SALUTING LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES

On 2026-09-02, Representative Mike Kennedy (R-UT-3) delivered a floor speech titled "SALUTING LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES" in the House.

SALUTING LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 139 (Wednesday, September 2, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 139 (Wednesday, September 2, 2026)] [House] [Pages H5463-H5466] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SALUTING LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Moore of Utah was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.) General Leave Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Utah? There was no objection. Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I am excited to welcome my colleagues to speak with me tonight during this Special Order. I understand some of my colleagues have commitments, and I want to be respectful of their time. I will have them start us off before I provide some of my own comments. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Knott). Mr. KNOTT. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to recognize and salute the Little League Softball World Series Champions from Johnston County, North Carolina, today. Earlier this month, they won a rigorous contest to become the champions, making all of North Carolina's 13th Congressional District proud. The team is out of Clayton, North Carolina, and all of these girls and their coaches are from the greater Johnston County area. Many of them are classmates, neighbors, friends, and family. For the entire season, they worked, competed, and improved together. On August 8, they took the field against Kentucky in the championship [[Page H5464]] game of the Little League World Series. They did not just win. They won in dominant fashion. Pitcher Anna-Lynn Clark threw a complete game and also completed a shutout. The team's defense allowed one Kentucky runner to reach scoring position for the entire game. The final score was 2-0. This was, remarkably, their second straight shutout of the tournament. But the scoreboard is not the whole story. In the first inning of that championship game, the girls from Johnston County lost their starting second baseman to a serious injury. Her team did not fold. They rallied around her, dug in, and secured the victory. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate these champions, their families, their coaches, and the greater Archer Lodge community. All of North Carolina is proud of them. Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I concur. The greatest sporting event of the year is always, of course, the Little League World Series. Thank you to the gentleman from North Carolina for highlighting it, and congratulations to that incredible team. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Kiggans). Federal Government Should Work for American People Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on one of our Nation's most sacred founding principles: the idea that the Federal Government should work for the American people, not the other way around. It is an ideal that dates back to the founding of our constitutional Republic and one that I never thought would need to be reaffirmed. However, it became a topic of debate this week, as my colleagues and I voted to advance a resolution condemning and denouncing socialism in all of its forms. Socialism, at its core, represents the very antithesis of small government. In socialist economies, the means of production are wholly owned and controlled by the State, completely dismissing the potential for human innovation and without the accountability and opportunity that only come from free market capitalism. Growing up during the Cold War, members of my generation witnessed the failure of the very socialist policies that some are advocating for today. We saw the poverty-stricken cities of eastern Europe, the underserved healthcare system of Cuba, and the violence committed against political dissidents that bravely spoke out against their failing governments. Socialism is not just about bad policy, but it represents principles that are fundamentally at odds with economic freedom and individual liberty upon which our great Nation was founded. I believe, just as the Founding Fathers believed, that government works best when it gets out of your way. We should never feel government. Unfortunately, so many rules and regulations have been put in place on local, State, and Federal Government levels that are growing the size of our government. Limited government means knowing where the Government's responsibilities end and where people's freedoms begin. That means cutting unnecessary red tape and protecting taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse. Choosing to ignore identifiable fraud in our government isn't just wrong. It is theft at the expense of the American taxpayer. A small government is one that supports our small businesses because it recognizes that they are the backbone of our local economies, driving job creation and opportunity across our Nation. A small government gives businesses the freedom to invest, grow, and put more men and women to work. A small government protects our environment without stifling growth and development. A small government sets its eyes on the responsibilities that only it can fulfill, from taking care of our veterans and securing our borders to providing a strong national defense and standing by our allies. We, as elected officials, have a duty to meet the constitutionally outlined obligations entrusted upon us every election day. These values that prioritize a small government are important to me as a commonsense Conservative, and they are the very same values that our brave men and women in uniform have gone to some of the most dangerous places around the world to defend. I have worn that uniform, my husband has worn that uniform, and my son proudly wears it today, as do so many across Virginia's Second District. {time} 1720 I am proud of the work that I, alongside my Republican colleagues, have been able to accomplish in pursuit of these ideals. We passed the Working Families Tax Cut Act to keep the Federal Government out of your bank accounts and out of your pocketbooks by doubling the standard deduction, expanding the child tax credit, and establishing a new deduction for seniors because we believe that you, not the government, should keep more of your hard-earned money. We passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to cut burdensome red tape so we can incentivize developers, lower costs, and put the American Dream of homeownership back within reach for millions of Americans. We most recently passed the Stop Insider Trading Act to increase transparency in Washington because public office should never be a pathway to personal profit. These pieces of legislation embody the very spirit of what it means to have a limited government. They reflect the belief that you know how to spend your money better than the government does, the potential for growth and innovation when Washington gets out of the way and, most importantly, the assertion that at the end of the day, we work for you. With much more work to be done, I couldn't be prouder of what we have achieved and what Americans will continue to achieve. Limited government isn't just a talking point. It has been proven to deliver prosperity and economic freedom for millions around the world, and it is firmly ingrained in the fabric of the American way of life. The United States is the greatest country in the world, not because of the power and scale of our government, but because we empower the people to live their lives by embracing freedom, ingenuity, and hard work here. Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Commonwealth of Virginia for her remarks. I appreciate all of the work that she does. She cares. I have been able to go throughout her district with her to her military bases. I know of nobody who understands the issues more than her and who cares about the issues of our servicemen and -women more than Jen Kiggans. I thank her for sharing that message with us tonight. I now yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff). Mr. KUSTOFF. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend and colleague from Utah organizing our time this afternoon. In Congress, a lot of times the public focuses on the things we don't get done, which is fair. I think it is good to celebrate the things that we can accomplish that are good for the American people. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that last year House Republicans worked with President Trump to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which stopped the largest tax increase that could have happened in American history. There is no doubt that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is rooted in our Nation's founding principles, and that is limiting Washington's reach into the lives and also the paychecks of Americans, which gives people the freedom to shape their own future, quite frankly, allowing people to keep more of their hard-earned money in their own pockets. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I was proud to help secure lasting tax relief and certainty for individuals and for small businesses. During this August district work period, I was back on the road in west Tennessee, talking and meeting with farmers, manufacturers, small business owners, and people. Time and again, I heard how heavily their decisions depend on a tax code that they can count on and also depend upon. For a family farm, the tax code affects plans for the next season. On Main Street, the tax code affects the next payroll. Workers' livelihoods depend on decisions that cannot wait for the next vote in Congress. Mr. Speaker, from no tax on tips to no tax on overtime to a doubling of the [[Page H5465]] standard deduction to lowering tax brackets for everybody at all income levels, the One Big B