Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the most important function of our government is to provide for the common defense. That is why I am pleased that the National Defense Authorization Act blocks the administration's end strength reduction proposal, as well as redistribution of important National Guard aviation assets. But I do have some specific concerns.

Of specific concern of this misguided and shortsighted proposal is the impact on the Mississippi National Guard's 155th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. This unit has a proven history of defending freedom abroad. But recently, when our State was hit by devastating tornados, these were the first responders. They provided vital security and search and rescue. I commend these men and women that make up the 155th and express my concern for the support of their mission.

Congress cannot balance our budget on the backs of the men and women voluntarily serving our country, nor expect their families, who already give so much, to make further sacrifices.

To find areas within our Federal Government to responsibly cut, we must look at all forms of Federal spending, not just the discretionary spending alone.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for yielding. I too rise in support of H.R. 4268.

In Mississippi, U.S. Highway 78 cuts diagonally through the foothills of the Appalachians to Memphis. This is the highway that our most famous native son, Elvis Presley, took as he made his way from his hometown and my hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, to find his way to Sun Studio in Memphis.

While there were others whose careers may not nearly have been so visible, they made the same road. People came home from World War II, and they felt their only option in Mississippi was to leave to find a better way of life for their families, so they made their way to Memphis and then north.

For the three decades following the end of World War II, they settled in and around the Great Lakes. There were small towns in Illinois and Wisconsin that had neighborhoods literally dotted with families from Mississippi, neighborhoods in Waukegan and Zion, Aurora and Kenosha and Racine; and you go on the streets, and you find people from Baldwyn and Marietta, Mantachie and Booneville.

In recent years, we have had a renaissance of advanced manufacturing in Mississippi. This growth has been driven by regional cooperation among our local leaders, tough decisions that were made at the State level, but it has been primarily driven by the strong work ethic of those same people from Appalachia.

In fact, a few months ago, I was visiting in one of the advanced manufacturing facilities involved in automobile manufacturing parts, talking to a man in Mantachie. He smiled, and he said: The great news about this job is I got to come home.

In order to accommodate all this new growth, we found it important to upgrade U.S. Highway 78 and make it Interstate 22. A lot of work has been done by Federal, State, and local stakeholders.

We are about ready to make that transition, but there is one more

change that needs to be completed. A small tweak in the law is necessary.

While advanced manufacturing is a very important part of our economy, agriculture is still a very important part of our economy as well.

Under the existing law, ag products on the way to the market have to obtain a permit that they can carry an additional 5 percent weight on U.S. Highway 78. In the absence of that bill, that permit would not be available.

To make it clear, this bill is no loss, no gain. The roadway that is in use today is the exact same roadway that will be used as Interstate 22. The mile markers, as you have heard, are specified in the legislation. There is not one additional vehicle that can legally travel this road under this law that would be able to do so under a new law.

That is why I urge passage of this bill. I want to thank the ranking member, I want to thank the chairman, and I also want to thank the senior member of the Mississippi delegation for his cooperation in making this possible.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Ryan for yielding, but, more importantly, thank him for his work and leadership in this area.

Tonight around America, families will sit down at the kitchen table to talk about their family finances. And there always seem to be more needs than there are dollars in a paycheck. So those families will sit down. They may shed tears tonight, and they may have some tense words between them, but before the night is over, they will sit down and make tough decisions about how they will spend their family's budget.

Just last week, the State legislature in my State adjourned, but before they did, they made some tough choices. They weren't able to fund everything they wanted to fund, and they had to set priorities. Local governments and county governments are making tough choices.

When it comes to American families sitting around their kitchen table, if the State legislature, if city governments and county governments are making those tough choices, they have every reason to expect their government in Washington to do the same thing. And for 4 years now, under the leadership of Chairman Ryan, we have put forward a budget that does make these tough but necessary decisions about getting control of our Federal spending.

That is why I am proud to join my colleagues and vote for a budget that responsibly cuts $5.1 trillion over the next 10 years by reforming the main drivers of our debt--targeting wasteful spending. At the same time, this budget seeks to expand opportunity to help the private sector create jobs by highlighting policies that will grow the economy.

Meanwhile, the administration wants to take more money out of the paychecks of hardworking Americans by raising their taxes, wants to spend more money, and wants to borrow more money from successive generations and never balance the budget.

This administration has made all sorts of promises it can't keep. For example, the Congressional Budget Office says that Pell grants will begin to have a shortfall in 2016 and every year thereafter. Medicare? My mom and dad

worked all of their life, paid into a program, and their government made them a promise. They said that, when you get to retirement age, we are going to provide you health care; yet the actuarial models say that program is going bankrupt, and the administration doesn't deal with it.

This budget does make tough decisions and makes tough choices. And the critics? They call this budget draconian. Only in Washington is making a tough choice labeled as being controversial.

It is important that we make these decisions and put our government back on a path of sustainable finances to grow our economy. By making these tough choices, we ensure our children and our grandchildren a better future because we are doing more than just balancing a budget. We are living out the American Dream. Beating in the heart of every American since this country was founded is the desire to leave a better way of life to successive generations, not saddle those generations with massive amounts of debt.

So, for those reasons, I support this budget, and I urge my colleagues to support this budget, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of Ms. Irene Lancaster of Columbus, Mississippi, and to wish her a happy birthday tomorrow.

In fact, I stand in this body today because of the encouragement of teachers like Ms. Lancaster. Her passion and enthusiasm for American history was contagious. As an eighth-grade student at Joe Cook Middle School in Columbus, Mississippi, she instilled in me a love of American history that I carry today. I can still hear in my mind her voice as she talked about the forcefulness of President Andrew Jackson.

She thought she was teaching names and dates and places, but what Ms. Lancaster was really doing was preparing leaders--business leaders, community leaders, leaders in medicine

and in energy--and even a United States Congressman.

So happy birthday, Ms. Lancaster.

In saluting her, I salute all of those teachers every day who are preparing the next generation of American leaders.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Oklahoma for

his leadership in bringing focus to this important issue.

The foundation for our country rests on the shoulders of ``we the people.'' Under our constitutional form of government, we the people are the boss, and Washington is the servant.

Unfortunately, under this current administration, there is not a week that goes by without more evidence of out-of-control bureaucracies attempting to run local businesses through unnecessary rules and regulations.

I could give many examples, but in the interest of time, I will just give one. Columbus Brick Company is located in Columbus, Mississippi. They have been making clay bricks since 1890. Mr. Al Puckett is the fourth generation of that family to run that business.

After they spent substantial sums much money to bring the factory into compliance with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, the EPA is now threatening new, even more expensive regulations without any input from the public, from the stakeholders, from Congress, or from we the people.

Last June, Mr. Puckett appeared before the House Judiciary Committee. He testified:

If EPA uses the same approach that they have followed on

recent rules, Columbus Brick may cease to exist after almost

125 years of operation. I expect a minimum of having to shut

down 2 or 3 kilns. That will mean a permanent job loss of 45

to 50 families in our small rural community.

Sadly, Mr. Speaker, it gets worse. These EPA regulations do not result in any significant benefit to the environment. The brick industry in general--Columbus Brick Company in particular--is already operating well within safe levels. Unfortunately, Columbus Brick Company is not unique in the impact this rule would have on small businesses. Many would be forced to close their doors.

Only in Washington are rules handed down to businesses without allowing the affected parties the ability to weigh in before the settlement agreements are adopted. Environmental regulations should be fair, reasonable, and they should balance costs versus benefits.

This body understands this concept, and that is why, in February, we passed the ALERRT Act, which would require the administration to account for the cost of excessive regulations to minimize the impact on small businesses.

Mr. Puckett stated it best:

We are not asking for the rule to go away. We are asking

that the practice of establishing unreasonable deadlines

without input from the impacted industries go away.

Mr. Speaker, Mississippians know that the power and drive of America is in the individual, and the great solutions to the great challenges facing our country don't come in Washington, neither do they come in our State capitals. The challenges to our solutions can be found around our kitchen tables and our homes and our churches and our communities.

Unfortunately, it is the mentality that the government is the boss. It has been oppressive on companies like Columbus Brick, but their spirit of survival is what has allowed them to survive for several generations. Washington, and particularly not the EPA, is not the boss of Columbus Brick.

Mr. Speaker, Tupelo, Mississippi, the town of my birth and my hometown, is known for a lot of things: the birthplace of Elvis Presley; we are the headquarters of the Natchez Trace Parkway. One of the things we are also very proud of is we are the very first TVA city.

Many people around America think of the difference between rural America and city as the difference between whether you have a shopping mall, a lot of nice restaurants, things like that. Eighty years ago, the differences between rural and urban America were even more stark. That is why today it is my privilege to rise as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the 1930s, rural America did not have many of the basic things of life like electricity, running water, and a lot of the things that we consider frills today, like radio, music, and news.

As a result, many Americans, particularly younger generations of Americans, were migrating from the small towns and the farms across rural America and moving to the larger cities. Seeing this shift, a couple of visionary members of the Congress, including my predecessor, Mississippi Representative John Rankin, and Senator George Norris from Nebraska, made it their mission to bring electricity to rural America.

On May 18, 1933, the Tennessee Valley Authority was created by this Congress in an effort to improve the living conditions and the economic conditions for seven southern States, including Mississippi. In 1934, President Roosevelt came to Tupelo, Mississippi, and literally flipped the switch to turn on the lights. Shortly after that, north Mississippi became one of the Nation's earliest regions to begin to adopt rural electrification.

Over the past 80 years, the Tennessee Valley Authority has been committed not only to providing reliable, cleaner, and low-cost energy, but also committed to the economic well-being of our region across the Tennessee Valley.

They have worked with local power companies, directly served customers and regional, State, and community development organizations. TVA works to create economic development opportunities around our region, collaboratively focusing on attracting and retaining jobs, capital investment, and helping our communities prepare for growth.

I was once told by my friend and former TVA Chairman Glenn McCollough that the mission of TVA could be summed up in three phrases: keep the lights glowing; the economy going; and the river flowing. Well, for 80 years, TVA has done just that. With current leadership like Richard Howorth from Oxford, who is currently on the TVA board of directors, TVA is helping our region achieve success.

The electricity provided by TVA has helped attract opportunity and success for thousands of people in Mississippi and throughout the valley, allowing them to show the world that we are a friendly, reliable and competitive workforce.

So on this day of commemoration, I say happy 80th anniversary, TVA, and my wish for you is a prosperous and successful future.

I thank the gentlelady from North Carolina for yielding.

Today, I rise in support of H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which will make policies like the Hyde amendment permanent and government-wide, and remove funding for insurance plans that include abortions from the Affordable Care Act.

Just last week, we marked the 41st anniversary of the Roe decision, and we memorialized the 56 million children whose lives have been sacrificed for that decision.

I am a proud defender of life. I represent a State that stands strongly for life. I understand that the very first inalienable right in our Declaration of Independence is the right to life. But I also acknowledge that there is wide disagreement on that subject throughout our Nation and throughout this House. I recognize there is wide debate on when life may begin.

Surely, we can agree that there should be no taxpayer dollars used to fund abortion procedures. There should be no taxpayer forced to pay for health care through ObamaCare that funds abortion against his or her will.

That is why I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 7, and I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the final bill.

Mr. Speaker, on December 23, in my hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, two of our police officers, Sergeant Gale Stauffer and Patrol Officer Joseph Maher, were shot while attempting to apprehend a bank robber.

Thankfully, Officer Maher survived very serious wounds, and he is currently recovering.

Tragically, Sergeant Stauffer died of those wounds. Gale, as he was known to his friends and family, spent his entire adult life in service to his country. He joined the U.S. military and bravely served his tour of duty in Iraq as a Sergeant in the Louisiana Army National Guard.

After returning home, he settled with his family in Tupelo, where he is known for his Cajun cooking, his love of the outdoors, and his passionate support for LSU Tiger football.

Above all, those who knew Sergeant Stauffer knew him as a man completely devoted to his wife and two children.

I will be submitting letters of support for both of these brave men's nomination for the Congressional Badge of Bravery.

Ronald Reagan once said: ``Those who say that we are in a time where there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look.''

By their actions, Sergeant Stauffer and Officer Maher have showed there are still heroes among us.

Mr. Speaker, the Legislative Fellowship program is a selective mideducation program where the Air Force places the very best and brightest officers and civilians in congressional offices so that they may learn the legislative process. For this past year, my office was given the opportunity to host Lieutenant Colonel Will Vaughn.

Prior to the start of serving his fellowship, Lieutenant Colonel Vaughn was assigned as chief training officer for the 97th Flying Training Squadron, an Air Force Reserve associate unit supporting the multinational Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. He also served on a joint, interagency and multinational staff in Jerusalem as a plans and programs officer for the United States security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He served on Active Duty, flying the F-16 and T-37 until 2008, where he transitioned to the Reserves, instructing in the T-37 and, most recently, the T-6.

Lieutenant Colonel Will Vaughn has effectively served the people of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to watching him do great things for America.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 632, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Stated against:

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome to the House of Representatives this morning Dr. John Adams, Jr., who offered the prayer earlier.

Dr. Adams is a native of Mississippi, and he is currently the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Mantachie, Mississippi. He is joined by his wife, Darla Kaye Fuller Adams.

Dr. Adams has served as senior pastor in churches in Mississippi, Texas, Colorado, and Arkansas. Dr. Adams has spoken throughout the South and around the country, sharing a 13-part series about the Judeo- Christian heritage of America. He also presently serves as the executive director of the Moral Action of Mississippi and of the national organization, the Moral Action of the Baptist Missionary Association.

We are honored to have him here today, and we deeply appreciate his service to our Lord and to the people of Mississippi.

Mr. Speaker, they said implementing ObamaCare is going to be a train wreck, and that train wreck went right through the Etta community in Union County, Mississippi, and ran right over Reverend Bobby Irvin. Reverend Irvin tells me:

I had health insurance. I was happy with my coverage.

Specifically, it is a coverage that I picked out and I

selected, and my policy was canceled because it did not meet

ObamaCare guidelines.

Reverend Irvin was made a promise by the President of the United States: if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. That promise has been broken. It is vital that we pass the Keep Your Health Plan Act so this House can step up and honor the promise that was made to Reverend Irvin and those Americans like him: if you like your health insurance, you can keep it.

Thank you, Mrs. Hartzler, and I appreciate your leadership in this area.

You know, when the Framers of our Constitution put together this government and submitted it to the people, the American people looked at it and said, You did a good job, but it is not perfect. There is something that is missing, and that something is a Bill of Rights guaranteeing individual freedoms for all Americans. And so those 10 planks were constructed and added as part of the ratification process. I am convinced that if those 10 planks had not been added, the Constitution would not have been ratified. I do not believe it is insignificant that the first sentence of the First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of

religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

And our men and women in the military take an oath of office to support and defend that very Constitution, but they do not surrender that First Amendment right immediately when they put on a uniform.

The trend of military instructors and officers portraying Christians and socially conservative nonprofit organizations as ``extremists'' and potential threats to our Nation is unconscionable. Recently, they labeled the American Family Association, a group in my district that by their very name indicates that they are committed to the preservation of the American people. The fact that they are labeled as an extremist organization, unbelievable.

These developments are part of what appears to be a mounting culture for religious intolerance and hostility towards Christians within the military. I do not believe that adequate steps have been taken to address the root cause of these incidents, and that is why I put together the letter that Mrs. Hartzler referred to to the Secretary of the Army, along with a number of my colleagues, to communicate our concerns regarding these developments and ask for the details on what the Army is doing to foster a culture of religious liberty among our men and women in our military.

While our Founding Fathers prohibited the establishment of a State- established religion, they purposely did not restrict references to God or personal beliefs in civic dialogue, military service, or everyday life.

Mr. Speaker, the dais on which you sit, over which you preside this great House, has behind it the American flag. Above that flag are the four words of our national motto: ``In God We Trust.''

Congress has a responsibility to fight attempts within our military to restrict the religious liberty of those who serve our Nation and work to safeguard these freedoms. It is intolerable for those brave men and women serving our country to be denied these very freedoms they are putting their lives on the line to defend.

Mr. Speaker, Mississippi College, the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Mississippi and the second oldest Baptist university in the United States, recently celebrated the opening of its 187th school year. Mississippi College has since pre-Civil War days provided students from across the state and around the world an education informed by Christian values, and was the first co-educational institution in the nation to grant a degree to a woman.

The university has a long and distinguished history of educating future public servants, counting current leaders in federal and state government among her alumna, including current Third Congressional District Rep. Gregg Harper, and current Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. As a member of the Board of Trustees I am also proud to recognize the leadership of Order of the Golden Arrow recipient Gayle Wicker has provided to the university's presidents through the years. Mississippi College, located in Clinton, is a proud constituent of the Second Congressional District represented by Rep. Bennie Thompson.

For 64 years, students have received exemplary training in areas of speech, media, public relations, theater and related practices in the Mississippi College Communication Department. Founded in 1949 by Drs. Hollis and Julia Todd as the Department of Speech, the current Communication Department presented diplomas to hundreds of students who have subsequently experienced personal and career success in their chosen fields. Among its alumni, the department prides itself by seeing former graduates become leaders in fields as diverse as business and ministry, education and journalism.

The faculty of the Mississippi College Communication Department embodies dedicated and sustained service to the university and its mission. In fact, only three men have chaired the department over the span of its 64 years: Dr. Hollis Todd, Dr. Billy Lytal, for whom the annual student scholarship fund is named, and current chair Dr. Cliff Fortenberry. With a teaching philosophy built around the practical application of theory and curriculum, departmental faculty are teachers first, individuals who view their service at Mississippi College as an investment in their students' lives and in their community.

The Mississippi College Communication Department currently enrolls undergraduates in interpersonal and public communication, journalism, mass media, public relations, and theater concentrations, and offers graduate degrees in journalism, health services communication, professional communication in sports, and public relations and corporate communication. Leading in innovative online classroom offerings, the communication department partners with other academic departments to offer unique degree programs to meet student and market demands.

With a current enrollment of over 5,000 students and future leaders, Mississippi College seeks to be known as a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to the cause of Christ. The faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Mississippi College Communication Department are proud to fulfill this vision as the department enters its 65th year of service.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding, for his leadership.

To what lengths will the Democrats go in order to protect ObamaCare? They've already denied pay to National Guardsmen and -women and Reservists, ceased lifesaving medical research. They've stopped VA benefits. Yet these measures have passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support.

Now, will they deny food to women, infants and children?

The Democratic colleagues in the House that support this measure, maybe they can talk to their friends and get them to support it as well.

This morning, a key White House official gloated and said, ``We're winning.'' Madam Speaker, this is not a game. Those men and women in the Guard and the Reserves that have been furloughed don't think this is a game. Those awaiting lifesaving medical research and treatment don't think anyone is winning. Those veterans who are waiting in line because they cannot apply for the benefits that they have earned don't think this is a game. And the women, infants, and children that are awaiting food under this bill know this is not a game.

It's time to end this charade. Let's pass this bill and then invite our colleagues in the Senate to come to the table and talk.