By Chuck Fleischmann There is a humanitarian crisis at our southern border; it didn't have to be this way, but President Biden and his administration decided to put political messaging ahead of border security. The president all too swiftly stopped border wall construction and paused deportations, in addition to removing the deterrents to illegal migration that had been put in place by his predecessor, President Trump. Instead of securing our southern border, the Biden administration has prioritized locking the ICE Twitter account and issued new guidance to ICE to look the other way when encountering aliens who * commit crimes. In short, Biden's policies cater more to the desires of the far left instead of bolstering security. As the Biden administration struggles with thousands of people crossing the border each day, over 3,000 children have been stranded in CBP facilities, which were never intended to house them in the first place, and the number of unaccompanied minors encountered along the border has tripled within the last two weeks. Furthermore, according to data in one media report, U.S. authorities arrested and encountered over 100,000 individuals at the border, the highest levels for the same time frame in the last five years. The Biden administration is clearly overwhelmed and lacks a substantive plan to deal with this situation besides telling the public that the obvious crisis is not, in fact a "crisis," but a "challenge." Unfortunately, many of the other policies from the previous administration were ended arbitrarily, notably when President Biden prematurely terminated President Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the border to score political points. The Biden administration has stated that it does not seem like a "coincidence" that numbers spiked once he took office and noted how human traffickers are taking advantage of Biden's policy changes. Had President Biden continued President Trump's border priorities, this situation likely could have been avoided. The ongoing crisis at the border is one that should concern all Americans. We are in the midst of a public health emergency with thousands of people flooding our borders. President Biden must make funding for Homeland Security a top priority in his FY22 budget request. It is critical that we ensure that the brave men and women who are at the border protecting our nation every day have access to every tool they need to make certain that our borders are safe and secure. The Biden administration will not find a solution to the current border crisis or future crises if they continue to worry about political messaging over real solutions. It's clear that President Biden's open border policies and desperation to appease the far left has created a humanitarian crisis. It's time for Biden to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans on common-sense solutions for the border and immigration.

By Rep. Chuck Fleischmann As millions of young people graduate around the nation, it is natural that they consider their next steps, especially in these times of extraordinary economic hardship and uncertainty. Generations of high school graduates have been wrongly led to believe that in order to obtain high wage employment, the only options is a four-year degree at a traditional college or university. However, this pathway is not for everyone and it is certainly not the only way to financial prosperity. This type of thinking represents a one-size fits all solution that won't actually provide more economic opportunity for Americans or boost our economy. What America needs is a renewed focus on skilled labor and the nuclear energy industry is well equipped to bring skilled technical labor back to our communities. Many technical colleges around the country already have the types of programs needed to train qualified technicians who serve as the backbone of one of our nation's most critical industries. Nuclear power accounts for 20% of our nation's energy production and 55% of all carbon-free energy in the United States and as long as we remain committed to boosting our nuclear energy industry those numbers should only continue to grow. In 2010, The New York Times profiled a nuclear power technician from Miami. Esperanza Lapaix, whose family emigrated from Cuba when she was a young child was able to buy a home with a husband and is,"[T]he first member of her family to own a house and have "a reliable, great-paying job,'" A story like Esperanza's is the classic tale of the American Dream that was possible through the nuclear energy industry. The average nuclear power plant employs between 500 and 1,000 workers, creating about $40 million in labor income each year. In addition to engineers and reactor operators, a plant's workforce includes welders, pipefitters, masons, carpenters, and electricians -- all positions that do not require four-year college degrees. Moreover, the construction of a nuclear plant can create several thousands of jobs during peak construction, primarily for craft laborers. These types of laborers are in demand all over the country and the nuclear industry is willing to pay for them; nuclear plant worker salaries are on average 20% higher than those of other electricity sources. Unfortunately, in recent years America has not prioritized the development of our nuclear industry. America currently has 98 nuclear reactors operating in the U.S., with the average reactor being about 38 years old, and there are only two new reactors under construction. Compare this to China, which has recently begun to place an increased focus on its own nuclear energy industry. China has 12 nuclear reactors currently under construction and the Chinese Communist Party's five-year energy plan outlines ambitious targets for its nuclear sector. According to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "China added the most nuclear power capacity in the world during the last decade, strongly aided by government promotion of nuclear power." The high paying "blue collar" positions associated with the nuclear energy industry are more than just "jobs". Before companies began to outsource more and more American manufacturing jobs, high wage skilled work was abundant and its impact was felt. According to a 2018 study, the proportion of less-educated workers who are able to secure high-paying jobs has declined dramatically over the past 50 years. The same study also found that the, "socioeconomic outcomes in terms of marriage, employment, crime, and health have deteriorated." Nuclear energy can not only provide our nation with clean and reliable energy, but may provide a new path forward for Americans to obtain the economic opportunities enjoyed by previous generations that are so critical to our nation's success in the 21st century. As China continues to rise as the U.S.'s top economic rival in the 21st century, nuclear energy, and nuclear power will be a large part of this rivalry. It is critical that the United States continues to support our own nuclear energy industry to ensure that the backbone of our economy, the American worker, is able to soar once again.

By Rep. Charles Fleischmann Earlier this week, the Summit supercomputer was dethroned as the fastest supercomputer in the world. Summit, housed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, held the top spot on the top500 list, an authoritative compilation of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, since its deployment in 2018. The Top500 is updated twice a year, a testament to the speed with which supercomputers are evolving and the intensity of the competition to stay ahead. While "supercomputer" sounds cool, most Americans may ask: why does it matter? What does a supercomputer do that differentiates it from a fancy laptop? Supercomputers enable scientists to conduct research that would have been too costly, time consuming, or otherwise impossible without supercomputing technology. Because of their immense computing power, supercomputers are able to model complex phenomena, such as molecular interactions or weather events, to let researchers tackle greater and greater scientific challenges. For instance, early in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, ORNL's Summit supercomputer was tapped to run simulations of over 8000 drug compounds to identify those most likely to prevent the virus from infecting host cells. What Summit was able to accomplish in a day or two would have taken months on a normal computer, and supercomputers like Summit are only getting faster. Medical and pharmaceutical research is just one of the myriad arenas in which supercomputers are essential. The economic impact of high-performance computing (the type of computing performed by supercomputers) is immense because of its utility in industries ranging from the automotive industry to aerospace, from oil discovery to finance, just to name a few. Most significantly, supercomputing is also closely tied to our national security interests, as complex modeling and simulation are vital to the development of nearly every weapons system (such as nuclear weapons and missile defense), as well as to encryption technology. The United States is far from the only nation that has recognized the importance of high-performance computing. As of 2019, China and the United States lead the world in supercomputing, with China owning 45.4 percent and the United States owning 21.8 percent of the supercomputers in the world. Japan, which just clinched the top spot for fastest supercomputer with its Fugaku system, is also a top player in the world of high performance computer. As in many other arenas, China and the U.S. have been locked in fierce competition for supercomputing supremacy. China infused its supercomputer infrastructure with a multibillion-dollar investment after Summit bumped its Sunway TaihuLight out of the No. 1 spot in 2018. In the United States, the Department of Energy has teamed up with chip designer AMD and manufacturer Cray to build Frontier, which is set to be the fastest super computer in the world when it comes online in 2021. The Trump administration also stood up for American supercomputing and our national security when the U.S. Department of Commerce barred several Chinese companies from buying U.S. parts and components for their supercomputers. While Japan may currently occupy the top spot, the competition between the United States and China is the one to watch. Given the economic and national security implications of high-performance computing, falling behind China in this race is not an outcome the United States or the world can afford. It is incredibly important that we continue to support our American high-performance computing so that the United States can not only remain competitive but also continue to dominate the globe in our technical advancements and research capabilities.