Foxx Opening Remarks on H.R 7567, H.R. 2616, S. Con. Res. 33, and S. 1318

As prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon, the Committee will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time.

Today, the Rules Committee is convening to consider four measures: H.R. 7567, S. 1318, S. Con. Res. 33, and H.R. 2616.

H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 , is the five-year farm bill. It is as practical as it is viable to support our nation's farmers, ranchers, foresters, and many more critical supporters of our nation's economy.

This package reflects bipartisanship.

In fact, seven Democrats on the Agriculture Committee voted in favor of the bill in front of us today.

The policies and perspectives of Democrats andRepublicans are interlaced within its folds.

That shared collaboration will yield positive and substantive results for countless Americans across the nation.

As Chairman Thompson noted during the Agriculture Committee's markup in March, this package did not spontaneously appear in the halls of Congress.

It was formed out in the fields, pastures, and townhalls - and I'm looking forward to hearing those perspectives being shared with us here today.

S. 1318, the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act , is a three-year reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act through April 30, 2029.

Allow me to reiterate what I have said previously: FISA remains extremely important to our national security, especially given the current global events.

We must ensure that the intelligence community is equipped with the tools necessary to keep our homeland secure - this legislation will achieve that end and work to safeguard the constitutional rights of the American people.

S. Con. Res. 33 would establish the congressional budget for fiscal year 2026 and sets budgetary levels through 2035.

Passage of this budget resolution will thankfully bring the appropriations process to a close. We began with such high hopes and then were derailed when promises were not kept and the word of members of both the Senate and House were not kept.

The forthcoming reconciliation package that this budget resolution tees up will fully fund the men and women of ICE and CBP along with many others who have gone without pay while they protect and serve our nation.

Funding those who protect us should never have become a political football.

Unfortunately, it's the continuation of the Democrat mantra to Defund the Police. They're on record refusing to fund the entirety of the Department of Homeland Security multiple times.

But when you ask them point blank about this, their carefully choreographed response is that they've always supported funding DHS and that they have come up with "solutions" to do that.

Those "solutions" all have a common thread: they're piecemeal approaches. I suppose they're just too shy to come out and admit that purposefully concealed fact.

We're finishing the appropriations process with this budget resolution and eliminating the unnecessary delays, obstruction, and obfuscation that have persisted for far too long.

Finally, we'll turn to H.R. 2616, the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act .

This legislation would defend a parent's expressed right to access critical information regarding the environment of his or her child's school.

As we have seen too many times, the rights of parents have been subject to egregious attacks.

These men and women - who want to protect their children and ensure that they can thrive - have been subjugated by school districts, rogue educators, and incompetent school administrators. This is wrong and entirely unacceptable

Parents must always have a seat at the table when it comes to their child's education, and they must always be able to exercise their rights.

H.R. 2616 empowers parental involvement, prevents teachers from being pressured by administrators to keep secrets from their students' parents, and reinforces the critical need for parental engagement throughout their child's education.

In addition, this legislation prohibits federal funds from being spent on teaching or advancing concepts related to gender ideology - a corrosive and entirely manipulative dogma that has no place in America's classrooms.

With that, let's get down to business.

I now yield to the Ranking Member for any comments he wishes to make.

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