Fallon, Pat RSS Articles

Rep. Fallon's Fraud Resolution Passes the House

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the House passed H.Res.1335 introduced by Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04). This resolution affirms the House of Representatives’ commitment to government-wide fraud and improper payment prevention reforms to ensure the prosperity of the United States. It also expresses the sense of the House that federal program eligibility should be verified before payment.

“For years, Democrats at all levels of government have turned a blind eye to the rampant fraud in government programs,” said Rep. Fallon. “This isn’t always an accident, and it’s often intentional. Federal programs are in dire need of reform to confirm beneficiaries’ eligibility and halt the flow of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars each year to criminal fraudsters. My colleagues and I on the House Oversight Committee have a duty to hold the folks stealing from the hardworking American taxpayer accountable. We will not relent.”

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Rep. Fallon Statement in Response to HASC Passage of FY27 NDAA

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In response to the House Armed Services Committee’s 44-12 vote in favor of passing the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, Military Personnel Subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) commented:

“The United States is at a critical juncture in history. With the ever-looming threats posed by near-peer adversaries, we must ensure that our military has the resources and support necessary to defend our nation and American interests. For this reason, I am proud to join my colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee in passing the FY27 NDAA. This critical piece of legislation strengthens our defense industrial base, invests in key technologies, and secures our supply chains while taking great strides to deliver on President Trump’s historic $1.5 trillion defense budget.”

“As Chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, I will always prioritize our military’s greatest resource–the men and women in uniform who dedicate their lives to defending our nation. The FY27 NDAA focuses on improving servicemember quality of life, including a seven percent pay raise and authorizing additional resources to recruiters to maintain the remarkable turnaround we have seen in recent years regarding recruitment and retention levels. This package dedicates much-needed funding to ensuring that the American warfighter has the support needed to prevail on the battlefield of today and tomorrow.”

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Fallon Statement on the Military Personnel Print of the FY27 NDAA

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Washington, D.C. – Military Personnel (MLP) Subcommittee Chairman Pat Fallon (R-TX) delivered the following remarks on the Military Personnel Print at the Full Committee Markup of the Chairman's Mark of H.R. 8800, the FY27 NDAA.

"The Military Personnel print was developed in a bipartisan manner and includes member priorities focused on taking care of service members and their families to ensure we have the most capable and ready fighting force in the world."

Chairman Fallon's Statement as Prepared for Delivery:

The Military Personnel print was developed in a bipartisan manner and includes member priorities focused on taking care of service members and their families to ensure we have the most capable and ready fighting force in the world.

To double down on historic recruiting numbers, we increased the end strengths for all military services: providing the services space to add the needed warfighters and enablers to address rising threats around the world.

We paid particular attention to military medicine this year to improve quality and access for our service members and their families. The bill increases the pool of eligible nurses who can now start their careers at Military Treatment Facilities, requires DHA to hire the needed personnel at the proper wage to fill our hospitals and clinics, and authorizes hospital commanders at remote installations to hire medical personnel directly--without going through the layers of bureaucracy--to get the doctors and nurses where they need to be, when they need to be.

We also increased access to dental care for certain junior enlisted National Guard and children under twelve at on-post dental clinics. And continuing our focus on Military Healthcare, we continue to support research into cutting-edge medical technology to care for our servicemembers and their families with a particular focus on combat medicine and trauma. Also, we continue the effort to reform civilian hiring, focusing on a skills-based workforce rather than credentialism, and making a concerted effort to get young tech talent into DoD.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge the committee staff’s efforts: Mr. David Giachetti, Ms. Hannah Kaufman, Ms. Ellie Bender, Ms. Alexandria Evers, Ms. Ilka Regino, and Ms. Michaela Reardo.

They have all worked tirelessly and always in a bipartisan manner to develop the subcommittee print.

Rep. Fallon Introduces Espionage Prevention Act

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) introduced the Espionage Prevention Act (EPA), which would establish intelligence community funding restrictions on institutions of higher education that have a relationship with certain entities in the People's Republic of China.

"America's national security secrets should never be handed over to Communist China, yet far too many of our colleges and universities are actively partnering with concerning Chinese entities while taking American taxpayer dollars from the Intelligence Community," Rep. Fallon commented. "We can no longer provide funding to institutions that are helping our greatest adversary steal our research, recruit our talent, and undermine our country from within. It is common sense to put American security first and stop funding espionage on our own soil."

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Rep. Fallon Leads 2A Letter to Secretary Driscoll

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This week, Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) led a letter to Secretary Driscoll requesting that the Department of the Army immediately finalize and implement a rule allowing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms on land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in accordance with state laws.

As reported by the Daily Caller, Rep. Fallon commented: "Public lands form a complicated patchwork of jurisdictions with invisible boundaries that Americans cross every day. While the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management respect our Second Amendment rights, USACE lands remain an outdated exception. Finalizing this long-proposed rule is critical to align with state law and restore full constitutional protections on USACE lakes, trails, and campsites. American citizens deserve to exercise their God-given Second Amendment rights without arbitrary federal restrictions."

This letter was signed by 23 additional members and was supported by Gun Owners of America and the National Rifle Association.

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Rep. Fallon Seeks to be Next Chairman of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) today announced he is seeking the position of Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for the 120th Congress.

In a letter to the Steering Committee, Rep. Fallon highlighted the need for continued strong, decisive leadership to counter threats to American institutions and advance President Trump’s agenda.

“As the 120th Congress is organized and committee assignments are finalized, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform must continue to align with President Trump in advancing his agenda and priorities, an agenda affirmed by the results of the 2024 Presidential Election,” Rep. Fallon stated. “I have seen firsthand how vital, strong, and decisive leadership can push back on the left’s woke agenda. Chairman Comer has embodied that standard in both tone and execution. If selected, I will be the Committee leader who will defend American ideals through rigorous oversight, unwavering accountability, and a steadfast commitment to the Constitution.”

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Rep. Fallon Leads Letter Asking that CVDs on Fertilizer be Reconsidered

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This week, Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) led a letter urging the U.S. International Trade Commission to reconsider the implemented countervailing duty on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco. Rep. Fallon was joined on this letter by 31 other representatives.

As reported in The Washington Reporter, Rep. Fallon commented:

“The US International Trade Commission should immediately reconsider the countervailing duties, put in place by the Biden Admin, on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco. Our corn, soybean, and wheat growers depend on affordable fertilizer to grow healthy, high-yielding crops, but these duties have cost American farmers billions since being implemented in 2021. This burdensome policy hurts the very individuals who feed our nation. It is time we put our farmers first and get this reversed.”

Supporting organizations include National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, USA Rice, Texas Corn Producers, & Texas Farm Bureau.

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Implementing a U.S. Cyber Force: A Conversation with Rep. Pat Fallon

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) joined CSIS for a discussion on the future of a dedicated U.S. Cyber Force. The program included a fireside conversation with Commission member Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, USMC (Ret.).

See Rep. Fallon's written remarks below:

Good morning everyone, and thank you for allowing me to talk to you all about the United States Cyber Force, an institution that I and others are working so hard to establish as the seventh branch of the armed forces.

I want to be clear from the start –

The U.S. military has fallen behind our adversaries in our cyber capabilities, and the remedy is clear…we, as a country, cannot adequately defend our national interests without a Cyber Force. Not only is it a necessity, but a dedicated service for the cyber domain is inevitable.

I’ll say it again, Cyber Force is inevitable. Whether we are successful this year, next year, or the following, there will be a Cyber Force.

Back in 2017, nearly a decade ago, my good friend and the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers stood on this exact stage and explained clearly to the audience that a dedicated Space Corps (as he coined it) is coming. He laid out the factors that shaped his thinking:

The services, and particularly the Air Force, were not prioritizing space;
There was a lack of qualified Space professionals serving as leaders, with true experts routinely passed over for promotion in favor of pilots with no experience in the Space domain;
There was no senior official accountable for Space, ensuring confusion over responsibilities and redundancy of effort;
And, the Department’s Space budget had been so fragmented that there wasn’t the necessary attention or oversight for it.

Fast forward to today…not only was he successful in establishing the Space Force, but more so, his judgement that a Space Force was necessary for the good of the nation has been overwhelmingly endorsed in Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon. Just a few weeks ago at the State of the Union, you heard President Trump commend the Space Force and the foresight required to know how valuable it has become. The President and Mike Rogers were right, and their detractors who made exaggerated and false claims about how a military service for Space were categorically proven wrong.

As a former Air Force officer myself, all of the arguments for a Space Force resonated with me. Why? Because each and every reason parallels the reasons why we have an Air Force today. Through the 1920s and 30s, the Army consistently failed in its management of military aviation. The Army downplayed, diminished, and discounted the revolutionary potential of air warfare.

If these factors led to an Air Force, you’d think that the Air Force’s leaders would be wiser than to recycle those mistakes in their management of the Space Domain. However, I learned a long time ago: never underestimate the military’s capacity to repeat its errors.

For more than 20 years, the War Department has formally recognized five warfighting domains: Land, Air, Sea, Space, and Cyberspace. Today, we have military services aligned to four out of these five. For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would say that having the Army to focus on land warfare and the Air Force to focus on air combat is sensible, but having a Cyber Force is a bridge too far.

Not only is a Cyber Force sensible, but it makes even more sense when you consider the dramatic failure of the Department's fragmented approach for the last 15 years in distributing responsibility for generating forces and capability across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

By the Department’s own acknowledgement, the military cyber ecosystem is not meeting the mark on training forces, developing mastery in the domain, or in growing the force to match the threat. What is so striking is that these are the exact same issues we were facing in 2022, as we were in 2017, as we were in 2012.

While we have failed to address these systemic issues after more than a decade and a half, our adversaries are seizing the moment–not only expanding their capabilities, but dramatically growing their forces.

Before my life in politics, I built and grew businesses. Let’s say I had a friend come to me seeking an investment in his company. He tells me, “we’ve been around for 15 years. While our product doesn’t scale and we haven’t turned a profit, things are going great.” Fair to assume that I’m not pulling out my checkbook for him.

I noted earlier how cyberspace has been officially recognized by the War Department as a warfighting domain since 2004. You’d naturally believe that over the last 20+ years, we’d have developed an entire generation of uniformed cyber leaders who could serve as 2-, 3-, and 4-star officers. If I’m raising the issue today, you’re right in assuming that isn’t the case.

Of the 13x general and flag officers assigned Cyber Command, there is only a single 1-star general with a cyber background. When the CYBERCOM Commander looks at the 4x Service Cyber Components, none are led by general or flag officers with cyber experience.

If we were talking about Strategic Command, there’d rightfully be an uproar if the 4-star commander lacked any relevant experience with nuclear weapons. Similarly, if the Commander at Indo-Pacific Command or the Command’s Director of Operations had never been to Asia, Americans should be absolutely terrified. And yet, that’s precisely what we treat as normal for the cyber domain.

This may sound abstract, but let me phrase it another way. I could have the best accountant in the world, but if I need surgery, I’m not asking him to get into the operating room just because he’s good at doing my taxes.

As I look at the military’s cyber ecosystem, I see all the factors that Mike Rogers saw in 2017 when he looked at the space landscape:

None of the services are truly invested in success in cyberspace;
The leadership cadre is full of general and flag officers with deep backgrounds in aviation, special operations, and maritime warfare, but nearly none with actual cyber experience;
There is no single leader in charge of the domain, with responsibility fragmented across the Assistant Secretary of War, the Chief Information Officer, and several others;
The cyber budget is poorly managed and has nearly no overarching oversight.

There is one glaring difference between today’s cyber problems and the historical issues with the space domain and the air domain before that. Whereas the issues in space and aviation stemmed from mismanagement by one military service, the issues in the cyber domain are found across Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. In this way, today’s cyber problems are compounded and even more evident.

Six months ago, CSIS launched its Commission on Cyber Force Generation to bring together true experts in military cyber operations and think through what a future Cyber Force looks like. I know that they are deep into that, and am excited about what comes from that; however, as impressive as that group may be, it’s not what I think to be the most convincing evidence that change is necessary and on the horizon.

I had the chance to review a collection of uniformed and civilian cyber operators’ anonymized testimonials, and “jarring” doesn’t begin to describe my reaction. These were accounts from more than 90 professionals from every service, every rank from E-7 to 1-star and senior executives. What was clear and incredibly depressing was how little confidence the people that do this work everyday have in our ability to fight at scale. I read about critical deficiencies in training, planning, leadership, operations, management, and technical capabilities. Every single account reached the exact same conclusion that a Cyber Force was necessary, but for widely varying reasons.

Our service members are pleading for help, and now it’s time for Congress to step up. Of course, that’s easier said than done. I’m in my third term in Congress, and I’ve seen a fairly predictable pattern in how Congress tries tackling problems:

A mammoth issue is identified;
Members get vocal about that issue but struggle to agree on the best solution;
We argue incessantly, and end up compromising on a study of the issue that won’t be completed for at least 3-5 years.

I won’t stomach uniformed and civilian leaders inventing excuses and wasting years delaying the inevitable. We should count ourselves as fortunate– rarely is the solution so obvious and achievable.

After 78 years, no one looks back at the decision to establish the Air Force and says, “We’ve made a terrible mistake.” With now 6 years of history, I don’t believe anyone looks at the Space Force and thinks that either. In fact, it’s the opposite…I think the overwhelming majority look at both the Air Force and Space Force, and think, “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

If we’ve established that the current structure is not working, and that the solutions applied in the past have a proven history of success, it is quite obvious where that leaves us. There will be a Cyber Force. It's a question of when. Like President Trump, I’m not a big fan of slow walking when it comes to national security.

We’re going to get this done, and when we look back, everyone is going to be glad we did.

Thank you for having me here, and appreciate the time.

Rep. Fallon Statement in response to President Trump's 2026 State of the Union Address

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) responds to President Trump's State of the Union Address last night:

"In his State of the Union Address, President Trump rightly made the case for how his America First agenda is firing on all fronts to better the lives of our nation’s citizens,” commented Rep. Pat Fallon. “In the past year alone under his leadership, rampant inflation is down to 2.4 percent from its Biden era 9 percent peak, crime is at its lowest in 125 years, and zero illegal aliens have been admitted into the US. These are real facts and figures that are driving the economy and keeping America’s streets safe.”

“On the world stage, President Trump’s time-tested modicum of ‘peace through strength’ has restored deterrence towards our adversaries. Our military is strong, and our men and women in uniform once again have a Commander in Chief who has their back. Our hemisphere is secure, and we have demonstrated the supreme capabilities of our armed forces when it comes to advancing US interests and security abroad.”

“Last night was a turning point in history, and we are incredibly fortunate to have a President who truly loves our country and the values it was founded upon. As the United States celebrates its 250th birthday this year, we can rest assured that America’s best days are yet ahead.”

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Rep. Pat Fallon's MERICA Act Passes the House

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Washington, D.C. -- The House of Representatives voted this evening to pass the Mineral Extraction for Renewable Industry and Critical Applications Act, the "MERICA Act," introduced by Congressman Pat Fallon (TX-04).

“Proud to see the House vote in favor of the passage of the MERICA Act this evening, a bill that I introduced in order to break our reliance on China for rare earth minerals and instead open up federal lands for their extraction here at home,” commented Rep. Pat Fallon.

“H.R. 3872, better known as the MERICA Act, would amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (MLAAL) by adding hardrock minerals as part of the listed deposits subject to leasing under MLAAL so that all federally acquired lands can be considered for hardrock mineral leasing. As things currently stand, we have valuable lithium deposits locked up on federal lands, and we cannot access nor utilize them under current law. In fact, much of Texas’ Fourth Congressional District falls within what is known as the Smackover Formation, a geological formation that encompasses areas from eastern Texas to the Florida panhandle. A recent U.S. Geological Survey-led study estimates there to exist 5 to 19 million tons of lithium reserves in this mineral-rich deposit.”

“Strong, secure rare earth mineral supply chains and stockpiles are a US national security priority as we seek to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. There is no reason why we should not look to our own domestic reserves to make decoupling from the CCP a reality. The MERICA Act is an excellent opportunity to do so, and I urge the Senate to advance this key piece of legislation.”