Providing for Consideration of H.R. Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Infant Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act, and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from New York 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 three pieces of legislation, including H.R. 350, which my colleagues claim will prevent incidents of domestic terrorism. But let's make no mistake, Republicans are committed to fighting hatred and violence in all forms.

Unfortunately, H.R. 350 does absolutely nothing to actually make our communities safer. Rather, this legislation expands the Federal bureaucracy. It ignores new and evolving domestic terrorist threats, and it makes it more difficult for law enforcement to recruit and retain qualified candidates.

Alarmingly, it empowers Biden's DOJ to continue labeling American parents and other political opponents as threats to stifle their First Amendment rights.

The rule before us today also provides for consideration of H.R. 7688, the Democrats' attempt to distract and shift blame for President Biden's self-inflicted energy crisis. Since his first day in office, President Biden has waged an unrelenting war on American energy producers. From canceling the Keystone XL pipeline to suspending oil and gas leasing on Federal lands, President Biden's radical Green New Deal policies have discouraged and denied development of American energy resources and the American energy sector.

Yet, at the same time that Joe Biden has done all this, he absolutely refuses to take any accountability for the soaring gas prices and the economic pain he continues to inflict on hardworking American families.

First, the President tried to blame Putin, despite the fact that gas prices had risen more than 50 percent during his first year in office. A quick history lesson: That is 1 year before Russia ever invaded Ukraine. In fact, gas prices have increased every single month of this Presidency.

Now, the President is blaming hardworking oil and gas producers in places like Pennsylvania and across the country, accusing them of price gouging, even though multiple FTC investigations have repeatedly concluded supply and demand is the ultimate driver of these rising prices and, by the way, an artificial decrease in supply thanks to these radical policies.

H.R. 7688 will impose a socialist price-fixing scheme on oil and gas, leading to even less production, which will hit small businesses and American families the hardest.

Now, I wasn't alive in the 1970s, but I know there are a lot of Members in this Chamber who were, and I am sure they can remember waiting in line to fuel up their cars. If H.R. 7688 is signed into law, that travesty will once again be a reality.

Finally, the rule before us makes in order H.R. 7790, the Infant Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act. Under President Biden's leadership, our Nation is facing an infant formula supply crisis, with reports that more than 40 percent of formula is out of stock. Instead of working with Republicans to redirect excess stocks of formula at Federal agencies and force the FDA to develop a plan to address this shortage, House Democrats simply want to throw money at the problem with absolutely no plan, no guardrails to ensure that funding is spent to actually put baby formula back on grocery store shelves.

Let me be clear. We are giving $28 million to the very same unelected career bureaucrats who failed to address this crisis when it came to their attention a year ago. It is absolute madness.

H.R. 7790 will do nothing, absolutely nothing, to alleviate Biden's baby formula crisis, and it is American babies and American families who will be forced to suffer the consequences.

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that today's rule also does not make in order a single Republican amendment, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Republicans have attempted to work with our Democratic colleagues to make our communities safer, to address inflation and lower gas prices, and to help parents feed their babies. But it is absolutely clear from today's rule and from their actions over the last 3 years that House Democrats would rather continue their partisan political theater than put forth real solutions to help real Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice), my good friend.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I would be more than happy to answer the question that my friend from Illinois posed.

The difference from 2 years ago and now is that the DOJ has started going after concerned parents that are showing up at school board meetings labeling them domestic terrorists.

The difference is that the Department of Homeland Security thinks it is fitting to have a truth and disinformation board, like something from an Orwellian novel. This is a different time.

Also, in the last 2 years, we had $2 billion of damage that was caused by antifa. Yet, my colleagues across the aisle refuse to label antifa a domestic terrorist organization.

Those are just a few of the things that have changed between now and the last time we had this bill.

Now, my good friend from New York was talking about the oil and gas industry. Let me just remind everybody that in 2020, the oil and gas industry lost $76 billion.

There was talk about buybacks. Maybe we should consider why these buybacks are occurring. Maybe it is because of investor shareholder activism and this notion of ESGs that has something to do with it. And by the way, that activism also dries up investment and capital into the oil and gas industry.

But don't take my word for it, Dr. Jason Furman of Harvard University--clearly no bastion of conservative thought--he actually was an adviser to President Obama. Listen to what he said: ``When more people want to buy things than companies are capable of making, prices go up. That's just the law of supply and demand. Companies always want to maximize their profits. I don't think they're doing it any more this year than any other year.''

Again, that was Jason Furman, not exactly a conservative.

But while we are talking about all these issues, we are also failing to talk about police week. It is National Police Week. Across our Nation, police departments are struggling to recruit new officers, to fill open positions. Some cities are facing shortages as high as 17 percent. At the same time, our Nation is in the midst of a crime crisis with homicide rates up 48 percent compared with just 2 years ago.

The crime crisis is a direct result of President Biden and the Democrats' efforts to demonize the police, to defund the police, and also pushing for soft-on-crime policies.

House Republicans will always stand with our police. We will always invest in our Nation's law enforcement, and we will always fight to make our communities safer.

That is why, if we defeat this previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider the Communities Deserve Cops Act.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford), a former sheriff, good friend, and the author of this legislation, here to explain the amendment.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I just have to push back a little bit on my good friend from New York because the facts just don't line up with his argument, respectfully.

I will give you a great example. During the committee markup, Representative Steube of Florida offered an amendment to strike references to white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and insert neo-Nazis, white supremacists, antifa, Black Lives Matter, and radicalized social justice organizations.

So when the Democrats had the chance to actually include a whole slew of domestic terror organizations, when they had the chance, that amendment that Representative Steube offered, it failed on a party-line vote with only one Republican joining the Democrats in voting ``no.''

While Democrats refused to put antifa, Black Lives Matter, and radicalized social justice organizations into the definition of ``domestic terrorism,'' they simultaneously believed that concerned parents at school board meetings are the domestic terrorists. That is the problem, and that is what has changed between 2 years and now.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Rice) to talk more about the police. Again, it is Police Week, and we are doing very little talking about the police.

Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose the previous question so we can amend the rule and immediately consider H.R. 7809, the Communities Deserve Cops Act, which allows for the use of COPS grants to provide officers with signing and retention bonuses up to $5,000.

Predictably, Madam Speaker, we have seen shocking increases in violent crime following the calls from my friends across the aisle to defund the police.

This week is National Police Week, a time when we should be honoring those who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe. Sadly, we are not taking the opportunity to vote on legislation to bolster law enforcement and decrease violent crime.

Despite House leadership having numerous bipartisan bills to vote on, only two bills have been added to the suspension calendar. The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking up five bills tomorrow.

Representative Rutherford's legislation provides much-needed assistance for agencies to hire and retain officers. The COPS grant program is vital to law enforcement agencies of all sizes, but while it has continued to receive funds, it has not been authorized since 2009.

I have also introduced a bill with Representative Spanberger that would reauthorize the COPS grant program and help low-income, rural agencies compete for these grants. It has 53 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle. More of my Democratic colleagues have cosponsored it than Republicans. If Speaker Pelosi would allow a vote on the floor, it would pass.

There are many more bipartisan law enforcement bills that deserve to see the light of day. I hope that, moving forward, we can work together to support the many bipartisan law enforcement bills that deliver targeted solutions to the Nation.

I ask my colleagues to oppose the previous question so that we can provide the needed support for law enforcement agencies.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I have a lot of respect for my good friend from New York, but, again, facts don't care about friendships. If you look at the facts, and just a quick history lesson, on September 29, 2021, the National School Boards Association sent a letter to the Biden White House asking the administration to treat parents as terrorists. Madam Speaker, 5 days after that letter, which, again, asks Biden's DOJ to treat parents as domestic terrorists, 5 days later, Attorney General Garland sent a memo to the Director of the FBI, directing the FBI to work with each U.S. attorney to convene meetings with Federal, local, and territorial leaders within 30 days of the issuance of the memo and to open dedicated lines of communication for threats reported at school board meetings. Just a few weeks after that, they created a threat tag to be used on parents.

Fast forward, during a markup in the Judiciary Committee, Judiciary Republicans expressed concerns that H.R. 350 will codify what took place last fall, treating parents as domestic terrorists.

To date, that memo has not been rescinded.

Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Morelle) to see if he supports the actions of the Attorney General, if he supports the letter, and if he has anything to say in response.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, reclaiming my time, the question was simple. It is on the issue of the memoranda, whether or not my colleague agreed that the FBI should treat parents as domestic terrorists.

The letter has not been rescinded. It is still in place, and the actions of the Attorney General and the DOJ are irrefutable. Again, I point to the fact that that letter has still not been rescinded.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Guest) to elaborate more on this matter.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis), my good friend.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Herrera Beutler), my good friend and fellow appropriator.

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge defeat of the previous question so we can protect and support local police departments to help them hire and retain more officers. It is that simple.

Over the past year we have seen a dramatic rise in crime in communities across our Nation. And the district I serve, my home in southwest Washington, hasn't been spared. Not a day goes by without a local paper depicting another carjacking, killing, burglary, or assault. These are on the rise.

When you meet with our local law enforcement, as I have, they have been sounding the alarm for well more than a year. Then consider the phrase that we have all heard repeated by politicians across this country and in this town: Defund the police.

In States like mine, Washington, so-called police reform laws have made it harder for police to catch criminals and do their jobs. Place yourself in the shoes of a law enforcement officer who puts her life on the line every single day. It is no wonder that honorable individuals have left the profession in droves.

One county sheriff's department in my region announced that deputies would no longer be able to respond to certain crimes like theft of property, stolen vehicles, and more, due to the laws that are trying to defund police. This is deeply concerning. We must act now to help shore up our police forces to keep our cities and streets safe.

The Communities Deserve Cops Act will help reverse staffing shortages by providing and signing retention bonuses for police officers. It is time to stop chasing individuals away from the profession of policing, which is exactly what we have been doing, and the Communities Deserve Cops Act will help bring folks back into law enforcement.

Mr. Speaker, I urge defeat of the previous question so the House can bring up this legislation to improve it, to help hire and retain police officers, to shore up our police departments, and help keep our communities safe.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), my good friend.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, for over 3 years, House Democrats have pushed for a radical, far left agenda that does absolutely nothing to address the serious issues facing American families. The legislation made in order under today's rule is no exception to that.

H.R. 350 adds bureaucracy and adds red tape to existing law enforcement resources, while completely ignoring new and evolving terrorist threats.

H.R. 7688, this is the Democrats' socialist energy price-fixing scheme that will actually lead to less energy production and further exacerbate American families' pain at the pump.

Finally, H.R. 7790, does nothing--I repeat, nothing--to put more formula on store shelves or hold Biden's FDA accountable for ignoring this crisis despite knowing about it for the last year.

Madam Speaker, the American people deserve more than empty promises and meaningless legislation, they deserve action.

Madam 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. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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