Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Michaud and our chair.

As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I was proud that we worked together to draft this bipartisan legislative package to help get veterans' claims settled faster and more efficiently.

Today, I am happy to join my colleagues from both sides of the aisle in passing this package, which includes my bill, the Veterans Claims Efficiency Through Automation Act. This commonsense legislation will push the VA to focus on the greater use of automation to boost efficiency and settle claims faster.

As our servicemembers and veterans transition back to civilian life, it is imperative that the VA and the DOD continue to collaborate on improving the delivery of care, eliminating the claims backlog, and mitigating the impact of sequestration.

It is simply unacceptable that so many of our heroic veterans are unable to get timely access to the care and services that they have earned. This bill is an important step toward addressing this problem, and I will keep fighting to end the backlog until the job is done.

We owe it to our men and women in uniform, to our veterans, and to our military families to do all that we can to ensure that their benefits and other services transfer from the Department of Defense to the Veterans Administration. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure effective and timely collaboration between the two departments and to eliminate this claims backlog once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of the 100th anniversary of one of my district's finest institutions: the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire. For one hundred years, the BIA has represented and protected the interests of New Hampshire's business community as the statewide chamber of commerce. Over that time, it has helped to strengthen the Granite State's robust economy, and it has played an essential role in creating and upholding the state's unmatched pro-business climate.

First known as the New Hampshire Manufacturer's Association, the BIA was born in 1913 from the minds of several small business leaders concerned about government legislation and over-regulation of business. Since that time, the Association has grown to represent more than 400 businesses across New Hampshire's strongest industries. Together, those businesses employ more than 86,000 workers across the state's manufacturing, technology, health care, and financial services sectors, among many others, and they contribute more than $4.5 billion each year to the state economy.

Through the strength of its advocacy, the BIA has helped to shape public policies that encourage businesses to succeed and the community to prosper, now and into the future. On October 23rd, the Association will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a dinner and awards ceremony. As New Hampshire business leaders mark this special occasion, I urge all Granite Staters and all Americans to join them in honoring this essential community institution.

Madam Speaker, I rise today as a member of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition to express my strong opposition to provisions in the bill before us today that will vastly limit public input and curtail opportunities to save taxpayers money.

The provisions I am speaking about in the WRRDA bill aim to decrease delays and help move projects forward, which sounds great in theory. Who doesn't want to remove bureaucrat red tape? But in reality, what the bill does won't actually fix the problem that holds up so many Army Corps projects.

This bill would strictly limit the environmental review process that has proven time and again to save taxpayer dollars. The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works has even testified about this fact before the United States Senate. The real reason for projects being delayed is simply that the Congress authorizes around $20 billion worth of projects but then only appropriates the funds to cover just $1 billion in projects.

So let's not try to place all the blame on the environmental review process, a review process that has time and time again saved taxpayer dollars, preserved historic sites, and protected endangered species, all while producing better projects with more public support.

I appreciate the bipartisan work that Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member Rahall have done to put together this bill. This is an important piece of legislation that we consider in this House today.

Once the bill has passed in the House, I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we conference with the Senate to improve these provisions that will limit public input, increase taxpayer costs, and harm the environment.

Mr. Speaker, on October 14, 2013, I missed the following rollcall votes: number 547, to table the appeal of the ruling of the Chair; number 548, passage of H.J. Res. 80; and number 549, on agreeing to the Grayson amendment to the title. Had I voted, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall vote number 547, ``nay'' on rollcall vote number 548, and ``aye'' on rollcall vote number 549.

Mr. Speaker, in New Hampshire and across our country, we continue to see how congressional dysfunction is damaging our economy.

The other day, I had a telephone town hall to talk with my constituents about how to end this gridlock. I spoke with Nelson in Columbia, New Hampshire, a veteran who fought for our freedom in World War II. All he asked is that Republicans and Democrats stop fighting with each other.

If we do not end this shutdown soon, on November 1, veterans like Nelson will not receive over $6 billion in pension, education, and other benefits they have earned. If we do not act now, we will fail to pay our bills and will default on all of our obligations. This is obviously unacceptable to the American people and to our economy.

Every day this shutdown continues is a day that Congress does not focus on growing the economy, fostering job creation, and expanding opportunity for the middle class.

It is long past time for Republicans and Democrats to come together, and that is why I am proud to be a founding member of United Solutions, a group of new Members who is working together and will vote today to reopen our government, pay our bills, and move our country forward.

Mr. Speaker, in New Hampshire and across our country, we continue to see that the leadership in this House has led to congressional dysfunction that is damaging our lives and damaging our economy.

Every day, I have been speaking with mayors, business owners, and constituents in my district to hear how Washington's inability to do its job is hurting their ability to do their job.

This week, I held a telephone town hall and heard from Granite Staters who don't understand why the leadership in this Congress can't simply fix this problem that is hurting our State and our economy. Our banks are diverting time and effort planning for a potential default instead of focusing on serving families and businesses in New Hampshire. The Small Business Administration has frozen general loans to small businesses. The shutdown is threatening funding that keeps families in their homes and infuses millions of dollars into our economy.

Every day this shutdown continues is a day that Congress does not focus on the economy and the middle class.

Mr. Speaker, let us vote to open the government.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, to open the government and go to conference on a budget so that we end this Republican government shutdown and give the American people the relief that they deserve.

I want to thank my colleague from California (Mr. Peters) for the opportunity this evening to talk about civility, to talk about coming together and finding common ground and, most importantly, to talk about getting things done.

I first ran for Congress because our Congress here, our government, was mired in dysfunction, and I truly felt that our country needs our help. I want to say that I believe my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are new Members of Congress, including the gentlelady in the chair, share that concern. We have found common ground on a number of issues. I was very proud to work with another freshwoman, Mrs. Walorski, to pass a bill unanimously in this House to help victims of medical, sexual trauma. We came together, and we got 110 bipartisan sponsors, so I know that what we bring to this august body is the ability to find common ground.

Then, as now, my goal is to bring people together. These are commonsense solutions. My colleague Mr. Peters has just reiterated discussions that have been going on in various rooms in this building-- from the White House to Capitol Hill--throughout this year about entitlement reform, about tax reform, about controlling spending, but, most importantly, about providing the services that people across this country need from our government.

I come from New Hampshire, the Granite State. We are frugal people, and New Hampshire families don't need more bickering in Washington. They need real solutions to grow the economy, to foster job creation and to expand opportunity for the middle class. That's what they sent me here to do. One of my staffers said to me today that, after the week we've just had, you can't fix the roof when it's pouring out by plugging up just a few holes.

We've got to come together and solve the whole problem; and I, for one, know that we can do it. I know that we actually have the votes in this body right now to come together and take that vote, a bipartisan vote, to get the country and our government opening again.

Honestly, Granite State families don't expect Congress to agree on everything. We don't. We have significant differences. Some of them are religious. Some of them are political. Some of them come from our backgrounds and our life experiences. We have real disagreements on issues of significant importance to our country, but they do expect us to work together when we can find areas of agreement. We cannot have cooperation without open dialogue. That's what we're asking for here tonight--civility--which is a common theme, and coming together and creating dialogue, especially now.

This is the moment for which we ran for Congress. Our government is lurching from crisis to crisis, and what the American people expect and need from their leaders is to come together and find that common ground, to work across the aisle, break the gridlock, end the shutdown, take this bipartisan vote, and restore services for the people we represent and get our country and government working again. We won't get this done solely with Democratic ideas or Republican ideas. Frankly, I don't care if an idea is proposed by a Republican or a Democrat. If it's a commonsense solution to the problems we face, let's support it.

In New Hampshire, here is how we get things done. I've been making calls all week back to my district as we've been here, voting, to find out what is the impact of the Federal Government shutdown and what I can do to help. So I've talked to mayors all across my district. Let me tell you that these are real people's real lives, and it's going to cause serious pain. I called a small town up north, near the Canadian border. It is a paper mill town. They've lost thousands of jobs in this community.

So I asked the mayor, What is it that's happening on the ground there?

He started to tell me about a woman who works for the United States Department of Agriculture, and what she does is help with rural economic development. She helps with small business loans.

He said, She's not at work--she has been furloughed--and there are eight small business applications sitting on her desk.

Now, this is a small town. If there are eight small businesses in this town that won't get those loans and can't create new jobs, that's a problem.

Because this is the kind of person he is and this is the kind of town it is, he said, And she is a single mom without a paycheck.

He wanted me to know that.

Then I talked with mayors of big cities and smaller towns. I talked to businesses. I wanted to understand what's the impact on the business community. Now, I've talked to lots of Federal employees this week, and I've talked to their unions, and I have tremendous compassion for the folks who have been sent home, but I want my colleagues across the aisle to understand the impact on our economy.

So, today, I was talking to large employers. These are government contractors. They're vendors. They build things, and they provide services for our military, for IT--for everything that we use in this country to keep us safe and to keep us strong. They said thousands of jobs will be lost; and if you read the headlines today, we have already lost thousands.

I know that, with civility and trust and mutual respect, we can resolve these tired, partisan battles and that we can renew our focus on what really matters: fostering job creation, making smart spending cuts, taking the responsibility to reduce the deficit, encouraging innovation, growing the economy, growing opportunity for the middle class. With a little more civility in the Halls of Congress, I am confident that we can resolve this crisis and redouble our focus on our shared priorities.

Finally, I spoke with our Governor. Our Governor, Maggie Hassan, said to me, Annie, tell them how we get this done in New Hampshire.

We have a Democratic Governor and a Democratic House and a Republican Senate. It sounds familiar. It's a little bit twisted from what we have here in Washington, but it's the same effect. It's a divided government. Yet, in New Hampshire, we don't see it as a divided government. We see it as an opportunity to reach across the aisle and to bring people together and find common ground.

She said, Remind them that we have just passed a budget in New Hampshire that was unanimous in the Republican Senate, virtually unanimous in the Democratic House, signed by the Democratic Governor and, most importantly for all here in Washington, it was a balanced budget. The revenues and the expenditures were equal.

That's what I'm talking about here today. Come together and have the discussion about how to get our fiscal house in order, how to create jobs, and how to provide opportunity.

Finally, I'm going to close with a phone call that I got this week, Scott, that made a tremendous difference in my perspective on this. It was a crackly line coming into my office. A young intern answered the phone. When she could finally understand the speaker on the other end of the line, he said, This is Joe. I'm calling from Afghanistan.

He is a soldier in Afghanistan, and he's there to serve our country. He said, I am here working hard for my family and my country, and I want you to do the same.

The message that Joe had for me is that he wants affordable, accessible health care for his family and for families all across New Hampshire and all across this country. He said, Do not give up on that, but you have got to open this government.

People need the help that they deserve. Our economy needs the strength and the vitality. We can't leave thousands of people without their jobs, without their pay. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to please bring this vote to the floor. We can pass this with a bipartisan vote, and we can move our country forward.

I thank the gentleman from California for giving us this opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, because some in Washington insist on putting ideology ahead of common sense, we are in the midst of a government shutdown that will hurt real people in my State of New Hampshire. Shutting down our government hurts our economy; it hurts job creation; it hurts our veterans; it hurts small businesses; and it hurts middle class families.

We owe our constituents much, much better than this, like Joe, who called my office this morning from Afghanistan. The line was a bit crackly, but this is Joe's message to me today:

Support access to affordable health care for all Americans

and open our government.

Joe said to me this morning:

I am over here working hard for my family and my country.

Please, I'm asking you to do the same.

So Joe, today we owe it to you. Let's gather together and pass a responsible bill that will fund the government and then refocus our attention on the needs of our country.

Mr. Speaker, last night, as we were preparing to vote at an ungodly hour, I was receiving messages from friends from home who were concerned about the irresponsible nature of the leadership in this House in taking actions that would lead to the shutdown of our government.

One of the messages that was particularly important to me was from a dear friend who was waiting for midnight so that she could sign up for health care for her child. My friend Ellie's husband died at a very young age, unexpectedly, and left her alone with a young child. Her child has developmental issues and challenges, but he's done very, very well with a great deal of help, and he's gone off to college. She couldn't be more proud of him.

But the truth of the matter is she can't afford health insurance for her family. It's over a thousand dollars a month. She wrote to me:

I cannot wait until I can sign my family up for health

care.

That's what today is about. We need to get the country back to work, open the government, and take the responsible course.

Thank you, Congresswoman Sinema, and thank you so much for bringing us together today. This is a unique experience since I've been here in the United States Congress.

Mr. Speaker, today we've heard from Republicans and Democrats, men and women, people from literally every corner of our country, young and old, who have served this country and who honor those who serve us. Each of us has been touched by this issue.

And I want to say, from a personal perspective, having been raised by a combat veteran--my husband and I are both the children of combat veterans. My father was a World War II pilot, and he flew in 63 missions before he was shot down and served in a POW camp. My father- in-law landed on the beaches of Normandy when my father was flying overhead.

Both my husband and I were raised in households that, although successful, had many dark secrets. These were households where we lived with PTSD. And I want to say to the veterans who have served our country, of every era, that we are here to serve you, and we will not leave you on the battlefield.

I serve on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and it's a tremendous honor. With my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, led by Congressman Benishek, whom you've heard from today, on the Health Subcommittee, we will stand by the veterans who have served our country. We will work to provide the resources and to help the men and women that are working across this country in our Veterans Administration to provide you with the services and the treatment and the support that you need.

It's been a tremendous honor for me, as I travel around the State of New Hampshire and my district, to work with veterans groups, to sit in veterans centers, and to see the one-on-one support from the VSOs, from those who have worked in this field, from people who understand the dark secrets that you carry.

We are here for you. We will work together and, under the leadership of Congresswoman Sinema and all of us who serve on the Veterans' Affairs Committee and throughout this U.S. Congress, please know that we are here for you and we will not forget.

Thank you for your service.

Madam Speaker, I want to address my remarks to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle because I, too, believe in work. But in the northern part of my district, we have veterans who are unable to find work.

I recently visited the Bridge House in the rural north country of New Hampshire which provides for the homeless, many of them veterans. It is already hard for folks to find a job, especially for returning veterans who had faithfully served our country, yet this bill says that they should go hungry.

My constituents are frugal Yankees. They believe that every tax dollar should be spent wisely or not spent at all. They agree that we cannot afford the subsidies for agribusiness that this underlying bill that has now gone over to the Senate continues to include.

Let's ask ourselves: Who are we as a people? Would we truly not feed a homeless veteran? We are Americans, and Americans take care of each other. The United States is an exceptional country, and now is the time to prove it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart because this body will soon consider a bill that will cut 4 million children from their nutrition benefits. Americans will go hungry. In my district and across this country, these are our friends, our neighbors, our fellow parishioners. They are children and veterans and seniors.

One of my constituents wrote to me recently about how Federal nutrition assistance is essential to feeding her family. She is 28 years old, disabled, and an orphan, so she has no family to fall back upon. And she is the mother of a toddler. On top of all that, she's in college, working to get her undergraduate degree, and has a double major, no less. But right now, she depends on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to feed her toddler, and that assistance doesn't even go far enough. She still has to rely on our local food bank and other community assistance.

This is who we are talking about when we debate cutting $40 billion from the nutrition program. We can and should do better.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National Farmer's Market Week, which will take place August 4, 2013 through August 10, 2013.

In New Hampshire, the agricultural industry contributes nearly one billion dollars to our local economy every year. With over 400,000 acres of land across the Granite State devoted to everything from timber operations and greenhouses to dairy farms and apple orchards, agriculture is an integral part of our landscape and history. I am proud to be the first Representative from New Hampshire to serve on the House Agriculture Committee in seventy years.

Farmer's markets are a vital part of our communities in New Hampshire, connecting the farmers who grow our food with the families who consume it. In fact, farmer's markets could be found in New England all the way back to colonial times. Currently, there are nearly one hundred farmer's markets throughout the Granite State, from small summertime gatherings to year-round markets--and the number is still growing. Many of these markets were created by individual citizens with a passion for serving their community and the willingness to roll up their sleeves and make it happen.

Farmer's markets strengthen our communities by supporting local farmers and providing consumers with fresh, nutritious food. It's a win for our economy, a win for our health, and a win for the environment. That's the New Hampshire way.

The growing number and popularity of these markets is truly a testament of the commitment that Granite Staters have to our communities. National Farmer's Market Week recognizes the important role that farmer's markets play in our food system, and I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the nearly 8,000 farmer's markets across our great nation.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am opposed in its current form.

Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to the committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, we can all agree on the need for targeted regulatory relief. Too often, well-intentioned rules lead to harmful, unintended consequences for our constituents. We need Congress and the Federal agencies to work together to thoughtfully tailor new rules and to review, revise, or repeal regulations that impose an undue burden on our economy.

With today's divided government, this collaborative approach is the only way to move forward--not by scoring political points or passing bills that will go nowhere, but by working together. That's what the American people expect, and that's what the American people deserve. That's exactly what we did in New Hampshire when my constituents raised concerns with the impact that new regulations could have on our small State's family and organic farms.

As we speak, the Food and Drug Administration is developing new rules to improve the safety of our food supply, a goal that we can all support. But the FDA needs to work with Congress to ensure that these rules do not burden farmers with a one-size-fits-all mandate that does not make sense for New England farms. That's why I led 20 Senators and Representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, in pushing the FDA to work with farmers and find common ground. Because of our efforts, the agency will soon be holding a forum in New Hampshire to hear from local farmers about ways to improve these rules. That is the right approach: bringing people together from both parties to thoughtfully solve problems, not thoughtlessly obstructing reforms across the board.

The bill we will soon vote on would hold progress hostage by requiring additional acts of Congress for new major rules, even though this Congress has seen more gridlock than almost any other.

After partisanship led to the doubling of student loan rates on the 1st of July, it took a full month for this Congress to provide students and middle class families with the relief that they deserve. Do we want to subject economic opportunity for the middle class to that same partisan gridlock? What about Medicare protection for our seniors? What about the health and safety of our veterans? What about the safety and well-being of our children? No, we certainly do not.

We don't need more gridlock. We need bipartisan solutions. That's why I am offering my amendment, which would exempt rules from this bill if they would advance the priorities that we can all support, like creating jobs and economic growth, reducing the deficit and long-term debt, and protecting the health and safety of America's children, our seniors, and our veterans. Surely we can all agree that reforms to advance these priorities should not face additional hurdles in Congress.

I urge support for my amendment to improve this bill and ensure that it does not harm job creation, economic growth, the health and well- being of our constituents, or other bipartisan priorities that we can all agree upon.

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

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.