Announcement By the Clerk

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEHLS. Madam Clerk, I rise to nominate Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.

Kevin McCarthy has been our leader for the past 4 years and has overwhelming support within this Conference. My intent today is to address the American people who have been watching these proceedings and are concerned about what they have seen in this Chamber over the past 2 days.

I am a Member of the House Freedom Caucus, and I am proud to say so. I believe the 20 Members that have nominated an alternate candidate have expressed their concerns with leadership, and many of those concerns have been addressed and accepted by Leader McCarthy and this Conference.

I believe this battle we are waging must end. Kevin McCarthy fully understands that being Speaker of the House will not be easy. Kevin is aware that any legislation he would like to pass out of this House will require support and enforcement from the Freedom Caucus. This is where I believe we can hold the Speaker accountable.

Kevin has made changes to the House rules at the request of all Members. One of those rule changes was the motion to vacate the chair, which Nancy Pelosi removed 4 years ago to avoid the scrutiny and the accountability.

The motion to vacate the chair, which has not been offered for a floor vote in over 100 years, calls for the removal of the Speaker of the House. Kevin has reinstated the motion to vacate the chair, which I believe was the right thing to do. This motion allows us, the Republican Conference, to hold the Speaker accountable. The American people gave us, my friends, us, the Republicans, the majority, and their vote of confidence to change the direction of our country. The American people are begging for leadership because the Biden administration certainly has not placed the American people first.

Kevin McCarthy understands. He understands he must protect that Speaker's gavel and abide by the will of the American people. The decisions we make in the 118th Congress are critical to the future of our country. The decisions we make, the legislation we pass as a Republican majority must have the support of the American people. We have a crisis on every corner in America, and the American people are expecting Republicans to bring this much-needed change. We must come together today and implement that change.

To those of you outside of Washington that are watching, Kevin McCarthy and this Republican majority understand your pain. We understand your pain. We feel it.

We understand we must secure our southern border. We must unleash our energy sector and become energy independent. We must curb inflation by reducing spending, and we must support our law enforcement officers. We have to get crime under control. We must place America and its people first.

I say to my friends on the Republican side that we can do all this while holding the Biden administration accountable and the Washington bureaucrats who have infringed and abused the rights of the American people and their families long enough. Under Speaker McCarthy they will be held accountable. They will be held accountable.

Today, let's do what is in the best interests of the American people. Let's get to work. Let's elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.

Madam Clerk, at the direction of the Republican Conference, I advance the name of Kevin McCarthy as the next Speaker of the House for the 118th Congress.

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