Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the legacy of Andrew J. Mulder and his decades of commendable service to the community in Holland, Michigan.

Two years after the start of his career in October of 1976 as the Deputy City Attorney for the City of Holland, Andrew extended his responsibilities in his capacity as an advisor to the Holland City Council. In 1987, after over a decade of proven service, Andrew was promoted to City Attorney. Andrew served in this capacity until deciding to focus the last five years of his career on legal work surrounding the new electricity generation plant of the Holland Board of Public Works.

Throughout his career, Andrew's heart for public service and the rule of law led him to serve on multiple boards for various legal organizations and associations. Andrew served on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Municipal Attorneys Association from 1995 to 2011, and was the President of the Association from 2007 to 2009. From 1995 to 2011, Andrew served on the Legal Defense Fund of the Michigan Municipal League, and from 2012 to 2019, Andrew served in the Academy of Municipal Attorneys.

Andrew's long list of accomplishments include the execution of legal portions of major projects like the Holland Area Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion, negotiating water contracts between the City of Holland and adjoining Townships, for the development of a new police department and courthouse in Holland, for the construction of a new Civic Center and associated farmer's market expansion, for the renovation of Holland's City Hall, the implementation of Holland's renowned Snowmelt system, construction of the City Transportation Center, legal considerations for the State Boundary Commission Annexation and Detachment Project, legal work for the Kollen Park Improvement Project, and for Holland's Energy Park. Additionally, Andrew diligently litigated a number of cases on behalf of the City of Holland before Michigan's Supreme Court. These cases included Meadowlands v. City of Holland, Adams Outdoor Advertising v. City of Holland, Fillmore Township v. City of Holland, and City of Holland v. Consumers Energy.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Second Congressional District of Michigan, we thank Andrew J. Mulder for his more than 40 years of distinguished service to the residents of Holland, and to our great nation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today regarding missed votes due to a funeral. Had I been present for roll call vote number

30, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 116, the Investing in Main Street Act, I would have voted yea. Had I been present for roll call vote number 31, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.J. Res. 27, Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2019, and for other purposes, I would have voted nay. Had I been present for roll call vote number 32, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H. Res. 41, Rejecting White nationalism and White supremacy, I would have voted yea. Had I been present for roll call vote number 33, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 135, Federal Employee Antidiscrimination Act, I would have voted yea.

Madam Speaker, it is an honor today to represent hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who will be marching this week in Washington, D.C., and around the country through the cold, through the wet, and, frankly, through the ridicule.

We don't march for the recognition or for the headlines. We march on behalf of the millions of children who have had their opportunity to make an impact on this world stolen from them.

We don't march because it is merely a political statement. We march because it is right. We march for life.

We must continue to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to end the lives of innocent children here in the United States and around the globe.

When an organization prioritizes abortion over adoption and creating a culture of life, we must question why our government funds them at all.

Now more than ever, Madam Speaker, we are called to speak up for those who cannot for themselves. We must all stand firm to defend the sanctity of life, for the challenge is great and the cause is noble.

Together, we will march in solidarity for those who have never had the opportunity to walk on their own, and, in coming days, our voices will be heard louder than ever.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Van Koevering family and their many contributions to the West Michigan Community through their newspaper and print shop, The Zeeland Record.

As a well-known and highly-regarded West Michigan business, The Zeeland Record has earned the respect of the greater Ottawa County community through dedication to quality and service for over 125 years.

The Zeeland Record was started in 1893 by Adrian Van Koevering as a newspaper and print shop, and through the lifetime of the company, has expanded to include a full digital printing operation with the addition of ZR Graphics. When the newspaper and print shop was founded near the end of the 19th century, there was no local printing business. Recognizing the lack of regular circulation for news periodicals, and at the advice and counsel of his mother's uncle, Adrian Van Koevering started his own commercial printing company. He was able to obtain a loan from this same relative, Jacob Den Herder, to buy his own printing equipment, and within a few months, Adrian was hard at work in a business that would span generations of the Van Koevering family. Today, the company is in its fourth generation of family ownership and is led by brothers Kurt and Kraig Van Koevering who continue the Zeeland Record's legacy in West Michigan.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Second Congressional District of Michigan, we thank and honor the contributions of the Van Koevering family to West Michigan communities and families.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2652) to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael Gleason.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, this important bill has wide bipartisan support, and I urge all Members to support this legislation.

Mr. Gleason who was a former player with the New Orleans Saints, has done significant work in the area of ALS--in ALS education and advocacy and its damaging effects.

I, like many people in this Chamber and many people across the country, have been touched by this personally, with friends or family members, and we know the ravages that occur with this horrible disease, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this important legislation, the Stephen Michael Gleason Congressional Gold Medal Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to reserve, but I would like to note to my friend from Louisiana, as a Lions fan, it is much easier to be supportive of a Saints player than if this guy had actually been a Green Bay Packer.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will note to my colleagues that as a Detroit Lions fan, I, too, don't have a football team, but I am proud to stand on the floor today and note that this is an important time to address these things. We all, as a nation, are thankful for the work of Mr. Gleason in this important issue, and I do urge support from all of my colleagues.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2765) to amend the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to exempt investment advisers who solely advise certain rural business investment companies, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, this critical bill has broad and extensive bipartisan support, and I urge all Members to support this legislation.

A few years ago, we had gone in and done a technical fix regarding small businesses, and this Rural Business Investment Company, or the RBIC, deals with language that will allow the advisers to go in and deal with rural businesses--not just small business, but these rural businesses. We think that this is an important step to helping rural America continue the economic recovery that they have seen over the last year or two.

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

Mr. Speaker, I just want to note that we are having our second Senate bill from Louisiana, so we are covering our colleagues from down in Louisiana.

I just want to encourage my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today regarding a missed vote. Had I been present for roll call vote number 417, H.R. 2615--the Gulf Islands National Seashore Land Exchange Act, I would have voted yay.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Arlan Meekhof and his admirable career in public service to the West Michigan Community.

A lifelong resident of West Michigan, Arlan has earned the admiration of his colleagues and the respect of Ottawa County residents by consistently acting with decency and integrity. An accomplished legislator, Senator Meekhof has cemented a legacy of public service and servant leadership throughout the state of Michigan.

First elected to the Olive Township Board of Trustees in 1996, Senator Meekhof has continued to serve the people of West Michigan for over two decades. In 2007, he began his first term in the Michigan House of Representatives and was elected assistant leader by his colleagues in January 2009. In November of 2010 he was elected to the State Senate in the 30th State Senate District, representing Ottawa County and the City of Grandville and Sparta Township in Kent County. Following his 2014 reelection to the State Senate, he was unanimously elected to be Senate Majority leader--displaying the respect Senator Meekhof has cultivated during his career.

In his eight years serving in the Michigan Senate, he has been a commendable leader that ensured on-time and balanced budgets. His leadership contributed and played a key role to the elimination of a billion dollar state deficit. During his time in both the House and Senate, he promoted efficient and effective government reforms that played a significant role in transforming Michigan into a destination for families, businesses and the next generation of leaders.

Today, October 16, 2018, we honor and recognize Senator Arlan Meekhof for his two-decades long career. The efforts and success of Senator Arlan Meekhof in service to his community should be celebrated. I thank him for a lifetime of hard work and service.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, it was with a heavy heart yesterday that we learned of the passing of Richard M. DeVos, Sr.

Rich, along with his wife, Helen, who passed away in October of 2017, dedicated their lives to transforming west Michigan and making our community an even greater place to call home. Frankly, it is hard to imagine what west Michigan would look like without Richard DeVos and his leadership.

Through his philanthropic activities, Rich led by example. He put a premium on supporting educational institutions across west Michigan, such as Grand Rapids Christian High School, Calvin College, and Grand Valley State University.

He was equally passionate about west Michigan residents having access to high-quality, specialized medical care.

He also worked to enrich the arts across Michigan, including by supporting his grandson, Rick, in establishing ArtPrize, which has opened up so many opportunities for Grand Rapids.

He was also very involved with many projects at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Generally, anything that helped make the community thrive, Rich was fully behind.

As significant as those achievements are, his impact on west Michigan's economy was even greater and simply cannot be understated. Through his business sense, passion, and servant's heart, he created economic opportunities for countless west Michigan residents.

Despite his monumental influence, Rich was as approachable and down to earth as they come. Rich generally cared about his community and the people he shared it with.

Thank you for all you have done for west Michigan, Rich; and while your legacy will live on, know that your leadership and friendship will be deeply missed.

Rest well, Rich. Rest well, knowing you ran a race well done.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with deep hesitation in supporting another clean extension of the National Flood Insurance Program through November of this year. While I completely agree that letting this program lapse in the middle of hurricane season is deeply problematic, it is inconceivable to me that even extremely modest reforms to this troubled program are not included in this legislation.

The House amendment to S. 1182 is a simple piece of legislation with a simple extension. What is notable, however, is the fact that the legislation contains none of the reforms passed by this House in a bipartisan manner in November, nor does the legislation contain any of the more modest reforms recently introduced by my colleagues from California and Oregon, Representatives Royce and Blumenauer.

Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from Missouri said, this will be extension number 7 in less than a year. This is even after Congress forgave that $16 billion in NFIP debt, all while fewer than 2 percent of the 5 million policies that are out there have absorbed more than $8 billion in payments.

These numbers are staggering. Instead of passing clean extension after clean extension, the Senate should--no, wait a minute--the Senate must do its job and take up bipartisan reform that we passed in November.

I urge my colleagues to be responsible and work toward crafting a long-term reauthorization of this, a program that needs to shift towards risk-based rates, increasing private sector involvement in the program, and to address repetitive loss properties, all of which will put the program on a more sustainable financial path.

I grew up in a floodplain in Michigan right along Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes. This is real for those of us in west Michigan. But at the end of the day, with this legislation, a ``no'' vote is not a lack of willingness or interest to address this issue, as it may be portrayed; but, equally, a ``yes'' vote should not be acceptance of the status quo. Hopefully, by this bill moving forward, there may be action in the Senate.

Frankly, at the end of the day, Members are being put in an impossible no-win situation; not for us, Mr. Speaker, but for our constituents, the taxpayers, it is a no-win situation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today regarding missed votes due to a flight delay. Had I been present for roll call vote number 329, H.R. 4946 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1075 North Tustin Street in Orange, California, as the ``Specialist Trevor A. Win'E Post Office'', I would have voted Yea. Had I been present for roll call vote number 330, H.R. 4960 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 511 East Walnut Street in Columbia, Missouri, as the ``Spc. Sterling William Wyatt Post Office Building'', I would have voted Yea.

Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, since the courts have weighed in, Democrats have been attempting to use the securities laws to mandate the disclosure of

companies' political spending activities in order to name and shame companies from engaging in such free speech activity.

Time and time again, when the issue of political disclosure has come up as a shareholder proposal at every company's annual proxy meeting where it has been proposed, it has been shot down. It has been defeated.

In fact, according to Proxy Monitor, the average percentage vote in favor of a political disclosure shareholder proposal in 2016 was just 23 percent support. Shareholders have repeatedly weighed in against requiring disclosure of this information and do not believe it is important in making their own investment decisions regarding that company.

Our securities laws and disclosure requirements have always centered on the concept of materiality, as determined by the Supreme Court, whether an omitted fact is material by looking at ``whether there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider it important in deciding how to vote.''

In fact, under the Obama administration, former SEC Chair Mary Jo White declined to advance a political disclosure rule, stating it was ``not one of the priorities we are advancing.''

Additionally, former Chair White was vocal about ensuring that disclosures were not causing informational overload for investors. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, we heard repeated-- repeated--testimony on that fact.

This provision to prevent the SEC from issuing a political disclosure rule has continually been part of appropriations packages that have been signed into law by Presidents of both parties and should continue to stay as part of this package.

Now, earlier you heard that the mission of the SEC is to provide transparency. Let me read exactly what the mission of the Securities and Exchange Commission is:

``The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation.''

This simply does not fit into that tripartite mission of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Now, with that being said, nothing--and let me repeat that, nothing-- prevents companies from voluntarily reporting this information if they believe that it is important for them to make such disclosures or for their shareholders to also vote that way.

So all companies, private and public, should remain free to do just that: make that decision as they decide is the best course for that particular company.

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

Mr. Chairman, I will repeat a couple of things very briefly.

All of these proxy proposals have garnered 23 percent, average, support, so there is not widespread support among the investors.

And again, I will repeat that three-pronged mission that the Securities and Exchange Commission has: ``protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation.'' This particular effort does none of those things, advances none of those things, and that is why I oppose the amendment.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the opportunity to lead this effort.

Mr. Speaker, the United States has the strongest, deepest, and most liquid markets in the world, which has helped hardworking Americans save for everything from college, to home ownership, to retirement.

However, over time, our capital markets have become, frankly, less stable, less efficient, and less liquid due to the one-size-fits-all securities regulations currently in place. In fact, small and midsized companies, which are the heartbeat of the American economy, are struggling the most because of this outdated regulatory structure. They have the most difficult time obtaining the necessary capital and financial resources needed in order to expand and create jobs because they are drowning in regulation and increased compliance costs.

Although the bipartisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, JOBS Act, back from a few years ago was an important first step in helping appropriately tailor regulation and promote capital formation, particularly for the small and emerging growth companies, it is clear that Congress needs to do more.

Today's bill, the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act, is a compilation of 32 bipartisan bills that will promote capital formation and ensure that our regulatory structure is appropriately tailored to allow the free flow of capital, strengthen job creation, and increase economic growth.

Mr. Speaker, our economy is finally starting to fire on all cylinders. With this reform-minded legislation, we can further unleash American innovation, economic growth, and job creation while providing greater investment opportunities for Mr. and Mrs. 401(k). Today, we can deliver some very commonsense regulatory relief, while also providing an important layer of investor protections, and make our capital markets even more efficient.

By voting in support of this important progrowth jobs package, we can open the door to innovation, enhance small-business job creation, and increase opportunity for hardworking Americans in west Michigan and across the Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support S. 488, the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act, and, again, I say thank you to the chairman, the ranking member, and my subcommittee chair as well for their work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today regarding missed votes due to meeting with a constituent. Had I been present for rollcall vote No. 328, H.R. 50 Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2017, I would have voted ``yea.''

Personal Explanation