What Brian J. Mast said, and what was done

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of July 22, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 89) directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would say to my colleague that I thank him for the recognition of my service, and I recognize him for his service, as well. I am proud to have brothers in arms, but I cannot let what was said, that is unequivocally false, stand.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would read from the resolution again: Remove United States Forces from hostilities against Iran, except for those that are tasked with defending it, its armed forces, its diplomatic facilities from imminent attack.”

“Mr. Speaker, again, we have an author of this bill that is demanding U.S. Forces be removed, and the author of this bill has absolutely no clue what forces she wants to remove.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to order of the House of June 29, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 108) directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Lebanon, and ask for its immediate consideration.”

“I will say something else that I am glad about in today's debate: The really stupid mistake that was made in the last attempt to do this was removed, where the author was seeking to remove the marines from our embassies, from the gates, from the front doors.”

“Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to unpack right there. I think I would start with this: The word ``genocidal'' was used. I would remind the floor that there was only one person on this floor right now who has been reprimanded for calling for genocide.”

“Mr. Speaker, as we speak, we have the best chance for peace between Israel, Lebanon, and the United States of America that has existed in decades. There is a framework in place that has been met between Israel, Lebanon, and the United States of America.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the Indian River State College (IRSC) Swimming and Diving program. IRSC has demonstrated unmatched dominance in collegiate athletics through discipline, teamwork, and a sustained culture of excellence.”

“Mr. Speaker, critical minerals are the lifeblood of American industry, our military-industrial complex, and so many items or tools that we use in our day-to-day way of life.”

“Mr. Speaker, I was just alerted that there is a technical error with the version of the bill that was submitted. We are going to enjoy the debate that we just had, but we are going to withdraw the motion.”

“You are almost there. Mr. HOYER.--but what he did was get the Europeans to understand they needed to carry their part of the load. I congratulate him for doing that.”

“Mr. Speaker, I was happy to yield to the gentleman a few moments, and I absolutely affirm what he said. I agree with what the gentleman said, and I think Secretary Rubio has affirmed this no less.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would just remind the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee that he said that we should give Ukraine--they just want a little bit of help.”

“Democrats really fighting him every step of the way. I think the reality is that in order to end this war, we have to bring Russia to the table.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of June 3, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 84) directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from Lebanon, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Representative Tlaib, I am going to take back my time here, but I will give you some more time to debate. As you can see, I will definitely give you the time.”

“I would love to talk about your policies. To get back to your policy, ``remove United States Armed Forces from Lebanon,'' can we leave no U.S. forces there?”

“Mr. Speaker, I am going to reclaim my time at this point. We didn't get an answer, apparently, as to if we can--because I am reading the gentlewoman's legislation here, ``remove United States Armed Forces from Lebanon.'' That is just an example of how reckless her legislation is.”

“I will yield back to you in a moment. I am reclaiming. So the United States Armed Forces that are training the LAF who are fighting Hezbollah, fighting Hezbollah who is killing children there, killing civilians, would you like to see them stay?”

“Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry. May I inquire as to how much longer this is going to take? We watched this video on C-SPAN already. Can I just inquire what is taking so long?”

“Very good. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to submit for the Record the transcript of the Congresswoman from Michigan, the transcript of H. Res. 845, which notes that she is the only one calling for genocide.”

“Interesting. I learned something new today. All right. Mr. Speaker, I also would like to submit for the Record another article: Watchdog release--titled--something titled--an article titled: ``Watchdog releases scathing report on Tlaib's alleged ties to terrorist groups, warning of potential risks.''”

“Mr. Speaker, I just listened to the Rules Committee ranking member speak, as he is walking away right now, and here is something that he said. I think it is important for the American people to hear: ``Hard-earned money in the service of war crimes'' were his words.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would just let everybody know, again, there has been no mention of Hezbollah, no mention at all from this side about Hezbollah, the rockets they are firing into Israel, the UAVs, the casualties, or all the Americans that Hezbollah has killed in the past--no mention of either.”

“Mr. Speaker, we have had another speaker on the left and still no mention of Hezbollah. I have a very serious question. This is serious. I understand my colleagues oppose Israel killing Hezbollah terrorists.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am a Republican. I am not offended by them swearing. It is okay. I can handle it. I can handle nasty looks, too. Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am going to reference the words of my colleague just now.”

“Mr. Speaker, again I will just reference the remarks of my colleague, examine what was said. She said that Israel is going scorched earth. I would just tell my colleague that if Israel--and by the way, this is after a little while ago she was saying they are needing the United States of America's intelligence.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of May 20, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 86) directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Mr. Speaker, I yield more time because I think he is going to run out. I didn't say ``evil.'' You are still saying things I didn't say. I read what you voted for last week: Iran wants to attack the United States--``wants to attack'' means imminent--and our allies with ballistic missiles, terror proxies, and, if obtained, with a nuclear weapon.”

“I will give you a moment of time in a second. He voted to say any and all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

“What I would give you is this, to present, again, imminence of them. I just gave you some examples. We will say just before this began in February, they attacked a U.S.-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Thankfully, we have had a cease-fire since, I want to say the date was April 7, April 8. We are not in hostilities. We are out there with almost the exact same number of forces that we continually keep in the region.”

“Mr. Speaker, I will keep that in mind. They all voted to say that, that this is the way that Iran is a nuclear--that they are an imminent threat.”

“Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment, which is pretty simple. It prohibits funds from being used to enforce veterans health directive 1315. Why is that?”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of April 27, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 75) directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear the gentleman say that because Iran is an imminent threat against us. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Representative Gottheimer dialoguing with me for a moment.”

“My opinion is that, yes, both by the content of what it is that the administration has told me in whether it is full House classified briefings with the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State, General Caine, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe; whether it is in expanded Gang of Eight meetings that Ranking Member Meeks and myself have been a part of, numerous of those; or other briefings that we have had.”

“Weak people, weak countries, they don't hit back. Let's go over some of the other things that were said. They regained access to missile sites. It was reported that Iran regained access to missile sites.”

“Mr. Speaker, I have more to talk about and go over more quotes here. Ms. Clark said there is no strategy. I will tell you, she has been briefed numerous times, probably about 30 times, if she chose to attend all the classified briefings or was invited to all of them.”

“I will say that I look forward to seeing that my colleagues over there vote ``yes,'' even though I recommend a ``no'' vote. Why? Because their ``yes'' vote literally shows just how much they agree that Iran is an imminent threat, even though they keep saying they are not, which directly leads to the legal justification for every operation that is taking place or has taken place against Iran.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of April 15, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 40) directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that we have a President who knows where he is and can find his way on or off of a stage. I know my colleagues had to literally remove their President that they did not ask for any war powers authorities for when he was conducting his attacks against Iran for about 1 year.”

“Mr. Speaker, I hoped that my colleague who was just speaking would stay for more debate, but I would be curious. The gentlewoman intends to vote to tell the President that all U.S.”

“Mr. Speaker, I know the gentlewoman is still here. Does she really not know why we are there? She really doesn't know about the American servicemembers who were killed even before this who I mentioned?”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the President for all the work he has done working to end an imminent threat against the United States of America. My Democrat colleagues used to agree that it was an imminent threat.”

“Mr. Speaker, I will just close it with this: It is sad. It is sad that they are over there laughing about this. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true legend, somebody that I am proud to call a friend, as we recognize the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest performances in all of sports, the 1986 Masters.”

“Committee on Foreign Affairs or its designee; that the concurrent resolution be considered as read; and that the previous question be considered as ordered on the concurrent resolution to adoption without intervening motion except for 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by Representative Mast of Florida and Representative Meeks of New York, or their respective designees.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of March 3, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 38) directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Mr. Speaker, I heard a lot there. I didn't hear any discussion of Article II authority. I heard a lot of reminiscing, but I didn't hear any reminiscing about Libya either.”

“Mr. Speaker, I have to say I heard one of the craziest things from my colleague just a couple of minutes ago: That if something has been going on for 40 years, it can't be imminent.”

“Mr. Speaker, I urge not supporting this resolution. I am thankful that my colleague at least started to talk about that there is an Article II authority. He actually discussed that.”

“Mr. Speaker, let me tell you why not to trust what was just said as the gentleman walks out. Here is what he voted for: ``Iran's ongoing nuclear escalation poses a serious threat to the United States and its partners.'' That is literally what he voted for. ``Use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'' To me, that seems pretty damn imminent.”

“Mr. Speaker, I think the last speaker just said she was worried about Iran's uranium stockpile and that it could be used at any time. That seems pretty damn imminent to me, too.”

“Mr. Speaker, the gentleman about to speak on the other side, Mr. Raskin, also voted to say Iran's ongoing nuclear escalation poses a serious threat to the United States and its partners and to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

“Mr. Speaker, before I reserve again, I would just invite the previous speaker to explain. If Iran posed an emergency, an existential threat to America, I would be happy to hear it.”

“Mr. Speaker, I heard the same comments about Venezuela. There has been no forever war there, and that did bring peace and stability to the Venezuelan people. I guess we are proving the previous comments wrong.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would point out that the next speaker as well, it would appear, voted to say: ``Use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'' He clearly thought that there was a pretty damn imminent threat going on there, but I look forward to hearing the remarks.”

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague ended with: ``This is serious.'' This is serious. It is more serious than when my colleagues can't even acknowledge a hint of an emergency, a hint of imminence related to the threat of Iran--there is nothing to see there--even though last Congress so many of them voted, including Ranking Member Meeks, to say use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of February 10, 2026, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 72) relating to a national emergency by the President on February 1, 2025, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Mr. Speaker, before I yield to my colleague, Mr. Issa, I would ask my colleague--I am happy to yield a moment--would you like to say 5,000 deaths in New York is an emergency?”

“Mr. Speaker, then, in this colloquy, I would present the opportunity again: Would my colleague like to deny or admit that 5,000 deaths in New York related to fentanyl is an emergency?”

“I would point to just Canada, number one. Canada, in the last year, had an additional 8,000 fentanyl-related arrests because they finally started cracking down on it. There was an increase of 80 percent that was seized at the U.S.-Canada border because of the actions taking place, so, yes, there were deaths going on in New York.”

“I note for the record, again, ample opportunities have been given for my colleague, who represents New York, to just say 5,000 fentanyl-related deaths in New York is an emergency.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Issa for his remarks, and I believe there will be another Representative from California speaking on the other side. I will be curious if that Representative will acknowledge the thousands of deaths from fentanyl in California being an emergency.”

“Mr. Speaker, my colleagues should educate themselves on what these tariffs are affecting. They are third-party goods coming in from countries like China. I don't think they are growing much coffee in Canada.”

“Congress assemble in the Hall of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 9 p.m., for the purpose of receiving such communication as the President of the United States shall be pleased to make to them.”

“Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their work on this piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 3497, the Medal of Sacrifice Act.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of January 21, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 68) to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Maybe they are conferring about that right now. Let me confer with my colleagues a minute. Are we at war? I confirmed with my staff we are not at war.”

“Mr. Speaker, before I yield to my friend, I will say that this will probably be the only apology that they will get out of me today: I apologize for talking about the resolution and the text of the resolution that they still refuse to talk about.”

“Mr. Speaker, again, my Democrat colleagues are not speaking about the words of the resolution, the basic grammar. It says: Remove forces from hostilities. There are no forces in Venezuela.”

“My colleague is still not talking about the six lines of the resolution that says to remove forces from Venezuela. They are not talking about it because there are no forces in Venezuela.”

“President Trump snatched up Maduro. They will tell you they are. They are more free today, and they are hoping for more and more freedom each and every day.”

“You came here to prevent the President from defending the United States of America, plain and simple. There have been deaths in Florida. There have been deaths in Representative McGovern's district: 262 overdoses in the last year, people beaten by MS-13, strangled by MS-13, stabbed 32 times by MS-13.”

“I shake a lot of people's hands that I don't like. I definitely don't let them put their arm around me. There is a big difference. People with common sense recognize that.”

“Mr. Speaker, for every one of my colleagues on the other side, it is about drugs. It is about the drugs being prevented from going into their community, like Representative Castro's, who had 101 people die last year from overdose and somebody murdered by Tren de Aragua on June 16, 2024.”

“I have been around for a while. The one thing I can tell you with certainty, it is easy to get into a war. It is hard as hell to get out of war.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of December 16, 2025, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 61) directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with presidentially designated terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would let the ranking member know that, just in the last year in his district, he has lost at least 140 people to overdose, which apparently he does not want to protect his community from those like the President wants to protect his community.”

“Mr. Speaker, I don't quite reserve yet. I would let the next speaker on the other side know that they lost 116--Ms. Kamlager-Dove had 116 overdoses in the last year.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would let Ms. Jayapal know that in her district they have lost 237 people in the last year from overdoses and had a number of people killed by MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would let Representative Omar know that in her district, she lost 205 people in the last year from overdose and have had people killed by MS-13.”

“President of the United States of America. Nobody is fighting harder to allow drugs into this country than Democrats with this reckless and ridiculous piece of legislation. Mr.”

“Mr. Speaker, let me put this up. I was asked to take it down for a moment. Let me take a second and put this up. I will get to it.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of John J. Meyers, III, a United States Navy veteran who passed away on September 14, 2025, at the age of 87 in Sarasota, Florida.”

“Mr. Meyers embodied duty, honor, and service throughout his whole life--first in uniform, and later, as a civilian dedicated to his family, career, and community. His legacy endures through every life he touched and the example he set of quiet strength and devotion to others.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bost for his work on this piece of legislation and Ranking Member Takano for working with the majority on this piece of legislation, the Servicemember Residence Protection Act.”

“Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment I am going to say for procedural reasons, but there are procedures that are important here. The ranking member should know this.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true American hero, Sergeant Rohn Hultgren of Palm Beach County, Florida. Sgt. Hultgren is a father, husband, soldier, and public servant whose courage on the battlefield and commitment to my community deserves our recognition.”

“Hultgren continues his mission by ensuring that our veterans receive the support they fought for. Sgt. Hultgren has been with Veteran Services for seven years, and he has been manager for three of those years.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Place of Hope on the occasion of its 25th anniversary of serving children and families in crisis across Florida's 21st Congressional District.”

“Mr. Chair, I am here to speak on my amendment No. 21. This is something that we have dealt with here in Congress before. Specifically it relates to veterans' access to cannabis.”

“Mr. Speaker, I could use my minute for a number of things, but I think I am going to use it now to apologize to all of you in the gallery.”

“Mr. Speaker, what the gentleman did say very clearly was that this legislation is not a priority, and this legislation is meant to get in the way of those who are getting in our way from getting our Americans home.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would remind everybody that every time my colleagues across the way rise, they rise to oppose legislation that would get in the way of those getting in our way of bringing Americans home.”

“Mr. Speaker, I remind my friends across the aisle that Americans are being held and tortured. Get with the American team, and get in the way of those that are getting in our way.”

“Mr. Speaker, the gentleman across the aisle is right. We need everybody working to get hostages home to get this resolved. That means not giving an iota of recognition to kangaroo courts, like the ICC, who are trying to prevent Israeli military success, who are conducting their brand of anti-Semitism against Israeli leaders, preventing Americans and our allies from being returned home.”

“Mr. Speaker, since I have 10 minutes remaining, I am going to sit here in silence for 2 minutes and see if my colleague from Texas shows up.”

“Mr. Speaker, the statement of the gentleman from the other side is as untrue now as it was when he gave the same speech a few months ago on this very floor.”