Austin Scott

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Bishop for yielding.

Charles Hatcher was a good man. He was a good Representative, and my family supported him in his last election.

I remember him on the farm with my Uncle Dan Raines and with many of our friends and colleagues. He was good for agriculture. He was from Doerun, Georgia, right down the road from where I live.

He joined the State bar, and he practiced law in Albany, Georgia. I will just tell you, he was just a good, solid man, and he was also replaced by a good, solid man.

I honor the life and the legacy of Charles Hatcher, and my condolences go out to his family.

Mr. Speaker, the first thing I will do is thank Chairman Smith and his staff for working with me to get this piece of legislation to the floor. I also thank the many bipartisan cosponsors of the Purple Heart Freedom to Work Act.

Mr. Speaker, I want Americans to know how this piece of legislation originated. I was taking a young man, a marine, hunting several years ago. That marine stepped on a pressure plate and lost both legs. We were having a discussion as we were in the vehicle headed to the farm that we were going to hunt, and I asked him if there were things that we could help him with.

We had a candid conversation. He said that he wanted to go back to work. He worked at the local auto parts store and wanted to work more hours, but if he made $1 more than, at that time, the $1,100 a month, he would lose 100 percent of his Social Security benefits.

Here, we have a young, combat-wounded man who lost both legs and wants to work. Let me tell you something: If you want to help a disabled veteran, let them get out of the house and go back to work. Let them. This doesn't force anybody to do anything. It is voluntary.

The idea that if a combat-wounded veteran wants to go back to work and they make $1 more than some imaginary number, then their family has less money at the end of the month than if they didn't work is ridiculous. So we wrote the Purple Heart Freedom to Work Act. I have had broad bipartisan support for that bill, but I have not been able to get it through and signed into law.

We went back, under Chairman Smith's leadership and with his team, and looked at other ways to do this. This authority was there, up to and until 2022, I believe. President Biden had it and could have done it. Other Presidents have had the ability to do it. We are simply asking that we do the same thing, give the same authority that we have had in the past so that we can do pilot projects.

It doesn't force anybody to do anything. It gives people who are currently receiving Social Security disability benefits the ability to go back to work if they voluntarily choose to, in order to have a little more money at the end of the month instead of less. That is what it does.

I don't understand the objection from the other side in allowing people to go back to work and not lose 100 percent of their government benefits. It is something that we, as Republicans, have pressed for across a wide range of benefits, and that is to get rid of the cliff.

We are not trying to force anybody to do anything. We are simply giving people the ability to go back to work, not lose 100 percent of their Social Security benefits, and have more money left over at the end of the month.

After my conversation with that young man, that young marine, that warrior, I honestly couldn't believe it. I came to D.C., and I met with the lawyers. I said, this can't be right. This defies logic. We went through the law. The lawyers told me he was right, and we wrote the bill.

I am going to tell you, I am disappointed that my Democratic colleagues are taking the position on the floor that they have with this. We want people to be able to go back to work. This originated with a marine who stepped on a pressure plate, lost both legs, and wants to go back to work. If they go back to work, they lose 100 percent of their Social Security benefits if they make $1 more than this imaginary threshold, which is not enough for them to live on.

I think this is a wonderful piece of legislation. I thank the chairman and his staff for helping us find a way to solve this problem. I think the President will do a pilot project--if you give him the authority--that will be very close to the Purple Heart Freedom to Work Act.

Purple Heart Day is coming up August 7. It will be wonderful for us to get this across the finish line and be able to do it on that day for them. I hope my colleagues, in a very bipartisan manner, will support H.R. 8884 and help us remove the barriers to work for disabled Americans.

The same things that will work for our wounded warriors will also work for other Americans, if they choose, if they want, if they volunteer, if they voluntarily want to go back to work and make a little extra money, and not lose 100 percent of their Social Security benefits.

The Purple Heart Freedom to Work, I think it will work for a lot of Americans. We, as Republicans, believe work is good. We know there are a lot of people that are on Social Security disability that want to go back to work. It is voluntary. They will always have more money. They will not have any less money if this is done.

Again, I hope my colleagues, in a very bipartisan manner, will support H.R. 8884.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with my colleague Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., to congratulate Don Koehler on his remarkable career and to extend our appreciation for his decades of dedicated service to Georgia's agriculture community.

Since 1986, Don has served as Executive Director of the Georgia Peanut Commission. Throughout his distinguished career, he has provided exceptional leadership to organizations including the Southern Peanut Growers, the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation the U.S. Peanut Federation, the American Peanut Council, and the American Peanut Shellers Association. As Chairman of the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee, he has also helped shape U.S. agricultural trade policy by advising both the Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Don's leadership has strengthened Georgia's peanut industry, expanded opportunities for producers, and elevated the voice of American agriculture at home and abroad. His lasting contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including being named one of Georgia Trend's 500 Most Influential Georgians for three consecutive years and his induction into the Georgia Peanut Commission Hall of Fame earlier this year.

The mark that Don has left on this industry will not be forgotten. On behalf of Georgia's 8th and 2nd Congressional Districts, and a grateful agricultural community, we thank him for his remarkable service and wish him and Cheryl every happiness in retirement. May his next chapter be filled with good health, cherished time with his children and four grandchildren, and the many blessings he has so richly earned.