Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mr. Armond Morris of Irwin County for his retirement as Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

While farming for over 50 years, Armond has advocated for the peanuty industry and farmers nationally and internationally. He served with the Georgia Peanut Commission for more than four decades and was chairman for 20 years. During his service, he led efforts to ensure that the U.S. peanut industry remained competitive against imports, worked toward improving federal policies, and fought off regulation and disease that would've been harmful to the industry. His outstanding dedication to our nation's peanut industry prioritized U.S. peanuts and grew the industry domestically.

As a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, I am honored to represent outstanding farmers such as Armond. It is individuals like him that make Georgia, and America, great.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Scotty Raines of Turner County for being named the 2022 Georgia Farmer of the Year.

Scotty is a lifelong contributor to the agriculture industry. After high school, he was an active member of the Turner County High School FFA chapter and worked as a farm technician for Agra Tech Seed Research. He began farming full-time in 1993, partnering with his father-in-law on 500 acres of rented land and establishing a personal herd of 30 beef cows. Scotty has spent 28 years expanding and diversifying his farming operation, emphasizing marketing strategies related to the cotton, corn, peanuts, and watermelons he produces on more than 2,300 acres today. His contributions to the local community and outstanding agricultural achievements have not gone unnoticed.

As a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, I am honored to represent outstanding farmers such as Scotty. It is individuals like him that make Georgia, and America, great.

Mr. Speaker, I was delayed at a security screening. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 390.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Barragan (Beyer)

Bucshon (Walorski)

Bustos (Brownley)

Cardenas (Soto)

Casten (Foster)

Crist (Wasserman Schultz)

DeFazio (Carbajal)

Demings (Soto)

Fulcher (Johnson (OH))

Hagedorn (Moolenaar)

Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)

Khanna (Raskin)

Lawrence (Johnson (GA))

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

Lesko (Miller (WV))

Moore (UT) (Curtis)

Palazzo (Fleischmann)

Payne (Norcross)

Porter (Wexton)

Posey (Cammack)

Ruiz (Aguilar)

Rush (Quigley)

Schneider (Wasserman Schultz)

Stewart (Curtis)

Swalwell (Gomez)

Tiffany (Arrington)

Underwood (Quigley)

Vela (Gomez)

Watson Coleman (Norcross)

Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the Atlanta Braves for winning the 2021 World Series.

It's been 26 years since ``America's Team'' clinched a World Series. I remember the stars of that 1995 World Series team--Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, and Greg Maddux, just to name a few. Just like that World Series lives in the minds of many, the 2021 World Series against the Houston Astros will hold a special place in the minds of baseball fans across our state--and all throughout Braves country--for years to come.

Despite Atlanta having the All-Star Game taken away in July and not having the chance to honor the late, great Hank Aaron on a national stage, the Braves found a way to bring the Fall Classic back to Georgia and pay tribute to Hank--and fittingly clinched the series in the 44th week of the year.

This team fought the entire season--despite having as low as a 0.3 percent chance to win the World Series back in mid-July and not having a winning record until August 6th. They overcame a tremendous number of obstacles to bring the trophy back to the Peach State. They have made Georgia very proud, and I look forward to them defending their title next year.

Chop On and Go Braves.

Madam Speaker, on Roll Call No. 219 on the motion to table, I am not recorded because I was fulfilling my Congressional duties at Fort Benning, Georgia. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On Roll Call No. 220 on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1664, I am not recorded because I was fulfilling my Congressional duties at Fort Benning, Georgia. Had I been present, I would have voted

Madam Speaker, on Roll Call No. 209 on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 826, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On Roll Call No. 210 on ordering the previous question of H. Res. 535, I am not recorded because I was unvoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On Roll Call No. 211 on agreeing to the resolution of H. Res. 535, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On Roll Call No. 212 on the motion to suspend the rules and pass certain bills and agree to certain resolutions, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On Roll Call No. 213 on the motion to recommit for H.R. 2668, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On Roll Call No. 214 on passage of H.R. 2668, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 176.

Madam Speaker, this morning, as many of you, I was watching the National Day of Prayer. While watching, I was reading an opinion piece in Baptist News and this message stuck out to me as relevant to today's debate: Whoever has the power, makes the rules; whoever makes the rules, makes them in their favor.

Madam Speaker, I want you to know that I read that before I saw your prayer, which I thought was a wonderful closing prayer.

I would point out, some others who don't share our faith may not. I thought it was wonderful and that is the First Amendment that we get to enjoy in this country, and I thank you for that prayer.

I rise today in opposition to H. Res. 72 and efforts by the majority to remove a member of the minority party from their committee assignments.

This resolution--and I think this is important--was introduced 3 days ago to the Ethics Committee, but it was brought to the floor without so much as a hearing before the Ethics Committee.

Now I want to stress, the past remarks or emojis that you bring up of our colleague do not represent the values of our Conference nor of my home State of Georgia. I expressed that in her primary and I continue to express that today.

But if this was about the remarks our colleague made, you would put a resolution on the floor condemning those remarks. But no matter what those remarks are or how bad they are, she and every other Member in this body should be entitled to due process just as every other American is entitled to due process. And in this case, it would be before the Ethics Committee before it came to the floor of the House.

But let's be honest about what this is.

Madam Speaker, you have a 10-vote margin in this body. This body has 20 standing committees. You created a proxy voting system that allows your Members to stay at home while the Republican Members show up for work and you have another resolution that you haven't discussed yet to remove over 100 Republican Members of Congress, including 6 from my home State of Georgia.

Do you really think that we believe that you are going to stop with the gentlewoman from the 14th Congressional District, Mrs. Marjorie Taylor Greene? We know better. We know better. The truth of the matter is you have got a math problem in passing your agenda.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey), and encourage those of you who are sportsmen who have not had the opportunity to join the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus to join. It is a wonderful organization. It is the largest bipartisan caucus in the House. We even allow Senators to participate in the skeet shoot.

Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize Richard Hudson, who was our team captain this year. I sent the B team captain, and I look forward to being there next year.

I want to congratulate John Rutherford, Sheriff Rutherford, who was top gun over all, with a score of 63; Jody Hice, who was the top Republican from Georgia; and Mark Meadows, from North Carolina was top trap. ``GT'', Glenn Thompson, from Pennsylvania, was top sporting clays.

It is a wonderful event every year. I hope that if Members weren't able to join us this year, that they will be able to join us next.

Madam Speaker, I just wanted Mr. Veasey to get a good look at the trophy. We will certainly be recruiting women next year, but we intend to keep the trophy in good safekeeping for a long time.

Mr. Chairman, as I have listened, again, I want to point out the same thing I pointed out the other day, that they act as if you go to the doctor and the doctor says you have a dreaded disease, that you can go out the next day and get an insurance contract. That is simply not true.

Affordable Care Act contracts are not available until January 1 of next year. You can sign up for them starting in November, but you will not have coverage until the first of next year.

And if you think healthcare was expensive and insurance was expensive before the Affordable Care Act, you sure ought to look at it now, because it is significantly more.

I just want to point out that there is a lot of good stuff in this legislation, there really is. I commend both the Democrats and the Republicans on the committee for the work that is done to help the American citizens on the prescription drug issue.

But as a Representative who has 24 counties, in over half the counties that I represent, they have only one insurance carrier--only one insurance carrier. I can tell you these skinny plans are important. If you lose your coverage, where we live, it is, in many cases, the only thing that is available to you.

Is it what people want to have? Is it what we want people to have? I would tell you, no, it is not, but it is sure better than nothing.

So I hope that, as things move forward, we will be able to get some things done on the prescription drugs.

But again, 24 counties that I represent, half of them only have one insurance option. Those insurance carriers, exempt from the antitrust laws of the country--that is the way they wrote the Affordable Care Act. They left them exempt from the antitrust laws of the country.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Representative Carter, for his work on this. He was a small pharmacy owner before he got here.

Prior to my arrival in Congress, I was actually an insurance broker for many years, a health insurance broker. And it always amazed me, as pharmacy benefit managers tried to explain their business model, that they actually couldn't explain their business model.

So I rise today in support of our local pharmacies and the unique role that they play in serving patients. I stand here to commend the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the recently-proposed rule aimed at addressing direct and indirect remuneration, DIR, fees and drug rebates; rebates that don't go to the consumer, but rebates that go to multibillion-dollar corporations.

I frequently make stops at local pharmacies when I am back at my home in Georgia, and I appreciate the services that they provide their customers.

I am from a small town, and local pharmacists are a fixture in the community. They are the first line of defense in preventing and treating a customer's needs. They have known most of their customers in their community for many years.

I will give you one brief example. As an insurance broker, we had written a contract on a business and the cards had not come in yet. And there is a small-town pharmacy, and then there is the big chain pharmacy. One of the employee's children had gotten sick.

Guess which pharmacist was willing to work with the family to get them the medicine before the insurance card came in? And guess which pharmacist was blocked out of the plan by the pharmacy benefit managers? It was the same one, the local, small-town pharmacist.

I am troubled on many of these visits, because I know how these community pharmacies are finding it more and more difficult to serve their neighbors while remaining competitive in the larger healthcare marketplace.

I hear from my constituents regularly about the financial burden they face as drug prices continue to climb. And the price for a drug today, when they go to get it refilled a month from now may be totally different, and rarely is it lower.

Plain and simple, we pay too much for drugs in this country. I would hope that it is something that we could work together in a bipartisan manner. President Trump has already said that he is willing to sign a piece of legislation to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals in this country, and it is something that we should be able to come together and pass to help the American citizens and reduce the cost of healthcare for the American family.

Most Americans assume that it is probably a pretty simple transaction for the pharmacist when the pharmacist purchases the drugs, even though they know it is a very complex transaction for them, never knowing what the drug is going to cost prior to going into the pharmacy.

But the pharmacy transaction is just as complex; and it is anything but clear and simple, and this is because of the pharmacy benefit managers.

They have used direct and indirect remuneration fees, DIR fees, to claw back money from pharmacies on individual claims, long after those claims are believed to have been resolved.

It means that a pharmacy doesn't know how the final reimbursement amount will be received for a claim for weeks or even months. And anyone who runs any business, healthcare business or any other business, knows you can't operate when you don't know what your reimbursement is.

CMS recently proposed drug pricing rules addressing this issue head- on by requiring all pharmacy price concessions, a subset of DIR, to be included in the negotiated price, which is the price the pharmacy will be reimbursed at the point of sale for dispensing the drug.

This directive would move negotiated drug prices much closer to the cost of the drug for the Part D sponsor, essentially eliminating retroactive pharmacy DIR fees.

Patients win when pharmacy price concessions are included in the negotiated price.

I want to commend the administration for making lowering drug prices a priority; and I want to challenge my colleagues in the Democratic Party to work with the administration and the Republicans in this House to push forward legislation that would continue to reduce the cost of healthcare, specifically pharmaceuticals, for the American citizen.

I, along with many of my colleagues on both sides of this aisle, have advocated for these sorts of reforms that bring transparency and accountability to the system.

Now who could be against transparency and accountability?

These are bipartisan issues on which we share broad agreement. I call on the leadership of this House to put the partisan politics aside; follow the lead of the administration; or walk with the administration to address the lack of transparency in the pharmaceutical industry. Give pharmacies a level playing field to compete, and provide Americans access to affordable prescription drugs.

This is something that we should have done for the American citizens long ago and it is something that we can do right now.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend and fellow Georgian, Mr. Carter, for hosting this Special Order this evening. I look forward to continuing to resolve this issue for the American citizens.

Madam Speaker, today I would like to recognize a century of contributions by the University of Georgia Tifton Campus to the science of agriculture, the advancement of agricultural technology, and the education of producers, students and the public to promote and protect the U.S. food supply and to help feed people in need around the world.

In August 1918, the Georgia General Assembly authorized the creation of a Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station. In May 1919, my hometown of Tifton was chosen as the location due in large part to the surrounding area's vital role in agriculture research, outreach, and education. Today, the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station is known as the University of Georgia Tifton Campus. In its one hundred years, UGA-Tifton has fulfilled its duties to promote research and education. Through the years, UGA-Tifton scientists have developed grain varieties that helped save millions of lives from starvation in India and Africa; they have developed machinery and technology that made agriculture profitable and sustainable; they have contributed to the improvement of livestock genetics and production; they have created a body of scientific research that has helped realize a five-fold increase in peanut production per acre, bringing to life the now robust agricultural economy of the state of Georgia; and they have contributed to the development of forages and turfgrasses that continue to benefit ranchers, athletes and homeowners alike.

Just as it was in the early 1900's, UGA-Tifton continues to be a cornerstone of agriculture research, outreach, and education for not only South Georgia, but the state and Southeast region as a whole. The commitment to its mission and to the wellbeing of humanity over this century of service is admirable. As it celebrates this milestone, UGA- Tifton remains poised and eager to continue that legacy of excellence in the pursuit of the great discoveries that will bring economic prosperity to rural America, promote greater public health through better nutrition and a healthier environment, and prevent hunger in the world in the years to come.

On Friday, May 3, 2019, UGA-Tifton will celebrate and commemorate its impact and achievements at a showcase event on campus honoring one hundred years of commitment to the community and higher education. I congratulate the faculty, staff and greater UGA-Tifton community on their successes, thank them for their service, and look forward to seeing their continued growth and success for many more years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so the House can immediately bring up meaningful disaster relief.

I want to thank my friends and colleagues from across the aisle, Representative Woodall, obviously, Chairman McGovern, Ranking Member Cole, and others on the Rules Committee, for allowing me to speak last night on behalf of the amendment. I also want to thank them for their help in previously passing very similar legislation.

My amendment is quite simple. The text contained the same dollar-for- dollar amounts from H.R. 268, the House-passed disaster assistance bill.

This bill was a work of compromise and work that many of us representing districts that have been hit by disasters in 2018 worked on. It includes a bipartisan amendment that I and many others sponsored, which raised the crop and livestock loss assistance to $3 billion, from approximately $1 billion. That is included in the final text.

Unfortunately, my amendment was not made in order; but, if we defeat the previous question, it will be included in an amendment, along with other important provisions, to help those affected by the natural disasters of 2018.

Disaster relief has never been a partisan issue in the United States of America, and it should not be a partisan issue today. I urge my colleagues and I ask every Member in this body to defeat the previous question so that we can immediately bring up legislation to deliver on our promise of passing disaster assistance prior to leaving for the Easter break.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Dunn, for leading this effort. I know his district was hit probably harder than any other district in the United States.

Madam Speaker, I rise today alongside many of my fellow colleagues to again stress the hardships many of our fellow Americans faced following these devastating natural disasters of 2018.

On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael entered my home State of Georgia as a Category 3 storm. With it, we saw widespread damage from dangerous winds, flooding, and torrential rains. Hurricane Michael traced a path of destruction through south and middle Georgia, straddling both mine and Congressman Sanford Bishop's districts.

Our districts are largely rural areas that have also been hit hard by tornadoes and flooding in recent years. These areas are key to the State's agriculture sector, which is Georgia's number one industry.

Madam Speaker, the American farmer is the backbone of agriculture, and agriculture is Georgia's number one industry.

Fearing the worst of this storm, many farmers began harvesting what they could as Hurricane Michael crept closer and closer to Georgia. It was the best yield we had seen in years for what was gathered before the storm hit. After years of low commodity prices, unfair trade practices, labor shortages, and consecutive years of devastating storms, we needed it. Once Hurricane Michael hit, it was all gone. Not only did we lose billions of dollars in commodity crops, like cotton and peanuts, but we also lost orchards and forests that will take decades to regrow.

Since the day after the storm, I have worked side by side with my friend and colleague, Congressman Bishop, in an effort to bring our communities impacted by Hurricane Michael tools they need to recover and rebuild. At every turn, we have worked together to bring attention to the crisis and to bring relief to these farmers alongside our other colleagues who have been impacted.

The President and Vice President personally came down and promised help. I was there. For months, we have stressed the magnitude of the damage to our colleagues, and for months we were promised this was a priority for the White House and congressional leadership from both sides of the aisle.

``Any bill to fund the Government has disaster relief.'' I don't know how many times I have heard it. I can't name all the people I have heard it from. As we stand here today 6 months later, these can only be called empty promises.

Never before have we seen American communities that were wrecked with catastrophes neglected like this. To this day, OMB has not even submitted a request for disaster assistance, calls to White House staff have gone unheeded, and but for one tweet on April 1, it seems the President has moved on.

For months I have received calls from farmers and the lenders they rely on that the financial impacts from Hurricane Michael were becoming increasingly more difficult to bear. Then last week, the Senate showed how truly ugly and partisan politics have become, voting down a measure that would have brought billions in Federal relief that communities in my home State of Georgia and around the country desperately need to get back on their feet again, money to restore infrastructure and restore services, as well as farm aid.

Certainly, no one would have stood in the way of disaster relief for States like Vermont or New York. Rural Americans, we have been forgotten. We were forgotten again last week in the Senate's failure to pass disaster assistance.

Rural Americans are Americans, too, whether the press likes it or not, and whether certain Members of the Senate like it or not. They need our help to rebuild. If the Senate cannot pass a bill to provide this Federal disaster assistance, the bottom line is farm bankruptcies will continue, and I fear that the community banks and businesses that support the farm sector will too.

The truth is if Hurricane Michael had hit Americans who aren't farmers or farmers who aren't Americans, the stories of Washington's apathy to get things done would be the front page of every paper.

Mr. Speaker, the American farmers work day in and day out to feed and clothe America and the world. I urge the White House and the Congress to reverse their course of abandoning our farmers and keep the promises that were made to them.

Mr. Speaker, on October 10, 2018, a Category 3 storm, Hurricane Michael, entered my State of Georgia with a devastating force.

It was harvest time for the 2018 crop, and it was the best yield, especially for cotton, that we had seen in years. Farmers who had been suffering in the midst of low commodity prices, unfair trade prices, labor shortages, and consecutive years of storms now had relief in sight. Then entered Hurricane Michael, and it was all gone in a matter of hours. Not just the commodity crops like cotton, but the orchards, too.

Since day one post-Hurricane Michael, I have worked side by side with my friend and my colleague, Congressman Sanford Bishop. Hurricane Michael didn't discriminate between our district lines. I want to thank him for his help and his support of our State and our agricultural producers in Georgia.

Soon after the storm, the President, Vice President Pence, and Secretary Perdue met with the two of us, our farmers, and our community leaders and promised to help them rebuild. Members of both parties, in both Chambers of Congress, echoed the same support. Six months later, and those promises of support have been broken. Never before have we seen communities that were wrecked with catastrophes neglected like this.

Those votes in the Senate yesterday showed a lack of honor and dignity and how truly ugly and partisan politics have become. The truth is, if Hurricane Michael had hit Americans who weren't farmers or farmers who aren't Americans, the stories of yesterday's cowardice would be the front page of every paper.

Whether the press likes it or not and whether the Senators from New York or Vermont like it or not, we are Americans, too. And what happened yesterday was cowardly, partisan politics and truly un- American.