Speaker 1 (00:00):
… For being here. Last week, a Venezuelan drug boat tried to poison our streets, and now today, it's at the bottom of the ocean. That's exactly how you save American lives. President Trump wasted no time. Drug dealers, gang members, and terrorist organizations are now on notice. President Trump's Department of War will unleash America's full firepower to protect the American people and the House Republicans, well, we have his back.
(00:36)
This week, House Republicans will deliver a defense bill that will end woke-ism in the military, secure military equipment that's made in America by Americans, great American warriors, and get American warriors what they need when they need it, and fundamentally, deliver peace through strength. Let me tell you how.
(01:00)
First there will be no more taxpayer-funded drag queen shows or gender surgeries. House Republicans are putting an end to that. We're also repealing the Biden Administration's woke DEI and critical race theory efforts. Second, House Republicans are building on the accomplishments of the working families tax cuts for American manufacturing workers. The NDAA rebuilds our defense supply chains so our weapons are built by American workers, not foreign adversaries. Jobs here at home, security here at home, strength here at home. And third, House Republicans will be cutting red tape, building transparency, and shifting the focus from paperwork to firepower. Finally, House Republicans are building peace through strength.
(02:03)
I'd be remiss to not reflect on the horrors of September 11th, 2001. Nearly every single one of us remembers where we were that day, and nearly every single one of us remembers the resolve we felt in the words, "Never again." This year's defense bill tells the world, "Never again," by making historic investments in our military. House Republicans are authorizing the Golden Dome, fully funding border security, delivering a 3.8% pay raise for our service members and deterring China. Defending Israel and delivering peace through strength, so the world knows that should America go to war, we will win. America will be respected again. We will be strong again, we will win again, and House Republicans will make sure of that.
(03:07)
And with that, I want to turn it over to a fellow Michigander, a friend, a warfighter who defended America in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Kuwait, and the Korean DMZ. My friend, Congressman Tom Barrett.
Tom Barrett (03:22):
Thank you. Oh, sorry.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Oh, you don't need the box?
Tom Barrett (03:32):
Thank you. Thank you Lisa, and thank you to all of you here and to our leadership team for allowing me to join you for a few moments. I wanted to highlight being back home in my district over the month of August, like so many other members, all of us were back home working hard. And I can tell you that the American people and the folks in my district that I was connecting with day after day were telling me how excited they are about no taxes on their tips, no taxes on their overtime pay. I went to a road building site where they were laying fresh asphalt down on the road and the crew there was extremely excited about the overtime work that they're putting in with seasonal labor and everything else is not going to result in more taxes on their overtime pay. The waitresses and waiters and wait staff and service industry folks were really excited. We had the small business administrator in the district talking about the no taxes on tips for them as well. People are very excited about that.
(04:23)
This week, we're passing the NDAA. I'm proud and excited that one of my amendments that will really bring together a gap that we have right now with military aircraft and civilian aircraft not being interoperable with their collision avoidance system that I think contributed to the fatal crash here in Washington D.C. We're going to begin the process of upgrading our military fleet to account for that and it's something that I've been working hard on and proud to see.
(04:49)
And of course, as the chair pointed out, the anniversary of 9/11. I was a young private in South Korea when 9/11 happened, and to be here today as a member of Congress this week passing the NDAA is something that I'm very proud to be working on. And want to make sure that we always continue to keep Americans safe, so I'm very thankful to be here. Thank you to the chair for having me, and really appreciate it. Oh, sorry.
Tom Emmer (05:13):
I got it. I got it. You're good, you're good.
(05:15)
When Democrats like Tim Walz rail against common sense law and order policies, they make it abundantly clear that they stand with criminals. Since day one, President Trump has been restoring safety and security to America with his anti-crime, pro-law enforcement actions. Thanks to him, crime in Washington D.C. is down to historic lows. As of yesterday, there have been over 2,000 arrests made and over 200 illegal guns seized in D.C. since he began this effort. President Trump is showing that it is possible to make America safe again if leaders have the will to do it. But Democrats across America refuse to acknowledge safer streets as a win for the American people. Instead, failed leaders like my state's governor, tough to call him that, rail against President Trump and the Republican Party in an attempt to defend their own dangerous soft-on-crime policies. These soft-on-crime policies don't just defy common sense, they put real lives at risk.
(06:28)
The whole world witnessed this when over the weekend a video was released of a 23-year-old woman boarding a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Moments later, she was dead, stabbed in the throat by a random man sitting behind her who had been arrested and released more than a dozen times prior. Woke judges, DAs, and politicians run and govern on a platform that protects criminals while leaving innocent civilians to bear the consequences. It doesn't have to be this way. President Trump has made it clear that law and order works. Now is the time for the shameless so-called leaders of blue cities and states to take a page out of President Trump's playbook. With that, I turn it over to our great leader, Steve Scalise.
Steve Scalise (07:18):
Well, thank you, Whip. And this is another busy week in the Republican majority House, where we're going to continue to do the people's work. It's so important that we get the National Defense Authorization Act passed, where we come together and debate the priorities of our nation's defense. And if you look at this bill, and I think Tom did a great job of talking about some of those important reforms that are in the bill, some of the important priorities. We're giving a pay raise to our troops, our men and women in uniform, to continue to address something that Chairman Rogers has been focused on for a long time, and that is to increase morale and to focus on making sure we're taking care of our men and women who take care and defend our freedoms here and abroad.
(08:04)
We're going to continue to allow President Trump to have the tools that he needs to show peace through strength around the globe, as he's doing. The only reason he's been able to get so many peace accords with other countries is because he has the military might to back it up. You don't ever want to have to use it, but if you don't have it, the bad guys around the world see that weakness. And they've exploited it in the past when we've had weak leaders, like we did the previous administration. The bad guys around the world took advantage of that. It doesn't just hurt America, it hurts our friends and our allies all around the world. So, it's critical that we refocus our military on its main mission, and part of that refocusing means getting rid of a lot of the woke-ness in the military that used to be there, and this bill continues to advance those efforts.
(08:54)
Something you're going to see here in the House. Tomorrow, the oversight committee is going to be taking up all the D.C. crime bills. We've talked about this in the past, you've seen it. You can walk around the city and it's actually safer today because of President Trump's action bringing in National Guard troops. But we've seen and identified many flaws with D.C. ordinances. When people complain about the revolving door of crime. Why is it that some young kid can come and commit a carjacking at gunpoint and walk free the next day? It's because that's what the ordinances in D.C. allow. They actually allow soft on crime measures. So, we're reversing that.
(09:32)
We're going to be bringing bills through committee tomorrow and ultimately to the House floor in the weeks ahead where we will make D.C. safe again. We will get rid of all of these ridiculous laws and limitations on law enforcement. No cash bail. Right now if you're under 25, you can be treated as a 14-year-old if you commit a violent crime. Crimes at gunpoint, you can walk free the next day if you're under 25 years old, which by the way, are the ages of most of the violent criminals here in D.C. And so, you wonder why there's a revolving door. We as House Republicans are going to address it.
(10:08)
I call on every Democrat to join with us and give up their defund the police, soft on crime mantra. We'll see if they finally listen to what the voters of this country want. I'm not holding my breath, luckily we're going to do it on our own if they're not going to join with us. But we're going to show the American people that we're not going to sit idly by.
(10:27)
And you see President Trump talking about making other cities safe, and the Whip talked about Governor Walz, you see Governor Pritzker, you see so many other governors trying to defend criminals, trying to criticize President Trump for stopping murders in their own cities. Those governors should be working with President Trump to figure out ways to stop murders. If Governor Pritzker, instead of trying to come up with Tweets to criticize President Trump, he could deploy the National Guard himself in Chicago and stop the seven or eight murders every weekend if he cared about it, but he doesn't. They want crime to continue, they want to continue defunding the police and try to have it both ways. And President Trump is tired of that game because he's tired of watching people be hurt. There's no reason for this violent crime wave that we see in so many cities.
(11:21)
So, we're going to continue to have the President's back and frankly have the American people's back regardless of their party, regardless of what city they live in. Everybody deserves to be safe, and Republicans are going to continue to push policies to help put that in place. In the person who is leading that charge is our speaker, Mike Johnson.
Mike Johnson (11:42):
Thank you, Mr. Leader. Can I ask a point of personal [inaudible 00:11:46]? Are we in charge of the lights here? Is this an NRCC thing? Can we turn those down? Seriously, whichever staff member can dim the lights, you get a gold star today. I love you so much.
Speaker 9 (11:57):
[inaudible 00:11:57] a lot of light because there's quite a few of you in the podium.
Mike Johnson (11:58):
All right. Okay.
Speaker 9 (11:58):
[inaudible 00:12:02].
Mike Johnson (12:03):
All right. No mercy.
Steve Scalise (12:04):
[inaudible 00:12:04] light.
Mike Johnson (12:04):
No mercy. They're wearing me down, I feel like I'm under interrogation here.
Tom Barrett (12:07):
[inaudible 00:12:07] utility company.
Mike Johnson (12:07):
Okay. Yes. All right, I respect that. But we're going to change it next time, I'm giving you a heads up. All right.
(12:14)
Look, we would be in a good mood because everybody's back for our first political conference after the August recess here at the NRCC, and our members are spread out, fanned out around the country, selling the merits of what we've done, sharing with people. Educating the public about all the extraordinary things that we've got in our legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill, the Working Families Tax Cut. We could call it a lot of things, we could call it the American Energy Dominance Bill, the Secure Our Borders Permanently bill, on and on. But it's so well received and you all have seen the polling. Every individual provision is wildly popular, the people know and they're beginning to experience and feel what we've done for them and we're excited about that.
(12:54)
But our spirits are dampened a little bit this morning because of all the discussion about the crime and it's not something that we can overlook. It's not something we should overlook. Whip Emmer specifically was talking about this just unspeakable tragedy. This 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee was brutally murdered in cold blood on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her name is Iryna Zarutska, and she was on the way home from her job at a pizzeria where she worked. She was stabbed repeatedly by a career criminal with a rap sheet a mile long. It's infuriating, it's heartbreaking, it gives you a feeling in the pit of your stomach. This young lady, Iryna, survived Ukraine. She fled amid the deadliest land war in Europe since World War II. She fled to the safety or so she thought of the United States, just to have her life senselessly ended by someone who should have never been allowed to walk freely.
(13:52)
This individual, Decarlos Brown is his name, was arrested and released 14 times. Yeah, more than a dozen, 14 times. We don't have to live like this. President Trump is proving that every single day in our nation's capitol. And the leader, Leader Scalise was talking about that. Since cracking down on violent crime in the district, roughly 1,700 arrests have been made. Now, you may say that's a small portion of the population, it's just a small fraction in fact, but somehow, the city feels and is much safer. Everybody needs to think about why that is. The Trump Administration and local law enforcement know that it's always in every city, relatively a select few individuals who are committing most of the crimes. And that's been true in D.C. as well. They're enabled by these soft on crime policies that were discussed here and even softer prosecutors and prosecutions. Criminals have relentlessly abused the public and the public spaces.
(14:48)
We just want to say this loud and clear and we're demonstrating it, this is not just talk, this is action. Republicans are in charge, and when Republicans are in charge, those days are over. The days of allowing soft on crime, we're not going to do it.
(15:00)
Now, here's what is stunning to me. If you only read the New York Times, the Washington Post or most of the other mainstream outlets, you don't know anything about Iryna's heartbreaking story. For some reason, many national news outlets have refused to cover it. It's social media that has amplified the story and made everyone pay attention to it. And Axios shamelessly reported that this was, "Fuel for the MAGA messaging battle," as if it's some sort of contrived problem. Watch the video for yourself, it's a tragedy. It's completely avoidable tragedy that deserves the nation's attention. For now, all we can do is pray for the family, the Zarutska family, and continue our calls for the swift application of justice.
(15:40)
Let's talk about some issues of the week. The NDAA, the House is going to take up and pass the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act. I want to thank Chairman Mike Rogers and all the House Armed Services Committee for their diligent work on the legislation. We are providing for the common Defense and as we know, that's one of our most basic governing duties here in Congress, and on this side of the aisle we take it very seriously. The sad fact is that four years under President Biden left our military's readiness in a very troubled state. Thankfully, President Trump has reinstituted the doctrine of peace through strength, and that will maintain America's dominance in a very dangerous world.
(16:15)
This year's NDAA lays out policies to defend our nation. It supports our brave service members and it safeguards the country from threats abroad. It also codifies a number of President Trump's executive orders related to national defense, there's 17 of them in the bill. Here's a couple of examples. It codifies executive orders to end radical and wasteful government DEI programs, reinvigorate the nuclear industrial base, unleash American drone dominance, secure American borders in CRT and our military schools, and reform the federal hiring process and restore merit to government service, among many others. The safety and security of the American people, our homeland and our troops abroad is our utmost priority and this must-pass legislation delivers on every front.
(17:00)
Speaking of foreign affairs, bless you. It's more important than ever that America maintains a posture of strength because others in the West are flirting with surrender. This week, international leaders will convene at the UN General Assembly in New York and we'll be watching if close allies like France and Canada and the UK move ahead with plans to recognize a Palestinian state. It's equally baffling as it is deeply troubling, to have this idea that you would reward Hamas with statehood before they've returned every hostage. What message does that send to would-be terrorist and tyrants around the world? If you rape and murder and abduct innocent civilians and then cause enough suffering among your own people, then the free world will somehow reward you with international legitimacy? We can't do that. And I can tell you that President Trump and Republicans in Congress have been very clear that rewarding the carnage that took place on October 7th is a non-starter, it's unacceptable.
(17:59)
With regard to government funding very quickly, and then we'll take questions. House Republicans continue to work through regular order to fund the government for FY26, for the next fiscal year. We're working closely with the White House and the Senate to ensure we meet our deadlines. And Chairman Cole, Tom Cole, the appropriators, continues to diligently work towards getting all 12 bills out of committee and they're almost done with that.
(18:19)
And as we get closer to the funding deadline though, we recognize the shutdown chatter from the left is growing louder. Some of these people seem to enjoy this. It seems Democrats may take the path of maximum resistance and try to shut the government down. It's not surprising because they're struggling because they don't really have a message or a leader or their party registration is falling. Their approval ratings are in the low 20s and they're about to elect a Marxist to be the mayor of New York City. They're desperately searching for a solution, and some in the party apparently think a government shutdown would be some sort of political advantage to them. It'd be what we all know as dangerous and harmful to millions of Americans, and that is not the answer.
(18:56)
So I'm going to say this again and I'm going to say it in good faith, I've shared this with the Democrat leader in the House and other colleagues. If Democrats are willing to work with us, we have our sleeves rolled up and we want to do this in good faith. We just have to think responsibly how to spend less money than we did last year. And if they're willing to do that, and it's incumbent upon all of us to do it, with the high national debt, we're open to that. But the ultimate question of whether there's going to be a government shutdown at the end of the month is going to be up to congressional Democrats and that's just the way it is. So, I'll take a few questions.
Speaker 7 (19:26):
[inaudible 00:19:28].
Mike Johnson (19:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (19:28):
On government funding, Mr. Cole is saying maybe it's a three-bill minibus attached to the CR. Has that got your endorsement? Is that the plan right now?
Mike Johnson (19:36):
You're talking about what leader Thune said?
Tom Emmer (19:37):
Mr. Kohl was just saying he's going to maybe try to do a three-bill minibus attached to a CR.
Mike Johnson (19:41):
Well, so the idea is that what we're really advocating for is an actual old school conference. The way this is supposed to work between a House and Senate. And the way that would, we have the MILCON VA Vill, that military construction Veterans Affairs bill that we're most interested in getting to a conference, in the Senate, they paired it with two other bills. So what is being referred to I think, is that if we are able to get that conference going, then you would have three bills there, which means you would have a broad cross-section of the conference represented there, because the cardinals or the subcommittee chairs of each of those subcommittees that deal with those three individual bills would be represented as would be all the members of each of those subcommittees in appropriation. So, you'd have a cross-section of everybody there, a good representation of the country, a good and I think vigorous debate between the House and Senate. And that is how the process is supposed to work. I mean, that is small-D democracy at its best. So, we're big advocates of that.
(20:33)
We have not done, as you all know and you hear me lament all the time, we've not done the appropriations process the way it is legally supposed to work in a long, long time around here. And we're trying to force the body back to that. And if we can get to a conference committee, that's the first next important step in returning to that, so that's what we're advocating for. We'll keep going. Third row? Yes ma'am.
Speaker 10 (20:53):
Thank you. The D.C. National Emergency expires tomorrow. I know that you said yesterday that it's not necessary to extend it at this time, but there are some members of your conference who would like to see the President's emergency powers in D.C. expanded for a longer time than 30 days. Do you expect that to get a vote on the floor this year?
Mike Johnson (21:09):
No, I'm among them, but my understanding is that the current status of it is that the Democrat Mayor of D.C. Muriel Bowser wisely welcomed the assistance. And she said effectively is that the way I read that or understood it was an indefinite welcome mat to keep the crime low. We all benefit from that, every single person in this room benefits from that. You can welcome home safely tonight. We couldn't have told you that several weeks ago. So, no one's calling on Congress yet to act on that. And I think if you have an agreement, my understanding is, an agreement between the White House and the local leadership, then I'm not sure Congress has any necessity to do anything. So, we'll see how that plays out.
Speaker 10 (21:51):
Last question.
Speaker 8 (21:52):
Speaker Johnson, one question for you specifically and then one for anyone who'd like to take it. You were just talking about Muriel Bowser, who went from opposing Trump on prime to now welcoming the National Guard indefinitely. And you were talking about Charlotte, the mayor there said, "You can't incarcerate your way out of this problem even though this person was incarcerated 14 times." I'm curious if you have a number or a thought on how many Americans and refugees will need to be murdered before Democrats want to perhaps work with President Trump? And then my second question for anyone, as we were all driving in, walking in here, Israel struck Qatar to take out Hamas leadership. I'm curious if any of you think that whoever survives there should be evicted from Qatar?
Mike Johnson (22:39):
I don't know anything about that development, that's news to me. I've been a little busy the last couple hours, but we'll have to see how that plays out. I mean, look, I was in Israel myself a few weeks ago in early August. It's a very dangerous time there. And they have enemies encamped around them and they're trying to bring that to a peace as well. But Hamas, by anybody who looks at this reasonably, and in my view, this is my personal view, that Hamas has to be eradicated. You've got to remove that threat on the immediate border, frankly, within the bounds of Israel. And I'm not sure about that development, we'll have to see. I'll reserve judgment to talk about that.
(23:16)
I will say with regard to the crime stats, it's a very good question and not a rhetorical one. I mean, these mayors in these big blue cities have to ask this question. And I think their voters and the residents and the law-abiding citizens in all these cities should be asking local leadership, how long are you going to put up with this? When are you going to put your foot down and do the right thing, the common sense thing? The thing that is wildly popular with anybody if you ask them, do you want to reduce carjackings by 85% in your city? Because that's what's happened in D.C. since President Trump got involved. Everybody will look at you and say, "Of course," right? Do you want to reduce robberies by 25 to 30%? Which is what's happening in D.C., of course.
(23:58)
I mean, murders are down dramatically. It makes a big difference. It's quality of life. We live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. We have the greatest capital in all of the world, and we need to show that. We need to put that on display and we need to confirm for the American people that they do not need to fear for their lives when they drive to the grocery store or they pick up their son or daughter from school. This is common sense, and I cannot, for the life of me understand how the Democrats think this is some sort of winning political message. Yield, man. Let the troops come into your city and show how crime can be reduced. It's a morale boost for the country and it's safe and right for everybody involved. So, if they want to go down that road, they're going to go down that road but we're going to keep talking about common sense and we're going to keep delivering. Thank you.
Speaker 8 (24:41):
[inaudible 00:24:42].
Speaker 7 (24:41):
[inaudible 00:24:42] Speaker. [inaudible 00:24:44] the January 6th [inaudible 00:24:45]?
Steve Scalise (24:45):
You want to take the rest of the question?
Tom Barrett (24:45):
Yeah, yeah. [inaudible 00:24:48].
Speaker 7 (24:45):
[inaudible 00:24:59].