Providing for Consideration of H.R. Ig Independence and Empowerment Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Replacement of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney with Bust of Thurgood Marshall; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act; Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Pennsylvania for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the rule before us today provides for consideration of four pieces of legislation: H.R. 2662, the inspector general reform bill; H.R. 3005, which requires the removal of certain Capitol statues; H.R. 3684, the Democrats' surface transportation reauthorization bill; and then H. Res. 503 which establishes a select committee to investigate January 6.

The first bill, H.R. 2662, reforms appointment requirements, authorities, and oversight of Federal inspectors general.

Republicans agree that reforms are necessary. We agree it is necessary to ensure that IGs have the tools they need to conduct robust investigation and oversight. In fact, there are several provisions in this bill that we introduced with Republicans as coleads.

But unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, rather than working toward a bipartisan solution, the majority once again chooses a partisan approach and rejected good-faith efforts from Republicans to craft a proposal that both sides agreed on. The bill before us today includes problematic language limiting a President's authority to remove an IG even when that IG has committed dereliction of duty of an important act.

Further, H.R. 2662 requires the President to name the first assistant as acting IG without any exceptions, even when that assistant may be implicated in the very same misconduct that led to the removal of the previous IG.

Lastly, the bill grants the authority to issue subpoenas for former Federal officials without providing the necessary protections to prevent abuses of this authority.

Mr. Speaker, without these problematic provisions, the IG reform bill could come to the floor with broad, bipartisan support. It is just an absolute shame though, I must say, it is not surprising that my colleagues across the aisle once again threw away an opportunity for bipartisanship simply to score cheap political points with their radical liberal base.

In keeping with that theme, the rule makes in order H.R. 3684, the Democrats' retread of last year's Green New Deal. Only this time it is now disguised as infrastructure. Instead of working with Republicans to provide desperately needed infrastructure investment, House Democrats doubled down on the same mandates, the same restrictive policies, and the same social justice warrior priorities that failed to go anywhere last year.

This partisan package spends nearly $548 billion on progressive priorities and programs while actually restricting new road and bridge construction. That is right. It actually restricts new construction of roads and bridges. When we talk about the money, like I said, it is about $550 billion. That is an 11 percent funding increase over last year's bill and a whopping 79 percent increase over the bipartisan FAST Act, the last surface transportation reauthorization bill that was passed by this Chamber.

Alarmingly, but not surprisingly, this bill is not paid for. So then where does the money come from? Well, the answer is simple, deficit spending. Deficit spending which further fuels inflation and increases the cost of things like gas and food that all American families need. Simply put, every American will pay more for everything to meet the demands of the Democrat's far-left radical base.

You would hope that with a price tag like this, with an impact on American families like this, that the bill would actually provide for massive investment to fix our Nation's crumbling roads and bridges. But you would be wrong. H.R. 3684, puts climate and the Green New Deal above real infrastructure needs. In fact, up to $1 out of every $2 spent in this bill is tied up in Green New Deal mandates. This bill puts up roadblocks for transportation and also puts up roadblocks for transporting clean-burning, affordable LNG--obviously, liquefied natural gas--which is another blow to blue-collar workers already devastated by Joe Biden's war on American energy and his war on blue- collar workers.

In focusing on this radical far-left priority, the majority has failed to include the regulatory reforms necessary to address money- wasting permitting delays that currently plague critical infrastructure projects. Think about it. Right now, it takes 6 years on average just to break ground on major public projects; 6 years. An average of 20 to 30 percent of infrastructure project costs are lost to red tape. These costs are real money. This means that about $164 billion in this bill would actually just be wasted on red tape and project delays.

But that is not even the most egregious example of wasteful spending in this legislation. This bill lifts a bipartisan ban and allows the Federal Transit Administration to spend money on art. That is right. According to liberals across the aisle, art is now infrastructure. America's taxpayer dollars are hard at work in--clearly, newspeak liberal, or really newspeak on display--calling art infrastructure.

Finally, the bill favors big urban areas to the detriment of smaller rural communities like the ones I represent in southwestern Pennsylvania. H.R. 3684 prioritizes funding for urban transportation modes like transit and rail over roads and bridges that everyday Americans use. In fact, more money is given to electric vehicle charging stations than to the entire Rebuild Rural grant program.

I would also be remiss if I failed to point out that those very same electric vehicles cannot be built without critical minerals from China. China is, of course, the world's number one polluter. So where are the climate priorities? Where are the environmental priorities that my colleagues on the liberal side of the aisle claim they care about?

At the end of the day, the Democrats are prioritizing their fantasy of the Green New Deal over traditional concepts of actual infrastructure. My colleagues across the aisle, the Liberal Party, have chosen to bow down to the woke mob that they are terrified of. They have chosen to prioritize woke liberal yuppies over rural America and blue-collar workers that actually work for a living.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleagues across the aisle of some important facts.

For one, you can't make solar panels without mining, because you have to mine critical minerals. You also can't make windmills without steel, and you can't make steel without mining coal. So that is just something to keep in mind.

Mr. Speaker, last month, CBP encountered more than 180,000 illegal immigrants at our southern border. That is a new 21-year high. Think about it. Last month, in 1 month, almost 200,000 illegal immigrants were at our southern border.

Many of these illegal immigrants are traveling from and through high- risk South and Central American countries where COVID-19 infection rates are skyrocketing. South America, in particular, has become a major COVID-19 hot spot with death rates eight times above the global average.

And yet, the Biden administration is considering ending Title 42, the public health authority that allows Customs and Border Patrol to quickly turn back migrants due to the dangers posed by highly contagious diseases. CBP heavily relies on Title 42 authority to expel adults and family units that illegally cross the border. In May of 2021, CBP expelled more than 100,000 individuals under Title 42.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the draconian shutdown measures from far-left Governors, including Pennsylvania's Tom Wolf, many States are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Ending Title 42 puts that fragile recovery at risk, especially at a time when powerful variants continue to pop up across the globe.

That is why, if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider my good friend's, Congresswoman Yvette Herrell, PAUSE Act. The PAUSE Act would provide for stringent enforcement of Title 42, and would prohibit HHS and DHS from weakening Title 42's implementation.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, here to explain the amendment is the bill's author, my good friend, Congresswoman Herrell. I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Herrell).

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Yes, I do.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, just another fact of life now. We cannot make an electronic vehicle without critical minerals. Unfortunately, due to the red tape that is put upon the mining industry by liberals across the aisle, we are now dependent on China for roughly 80 percent of our critical minerals. Simply put, we now cannot make an electric car without China.

Here to talk about another predicament that liberals across the aisle put us in is my good friend from Texas.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, once again, this Chamber is considering legislation that could easily have passed with bipartisan support. If Democrats would stop appeasing their radical, progressive base and they would stop worrying about what whiny, spoiled millennials are saying on Twitter, if they decided they would finally try to approach their work here in some kind of bipartisan manner, then we could work for real solutions for real Americans that would help the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

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

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