Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. and Mrs. Sam Daniels from Wellington, Kentucky.

Sam and Arlene Daniels visited in Kentucky in 1999. The trip resulted in the purchase of a home and a move to rural Menifee County. This move placed them on a path that led to assisting people in need by feeding the hungry in their area.

In 2001, Arlene Daniels was called by God to start a food pantry at their church, Dayspring. Her sister-in-law donated $2500 to help start the pantry in memory of Sam's brother Albert Daniels. Pastor Andy Timblin shared the food pantry idea with the congregation and a visitor offered a $1,000 donation. On May 14, 2001, the Dayspring Food Pantry became a reality.

For twenty years, community support and grants have brought much needed funds to the Dayspring Food Pantry. The pantry now helps over 400 families a month and has community partnerships with senior citizens, schools, churches, and other agencies to lend a hand to those in need. The Daniels have served as directors of the pantry since its beginning. Led by their strong faith, Brother Sam Daniels and Sister Arlene Daniels have impacted their community for generations to come.

On the 20th anniversary of the founding of Dayspring Food Pantry, it is my honor to recognize these amazing people and thank them

for their leadership, their dedication, and their compassion for others. Sam and Arlene Daniels are real difference makers for people in Menifee County and an inspiration to us all.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mrs. Mary Somers Ballard. Mrs. Ballard was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts on July 22nd, 1919. She passed away on April 14, 2021.

Mrs. Ballard was a descendant of two of the co-founders of Rhode Island. She was a proud New Englander who trained in nursing at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. She enrolled at Boston University and worked at Massachusetts General Hospital. At the age of 23, she entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, 811th Air Evacuation Squadron. When asked why she joined the military, she said ``We were at war. I joined the Army Air Corps because I thought I could make a contribution.'' First Lieutenant Somers served two years in England. Following D-Day, she cared for the wounded soldiers in hospital flights from France and Germany to England. Mrs. Somers was stationed with U.S. troops behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge and entered Paris the day after its liberation. After the war, she remained in the reserves until she married.

First Lt. Somers met her physician husband, Captain Joseph Aloysius Ballard, while serving at the Chanute Field Army Hospital in Illinois. They married on April 2, 1948. Dr. and Mrs. Ballard made their home in Lexington, Kentucky, where they raised eight children and were active members of Christ the King Church. Mrs. Ballard had 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, with 2 more expected in July. In 2015, at the age of 95, Mrs. Ballard threw out the first pitch at the Lexington Legends Military Appreciation Night to highlight Kentucky's women veterans.

It is my honor to recognize this amazing patriot, celebrate her life, and appreciate her for her service and sacrifice to our nation during World War II. As a part of ``The Greatest Generation'', Mrs. Ballard was an important part of the war effort to preserve the freedoms that we enjoy today. I am forever grateful for Americans like Mary Somers Ballard.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Coach Craig Skinner and the members of the University of Kentucky Volleyball Team on winning the 2021 NCAA Division I National Championship. This is the first national title for this outstanding program, located in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Wildcats won the Southeastern Conference for the fourth straight year. Defeating Texas in the title game in Omaha, Nebraska, U.K. ended the season 24-1. These impressive student-athletes stayed focused throughout the 2021 season and earned the championship on April 24th. Madison Lilley was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and also the AVCA Player of the Year.

Coach Craig Skinner has led the Volleyball Team at the University of Kentucky since 2005. He was named the AVCA Coach of the Year and brought great excitement to the volleyball program. I thank him for his leadership and his dedication to these student-athletes. He has built an excellent program of which all Kentuckians can be proud.

Congratulations to Coach Skinner, the staff, and all the outstanding members of the 2021 NCAA Division I Volleyball National Championship team

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the SAFE Banking Act.

Kentuckians have a deep interest in the production, cultivation, and sale of nonintoxicating industrial hemp and hemp-derived products, including CBD. In fact, Kentucky boasts a proud heritage and agricultural tradition in industrial hemp. Henry Clay, the great Speaker of the House who once represented the district that I now represent, was, in fact, an industrial hemp farmer.

More recently, the Commonwealth has seen a revival in the industrial hemp industry, resulting in much growth and job creation in this area. Much of the growth of the industry occurred as a result of the Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program established under the 2014 farm bill and the 2018 farm bill, which took it a step further and fully legalized industrial hemp.

Despite these positive steps forward, hemp businesses still have trouble accessing certain financial services. Just today I spoke with a CBD retailer in my district who confirmed that while the situation has improved somewhat over the last few years, access to card

processing services is uneven and uncertain. This bill will provide additional clarity for banks, insurance companies, and card processors that they can, in fact, do business with legally operating hemp businesses. It would also direct our Federal financial regulators to update best practices for serving hemp and CBD businesses.

Since we last debated this bill, conditions have improved for hemp financing. In December 2019, financial regulators jointly issued guidance confirming that banks are free to provide banking services to the hemp industry, just as they are for any other agricultural commodity. Unfortunately, there is still work to do to ensure that these legal hemp businesses have full access to the financial system. There remains some ambiguity, specifically regarding payment processors' dealings with hemp businesses. This bill makes needed clarifications.

I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) for working across the aisle on this bill. He and his team took great care to ensure that these changes were incorporated into the bill and made the needed clarifications. I thank him for his cooperation. This will have a meaningful impact on Kentucky farmers, small businesses, and a burgeoning industry in Kentucky and across the country.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 88.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Coach Harry Mullins and the members of the University of Kentucky Rifle Team on winning the 2021 NCAA Rifle National Championship. This is the third national title for the outstanding program, located in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Wildcats were undefeated and ranked number one in the country last season when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the NCAA Championships to be canceled. These impressive student-athletes stayed focused throughout the 2021 season and earned the championship on March 13 in Columbus, Ohio. Mary Tucker, named Most Outstanding Performer at the event, earned gold in both the smallbore and air rifle. Teammate Will Shaner earned silver in air rifle.

Coach Harry Mullins has led the Rifle Team at the University of Kentucky since 1987. I thank him for his leadership and his dedication to these student-athletes. He has built an excellent program of which all Kentuckians can be proud.

Congratulations to Coach Mullins, the staff, and the members of the Rifle Team on winning the 2021 NCAA Rifle National Championship.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1085, a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to the United States Capitol Police and those who protected the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

I thank Speaker Pelosi for bringing this legislation to the floor in a timely manner, and I thank the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, my friend, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).

What happened to this institution on January 6 was horrific. This building is a working monument to our Nation's Founding Fathers and our principles. It is a testament to the freedoms we hold dear.

Mr. Speaker, the brave men and women who stood and faced danger on January 6 deserve to be recognized for their actions. Without their courageousness, many of us here today could have been seriously injured or worse. When I say ``us,'' Mr. Speaker, I don't just mean Members of Congress. I mean the staff; I mean the administrative personnel and peaceful visitors.

Once H.R. 1085 is enacted, a Congressional Gold Medal will be displayed at the U.S. Capitol Police headquarters, another will be displayed at the D.C. Metropolitan Police headquarters, and the third will be given to the Smithsonian Institution, so everyone who visits D.C. will be reminded of the bravery shown that day.

We have seen bravery from the Capitol Police many times before. January 24, 1998, we were reminded of Officers Chestnut and Gibson; a few years ago, on a baseball field, Crystal Griner and Special Agent David Bailey. These men and women are heroic. They put their lives in danger, and January 6 was certainly no exception to that.

I speak for all of my colleagues when I say thank you. Thank you to each and every officer who was here on January 6. Your bravery will not be forgotten. The U.S. Capitol Police and those who protected us on January 6 deserve Congressional Gold Medals.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, once again, we are reminded of the dangers that law enforcement face every single day, and January 6 was one of those days.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the family of Brian Sicknick, a true hero to our country, a great emblem of the bravery and heroism of the Capitol Hill Police. Again, he will be remembered fondly by this institution and by the American people for his sacrifice for freedom.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I, too, urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to award the Capitol Police with the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, after enactment of five bipartisan COVID relief bills last year totaling $4 trillion in assistance for healthcare workers, businesses, schools, testing, and vaccines, with over $1 trillion in already appropriated funds still unspent, with an unprecedented level of monetary stimulus from the Fed already in the pipeline with no end in sight, with massive pent-up demand and an economy poised for full recovery, with the success of Operation Warp Speed delivering multiple safe and effective vaccines in record time, with literally millions of Americans benefiting from the mass distribution of those vaccines every single day, with all of these heroic efforts to defeat this virus already in place, why is it that Democrats in Congress are so determined at all costs to ram through this hyperpartisan $2 trillion spending spree with zero bipartisan support?

The answer is that they are exploiting this pandemic as an excuse:

An excuse to force passage of this budget-busting monstrosity, 90 percent of which is totally unrelated to COVID-19:

An excuse to bail out mismanaged State and local governments for liabilities unrelated to COVID.

An excuse to use taxpayer funds to fund Planned Parenthood.

An excuse to send stimulus checks to prisoners and illegal immigrants.

An excuse to expand the welfare state and pay people not to work.

In sum, an excuse to advance an unrelated liberal agenda Democrats call the ``most progressive bill in American history'' that will lead to huge tax increases.

I urge all my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, after a divisive election season, allegations of election fraud, objections to the electoral college, and impeachment, a friend of mine on the other side of the aisle recently asked what it would take to unify our country. My answer is that it is certainly not this legislation which, from my standpoint, is the most divisive, unconstitutional, and destructive piece of legislation in my time in Congress.

They call it the For the People Act, but it should be called the for the politicians act because it would force taxpayers to fund political campaigns, including the campaigns of politicians with whom those taxpayers disagree.

Maybe a better name would be the election power grab act because it would normalize the chaos, uncertainty, and irregularities surrounding mail-in voting in the 2020 election by centralizing the administration of elections in Washington, D.C., commandeering States to permanently expand mail-in voting without safeguards, legalize ballot harvesting, disregard voter ID laws, permit same-day voter registration without citizenship verification, among other egregious measures.

Mr. Speaker, election laws should make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. This bill would not only make it easy to cheat, but it would also effectively make it legal to cheat.

At a time when half of Americans have lost confidence in the integrity of our elections, this bill will only drive distrust and division higher.

Mr. Speaker, for the sake of ending division in our country, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this power grab of our elections.

Mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side of the aisle should be embarrassed. This massive, $1.9 trillion spending spree is nothing more than a fiscally irresponsible, liberal wish list. Less than 10 percent of this bill actually responds to the pandemic in the form of vaccine distribution and other public health needs. The vast majority of this funding goes to misplaced priorities, such as bailing out mismanaged State and local governments for pre-COVID liabilities, paying people to not work, expanding ObamaCare, providing stimulus checks to illegal immigrants, and allowing taxpayer funds to pay for abortion.

It is true that the legislation appropriates $130 billion on top of the $110 billion already provided to schools, but it does so without any stipulation that schools actually reopen. This is despite overwhelming evidence that it is safe for our children to go back to in-person learning. And 95 percent of the money allocated to schools will not be spent until after 2022, which means this bill does almost nothing to get our kids back in the classroom. Meanwhile, approximately $1 trillion in COVID relief already appropriated by Congress remains unspent.

Mr. Speaker, I am voting ``no'' for my children, I am voting ``no'' to protect taxpayers, and I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1988, the Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act, introduced by my friend, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott).

This bill is an important continuation of work that our colleague Lee Zeldin from Long Island, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, started last Congress to better protect our Nation's veterans from financial fraud.

This Congress, I was pleased to join Congressmen Scott and Zeldin as an original cosponsor of this legislation, along with my colleague on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Congressman Levin, to assist with advancing this bill through both this committee, the Financial Services Committee, and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Last year, Congress enacted S. 2155, the most pro-growth banking bill in a generation. Section 309 of that legislation included a provision to impose a new seasoning requirement for the securitization of loans insured by the VA.

This provision addresses the questionable practice of churning; that is, the refinancing of a home loan over and over again just to generate fees and profits for lenders with a slight short-term benefit for the borrower but at an increased life-of-the-loan cost.

Unfortunately, that provision created a technical issue for a group of VA loans that fell into no-man's land, if you will, between the date on which the mortgage was issued and the technical requirements of the new law, increasing the risk to lenders and making the loans less attractive to investors.

Congressmen Zeldin and Scott took quick action to correct this unintended consequence, but Congress ran out of time last year and it did not become law.

The bill we are considering today, H.R. 1988, is a continuation of their efforts to address this unintended problem and ensure that these VA loans receive the equitable treatment they deserve.

To some, this bill today might seem to be just a technical fix, but it is an important one. Our Nation's veterans should not be subject to suspect practices like churning.

I am pleased that this bill, along with the ongoing efforts of the VA loan securitizer Ginnie Mae, will stamp out churning and better protect veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1988 and, once again, commend my colleague from Georgia (Mr.

David Scott), and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Georgia, for his bipartisanship and his willingness to fight for veterans. I appreciate that.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin), my Republican colleague on the House Financial Services Committee, a veteran himself and a servicemember who has been a champion on legislating this fix.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Once again, I thank the sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott).

I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin) for his continued leadership on this legislation.

I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Levin), whom I have the privilege of serving with on the Veterans Affairs' Committee as well, for his leadership in getting this bipartisan legislation to the House floor and to this point.

I thank the chairwoman of our full committee, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), for her leadership in helping navigate this legislation forward.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, this is an important piece of legislation. It is bipartisan recognition of a problem created unintentionally by a law passed last year, and it is about providing two basic protections for veterans: protecting veterans who are seeking the dream of homeownership from predatory practices and from this practice of churning, and preserving liquidity in the secondary market for VA loans, which, in a nutshell, means that our veterans will have access to more affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friends on the other side of the aisle, and I thank Mr. Zeldin for his leadership.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 2515, the Whistleblower Protection Reform Act of 2019.

I would like to thank my colleagues, Congressman Green and Congressman Huizenga, for their work on this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, whistleblowers play a very important role in rooting out bad behavior that harms the market as well as mom-and-pop investors. Additionally, businesses have a self-interest in detecting and eliminating illegal activity as swiftly as possible within their organizations. To that end, clarifying the concept of encouraging employees to report alleged securities fraud activities to their employers without fear of retaliation just makes simple common sense.

Businesses typically strive to comply with the law, and they have incentives to do so from market pressures, but it is also because unlawful activity hurts the company itself and it hurts its investors, driving down the company's value, tarnishing the company's reputation, repelling business partners and customers, and damaging the overall marketplace. That is why, frankly, the vast majority of actors in the private sector do the right thing.

For these reasons, many companies have implemented strong internal reporting measures to detect and mitigate potential wrongdoing before harm spreads. But if internal whistleblowers who report potential securities law violations internally are not protected from retaliation, what good are these internal reporting systems that these companies have voluntarily established?

That notion might seem counterintuitive, but last year, in the Digital Realty Trust case, the Supreme Court held that the whistleblower antiretaliation protections of the Dodd-Frank Act do not extend to internal whistleblowers; only those who report to the SEC are protected from retaliation.

Now, this is not an error in the Supreme Court's judgment; it is simply a faithful interpretation of the flawed drafting of the Dodd- Frank law. This bill solves this problem by amending section 922 of Dodd-Frank to clarify that whistleblowers who report alleged misconduct internally with their employers but not to the SEC are protected by Dodd-Frank's antiretaliation provisions.

By clarifying that Dodd-Frank's antiretaliation protections also apply to internal whistleblowers, this bill addresses the Supreme Court's interpretation and aligns Dodd-Frank's whistleblower protections with other major whistleblower laws.

Again, I want to thank Congressman Green and Congressman Huizenga for this important bipartisan legislation, which I proudly support. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2515.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, again, I would thank Congressman Green and Congressman Huizenga for their leadership on this extending of whistleblower protections, and I yield back the balance of my time.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for her leadership and her work on H.R. 2162, the Housing Financial Literacy Act of 2019.

The Federal Housing Administration currently provides government- backed mortgage insurance to more than $1.3 trillion in loans. FHA insurance allows a wide array of borrowers to qualify for mortgages, including many low- and moderate-income families who might not otherwise have access to credit through traditional underwriting.

In fiscal year 2018, the FHA endorsed over 1 million forward mortgages, including over 775,000 purchase loans, nearly 83 percent of which were to first-time home buyers.

Given the large population of first-time home buyers using the FHA, it makes sense to encourage those individuals to seek out ways to strengthen their financial knowledge and better prepare themselves for the challenges of homeownership.

Right now, current law states that FHA has the ability to provide first-time homeowners with a discount on their FHA upfront premiums if they complete an approved homeownership financial counseling course-- makes a lot of sense. However, the statute is drafted in such a way that the provision only applies in particular circumstances when FHA upfront premiums exceed 2.75 percent.

Since FHA upfront premiums are currently set at 1.75 percent, a rate that has not been exceeded in a decade, FHA does not currently provide an upfront premium discount to first-time homeowners who complete a financial counseling course.

This bill, H.R. 2162, would amend current law to require FHA to provide a 0.25 percent upfront premium discount from the prevailing rate in effect at the time for other borrowers to first-time home borrowers. This equates to a $625 savings off the current premium structure on a $250,000 mortgage.

The hope is, by making such a discount mandatory, more first-time homeowners will seek out financial literacy counseling and produce better outcomes for a traditionally at-risk group of homeowners.

The bottom line is that FHA is a valuable tool to help expand the universe of mortgage credit in our housing system, and we ought to be doing all that we can to make sure that we are using our limited public resources to encourage all borrowers to be well-prepared for the commitment of homeownership through financial counseling or any other effective means of creating more stable and reliable borrowers.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers), my Republican colleague, who is the co-chairman of the Financial Literacy Caucus in Congress and someone who has worked in a bipartisan way very productively with Congresswoman Beatty on this important initiative.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to commend and applaud my friend, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), for her leadership on this. What an outstanding list of endorsements of this legislation. It goes to show how much work she has put into this and that Congressman Stivers and others have put into this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman of the full committee, Congresswoman Waters, for bringing this forward.

In conclusion, as we look at this legislation, it is really a win- win-win:

It is a win because first-time home buyers are now going to be able to have a more affordable downpayment.

It is a win, in addition, because those first-time homeowners, as the gentlewoman from Ohio and the gentleman from Ohio pointed out, will be more prepared for the responsibility of homeownership, which is what is typically the most significant investment anyone makes in their entire lifetime.

And, finally--and I think this is a point that we do need to underscore as well--when you are talking about federally insured, federally backed, taxpayer-insured, taxpayer-supported mortgages, it is good for the American taxpayer that we make sure that homeowners are prepared for that very important responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues--for homeowners, for taxpayers--to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of H. Res. 456.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Congresswoman Pressley and Congressman Huizenga, for their work on this bipartisan resolution.

More often than not, discussions in the Financial Services Committee are about the Securities and Exchange Commission, as it is the primary Federal regulatory agency for the U.S. securities markets.

However, State securities regulators also play an important and complementary role in grassroots investor protection, investor education, and facilitating capital formation.

H. Res. 456 highlights the important investor protection missions of State and Federal securities regulators. The resolution also encourages the continued collaboration between the SEC and State securities regulators.

American capital markets provide an avenue for mom-and-pop investors and retail investors to achieve the American Dream and grow their nest egg for retirement, for their child's college tuition, or to buy a home. Protecting investors, ensuring the integrity of our capital markets, and promoting capital formation are goals that we all can stand behind.

This resolution recognizes the important role State securities regulators play on each of these fronts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 456, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I appreciate the work of Ms. Pressley, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2919, the Improving Investment Research for Small and Emerging Issuers Act. I thank my colleagues, Congressman Huizenga and Congressman McAdams, for their efforts on this bipartisan legislation that will help small companies and our capital markets.

The U.S. capital markets have, and continue to be, a vibrant ecosystem, fueling America's economic growth and generating millions of private sector jobs. These markets provide financing and needed resources to the smallest startups and the largest international companies.

However, a company's size often impacts how easily it can access capital. For example, larger companies have generally found capital markets easier to access than smaller ones.

While the number of IPOs in the U.S. has rebounded from its post- crisis glut--thanks in large part to the success of the bipartisan JOBS Act of 2012--smaller companies still face significant regulatory and market impediments that disincentivize them from accessing capital via the public markets.

There are differing perspectives as to why fewer companies, particularly small companies, have gone public over the past few decades. The data suggest that in fulfilling its capital formation mandate, the Securities and Exchange Commission needs to tailor its approach to account for the varying nature and size of companies.

An important piece to this approach is recognizing insufficient research coverage of microcap, small-cap, and emerging companies can undermine the liquidity necessary to attract investor interest and facilitate capital necessary for growth.

This bipartisan legislation would direct the SEC to study, evaluate, and

report on issues affecting the ability of emerging growth companies and other small issuers to obtain research coverage, including SEC rules, FINRA rules, State and Federal liability concerns, the 2003 Global Analyst Research Settlements, and MiFID II.

Again, I thank Congressman Huizenga and Congressman McAdams for this commonsense and bipartisan legislation, which I support.

Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers, so at this time, I will close. Let me once again urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.