Chairman Burgess Opening Remarks on H.R. 9747 3334, 8205, 8790, and H. Res. 1469
As prepared for delivery:
Good afternoon.
Before I get into the agenda today, I want to thank Ranking Member McGovern, Representative Fischbach, Representative Norman, and Representative Langworthy for coming to the Member Day hearing last Thursday. I know there were a lot of moving parts last week, and I appreciate those who could make time to hear from our fellow representatives about their ideas to make this institution work better. It was a thoughtful conversation with ideas that clearly members carefully considered. Now let's move forward with our agenda for today.
Accountability to the governed, respect for law and order, strength on the world stage, and rightsizing federal agencies. These are the core tenets House Republicans have pledged to the American people.
And today, House Republicans are delivering on these promises with four bills under consideration.
Starting with House Resolution 1469, this resolution finally holds those individuals accountable for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago. To this day, not a single individual involved in the planning and execution of this unmitigated disaster has ever acknowledged its failure or apologized to the 13 service members who were killed for putting them in harm’s way. That changes this week when the House of Representatives votes to condemn the failures of the Biden-Harris Administration that put our military and diplomatic personnel in danger and made us weaker on the world stage.
Speaking of weak on the world stage, the STOP CCP Act reverses the Biden-Harris Administration’s bow-to-China policy and sanctions individuals throughout the PRC for their human rights violations, genocidal repression, and religious and political persecution. Absent any discernable strategy to hold these individuals accountable for their outrageous crimes by the Biden-Harris Administration, House Republicans will step in to send the message that such behavior will receive swift and significant consequences from the U.S.
Additionally, the Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act modifies federal law to regulate and impose stiff penalties for charitable bond funds for subverting the law and releasing violent criminals onto our streets. After the events surrounding George Floyd’s death and the subsequent unrest, charitable bail funds – including those endorsed by Vice President Harris – have received an influx of funds that they have used to bail out violent criminals who, in many cases, have unsurprisingly and subsequently committed more crimes. H.R. 8205 properly regulates these funds to ensure a level of accountability and oversight that is long overdue.
Finally, the Fix Our Forests Act makes groundbreaking changes to our regulatory and permitting process to ensure our forests are properly managed. For too long, bureaucratic red tape and radical environmental activists have prevented us from properly caring for one of our most precious natural resources. H.R. 8205, bipartisan legislation by the Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, makes targeted changes to the way we manage our forests that will reduce both the probability and severity of wildfires.
And finally, I will touch on the continuing resolution before us. After a robust appropriations process by House Republicans, the Democrat Senate has continued to choose inaction over Congress’s primary responsibility to develop a budget for our federal agencies. More time is needed for appropriators to finish their work, and the Continuing Resolution before us today gives additional time for House and Senate leaders to negotiate a funding agreement. I think I agree with everyone here that this is not the preferred approach, but nonetheless, a shutdown will not occur because of Speaker Johnson, and I applaud him for bringing this forward.
I will now yield to our ranking member, Mr. McGovern, for any remarks he wishes to make.
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