Mike Kennedy

“I want the House to pass this bill. Right now, Native American patients only have 72 hours to report outside emergency care or they get stuck with the bill. This bill gives families 15 days instead, so they can focus on healing instead of paperwork.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Westerman for the time to speak. Our constituents know there is too often a gap between the rules Washington writes and the realities Americans face. Nowhere is that gap more apparent than in our healthcare system. I know that reality well. I have been a doctor for 25 years and continue to see patients. I sit with families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives, and I see firsthand how frustrating paperwork and red tape can be when what matters most is getting someone the care that they need. That experience is why I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 8658, the Indian Health Service Emergency Claims Parity Act. This bill is simple: Put patients before paperwork. Today, when an American Indian or Alaska Native patient receives emergency care outside the Indian Health Service, the IHS must be notified within 72 hours. When missed, a family can be left with the bill for care that should have been covered. Mr. Speaker, that rule was written from behind a desk, not beside a hospital bed. Anyone who has worked in healthcare knows that 72 hours can pass in what feels like an instant. Families should be focused on their loved one’s recovery, not on whether they met a Federal notification deadline. H.R. 8658 extends that window to 15 days so families can take care of their loved ones first and the paperwork second. This is what good government should look like. When a rule does not reflect the reality people face, we should fix it. When government bureaucracy gets in the way of common sense, we should cut through it. My congressional colleagues and I understand that. We need a government that is smarter, quicker, and more responsive to the people it serves. We need a government that is streamlined and close to home, not bloated and distant. This is one practical, commonsense fix, and there are many more like it across our government and throughout our healthcare system. I thank Chairman Westerman, my colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee, our outstanding staff on the Committee as well as my staff, and my bipartisan colleagues for their work on this fix and their commitment to making government work for the people. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 8658.”

“The Salt Lake Temple has been repaired and strengthened against earthquakes. It will be open for free public tours from April through October. I encourage everyone to get tickets online and visit.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a landmark moment in the history of my home State of Utah as we open the doors next April through October for the public open house of the renovated Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For generations, this iconic structure has stood as a beacon over Salt Lake City and a symbol of faith recognized around the globe. To stand here today and witness its restoration is to stand at the intersection of our rich history, modern ingenuity, and enduring spiritual devotion. We cannot fully appreciate what we see today without looking back to where it began. In 1853, Brigham Young stood on that very ground, struck his cane into the earth, and declared that this would be the spot where they would build a temple. What followed was 40 years of staggering sacrifice. Early pioneers quarried massive granite blocks from Little Cottonwood Canyon and hauled those multi-ton stones 4 days across rough terrain by ox team. When times were lean and hardship was near constant, those faithful men and women gave their labor, their meager savings, and their very lives to complete that house of the Lord. They did not build for comfort or temporary convenience. They built for eternity. Today, Mr. Speaker, we pay tribute to a new generation of pioneers: the incredible work crews, engineers, artisans, and tradespeople who have labored on this project over these past several years. Restoring a historic granite structure while seismically retrofitting it with state-of-the-art base isolators deep beneath the earth is an absolute engineering marvel. It required thousands of skilled hands--masons, carpenters, electricians, steelworkers, and historic preservationists-- working with absolute dedication. Every man and woman who wore a hardhat on that site worked not just with extraordinary skill but with deep reverence. They have ensured that this foundation will stand firm for generations to come. Over the coming months, the temple will be open so that millions of people from every State in our Union and every corner of the world may pass through these open doors. They will come from all walks of life, representing diverse faiths, cultures, and backgrounds. I advise every visitor wanting to take these free tours to go online and order tickets right away. For those who will be coming, we welcome them with open arms. This open house is more than an architectural showcase. It is an invitation to peace. It offers our neighbors and friends a rare opportunity to experience the beauty, order, and serenity that reside inside those walls. For faithful members of the church, a temple is not merely a place of Sunday worship, nor is it a simple monument. It is literally the house of the Lord, the most sacred place on Earth. Only the home can compare in sacredness. Inside those holy rooms, individuals step away from the noise and anxiety of the world to make sacred promises with God. It is where families are connected in this life and beyond and where people find godly solace and guidance. As this temple reopens its doors, it stands renewed, strengthened against the elements, and preserved for the future. It serves as a testament to what can be accomplished when faith, hard work, and community come together. May this holy house continue to be a light unto the nations, a blessing to the State of Utah, and a sanctuary of peace for all who enter.”

“Small government works best. As a doctor, I saw how insurance rules and government red tape hurt patients by getting between them and their care. More rules and spending make government slow and costly. We need to cut back federal rules and let people keep more of their money.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Moore for the opportunity to speak in this Special Order and also for the gentleman’s advocacy for our outstanding State. I am proud to be with my friend and the congressional delegation from the great State of Utah. Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on a principle that is as old as our Republic: Small government delivers big results. Before I came to this Chamber, I spent my career as a family physician in Utah. Throughout those years, I saw firsthand what happens when Washington inserts regulations and when the bureaucracy inserts themselves between people and their lives. As an example, I wanted to bring up an experience that I had as a doctor years ago with an individual with whom I spent a significant period of time in the room trying to understand the symptoms that this person described and trying to help them move forward in their health and well-being. In that circumstance, some of the symptoms that this person described worried me or had me concerned about a possible cardiac condition, some problem with their heart. I ordered a stress test, which is an expensive test. It is a test to look at the function of the heart to see if there are any blood flow issues or aspects of the heart that would threaten for a heart attack. I ordered that test, and, Mr. Speaker, I waited for days, ultimately 13 days, for the insurance determination as to whether they would pay for that test. On day 13, I received notification from this person’s insurance that they would not pay for the heart test. Come to find out, the very next day this individual suffered from a heart attack. The insurance in this case thought it was beneficial to their bottom line to reject the judgment that I had as a professional to determine that this person needed a preventative heart evaluation to make sure that they wouldn’t have a heart attack. Instead, they denied my efforts to diagnose this problem before it became a critical problem, saving themselves a few thousand dollars potentially on a heart test and subsequently threatening the life of this patient, as well as spending tens of thousands of dollars. Ultimately, the person went through the heart symptoms that they had. They went to the emergency department and were admitted to the hospital. They had a coronary artery bypass graft, the procedure that was done saving this person’s life, but after serious debility associated with that--and also this person’s life was threatened. Subsequently, the insurance company spent tens of thousands of dollars instead of a few thousand dollars on that person. Excessive government has built a great deal of bureaucracy between a doctor and that doctor’s patients. There are rules. We have approvals. We have requirements and determinations that are made somewhere far away by someone who has never met the patient and never sat with them or their family. In many cases, these individuals have no medical training at all, yet that person or those systems can still override the judgment of the professionals or the people. Nearly every one of those barriers began with someone’s good intention, someone who is trying to fix a real problem and believed that another rule, another program, or some other layer of government was going to be the answer to the problem. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, good intentions are where Big Government contributions end. That is because when those ideas are put into practice, Americans are too often left with a government that is slow, a government that is costlier, and a government that is more obstructive than is needed. For too long, Washington has operated under the flawed assumption that the size of the program measures its success and that the more money Federal agencies spend, the more the American people will benefit. Progress does not come from expanding bureaucratic power in this way. Progress comes from individuals, from their dreams, and from their aspirations and their inspiration. Nowhere is that principle more clearly demonstrated than in the tangible benefits that Americans are already seeing through the working families tax cuts. When we passed that landmark legislation, we made simple promises to the American people: They should keep more of what they earn, and we, Congress, would rein in Federal overreach, eliminate wasteful spending, and return resources to the people who worked to earn them. Today, those promises are producing real results in Utah and across the country. Mr. Speaker, the government cannot create lasting prosperity. The American people are who create lasting prosperity. When Washington steps back, American families will step forward. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Utah (Mr. Moore). I am grateful for the opportunity to address this issue.”

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  Reasoning 17 of 100

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“I want the House to pass this bill. Our economy and military need minerals, but right now it takes too long to get government approval to mine them here. This bill speeds up the review process so we do not have to depend on other countries for our minerals.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Westerman, Representative Shreve, and colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee for their work on this important piece of legislation. Every modern economy, every advanced technology, and every military capability depends on these kinds of minerals. Copper, iron, lithium, rare earths, and other minerals are essential to our power grid, our manufacturing base, our defense systems, and the technologies that will define our future. Yet, we continue to rely heavily on foreign nations, including our geopolitical adversaries, for the minerals we need to manufacture these products. That is a national security vulnerability. The problem is not that America lacks these resources. We certainly have them. The problem is that it has become easier to permit a mine almost anywhere else on Earth than here at home, so the mine is developed somewhere else; jobs go somewhere else; and the supply chain we depend on ends up running through countries that do not wish us well. Endless permitting uncertainty does not protect anything. It simply hands our competitors the advantage over the industries that power our economy and national defense. I represent Utah, and I have seen what responsible mineral development looks like. Utah has a proud history of it. Today, mining supports in our State more than 43,000 jobs and contributes billions of dollars to our economy. The Protecting Domestic Mining Act takes an important step toward fixing that problem. It ensures that mining and mineral processing projects can benefit from a predictable and coordinated permitting process. Republicans are cutting through Washington’s red tape to give American producers the certainty that they need. Without it, nothing gets built. No one invests billions in a mine that takes a decade to complete if the rules might be rewritten in 4 years. Mr. Speaker, this is about whether America can still build what it needs. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”

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  Reasoning 100 of 100

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“Social media harms young people's mental health. A recent settlement with Meta is a good step, but it only affects one company. Congress needs to pass my bill to set safety rules for all platforms. It would let families sue social media companies in federal court if they fail to protect users.”

“Mr. Speaker, last week Meta reached a $12.2 billion settlement and agreed to implement new safety guardrails in youth protections. We have all witnessed the harms caused by an unchecked social media algorithm: anxiety and depression, lost sleep, and even a lost childhood. An entire generation of young people are struggling under the weight of a technology engineered to capture their attention and hold it for as long as possible. I thank Utah Attorney General Derek Brown for helping to lead us in this fight. This is a landmark win, but its reach is limited. It is one company. It does not cover the next platform. It does not cover the next algorithm. Most importantly, it does not guarantee protection for the next child. Congress needs to act to implement lasting changes. Congress has a responsibility to set one clear standard that applies to every platform before the harm happens. That is what my Algorithm Accountability Act does. It strips section 230 immunity from platforms that violate a clear duty of care to their users, and it gives families, not just State attorneys general, the ability to hold these companies accountable in Federal court. It is time for Congress to act.”

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  Reasoning 100 of 100

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“I am mourning the deaths of Captain Spencer Long, his wife Katrina, and their three sons. They died in an accident in Utah. Captain Long was a firefighter, and his wife was an active community leader. I offer my support to their surviving daughter, Lydia.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today alongside my fellow Utahns to mourn and celebrate the life and sudden passing of Captain Spencer Long of Provo Fire & Rescue; his wife, Katrina; and three sons, Reid, Thayne and Gage. They were lost on Friday, July 17, 2026, near Sunglow Campground in Wayne County, Utah, about 165 miles south of Salt Lake City. We are all struggling to deal with the passing of the Long family in such an unexpected and tragic manner. We are granted each day with no guarantee of the next. Thus, I have come to believe that the highest measure of a life is not found in how long it was lived but in the depth of love, service, and devotion given to others along the way. By this measurement, the Long family was extraordinarily successful. Captain Spencer Long spent his life answering the call when others were in peril. As a leader with Provo Fire & Rescue, his courage, calm demeanor, and steadfast brotherhood protected countless families across Utah. When disaster struck, Captain Long was always among the first to run toward the danger. Alongside him stood Katrina, a dedicated mother, a community leader, former Mona city councilmember, and an entrepreneur whose kindness and vibrant spirit enriched every life she touched. Together, Spencer and Katrina built a home grounded in warmth, service, and adventure. Reid, Thayne, and Gage inherited that same joy for life. To Lydia, their surviving daughter, please know that you do not carry this unimaginable loss alone. The fire department, your neighbors, and a grieving State surround you with our love, our prayers, and an enduring promise to stand by your side in the days and the years ahead. I am heartened to see the generosity of so many who donated to the fund for your needs going forward. This is just a small token of our long- term commitment to watch over you and provide for your care. I know these many donations are deeply appreciated. Though this wonderful family was taken from us far too soon, their legacy of selfless service, love, and devotion remains an example to us all. May we honor them by serving one another with the same dedication they showed every day, and may peace rest upon their memories.”

“I honor the firefighters who died fighting fires near the Utah-Colorado border, including Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson, and Sydney Watson. We know how to clear brush and manage forests to stop these fires, but government rules delay the work for years. I want Congress to cut these regulations and pass bills to help prevent wildfires.”

“Mr. Speaker, right now as we stand in this Chamber, devastating wildfires are tearing across our lands. I thank the brave crews who are working around the clock on the front lines. Their courage is keeping our communities standing. Our prayers are with them. We especially hold in our hearts the families of the brave firefighters who we recently lost along the Utah-Colorado border, including Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson, and Sydney Watson. These individuals made the ultimate sacrifice, and we owe them a debt of gratitude we can never truly repay. Possibly the most frustrating part is that, in many cases, we already have the solutions to deal with these wildfires. We know how to thin overgrown brush. We know how to clear hazardous fuels. We know how to restore health to our forest through proactive management. The obstacle isn’t a lack of knowledge. It is bureaucracy. Decades of bloated regulation delay critical mitigation work for years, but a wildfire does not wait for a multiyear environmental review. The flames do not pause for paperwork. That is why we passed the Fix Our Forests Act. That is why I introduced the Utah Wildfire Research Institute Act. Our communities cannot afford another year of congressional inaction. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cut the red tape, pass commonsense and often lifesaving legislation, and protect our lands.”

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  Reasoning 100 of 100

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