The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers room, washington, d. C. , november 17, 2022. I hereby appoint the honorable ann m. Kuster to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the order of the house of january 10, 2022, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. The chair will alternate recognition between the parties. With time equally allocated between parties and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip limited to five minutes. But in no event shall debate continue beyond 11 50 a. M. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. Mcclintock, for five minutes. Mr. Mcclintock madam speaker, the announcement of mike garcias election makes it official. The American People have entrusted republicans with the house majority. They do so at a time of unprecedented fiscal peril for our country. 40year high inflation, economic recession, and an approaching debt crisis, all driven by the most reckless spending in our nations history. And history is screaming this warning at us, nations that bankrupt themselves arent around very long. Republicans must reclaim the mantle of fiscal integrity and fiscal responsibility. And we should start by renouncing the tawdry, corrupt, and irresponsible practice of congressional earmarks in which individual congressmen direct spending to pet projects in their districts or grants to favored supporters bypassing meritdriven competition. I propose to the House Republican conference a bidding to get rid of congressional earmarks. Earmark supporters argue that the power of the purse rests with congress. Therefore, its elected members and not unelected bureaucrats should make these decisions. No, not exactly. Representatives are supposed to be biased towards their districts. Thats why congress is designed to act collectively. Ever since magna carta its been a settled principle of Good Governance that the power to appropriate funds should be separated from the power to spend them. This is at the heart of the constitutional separation of powers. Congress appropriates funds but cannot spend them and the president spends funds but cannot appropriate them. This is the single most important protection we have against political corruption and pork barrel spending. Earmarks undermine this principle and its no coincidence that most of the congressional scanndals over th years have involved earmarks. A local company produces a product the pentagon neither needs nor wants. So what to do . Well, it simply ingrashiates itself with the local congressman and tell the pentagon what they need. They reward them at election time. And it repeats. Companies rise or fall on their merits. If theres such a thing as a good earmark the price to be paid is bad. Just the last omnibus spending bill in march included nearly 5,000 congressional earmarks totaling 9 billion for some of the most egreeningous examples of waste in the federal budget. Swine management in arkansas. A National AtomicTesting Museum in las vegas. A sheep experiment stationed in idaho. Now, members can and should advocate for their districts and make the case for projects they deem worthy of the money that congress has appropriated. The problem with earmarks is blurring these two rules and having members both advocate and decide. Now, many say they dont trust this president and his deputies to administer these funds appropriately and evenhandedly and i agree. But if you dont trust the president to administer the funds that we appropriate, then dont give him the money. Period. We hear that earmarks assure that local governments get a fair break. No, what they actually do is turn the federal budget into a grab bag for local pork spending by the most powerful members in congress. And they undermine the central tenet of federalism that local projects should be financed by local communities and federal spending reserved for the nations general welfare. When a local government proposes an earmark, whats it saying . Its saying the project is so low on its priority list it doesnt dare spend its own taxpayers money but is perfectly happy to have taxpayers in other communities foot the bill. The result is a long list of dubious projects that rob st. Petersburg to pay st. Paul for projects that st. Petersburg doesnt benefit from and st. Paul doesnt deem worthy enough to spend its own money on. Finally, its said that earmarks can grease legislation by buying off the votes of individual members. Add a few local projects for that member and suddenly a bill he would never vote for on its merits becomes a local and imperative overwriting his sound judgment. But explain to me how is that a good thing . Our new majority needs to make a dramatic, concrete and credible statement that business as usual in washington is over. Is there a more powerful statement we can make than swear off this wasteful and corrupting practice of congressional earmarking . I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. Soto, for five minutes. Mr. Soto america, we have liftoff. And a surge of fire, thunder, and smoke, artemis 1 lit the Early Morning sky and was launched into the cosmos. At nine Million Pounds of thrust, artemis 1 is the most powerful rocket ever launched from the earth. I was honored to see this historic flight firsthand early yesterday morning, and now after 50 years, america takes its first major step towards going back to the moon. And we are bringing our Many International partners with us, including the e. U. , japan, canada, and other allies. In central florida, we locals beam with pride that artemis launched from the storied 39b pad from cape canaveral. This First Mission was a long time in the making. The orion spacecraft began being developed during the cost Lakes Program from 2005 to 2010. In 2017, i was proud to vote formally to establish the artemis program. Over the next five years, america got to work, including every state. Many central floridians helped build or assemble the orion capsule, the space launch system, the crawler transporter, and other components. During that fiveyear period, nasa and spacex kept busy on another project, launching the crew dragon spacecraft. And on may 30, 2020, i saw firsthand astronauts bob and doug launch in the spacecraft endeavor and dock at the International Space station. This was the first crude launch from american soil in nine years. Since then weve seen multiple spacex and blue origin crewed flights, traveling lowearth orbit to and from i. S. S. Is normal in florida. Nasa turned its efforts towards deep Space Exploration once again. As the most powerful rocket to ever fly from the earth, we knew the first artemis launch would never be easy. It turned out after two scrub launches, third time was a charm. As i stand here this morning, the orion spacecraft just had its next burn to set it on a course for a lunar flyby. The closest approach to the moon will be on november 21, before entering a distant retrograde orbit around the moon on november 25. It will roughly travel 1. 3 million miles, farther than any other crewed designed spacecraft thats ever traveled. And its a test flight, of course. So well push orions capabilities to the maximum to ensure its safe for future astronauts. And then, orion will return to the earth at about 25 1 2 days. After that, nasa will conduct extensive evaluations of the returning orion capsule. From there the future crewed lunar space flight will happen. And artemis 3 in 2025 will have the first woman and next man land on the moon. And in 2027, artemis 4 will dock with the lunar gateway space station and begin a permanent presence on the moon. We will seek to discover water, learn from the harsh lunar environment and advance new technologies. By the 2030s, these experiments and innovations will help us prepare to go to mars and beyond. For today, let us take a moment to appreciate and thank the tremendous accomplishments of administrator bill nelson and the amazing people at nasa. Yesterday was a critical milestone in our countrys space history. This is the first major step for america to go back to the moon and then onto mars and beyond. Madam speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair now recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson, for five minutes. Mr. Thompson thank you, madam chair. Madam chair, i rise today to recognize the service of jason marie of Northern Cambria, pennsylvania. Mr. Marie had his pass and review for the United States navy, an important step in passing basic training and becoming a sailor. To his family and those who know him well, jason is an driven and dedicated person. When he graduated from Northern Cambria high school this spring, he knew military service was his best avenue for his life. Coming from a family where his mother is a retired is retired from the army and his grandfather served in the marine corps, jason naturally felt the call to serve after high school. Prior to serving in the United States navy, jason was an active member of his community and served on the Northern Cambria volunteer recreation board. Were thankful both as a community and as a nation for jason marie and for all those who are serving in our military. Congratulations on becoming a sailor in the United States navy, jason. Madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate amy shields of the allegany hardwood ut Lakes Network on being named to the top 100 forest list. Pennsylvanias allegany Plateau Region alone produces 80 of the cherry hardwood supply of the entire world. This is a critical ingredients for producing furniture and home goods for customers at home and abroad. This industry is fortunate to have their interests represented by amy shields who is the current executive director of ahug and the voice of the Timber Industry in pennsylvania. Ms. Shields is a longterm veteran of the Timber Industry. Because of her efforts, loggers, saw mills, and hardwood manufacturers can continue to provide the highest quality Forest Products to the world. Congratulations, amy, on this great accomplishment. Madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate the pennsylvania 4h Dairy Judging Team on their top honors at the 100th national 4h dairy judging contest at the world dairy expo. In october, the Pennsylvania Team traveled to madison, wisconsin, to compete in the contest. It was made up of four members with elle curtis of Warren County representing the pennsylvania 15th congressional district. Elle placed fourth overall. As a Team Pennsylvania was first for overall placing for jerseys. They ranked second in brown swiss and gurnsys. Fifth for holsteins. As a result of their victory, the team has qualified to represent the United States this summer at the International Dairy judging contest in glasgow, scotland. Congratulations to he willy elle and the entire pennsylvania 4h judging team. Madam speaker, i rise to congratulate the Indiana County conservation district on their 75th anniversary celebration. Since 1947, the Indiana County conservation district, or iccd, has been protecting the Natural Resources of Indiana County and working to improve quality of life for current and future generations. The iccd and its dedicated employees and volunteers whose education, technical assistance, and partnerships with local businesses to work towards a pros pus and sustainable prosperous and sustainable future. They work with Environmental Education and wildlife manage. Justice. All these efforts have helped to teach the importance of conservation to residents of all ages in Indiana County. The iccd formally celebrated their 75th anniversary on october 7 with an open house at their headquarters in indiana, pennsylvania. Madam speaker, please join me in congratulating the Indiana County conservation district on 75 years of protecting the environment and ensuring that Indiana County continues to be a great place to live. Thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from virginia, ms. Wexton, for five minutes. Ms. Wexton madam speaker, i rise today in hop nor of transgender awareness week. Each and every day our transgender friends and neighbors fight to make their voices heard, fight for human rights and to live free of attacks. The spirit and fight deserves to be celebrated this week an every week. We stand with the transcommunity and join their fight to live openly without fear of discrimination. Sunday marks transgender day of remembrance as we honor the at least 32 transgender or gender nonconforming people who have been killed this year. As cochair of the lgbtq Transgender Equality task force i will never stop working oshine the light on the injustices this community faces. To my friends in the transcommunity, i want to let you know you are seen, you are heard and you have allies here in congress. Thank and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Crawford, for five minutes. Mr. Crawford thank you, madam speaker. Today im here to talk about reopening the very building in which we stand. The United States capitol. Its been 2 1 2 years since Speaker Pelosi closed the peoples house and told americans it was part of our united effort to stop covid19. Over the last year weve seen a sharp decline in hospitalizations and deaths from covid. In fact just two months ago, President Biden even declared the pandemic was over. Yet certain protoroles main from the height of the pandemic. Today when constituents come to visit my office, they need to be personally escorted around by staff. They have to be a small group. They cant go to the house gallery to watch votes take place. And my staff is only allowed to give a tour once a week. But the speak if the speaker is really trying to prevent the spread of covid why is she forcing people to gather around Security Check points. This is the peoples house yet we continue to deny access to the people. The very people who elected us to serve them. The very people whose taxes fund our operations. Because of these regulations i have had to turn several of my constituents away. Not only do these regulations make it difficult to welcome every group into my office but it affects the function of all house offices. I was multiple visitors a day. Each time they come in, i have to send one of my tasers to find that visitor in a crowd of people, wait in long security line, and then escort them through the house office buildings. Its inefficient and takes staff away from the valuable work they should be doing on behalf of people of arkansas. To top it all off none of this makes sense. Why do one of my staffers need to escort someone who has been cleared by security into the building . And how does this protect against covid19 . Whats so dangerous about allowing visit dwhroars ability to watch their government function . How can we claim to be transparent government when we prohibit access to elected officials . Its far past time to truly open up the capitol to the people and restore its operation to prepandemic times. We cannot afford to keep distance between the American People and their elected representatives. These regulations prevent constituents from freely visiting their representatives, hinders productivity in our office, and none of it makes us safer. The people are an important part of the legislative process. In fact theyre the reason for it. Madam speaker, they should be welcomed here. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. Barragan, for five minutes. Ms. Barragan madam speaker, it was an honor to join Speaker Pelosi with the congressional delegation to egypt, to the United Nations annual Climate Crisis, cop27. Our bottom line message to world leaders, america is allin to fight the Climate Crisis. We stand with our Global Partners to reduce emissions, go green, and meet our goals under the paris climate agreement. Shipping emissions is one of the largest emitters of Greenhouse Gases in the world. Congress has acted with the inflation reduction act. Record climate investments. Are included in the i. A. R. To accelerate our transition to the clean energy future. That includes a 3 billion investment for my bill, the Climate Smart ports act, to reduce emissions from ports across the country. As someone who represents the port of los angeles, i know firsthand the work we must do to go zero emissions and commit with other couldnt trois reduce shipping emissions to the green shipping challenge. To get there at the speed and scale necessary its critical that congress invest in zero admissions is shipping technologies and provide the e. P. A. With the resources to regulate emissions from ship