing braces. the a.t.f. ruling could turn as many as 40 million americans into felons and those 40 million

americans are sick and tired of faceless bureaucrats trying to destroy the second amendment. mr. speaker, thomas jefferson once said, where the people fear the government, there's tyranny. where the government fears the people, there's liberty. i add, i would add, mr. speaker, fear the government that fears your guns. i want to thank t the gentleman from georgia, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. thank you to my good friend from texas. for those great words. and he's absolutely correct. when the government fears the people, there's liberty. so now i'd like to yield two minutes to my good friend from florida, matt gaetz. >> i thank the gentleman for his leadership and for yielding. the a.t.f.'s new rule criminalizing pistol braces is a brazen and unlawful attempt to

usurp congressional authority. this pistol brace rule will fail for the same reason the bump stock rule failed. the a.t.f. does not have the authority to create federal law. nobody voted for the a.t.f., though i know a lot of people who would vote against them if they could. this new rule will ban pistol brace on firearm -- on firearms, forcing users to comply with this new decree or become a felon. disabled veterans and others have used these braces for years to help them fire pistols and the a.t.f. unilaterally decide thsd no longer acceptable. now otherwise law-abiding americans will either have to destroy their newly illegal firearms or figure out thousand comply with an arbitrary and confusing regulatory scheme outlined in the national firearms act. the a.t.f. cannot be trusted to protect our rights to keep and bear arms. there is no timeline in which

the a.t.f., under any administration, would become an ally. it needs to go. we need to abolish the a.t.f. before they abolish our second amendment rights. alcohol, tobacco and firearms should be the name of a chain of convenience stores in florida, not a federal agency. i urge every red blooded american and every conservative in this congress to stand with representative clyde and his legislation and to stand with me and co-sponsor my bill the abolish the a.t.f. act of 2023. let's get rid of this unlawful agency once and for all. and let this special order be considered a shot across the bow. i yield back to the gentleman from georgia. mr. clyde: thank you to my good friend from florida. that's a great statement, a shot across the bow, a great example of what the united states navy would do. so i thank you and now to my good friend from tennessee,

mr. burchett, i yield two minutes. mr. burchett: thank you. thank you, mr. clyde. thank you, mr. speaker, for your service to our great country. i don't have any notes for this but i do want to say, the a.t.f., to me is the swamp. here we have a group of unelected bureaucrats, dadgummit that have taken upon themes to interpret a law. it always reminds me when i was in nashville one time, i was sitting at the crowne plaza across the street from the capitol, one of my dear friends who just passed away, tom hens lee -- hensley, he was called the golden goose. i never voted for his bills but he always liked me. he told me somebody came up and threatened him, threatened our governor. he sat there, comped on his disbar. he walked away and he said, burchett, you know what, in a few more years he'll be gone and the old goose will still be sitting here. and that is exactly, exactly the

mentality of the swamp. it's not like on an episode of the simpsons where six people are sitting around a table, the old cartoon and they're deciding what's going on. it's a bunch of unelected, arrogant bureaucrats who think they know what's best for this country. dadgummit, the a.t.f. has overstepped their bounds once again. law-abiding tennesseans should not be deemed criminal because of some bureaucratic whim. i appreciate you, mr. clyde, thank you for your service to our country. thank you for this bill. and i look forward to voting with you on this bill and being a sponsor. thank you, sir. mr. clyde: thank you. thank you very much to my good friend from tennessee. and now i would yield two minutes to my colleague from the great state of florida. representative cammack. mrs. cammack: thank you to the representative from georgia, mrs special order on an important topic. my speech a well more than the

two minutes i'm allotted so i'll dispense with the notes and talk about how insane, ridiculous and unconstitutional this new rule is. not only has it been completely blown out of proportion, what the brace is, a brace that was originally designed for disabled veterans, increases stability, and since 2015 had been ruled as an accessory by the a.t.f. which under their own regulations, under their own guidance, they said that they didn't have jurisdiction over accessories. so i thought that was very interesting, that now we have an unelected swamp creature, a bureaucrat who thinks that they can now make felons, law-abiding citizens felons, by now instituting this 120-day rule. a lot of people talked about this but few have talked about the economic impact this will have. based on the nics data we have, this will be a $1. billion hit to the firearms industry.

$1.9 billion to law-abiding citizens. believe me, in rule has nothing to do with gun safety. this has nothing to do with making communities safer. this is just a back room attempt, a book door attempt, to get at the firearm industry. that is all this is and nothing more. this is why, mr. speaker, we have to pass the short act. this is why we have to pass the reins act because the reins act would have any -- you can fire your congress critter but you can't fire these unelected bureaucrats. we need to pass this act, and stop this regulation in its track. it's time to once and for all let those swamp creatures know the second amendment shall not be infringed. with mr. clyde: thank you to my great colleague from the state of

florida and i want to thank all my colleagues who participated in this special order tonight. it is important that we show americans that we are united and unwavering in protecting our 2nd amendment freedoms. and with that, i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. clyde: i move that the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor, say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands adjourned until