Mr. Speaker, today I close my 24 years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives--it has been a rare honor to serve the people of north east Florida and I'm humbled by this responsibility. In…
Mr. Speaker, today I close my 24 years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives--it has been a rare honor to serve the people of north east Florida and I'm humbled by this responsibility. In reflecting on my tenure, I'm very proud of my record of accomplishments.
As a veteran of the United States Air Force, I deeply appreciate the opportunity to serve on the Veterans Affairs Committee and to work on behalf my fellow veterans. Through these efforts, we established new VA outpatient clinics in the district, including a state of the art facility in South Marion County. In addition, we succeeded in building support for the new patient bed center at the Gainesville VA Medical Center. And, after over a decade of work, we saw my language to create a new veterans cemetery in north east Florida signed into law.
Furthermore, two measures I offered in the VA became law: the Veterans Millennium Health Care & Benefits Act improving veterans' access to long-term care; and the VA Health Care Personnel Act to increase pay for VA health care professionals.
Working with members on both sides of the aisle, one of my first achievements was gaining enactment of S. 2740 / H.R. 4237 to amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. This measure deauthorized the Cross-Florida Barge Canal, and allowed the State of Florida to preserve this canal corridor as a greenway spanning the state.
Then there is the Telecomunications Act of 1996. Computers, the Internet, and other innovations transformed the national economy, making our laws and regulations outdated and burdensome. As a House conferee on this legislation, I worked with my colleagues in developing a response providing greater competition, less regulation, better service, and lower prices. And once again, Congress should work to remove the current obstacles to greater innovation that will bring more products, services, and jobs.
Most recently, my selection to lead the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations provided the chance to make our government more transparent and responsive. Through our oversight, we discouraged the implementation of overly rigorous rules and regulations that hamper economic growth and job creation.
We also discovered the waste and abuse in the Department of Energy's loan guarantee program. This risky scheme to create so-called green jobs cost taxpayers billions of dollars while yielding a few jobs. This is best exemplified by Solyndra, which received $535 million from the taxpayers only to declare bankruptcy and becoming the target of a criminal investigation by the FBI.
In recognition of our $16 trillion debt, I take great satisfaction in my record on fiscal responsibility. It is a distinct honor to be one of only 53 House and Senate members to receive an ``A'' rating from the National Taxpayers Union. In addition, my record on jobs and the economy earned recognition by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Citizens Against Government Waste, and Americans for Tax Reform.
I also owe many thanks--to so many of my colleagues, and especially to the people of Florida's Sixth District. I also thank my staff for their help in serving my constituents, my Chief of Staff Jack Seum and Paul Flusche here in Washington, and Shawna Williams, Sherrie Porter, and Jean Clough (Cluff) in the District.
Again, it has been an honor and an experience of a lifetime to serve in Congress.
