[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 172 (Wednesday, November 20, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H6143-H6145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOUSE REPUBLICANS PREPARE FOR 119TH CONGRESS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kean of New Jersey). Under the Speaker's
announced policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Utah (Mr.
Moore) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority
leader.
General Leave
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special
Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, it is great to be back in Washington,
D.C., this week as the House Republicans set the stage for the 119th
Congress with a unified front to tackle the most pressing issues that
the American people face.
Americans from coast to coast are grappling with the consequences of
the Biden-Harris administration, including high energy costs, crippling
inflation, rising crime, burdensome regulations, and government
overreach in schools and other institutions.
House Republicans are working together as a conference to craft
legislation that tackles inflation, implements progrowth tax policies,
cuts back on regulatory red tape, promotes family values, supports
small businesses, secures our borders, and strengthens our position on
the world stage.
During this lameduck period, we are hard at work advancing other key
important pieces of legislation, specific pieces. This week, we put on
the floor Congresswoman Claudia Tenney's Stop Terror Financing and Tax
Penalty Act, which protects American citizens who are wrongfully
detained or held captive abroad from late penalties from the IRS and
revokes the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that provide financial or
material support to terrorist groups like Hamas.
We have to listen to the American people when it comes to energy
independence, a topic that we have spent the last 4 years trying to
debate.
{time} 1745
I think the people have spoken, and House Republicans are listening.
They are advocating for policies that cut red tape and unleash our
Nation's energy potential.
That is why we passed, earlier this week, Congressman Russ Fulcher's,
who was just in the Chamber, Committing Leases for Energy Access Now
Act, the CLEAN Act, which requires the Interior Department to increase
the frequency of geothermal lease sales from every 2 years to every
year, hold a replacement sale if necessary, and create decision
deadlines for geothermal drilling permit applications, therefore
enhancing our geothermal energy output and domestic energy supply.
If you say that you want clean energy, if you say that you want other
alternatives but continue to withhold the permitting and hold hostage
the permitting process, then you truly do not want to create a
solution.
We are done with this. Permitting reform is something that has to
take place in our Nation. We have done a little bit of it in a
bipartisan way, but if we can't look at something like this and say
that this, to reduce the burden on permitting, is the most commonsense
thing for geothermal potential, then nobody is being actually serious
back here.
Let's get these things done.
I am grateful for my colleagues who are going to join us this evening
to discuss this and many other measures that are pertinent to their
districts. I am grateful for their commitment to delivering for the
American people as we continue to look forward to next Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the
Commonwealth of Virginia (Mr. Cline).
Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah for holding
this Special Order this evening.
This week, House Republicans are taking a decisive stand to support
our fellow Americans who are wrongfully held hostage abroad.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act
will change the way the IRS will treat American citizens who are held
hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. With over 40 Americans currently
detained, it is simply unacceptable for them to return home only to
face tax penalties imposed by their own government.
Our current tax code provides just 1 year of relief before late fees
begin to accumulate, and this is unacceptable.
The IRS imposing late fees and penalties on hostages for missing tax
returns highlights the agency's failure to help the American people. We
must ensure these Americans can focus on reuniting with their families
and not be burdened by financial penalties and bureaucratic red tape.
Additionally, a crucial part of this legislation is that it sends a
powerful message to those who finance terrorism that we will revoke the
tax-exempt status of U.S. nonprofits that support groups like Hamas.
American taxpayers should never be forced to subsidize those who seek
to undermine our safety and security. We must stand united with these
Americans and make it clear: Our government will not tolerate any
support for terrorism. We will continue to fight for justice, and we
will continue to fight to protect our citizens.
Mr. Speaker, I applaud the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney) for
sponsoring this legislation, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote
``yes'' on this important bill.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his
remarks. We appreciate his followthrough in highlighting this key,
important legislation.
There are, I think, 46 Americans who are wrongfully detained. They
should not be going through these types of tax penalties. This is
something that makes absolute sense.
I appreciate my next colleague who will address the Chamber.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).
Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I thank our vice chairman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, for the last several weeks, I listened to countless
concerns from literally hundreds of Tennesseans whom I have the honor
to represent here in Congress. I heard from families still struggling
to make ends meet because of rampant inflation. They are paying more
for housing, groceries, energy, and just about everything else you can
think of because of Bidenomics.
I listened to constituents who are worried about crime, fentanyl,
and, yes, the overrun U.S.-Mexico border.
Small business owners expressed the heavy burden of government
regulations. Parents told me the many ways government overreach in
schools keeps them up at night.
It is not hyperbole to say that the results of this election were an
answered
[[Page H6144]]
prayer for those Tennesseans and millions more across this country.
Throughout the 118th Congress, House Republicans fulfilled our
Commitment to America. We passed bills to secure our borders, lower
energy costs, curb Federal regulations, and restore fiscal sanity to
our government, but unlike what we have seen for the last 2 years, the
bills we pass in the 119th Congress will no longer be dead on arrival
in the do-nothing Senate.
The next Congress will also have a Commander in Chief who values
family, common sense, and strength on the world stage. We will have a
partner in the White House who is willing to roll back red tape rather
than layer on more. We will have a President willing to sign
legislation into law that will keep American workers and their families
working, safe, and prosperous.
But we are not waiting for January to deliver results, Mr. Speaker.
This week, House Republicans will bring two commonsense pieces of
legislation to the floor.
The first prohibits the IRS from charging penalties and late fees to
Americans who happen to be late on filing their taxes due to being
wrongfully detained abroad. American families of hostages held by Hamas
terrorists shouldn't incur tax penalties. I proudly voted for this bill
when it came up under suspension and plan to do so again.
The second bill aims to support our national security and energy
independence by streamlining the permitting process for geothermal
energy development. It requires the Interior Department to increase the
frequency of geothermal lease sales to every year rather than every 2
years. It also calls on the Department to hold a replacement sale, if
needed, and creates deadlines for geothermal permit applicants.
Geothermal energy is a clean, dependable, renewable energy source
that supports my commitment to an all-of-the-above energy approach
needed for the 21st century.
After month after month of record-breaking price increases and
illegal border crossings, the American people are anxious to see their
country made great again.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee
for his remarks. I always appreciate his involvement.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter) for
our next address.
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, my district is suffering, our Nation is suffering, and
Congress has the duty to alleviate it.
This year, record-breaking storms have wreaked havoc on homes,
businesses, families, farms, and more.
Right now, the West Coast is battling a catastrophic bomb cyclone,
dumping as much as 1 foot of rain on impacted communities. On the East
Coast, this year's hurricane season was especially destructive.
Hurricanes Debby, Helene, Milton, and Beryl, just to name a few,
brought destruction to the Southeast, the likes of which I have never
seen in my more than 60 years living in the great State of Georgia.
We aren't talking about temporary inconveniences. Communities,
particularly ag communities, are experiencing generational damage.
Our fellow Americans have lost loved ones and property at an alarming
rate. Among those casualties is Blackshear Assistant Fire Chief Leon
Davis from Pierce County, who was killed during Hurricane Helene while
selflessly clearing debris in an attempt to keep his community members
safe.
My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Davis family as they
mourn this immense loss.
There is nothing we can do to bring our loved ones back, but we can
make life better for those who still are with us.
We need disaster relief, and we need it yesterday. The number one
responsibility of the Federal Government is to protect our citizens
from foreign and domestic threats. It brings me no joy to say this, but
we are failing in that mission.
FEMA and SBA's disaster relief coffers are as empty as the hope many
people feel about getting the aid they so desperately need, but we have
a window of opportunity to change that. I am calling on my colleagues
to work together to seize this opportunity.
The White House has submitted a roughly $100 billion request to help
our Nation recover from natural disasters. This request is a step in
the right direction.
Georgia alone, according to Governor Brian Kemp, needs $12.2 billion
just for Hurricane Helene damage recovery. That is just one State and
just one storm.
I don't say this often, not often at all, but I echo President
Biden's call to quickly pass a supplemental funding package with no
delay.
We must work together in a bipartisan and bicameral manner to get the
American people the help they deserve. Disaster relief is not a red
issue, and it is not a blue issue. It is a red, white, and blue issue.
We have a responsibility to help our communities recover, and there
is no excuse for us to delay any further.
We also must ensure that our timber farmers are able to deduct the
value of their lost crop, which is why I am pushing for my bill, the
Disaster Reforestation Act, to be included in this package.
I am ready to work with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to
get this disaster supplemental across the finish line. Anything less
than this, Mr. Speaker, will be a dereliction of our duty. Our people
need help, and they need it now.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia
for his remarks. Utah has potential for some disasters, but nothing
like the devastation they have seen, and our heart goes out to them.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).
Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I would echo, too, following Buddy Carter, that we did
an outing over the weekend down along the Georgia and Florida area. As
a Californian, we have our own disasters typically, but it is very
devastating.
We talked to a lot of farmers, ranchers, and timber people there.
Immediate help is needed for them. They will be gone if something isn't
done. They will be out of business, and the next generations won't have
that option. We will miss that giant hole in the economy in that area
and that food supply chain, as well as the lumber.
Something must be done immediately in whatever package that comes out
of here.
I did want to speak about energy and energy policy a little bit. We
have suffered as a nation these last 3\1/2\ years because we haven't
really had a coherent energy policy.
A lot of things go hand in hand with a strong economy, with energy
and some of the byproducts it takes to put into it. We have to have the
wherewithal with our natural resources to produce energy, the inputs
that are required, and the equipment.
That means mining, and that means hydroelectric power. We have to be
able to build water storage to make electricity.
People right now are suffering from inflation, and it keeps ramping
up. Two of the main drivers we have seen from this streak of inflation
the last 3-plus years have been driven by the cost of energy and
profligate spending by this government above and beyond what we should
have been doing.
I know we had to go through that COVID period, and it was tough, but
the spending within that and also on top of that was the so-called
infrastructure bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, they call it, and
other angles. It is just pathetic. It hasn't been focused.
The true infrastructure we need is water storage. The true
infrastructure we need is enhancing our transportation, whether it is
our ports, highways, or trains, what have you. Instead, we get more
mandates.
As a Californian, the mandates come down the pike from CARB, as it is
known, the California Air Resources Board, and it is emulated by about
six other States. Even EPA looks at how California does it, trying to
foist that on the whole country to force requirements for, for example,
locomotives that don't even exist yet. It is the equivalent of what
would be called tier 5, as we haven't really perfected the tier 4
locomotive yet as far as cleanliness.
The diesel engines we produce these days are so much cleaner than
anything just 20 years ago or much longer
[[Page H6145]]
than that. If we allowed trucks and trains to be replaced by attrition
over time with the clean technology, we would see dramatic gains.
If we achieved 99 percent in cleanliness from, say, 1950 or 1960 to
now, that last 1 percent is the one that is acutely hard to achieve and
hyper-expensive to get that last 1 percent, but the regulators are
hell-bent all the time on trying to get that last 1 percent.
Why can't we move toward having everything hit that first level at
99, whether it is clean engines or what have you, on that, and achieve
that goal and see where we are?
That is because the more we export our industry and the more we
export agriculture to other countries, they do it much, much dirtier,
if you want to put it that way, than us. Coal, for example, used to be
a cornerstone of our energy grid in this country. It is dissipating,
yet China builds more coal power plants every month, and they don't
really care about environmental stuff like we do.
{time} 1800
We are looking for reasonable environmental regulations, and
sometimes it goes too far. They don't care.
Remember when they had the Olympics? They shut down the country for
about 2 or 3 weeks beforehand so the air would clean up enough and it
would look good on TV and the athletes wouldn't choke to death, but
then right back to business as usual afterwards.
A coherent energy policy means, yes, we need to be extracting oil and
gas from the lands we have, whether private or Federal, and it can be
done ecologically soundly. We don't have to be scared to death.
The ANWR, the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, is the size of South
Carolina. It is massive. The area where they want to do the extraction
is a tiny postage-stamp size compared to that. Yet, we are going to
ruin the whole thing, so it is disingenuous.
Energy policy will help bring things back in line costwise. Coupled
with restraint on government spending, that is how we can solve a whole
bunch of the inflation problems for regular Americans who are
struggling.
Look to a better energy policy, whether it is oil and gas, whether it
is not tearing out our hydroelectric power--there are aspirations to
tear out dams all the time these days--or building more nuclear power
plants. Small modular reactors are really going to be the way to go.
Guess what? With hydro plants, no CO2; with nuclear
plants, no CO2. If you are worried about CO2,
those are good ways to not have it.
Instead, for example, in the San Joaquin Valley in California, where
they are taking away so much of the water and the land values are
deteriorating rapidly because they are covered up with what they are
calling solar farms. There are acres and acres and acres of these
plastic panels out there that will have maybe a 20-year or 25-year
life, at best. Maybe you should call it a half-life like nuclear. Then
they all have to be disposed of.
Agriculture has been displaced. The best breadbasket in this country
has been displaced by having a noncoherent energy policy, but whatever
feels good.
Mr. Speaker, if we want to solve these problems for American
consumers, middle-income and lower-income American families, these are
what we need to attack.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding the time.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, as always, I appreciate the gentleman
from California (Mr. LaMalfa) and his thoughtful, but yet frustratingly
common voice on energy policy.
I thank my colleagues for being here tonight and taking the time to
speak on some of these priorities the House Republicans are focused on
as we look forward to the 119th Congress, Mr. Speaker.
As I mentioned earlier, House Republicans are pushing legislation to
reform the United States tax code, to protect American hostages abroad,
and support our domestic energy industry.
Currently, there are approximately 46 Americans wrongfully detained
or held hostage abroad, and our tax code does not provide any relief
beyond 1 year for detainees.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act
works to support Americans by preventing the IRS from charging late
fees and penalties to U.S. citizens wrongfully detained abroad. This
bill also revokes the tax-exempt status of U.S. nonprofit organizations
that provide financial or material support to terrorist groups like
Hamas.
This is the most commonsense legislation that we are going to see in
the lameduck period, and I am hopeful to see this through the
legislative process entirely as it passes the House.
Americans should not be penalized for being held hostage by
adversaries abroad, and this bill is a necessary step toward ensuring
detainees and hostages are able to focus on safely returning home and
reuniting with their families.
This week, House Republicans successfully passed the Committing
Leases for Energy Access Now Act to require the Department of the
Interior to increase the frequency of geothermal leases, the lease
sales, from every 2 years to every year. It also includes holding a
replacement sale, if necessary, and creates decision deadlines for
geothermal drilling permit applications.
This bill emphasizes a robust energy policy that unleashes our
Nation's energy potential, reduces reliance on foreign energy sources,
and cuts back against onerous red tape that slows down energy
production.
House Republicans know that we have a lot of work to do, and we are
committed to using our constituents' voices as our guide as we reverse
the Biden-Harris administration's failed policies and protect American
citizens, restore American energy independence, and lower energy costs
for American workers and their families.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________