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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of September 23, 2024

Washington, September 22, 2024
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor this week:
 
Ensuring Accountability for the Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal

In 2020, President Trump negotiated a plan for a peaceful and strategic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan that would not put our servicemembers or Americans in the country at risk called “The Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan”, or the Doha Agreement. This plan was conditional, with the requirements that the Taliban cease its terrorist activities, renounce associations with al Qaeda, minimize violence, establish a ceasefire, and engage in negotiations with Afghanistan’s government.

When the Biden-Harris Administration took office, however, they decided to disregard the Doha Agreement, ignore obvious risks and security concerns, and hastily withdraw U.S. forces without an adequate plan – putting their power and popularity over the lives of our men and women in service and our partners in the region.

Because of this reckless decision making, we tragically lost 13 U.S. servicemembers and another 45 servicemembers were injured in the Abbey Gate terrorist attacks on August 26, 2021. Additionally, billions of dollars of America’s most technologically advanced military weapons were left behind for the Taliban to collect as they took back control of Afghanistan.

Despite this tragic loss of life, the Gold Star families of the fallen service members and the American people have yet to see one senior official lose their job or be held responsible for their part in one of the most catastrophic failures in American foreign policy history. 

Following the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s explosive report detailing how the Biden-Harris Administration disregarded advice from military commanders on the ground and information on security risks, putting optics over the safety of American servicemembers, House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for their catastrophic failures throughout the Afghanistan withdrawal.

H. Res. 1469, introduced by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, ensures the parties responsible for decision making and execution failures in the disastrous Biden-Harris Afghanistan withdrawal are held accountable, and condemns key figures and officials in the Biden-Harris Administration, including President Biden, Vice President Harris, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, State Department Secretary Antony Blinken, and others. 

The 13 brave and selfless Americans who lost their lives because of the Biden-Harris Administration’s reckless lack of planning and disregard of security risks should still be here today. It’s well past time we hold those responsible accountable. 


Confronting Chinese Aggression and Human Rights Abuses Through Sanctions

Day after day, China continues to grow more aggressive in their intimidation tactics and their abuses of fundamental human rights. In 2020, the People’s Republic of China enacted the Hong Kong National Security Law, outlawing political dissent and reducing Hong Kong’s autonomy. Recent military maneuvers around the Taiwan Strait have demonstrated a clear threat from China to Taiwan’s security. Additionally, the PRC continues their mass internment of Uyghur and other Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and implemented horrific population control of such minorities including forced birth control, sterilization, and abortions – constituting genocide.

However, despite China's continuing human rights abuses, political oppression, and aggression towards Taiwan, the Biden-Harris Administration has failed to implement meaningful deterrence, such as sanctions, for those who create and impose those policies. 

House Republicans are bringing legislation to sanction members of the CCP responsible for violations of Hong Kong’s autonomy, increased aggression against the Taiwanese people, serious human rights violations against the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan, and horrific acts of repression and genocide against Uyghur Muslims and ethnic minorities. 

These sanctions, including visa and financial sanctions, may be waived by the President only when the CCP has ceased its aggressive behavior towards Taiwan, political oppression of Hong Kong, genocide of ethnic minority groups, and attempts to steal U.S. intellectual property, or if the sanctioned person renounces their membership in the CCP and takes steps to condemn or repair the CCP’s oppressive policies.

The CCP remains one of the biggest threats to international security and worst transgressors of human rights abuses. We must aggressively confront their bully-like tactics and hold accountable those who continue to perpetrate abuse, intimidation, and oppression in the Chinese government.

Rep. Lisa McClain’s legislation, H.R. 3334, the Sanctioning Tyrannical and Oppressive People within the Chinese Communist Party Act, imposes sanctions on members of the Chinese Communist Party who take part in implementing policies that intend to infringe on Hong Kong’s autonomy, intimidate Taiwan, violate human rights, or promote political oppression within the People’s Republic of China.

As Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific intensifies, the United States must continue to stand up for freedom, democracy, and human rights.
 

Preventing Violent Offenders from Being Released by Bail Charities

After the death of George Floyd in May 2020, charitable bail funds like the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) received a massive influx of donations to post bail for protesters who’d been arrested, thanks to encouragement from woke far-Left politicians and celebrities like then-Senator Kamala Harris and Chrissy Teigen.

Charitable bail funds use money from donations to post bail for defendants. Many times, however, the defendant released may have been arrested on violent charges, or have previous convictions for violent offenses: a CNN investigation found between 2019 and 2021, 24 percent of defendants whose bail was posted by The Bail Project had been charged for a violent crime, and 35 percent were looking at felony charges and had at least one past charge for a violent crime. Additionally, the investigation found that at least nine people released by a charitable bail fund were later arrested for murder. 

Despite the dangers that recklessly releasing defendants who are facing violent or felony charges poses to American communities, these charitable bail funds often don’t care what charges the person whose bail they are paying is facing. Greg Lewin, the Executive Director of the MFF, said, “I often don’t even look at a charge when I bail someone out. [...] I will see it after I pay the bill because it is not the point. The point is the system we are fighting.”

Another major problem with charitable bail funds is that they reduce incentive for a defendant to appear after being released for their court date, because it’s not their money on the line if they don’t show. For example, according to CNN, 42 percent of the 500 defendants bailed out by the MFF in 2021 and 2022 failed to appear in court. Meanwhile, during the same time period, only about 22 percent of the 16,000 defendants assisted by commercial bail companies failed to show up for court.

It is vital that we increase oversight and accountability for charitable bail funds to ensure individuals accused of violent crimes like murder, domestic violence, or sex offenses are not released back onto our streets to commit more crimes.

H.R. 8205, the Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act, introduced by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, amends the federal criminal statute dealing with insurance-related crimes to include corporate, for-profit, and non-profit entities that post bail for defendants, subjecting charitable bail funds to federal insurance fraud laws and state licensing requirements, and requiring their employees to pass criminal background checks.

We must defend the safety of our communities by making sure that our legal system puts safety and accountability before woke movements and political agendas.
 

Improving Forest Management and Restoring American Forest Health

Thanks to regulatory burdens that hinder the ability to responsibly manage federal lands, over 117 million acres of our nation’s forests are currently overgrown, fire-prone, unhealthy, and in need of active management, contributing to the growing threat of wildfires. 

Forest fires are becoming more devastating and frequent, burning more than twice as much tree cover today as they did 20 years ago. These dangerous fires not only threaten our forests and environment, but the lives and communities of Americans, whether from the flames or the smoke pollution. 

House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to reduce regulatory burdens that hinder active forest management, improving the health and resiliency of our forests, ensuring forests continue to supply clean drinking water and wood products, protecting wildlife habitats, making sure Americans can enjoy our forests through outdoor recreation, and keeping our communities safe.

Additionally, this commonsense bill works to prevent destructive wildfires and improve response, such as by offering new tools and advancing technologies, cutting burdensome regulations, enhancing transparency around wildfire mitigation investments, and ensuring communities are equipped to recover after a wildfire.

We must restore the health of America’s forests to reduce the number and severity of forest fires, keep our communities safe, and preserve the natural beauty of our great nation.

Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman’s legislation, H.R. 8790, the Fix Our Forests Act, expedites and improves forest management activities on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands, tribal lands, and National Forest System lands, deters frivolous litigation that delays important projects, promotes collaboration across jurisdictions, prioritizes treatments in the forests with highest risk of wildfire, and encourages active forest management.

With the increasingly widespread and frequent fires threatening American lives, communities, and environment, we must take the steps to ensure we are doing what we can to restore our forests to health and keep American lands safe and beautiful.