The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ISSUES OF THE DAY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3852-H3856 on July 24, 2020.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ISSUES OF THE DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Ocasio-Cortez). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California
(Mr. LaMalfa).
Local Governments Need Coronavirus Relief Money
Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas. It is very gracious of him to yield me time.
I just wanted to point out, in the recent CARES Act, there was money to be directed to our State and local governments around the country. In my own home State of California, larger governments have been fortunate enough to receive aid from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, but many of our smaller counties and cities have not.
Under 500,000 population, there seem to be strings attached to distributing that money. The problem is that is not State money; that is Federal dollars directed to go to local governments.
So, at the hands of our California Governor, many of our rural counties are facing extreme budget deficits as a result of the coronavirus and have yet to receive a penny of those allotments from that fund that we in Congress federally have set up for them.
While the virus cases increase across the country, counties that have yet to receive the aid will have to bear the brunt of even more coronavirus costs, as well as the other issues that they deal with in their budgets, keeping law enforcement on the road, our highways and roads repaired that are county jurisdiction, and all that.
As the House and Senate plans to take up more coronavirus relief in the coming days and weeks, we need to make sure that the localities that the money we sent to in the CARES Act actually have the money distributed to them as it was intended by the Federal Government, to those local smaller entities, cities, and counties. This is before we even consider sending even more money to the States or other forms of local government.
It is not the State's money. The next bill needs to go directly to all those forms of local government that was implied and promised and intended by Congress.
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana
(Mr. Banks).
All Americans Should Root for COVID-19 Fight Success
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.
Like my great colleague from the great State of Texas, I love America, but I want to know: Why does it seem like some want America to fail this test? We should all be rooting for America's success in its fight against COVID-19.
President Trump has overseen the unprecedented Operation Warp Speed, an effort to develop and disseminate a vaccine in record-breaking time.
We learned this week that one vaccine in particular shows great promise. Thanks to President Trump, the U.S. will have access to the vaccine immediately if it proves effective.
Nothing like this has ever been done before, and if successful, this President's achievement will be a defining moment in American history.
We have already developed lifesaving antiviral treatments that have caused America's fatality rate to plummet.
Together, we can defeat this virus. We must fight it with science and facts and leave fear behind.
Madam Speaker, I believe in America, and I ask all of my colleagues to stand up and support our President during this present crisis.
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois
(Mr. Shimkus).
Honoring Gene and Kathleen Shimkus
Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding.
I also recognize Al Green, who was going to do the same thing. Al Green is a Democrat. Those stories don't get reported very much when you go to a colleague, a friend, a Democrat, and say, ``Hey, I really want a few minutes so I can talk about my parents,'' and he was happy to do that, but he just ran out of time and had to run to the plane. So, my thanks to him.
It was about this time 5 years ago that I came to the floor to honor my mom and dad, Gene and Kathleen Shimkus, as they were celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary. It was my hope that I would do so again this week, honoring their 70th wedding anniversary, but that was not to be. My mom passed away on April 6 of this year.
Now, as I have done this week a couple of times, it is time to thank my parents for their incredible support throughout my life and particularly these last 24 years.
My mom and dad were both local Collinsville kids. Dad was raised on South Clinton by his grandparents, and my mom was raised on Fairway Boulevard in State Park. So from Collinsville High School, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, and raising seven children, they knew a lot of people.
Mom kept the local yard sign book. It was difficult for anyone to tell my mom no. She was loved. My dad would put up the yard signs and take them down. Mom also was involved in many early envelope stuffing parties for political mailings.
Mom and dad covered the parades in Madison County, those that I attended and those that I could not. Dad drove and mom organized the walkers, signs, and candy. She helped fill the ranks with grandchildren, especially Adam, Gene, Elizabeth, Niki, Tim, Terry, and Dusty. And when out-of-state grandchildren were in town, they, too, were drafted to fill the ranks. Among these were Matthew, Maria, and Emily, along with Jennifer and Katy. Of course, I already spoke about my sons, about David's, Joshua's, and Daniel's participation in these parades.
Mom and dad could be counted on to watch our kids at a moment's notice. Dad picked me up from the airport when rides failed. It would be dad who would respond quickly when we locked ourselves out of the car or locked ourselves out of the house. And who can forget the Minnie Winnie that they purchased to make it easier for my family to get around during the 1996 campaign.
Mom was elected to my open township seat. She served for 20 years. She loved being a trustee and supporting the local senior center run by the township.
She continued to be friends to all, even those who identified as political opponents. In a story covering her retirement, she called herself the independent grandma. She referred to herself as the momma bear protecting her cubs. She sure defended me. She went on the attack against those who she thought were inappropriately attacking her son.
Collinsville has historically been a blue-collar and Democratic community. But the Collinsville Democrats are conservative Democrats. They support organized labor, attend church, are fiscally conservative, and support the right to life and the Second Amendment. The love and respect that the community had for my parents allowed them to give me, a Republican, a chance at elected office.
I still believe that family is the major building block of our society. My family is the building block that I stood on multiple times as I served the people of southern Illinois. I am not sure I could have even taken on the challenge to run without the help of my mom and dad. I recognize their sacrifice and support and thank them.
Hebrews 4:9 says, ``There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.'' My mom is enjoying her Sabbath-rest, but we still miss her.
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I am greatly appreciative to hear that about Mr. Shimkus' mom. What an extraordinary woman.
Mr. Shimkus and I both have been blessed in that regard. I know we both miss our mothers.
My mother was an English teacher. Some people may find that hard to believe. My mother never quit teaching English even though I had her as a classroom teacher in the eighth grade, never quit teaching English. I would come home from football practice and say, ``Oh, I am exhausted. I am going to go lay down.'' And I would be hit with, ``Oh, what are you going to lay when you get there?'' ``Okay. I am going to lie down. I hope you are happy, mom.'' It is important to have a good, loving mom.
It is a blessing to be in a country where there has been more freedom, more opportunity, more individual assets for more people than anywhere else. But it is important to take stock because no country lasts forever. That is just the way of history, and it is important we learn from history, good and bad.
There are a lot of characters that are represented by statues in this building that I have serious problems with, the background, the things they did. But there is something to be learned from everyone, the good, the bad, the ugly. It is important because if you have a good basis in history, then it is easier to see the road ahead and which roads lead to what.
Many in this country have begun to see that China really does intend to displace the United States, not just grow alongside it as a superpower but, ultimately, be the superpower.
I have an article here from a magazine by Charles ``Sam'' Faddis titled ``The `United Front'--How China Has Co-opted The U.S. Media.'' It starts with a quote from Xi Jinping: ``Wherever the readers are, wherever the viewers are, that is where propaganda reports must extend their tentacles.''
The article then points out: ``We are now weeks into what amounts to a nationwide insurrection,'' and it needs to be looked at.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas for yielding.
Madam Speaker, today is a sad and mournful day for worldwide Christians, the most persecuted believers on Earth.
In accordance with Turkish President Erdogan's grand plan to reconstitute the Ottoman Empire, the beautiful, majestic jewel of Christendom for nearly 1,000 years, Madam Speaker, the Hagia Sophia, Church of the Holy Wisdom, was converted to a mosque and Muslim religious services were observed there today.
{time} 1415
As the Christian faithful and their houses of worship continue to dwindle in Turkey, this move by Erdogan was a step to extinguish Christianity once and for all, sadly. But it also poisons respect between religions and people of faith, Turkish citizens included.
Turkey must reestablish Hagia Sophia's status as a historic monument of universal significance and as an unquestioned symbol of respect between religions and among people.
The holy wisdom that we all call upon requires this approach, in the interests of common humanity and goodwill.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), my good friend, for yielding to me.
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I appreciate Congressman Bilirakis being here tonight. Great observations, history of family devotion to this country, very impressive. I appreciate the bringing up of the once great cathedral being made into a mosque. I had seen it in the news. It is very concerning.
You look at our country: Where are we going? It helps to know where we have been.
Mr. Faddis points out that at this time of nationwide insurrection:
``Monuments have been defaced, statues toppled, and the commercial centers of our great cities gutted. Yet, throughout, most of our mass media has characterized violence and lawlessness on an unprecedented scale as `peaceful protests.' The scope of the destruction has been concealed. The demands of the anarchists and Marxists rampaging across America seemingly systematically mischaracterized simply as demands for justice and reform.
``What's going on? How, in a nation rooted in the rule of law and respect for the democratic process, have we reached a point where violence and lawlessness are not only condoned but championed? Why are the guardians of the First Amendment seemingly in league with groups dedicated to destroying existing social order?
``Some of the explanation no doubt lies in the fact that much of what passes for our mainstream media is simply so blind in its hate for Donald Trump that it will support anyone and anything that seems to oppose him. There are other factors at work, however, and some of what is transpiring may, in fact, be due to a decidedly anti-American agenda and the desire of a particular foreign actor not only to damage this great Nation but to promote its own particular ideology.
``The Chinese Communist Party uses propaganda and influence operations as a means of projecting its power and weakening its enemies. Chief amongst the targets for these kinds of operations is the United States. These operations are not run on some kind of ad hoc basis. They are coordinated and directed at a national level by the CCP's United Front Work Department.
``The CCP's United Front system mobilizes the party's `friends' to strike the party's enemies. The system has existed for a long time, but it has been greatly energized and expanded in recent years by Xi Jinping. It operates inside foreign political parties, diaspora communities, colleges, and corporations, all with the goal of promoting the party's interests. The express goals of the United Front system include undermining social cohesion, exacerbating racial tension, and influencing politics.''
I want to insert parenthetically here, a lot of people were led to believe that Vladimir Putin in Russia had a number one desire of seeing Donald Trump elected President, but Russia also did some things to help Hillary Clinton with her campaign.
But anybody who studies Putin and studies Russia would understand his number one goal and some of the former communist leaders' goals in Russia are not for an individual candidate. They want to see the United States divided until it falls. They want to see the United States crushed.
They were not able to do it from without, but they understand they can be divisive enough to turn us on each other in such a way that we would fall from within, as Lincoln said.
You know, if murder is going to be our lot, it is going to have to be by suicide, and some seem to be helping that along.
In this article, Faddis goes on: ``Offices known as `Confucius Institutes' on dozens of U.S. campuses have `longstanding and formal ties' with the United Front Work Department. As of this writing, there are 81 such institutes in the United States. The express purpose of these institutes is to shape American attitudes toward the Chinese Communist Party and Communism. The institutes are staffed by Chinese nationals, and their purpose within the United Front system is to feed American students and faculty members positive images of communism and the Chinese Communist Party. The students whose minds are shaped then, obviously, go on to careers not only in academia but throughout America, including in the media.
``Perhaps even more insidious than the obvious efforts of the Confucius Institutes to mold the thinking of both students and professors at institutions of higher learning across the Nation, however, are the direct inroads the Chinese Communist Party has made into the so-called mainstream media in this country. Armed with massive amounts of cash and leveraging the lure of the Chinese market, the CCP has, in essence, bought the voices of much of the `free press.'
`` `You often see representatives from American companies with financial ties to China naturally become defenders of the CCP's policies and spreading the CCP's propaganda'. . . .''
You have even seen that in professional sports right here in the U.S.
``Most of the major American media outlets are owned by parent companies. These companies all have significant business interests inside China. They are dependent on Chinese goodwill and the approval of the Chinese Government to safeguard those interests.
``The New York Times. Carlos Slim, a Mexican billionaire, owns 17.4 percent of the company and votes for one-third of the board. Slim has massive business dealings with Chinese companies tied to the CCP. Among those ties is Huawei, which is currently subject to U.S. sanctions for espionage and actions detrimental to American national security.''
With regard to The Washington Post: ``In 2013, Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post for $250 million. Bezos has direct and massive ties to the Chinese market, which is controlled by the CCP. The production of Amazon's most popular products like Echo and the Kindle takes place almost exclusively in Chinese factories. When you purchase a Washington Post subscription, it comes with an advertising supplement called `China Watch.' This supplement is supplied courtesy of China Daily, a Chinese state-run media outlet.
``CNN. The company is owned and run by WarnerMedia, which has significant financial and organizational ties to the CCP. WarnerMedia is invested in China Media Capital, a media company overseen by the Chinese Communist Party. CNN, via its President Jeff Zucker, is involved with NBA broadcasts into China and efforts to expand NBA programming there.
``MSNBC and NBC. Both MSNBC and NBC News are operated by NBC Universal, a company with huge financial ties to the CCP. NBC is in partnership with China's state-run media organization. Xinhua has been identified by the U.S. State Department as a `foreign mission,' meaning it is completely an arm of the CCP and does not function as an independent news outlet. NBC Universal's Oriental DreamWorks is fully owned by a Chinese investment group.
``ABC. Walt Disney and ESPN are both owned by ABC. Both companies have large investments in the Chinese economy. In 2019, when the NBA refused to denounce Chinese actions in Hong Kong, ESPN's senior news director instructed the network's staff to avoid discussing Chinese politics or matters related to Hong Kong.
``Bloomberg. Both former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his company Bloomberg LP are heavily invested in China. Bloomberg LP sells terminals to its website in the Chinese market and helps finance Chinese companies by sending billions of dollars from U.S. investors to the Chinese bond market. Bloomberg LP supports 364 Chinese firms. Of these, 159 are owned by the CCP. In 2014, Bloomberg killed an investigation into the finances of the CCP elite. When the story was ready for publication, Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler crushed it, saying, `It is for sure going to, you know, invite the Communist Party to, you know, completely shut us down and kick us out of the country. So, I just don't want to see that as a story that is justified.'
``In short, essentially all major American media outlets other than those of a more conservative or libertarian bent are subject to powerful Chinese influence. What they cover is what the CCP wants them to cover. What they say is what the CCP wants them to say.
``A recent example is telling. In a report looking at evening news broadcasts from January 17 through March 13, the Media Research Center found that out of 634 minutes of coronavirus coverage, just 3 minutes and 14 seconds were in any way critical of the Chinese Government's actions. In 20 percent of the stories, reporters cited Chinese statistics. Those statistics, regarded as fraudulent by most objective observers, went unchallenged 97 percent of the time.
``This relationship between the U.S. news media and the CCP is only getting cozier. Recently, the State Department asked all U.S. employees of the Chinese state TV network CGTN to fill out detailed questionnaires with personal information. Based on the reporting, at least six former CNN reporters were found to now be working for the Chinese company.
``Perhaps, then, when we turn on the television and see the actions of Marxists and revolutionaries being celebrated, we should not be surprised. When we see the President and law enforcement vilified, we should not be shocked. It's just Beijing and the CCP's minions doing their job. It's the United Front.''
So, when you have got not the country but the Chinese Communist Party and leaders in Russia wanting to see the United States collapse--and especially China. They are very dependent upon our money and our economy, but they are working hard and fast to get to a place where they can see our economy fall and they survive as the lone existing superpower.
{time} 1430
It has been well over a year, as I recall, but there were three people from Australia here, and I thought they would find it amusing, and I related to them that I had been in a conversation with some other Republican Members of Congress, and one of them said, Louie, we don't have to worry. If we lose our freedom in the United States, we can all just go to Australia. And that, I thought, would evoke a smile from all of the Australians.
There was no smile. And one of them said, do you not understand, if you lose your freedom here in the United States, China will take us over before you could even think about getting there.
That was a sobering thought, and it still is.
It is also important to note, as in this article by Christopher Holton, he points out in the headline, Eerie Parallels Between Antifa and the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
He says: ``If you think the tactics and rhetoric of antifa and Black Lives Matter demonstrators in America's streets are new, think again. They're old.
``The date is August 1966. Large numbers of students have organized themselves into a violent social movement to promote communism.
``The students ransacked whole villages, burned down homes and killed thousands of civilians, all in the name of communism.
``This activity 54 years ago happened in Communist China. The name of the student movement was the Red Guards. They were inspired and encouraged by the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party; a person named Mao Zedong. He dubbed this violent reign of terror the `Cultural Revolution.' ''
It sounds familiar.
``The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to eliminate what Mao called the ``Four Olds.'' The Four Olds were old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas--everything that predated communism in China. Mao saw them as a threat to his Communist rule, so he unleashed the Red Guards to eliminate them. The Four Olds had to be replaced with new customs, new culture, new habits and new ideas--communist customs, communist cultures, communist habits, and communist ideas.
``The Red Guards didn't start out by killing people and destroying property. They started out with intimidation to back up Mao's Cultural Revolution to change place names, especially street names. People even changed their own names so as to break with any association with the Four Olds.
``The movement escalated from there. Anyone who seemed to cling to any of the Four Olds was harassed and intimidated. Property damage was next. Examples of old Chinese architecture began to be targeted for destruction by Red Guards mobs. Chinese literature books were seized by the Red Guards and burned. Artwork was destroyed by gangs of thugs who would go into homes to search for anything considered old. The Red Guards ransacked homes of those who were not considered reliable supporters of the Communist Party. Ancient, sacred Chinese temples were destroyed. Cemeteries were desecrated and corpses were even dug up and torn apart. Monuments were taken down.
``Does any of this sound familiar to you?
``I'm sure it does. And that's not surprising.
``Counterinsurgency experts, intelligence analysts, law enforcement officials and political scientists alike throughout America and the West are starting to wake up to the parallels between today's insurrection and the Red Guards' reign of terror during Mao's Cultural Revolution in China.
``Antifa rhetoric parrots Mao's communist philosophies. Some antifa affiliates have even called themselves `Red Guards'. Antifa's modern roots in West Germany during the height of the Cold War included the notorious Red Army Faction terrorist organization, which had a Maoist orientation.
``The antifa insurgents started by targeting Confederate monuments, gaining sympathy, particularly from those on the left, such as liberals and progressives. But it sure didn't stop there. Just as the Red Guards did in China a half century ago, the antifa thugs have moved on to statues and monuments of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Winston Churchill, Christopher Columbus, and even Mahatma Gandhi.
``Now they are calling for tearing down statues and depictions of Jesus Christ.
``There have been calls for renaming Columbus, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, as well as U.S. Army forts named after generals who served in the Confederacy during the Civil War.
``When and where will it end?
``It won't end if American Patriots who aren't paying close attention don't wake up to the fact that what antifa is doing is waging a Communist insurgency within our own country. We must stop the mass virtue signaling and capitulation and stand up for America, the greatest Nation on Earth.
``Back in 1966, eventually even Mao and the Chinese Communist Party leadership had to rein in the Red Guards so that they did not become uncontrollable and threaten to compete for power. In just a matter of weeks, they had murdered an estimated 10,000 people. Probably the only reason this episode is not widely known is because 10,000 deaths during the Mao Zedong era in China was barely a drop in the bucket. Mao was the largest mass murderer of the 20th century, responsible for the deaths of as many as 70 million people by forced starvation, exposure, and execution. That's more than Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot combined.
``One cannot help but be suspicious that, at a time when the Chinese Communists have covered up the origins and spread of an unprecedented pandemic and used force belligerently on their border with India, in the South China Sea, in Hong Kong, and over the skies of Taiwan, an insurrection reminiscent of the Chinese Cultural Revolution led by American communists has sprang up seemingly out of nowhere. Who's been supporting Maoists in America and the West? Who is educating and indoctrinating them? Who is funding them? Who stands to benefit from the chaotic insurrection? These are questions that must be answered. I would not be surprised if the connecting of the dots leads to Beijing.
``Meanwhile, today in America, many Democrat Party leaders have taken a paternal, protective view of antifa, refusing to condemn their violence and denying that they are a terrorist organization. Like the Chinese Communist Party, the Democrats may find themselves wishing they could reign in antifa as the violence escalates and further chaos ensues in cities that have been dominated by Democrat rule for decades.''
Rather eye-opening, and it should find people waking up across America.
I go back to the summer I spent in the Soviet Union, when it was the Soviet Union. I saw socialized medicine in its purest form, and I thank God that our healthcare system was so much better. Of course, that was before there was so much control here by the government, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals.
It is a different system now. It is still better than what they have got.
I have seen that in China, the system from inside, going into a hospital in Shanghai. It is interesting, as a foreigner, I was taken into this beautiful new little section where an MRI was conducted; not on me, but somebody I was there visiting. And it looked like it was really nice.
But then, to pay for the MRI, we had to go through the biggest part of the hospital, where the Chinese people went, and it wasn't nice at all. And I was glad to get out of there. It seemed filthy.
But it was very clear; if you are a foreigner, they didn't show you this big nice--well, it wasn't that big, but it is going to look like everything is modern, beautiful, wonderful. But for the people that are citizens, it is just not so at all.
We need to wake up in this country. Violence is not the way to go. It leads to an end. There will be an end and, as the Australians over a year ago pointed out, you guys lose your freedom, and there really isn't going to be a safe place because the Communist Party of China will have big enough tentacles, no matter where you go.
It is supposedly no longer communist in Russia, but it certainly appears to be totalitarian, under the vise grip of Vladimir Putin.
But it is one of the reasons we have to have patriots that will defend our freedom, because if we are not willing to defend that with which we have been endowed by our creator, then we won't keep it.
Some wonder, well, if it is really and truly an endowment bequeathed to us by God, our creator, as the Declaration of Independence said, then why do we have to fight for it? It is ours.
But in this world, like anything you inherit, if you are not willing to fight for it, there are evil forces that will take it away. Jealousy abounds in some people that are just mean. It is tough to come to grips with that fact.
Some many people used to call them sociopaths. Then it became--I think it was the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III or IV, maybe III, got away from sociopath, psychopath, and we called them personality disorders; antisocial personality.
But those personalities--as a judge that was trying to formulate the appropriate sentence for a felon that had either been found guilty or pled guilty before me, it is important to understand who is before you. And when you hear testimony about the antisocial personality, that they are not--the odds of rehabilitating them are not good, then you begin to understand deterrents, general and specific deterrents need to be guiding principles for their sentencing. Apparently, the mayor of New York hasn't figured that out.
{time} 1445
So, Madam Speaker, if you release somebody who is an antisocial personality, they are likely to just keep repeating the violence. In the same way if you just keep looking the other way from these people, you will destroy--and I still will say it--the most free country, at least it has been, with more opportunities.
Madam Speaker, it is still a place where you can tell your child that if you want to be something badly enough and you work hard enough, you have a real shot at doing that. We have still got that here no matter what background you come from. It is worth fighting for, and it is worth protecting.
We must suppress the violence and the victimization, especially in minority communities in downtown urban areas. Whether it is antifa or BLM, whatever the group is, the violence has got to stop. These people are not inspired by Dr. King. They are anathema to what he preached as an ordained Christian minister.
People have got to wake up. This country is at risk. Our freedom is at risk.
This is the way you go. There are so many people, whether it is George Soros or other billionaires, who are funneling money to make this a Marxist country. Sadly for them, they didn't learn enough history because the truth is, yeah, sure, the Marxists will take your money, and they will use it to create a Marxist country. But once that is achieved, the wealthiest don't end up in that tiny little group of rulers. Of course, there is no middle class. It is all the little rulers and then everybody else.
They say: Thank you for getting us to this Marxist level. Now you are either going to die or you are going to a gulag, and we are going to take your money from you.
That is how it works. Unfortunately, they haven't figured that out. I hope they wake up before it is too late for them and realize how fortunate they are to have been able to make the money they have in a country that had the freedom where they could make that kind of money. Unless they do, this country is in grave danger.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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