Pete Sessions

It would make sense not to rely on self-certification in the future, and yet the Biden Administration is proposing to allow applicants for student loan forgiveness to self-certify for this benefit.

This is an embarrassment, in my opinion, and I think the opinion of most people where I represent in Texas, that we are encouraging this behavior.

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and I want to thank our witness for being here and the conversation that she is having with the Committee.

I feel like a heist has taken place, and nobody knows who that masked man was that rode off into the sunset.

The purpose of this hearing is to begin this face-to-face investigation by the IG.

It seems like we have gotten off into equity and diversity and all these other matters. I would like to, if I can, go a little bit higher and go to the challenges of politically driven agendas.

I hope that you will expect the same from Mr. Connolly, Mr. Mfume, and myself because we intend to deliver that on behalf of the American people.

I believe the first nine months with the self-certification went unchecked, and that had a lot to do with a lot of the fraud.

On the other hand, Congress and the Biden Administration took decisive action to identify improper payments and to combat fraud.

Unfortunately, what we have seen previously failed to implement the safeguards that we in the Congress explicitly designed by statute, which exacerbated, in my opinion, the pandemic fraud.

Congress acted swiftly to provide expanded unemployment benefits to workers.

Though we may differ sometimes in terms of our strategies and our programs, I believe that the Chair and I are seriously committed to serving the constituencies to the best of our abilities.

The Federal Government is not at work. The Federal Government is not producing the results that we think would be necessary.

This is not an attack against a group of people who worked for the government.

Thank you very much, and my thanks to both of you for your service, not only to the country, but your continued diligence to making sure that the American people have soundness in those that represent us in key decisionmaking roles.

Mr. Sessions. I would like to be recorded as a no vote.

God bless Elon Musk because I think I feel that way.

I would suppose that those five or six or seven will not ever vote for Mr. McCarthy and the other is based upon pure and simple negotiating skills and tactics and agreements.

I don't think there's any question in my mind that Mr. McCarthy wants to be in a position of strength, and until the bitter end, until he had replied back and knew the answer of what was being asked for him and he would not want to move…

Well, I think the negotiation with Mr. McCarthy, if it's not successful, they'll be looking for the next able person who will agree with what Mr. McCarthy would not agree with.

So it would definitely be designed to have a less powerful not just Speaker, but a less powerful majority. So, it would mean the majority would be like a King with no clothes.

The appearances of what we're talking about, of the Rules Committee, that the Chairman of the Rules Committee traditionally is literally the most powerful Chairman in Washington, DC, because they have the ability to self-execute bills.

This negotiation that it took place with Mr. McCarthy was really a wide ranging viewpoint not just on his duties as Speaker here, but also his campaign activities as he would engage himself and the money that he collected across the…

We don't need to get into it, but what we consider to be from the Federal court here, the District Court of Appeals here in D.C., that the CFPB is unconstitutionally constructed.

We were completely unsuccessful in attempting to get HUD to even respond properly.