Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a real American hero, Lance Corporal Robert ``Bobby'' Thrailkill of Pentwater, Michigan.

While out on foot patrol in Sagen, Afghanistan, on October 26, 2010, Bobby found a roadside bomb. After motioning for his fellow Marines to step back, the bomb exploded, causing traumatic injuries to Bobby, including the loss of his legs. Bobby faced months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed with courage and has come far in his recovery.

Today, June 16th, Bobby will marry his fiance Karra Barr. I want to congratulate Bobby on this day and wish him a life of happiness, as well as thank him for his service to our country. In honor of Bobby, the following poem was written by Albert Caswell.

The Kill Zone

On battlefields of honor bright. . . .

There are but all of those who but bring their light. . . .

All in the darkness of these days. . . . these nights. . . .

Are but all of those heroes who but carry that fight, all In

The Kill Zone. . . ,

Brave Hearts, men of courage

and might. . . .

Whose blind faith but wins that battle, that fight. . . .

Who into darken buildings will walk. . . .

Knowing full well what death before them so lies, all in that

dark. . . .

All in that Kill Zone. . . .

As they but lead with their fine hearts. . . .

The ones who so kick in all those doors, who are thou art. .

. .

Envoys from God, our Lord's heart!

United States Marines, men like Lcpl Thrailkill who so do

their part. . . .

Who all in his most magnificent shades of green, is one darn

fine United States Marine. . . .

As ever up ahead, out on point as he was so courageously

seen!

And on that day Robert when you so faced death; lying there

with but not much left. . . .

As defeat you would not except. . . .

As Robert your fine heart would so

crest. . . .

With two legs gone as on the morning as you awoke, with not

much left to hold on to. . . .

As deep down inside of you, your fine heart so spoke. . . .

As you wiped all of those tears from your eyes, and Marine

you so told yourself . . . .

that you had new mountains to so climb. . . .

Yea, Michigan Marines are just that

kind. . . .

Who all in shades of green, the word courage so define . . .

For you have miles to go before you

sleep . . .

Hills to climb, all in your heart of courage so very deep. .

. .

As Robert, there is nothing from your new mission that will

you so keep!

All on your road to recovery . . ., as to all souls you so

speak!

For once you walked upon those killing fields. . . .

All for your God and Country Tis of Thee, this man of steel.

. . .

As now your new war to be won. . . .

As for all of your lost Brothers In Arms these ones,

you will feel upon you face the new day's sun!

Because, Strength In Honor . . ., is but from where you come.

. . .

The kind of man that every father, so wished he had as a son.

. . .

As You So Teach Us Robert, As You So Beseech Us Robert. . . .

Oh look Marine, from where you've come, so far, so fast,

shining like the morning sun!

As out on point, up ahead your new life has just begun. . . .

As with your strong heart we now so see you run. . . .

One of Michigan's greatest of all son's. . . .

And on this day, get down on your

knees. . . .

And but thank all of these!

All of these fine sons, sons like Robert who into the Kill

Zone must venture to do what must be done!

Could you in your life, so find the strength . . . to walk

into such that valley of death?

Could you but find the courage and faith,

to rebuild your life when you've so lost your strong legs as

left?

Oh yes Robert how you have so shown us all the way!

As one of the finest Americans, who never took . . . but

gave!

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 413, I was inadvertantly delayed. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 413, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Amash

I appreciate the chairman for yielding me this moment to address the American people and the students that might be watching on TV or here in the gallery.

Once again, you see the problem that we have here in Washington. We cannot have a fact-based conversation with the American people, which they desperately want. I talked to a lot of students back at home, and I said, how many of you are going to have a summer job? A lot of them raised their hands. I said, okay, we're going to say you're going to make $220 a week. But you've got a problem. We're going to take your credit card, and you're going to spend $370 a week. How long do you think you can do that as you're saving up for college, as you're saving for that car or that piece of computer equipment? Can you do that all summer? The kids look at me and say, of course not. Don't be dumb. You can't do that.

Then I say, do you know what? Add 10 zeros to it. Add 10 zeros to that, and that's exactly what we are doing here in the United States Congress, what we have been doing repeatedly, both sides of the aisle, with both administrations. It doesn't matter. We have got to get this under control. Because when you add those 10 zeros, just like my friend from New Mexico was talking about, we take in $2.2 trillion a year, we spend $3.7 trillion a year.

It's time to tear up that credit card, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 316, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have noted ``no.''

Amendment No. 7 Offered by Mr. Thompson of California

I thank my colleague for this opportunity.

You're seeing the old argument of Washington versus the new realities of America. We have two distinct issues here. Those two issues are: one, life; two, the taxpayer. I think those things are becoming very stark. Here we are, a situation where a President has signed an executive order to do many of the exact same things--to not allow Federal-funded abortions to be happening. Yet somehow we shouldn't be putting this into law. It seems common sense that we would do that. We need to do this to protect the taxpayer. If you look at polling, you look at the number of things that are going on, we cannot allow Federal funds to be used and our taxpayers to be used for this procedure.

Now let's move on to life. We know the sanctity of life that is there from that very conception until natural death. We need to protect that. We need to protect that atmosphere as a government. That is not our job to promote that horrendous operation. It's our job to protect those children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Wes Leonard, the Fennville Blackhawks Basketball Team, and the entire community who came together in the aftermath of tragedy that has been followed by our entire nation.

The Blackhawks finished their season this Monday, capturing a Class C District Championship trophy before their season ended with a 23-1 record.

But theirs was no ordinary run for a high school state basketball title.

Their star player, Wes Leonard, collapsed and tragically passed away after scoring the game-winning basket for his team on March 3, the final game of the regular season.

With that basket, Wes Leonard led his team to a perfect winning record during his junior year. According to all who knew him, this 16- year-old student exhibited the character, discipline, and affability that made him both respected and loved within the Fennville Community. His school superintendent described him as ``the quintessential all- American kid.'' While attending Wes's family visitation, I was struck by how many members of rival school teams in their letter jackets came to pay their respects to Wes, the team he led, and his family. More than 1,500 people attended his funeral service at Christ Memorial Church in Holland. These facts are sure testaments to what this young man meant to the Fennville community.

In a massive outpouring of support from his community and even people across the nation and world, fans came out in record numbers to cheer on the Blackhawks, who played their first District playoff game on March 7, just three days after Wes's death. Even in this chamber, as I wore this orange ribbon in Wes's memory and in support of the team, colleagues and strangers who asked about its meaning knew the story of Wes and the Blackhawks and asked me to pass along condolences and encouragement.

Sellout crowds packed the Hope College DeVos Fieldhouse to witness the team's playoff games in person, and scores more followed along online and saw highlights on such programs as SportsCenter on ESPN.

The Blackhawks played on honorably through it all, and I want to congratulate them on an outstanding, admirable, and courageous finish to their season. The true mark of character is how one responds to adversity. These young men have shown unbelievable character.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this House to join me in honoring this team and commending all who rallied around them. I would like to express condolences on behalf of myself and the people of the 2nd District to the family, friends and teammates of Wes Leonard. And I would like to honor this young man for his leadership that was an inspiration to all who knew him.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent from the House floor during rollcall vote No. 177 taken on Tuesday, March 15. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a young man named Wes Leonard in Michigan,

the Fennville Blackhawks, and the community that rallied around that family.

Wes was a star basketball player who, after winning a basketball game with the final shot of the game on March 3, collapsed and passed away a short while later. That was an undefeated season for the Blackhawks, and they went on 3 days later to start their first playoff game. They won four additional games.

At the visitation for Wes's family, I was struck by the rival teams that showed up in their letter jackets to come and honor and pay respects to Wes, his family, and the team that he led. This team played admirably throughout all of their final games. On Monday, this run came to an end. But a true mark of character, as I said to these young players, is how they respond to adversity. These young men truly are of character.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that we rise today and honor Wes, the team, and the fans that supported them and that they accept condolences on my behalf and the behalf of so many others who have asked, as I have been wearing this ribbon, to pass those condolences along to the community and to his family.

We thank Wes for his leadership and all that he has done for his community.

I appreciate the chairman, the gentleman from California, allowing me this opportunity to speak in favor of House Continuing Resolution 27.

Mr. Speaker, this is a special opportunity for me, as a freshman Member of this body, in many different ways. First and foremost, it's special to me because growing up in west Michigan, my hometown of Zeeland was represented by the gentleman who went from Congressman to Vice President to President Ford at various times. And my father, who was a city councilman for many, many years during that time, actually had an opportunity to work with him and have a bit of a relationship. So I grew up around the dining room table with this lore about

Gerald Ford and what it meant to be involved and to give back to your community.

The second reason why it was very important to me was because of that time and that era. Being born in 1969, some of my earliest memories surrounded that turmoil of Vietnam and of Watergate, and of that time when, at the time then-Congressman Ford becoming Vice President and then becoming President of the United States. It very much shaped me as I was interested in the political process.

The third thing that really makes this special to me was, later on, just prior to this, I was granted the privilege of serving my community in the Michigan House of Representatives, where I voted to replace Zachary Chandler, who had been a Governor, and the statue that represented him, I voted to replace that with Gerald Ford. Now this was absolutely nothing against Governor Chandler. He was a great man in and of himself at the time. He was an abolitionist, fought against slavery, and many other things. But we felt this was such a special opportunity to grant to President Ford. So it was really an honor to be able to do that.

The other couple of things that make this special for me is, I had the opportunity to attend his funeral here at the National Cathedral. It was a very moving time. It was especially interesting to see people from both sides of the aisle talk about him with such respect and the way that he handled himself as such a gentleman. Even though he was tough, he came in and did it in a very respectful way. And I thought that was a true honor. I then that same day flew back to Grand Rapids and was able to pass in front of his casket at the Gerald R. Ford museum in downtown Grand Rapids, where there were literally hours and hours and hours of lines. I literally stood in line for over 4 hours at midnight as this line, through the entire night, snaked past his casket to pay honor and respect. Then the next day, as the burial was happening, crowds of tens of thousands of people literally lined the streets in honor of this man and Mrs. Ford as well.

And now we arrive at this point, the true honor of being able to be in this body, to have been an original cosponsor of this legislation, to be able to be here to witness the placing of this statue here in this great Capitol, a place where his heart really lied, a place where he served as minority leader for a number of years in this very Chamber. And it's truly an honor to be here and to be a part of this historic time. We are so thankful that we can pay honor and respect to this wonderful man who served his country nobly.

Will the gentleman yield?

I appreciate the gentleman's yielding. I need to clarify this.

I'm a freshman here in Washington, D.C. I was not here for the creation of this program, but it's my understanding--and I'm hoping to hear some clarification from you--that there has not been a single application that has even been put in, much less denied or accepted, because this program has not had the regulations promulgated. That is correct; right? I mean, it strikes me that it's like giving a job layoff notice before you've even hired anybody. And that really is the issue, it seems to me, that we need to make sure that we are getting people back to work. That is the best protection that we can possibly give to any program out there for people to make sure that they can make their payments is by giving them a job.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chair, everybody needs to understand a little history here, all right?

This program was put first in place in 1975. I was 6; all right? This vital program has been in existence since 1975. I understand some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle may have been here for either the creation or shortly thereafter, but this vital program for 36 years remained unused, unfunded, and ineffective because it didn't exist. Now we hear that it's a vital program. We hear that we cannot continue to protect the homeowners of America without this program. It is absolutely nonsensical that we are going to put people further in debt and call that helping them.

Here is what happened the last time government started going in and demanding that credit be eased and all these other things. And I have some experience in this. I was a former Realtor, licensed Realtor in Michigan. I can also tell you I have done housing development. My family is involved in construction.

It used to be, not that long ago, it used to be that you either had to own your lot or you had to have 20 percent down to go get a mortgage and a loan. Well, that 20 percent quickly became 15 percent, which quickly became 10 percent, which became 7, which became 5, which became 2 percent, which became zero down, which became 120 percent loan-to- value because we needed to get people in homes. Well, that was not because the private sector and the free market was dictating that. It was because this body and others were directing them to do that.

We have an opportunity here to unwind some things that have been done. As I said, I wasn't here for the creation of this well- intentioned but crazy initiative, but I am here for the unwinding of that program, as are many of my other new colleagues, and it's about time we do that.

Madam Chair, how we realize we can really truly help people, how we are going to help homeowners, is we are going to get them a job. We are going to create an atmosphere, not a government program. We are going to create an atmosphere that's going to allow the private sector to go out and be productive.

Prosperity is created by the private sector, not the public sector. The public sector receives the dollars that it gets from us, taxpayers, from me as a small business owner, from my employees. It's not a government program that's going to create that prosperity; it's the private sector. It's our job to create an atmosphere that's going to allow that private sector job creation to happen.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I appreciate the opportunity from the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Fannie and Freddie. We had Fannie and Freddie that were allowed to go do that.

I appreciate that.

It was an encouragement that happened, and it was allowed.

Will the gentleman yield?

I will be the first one to acknowledge that occasionally Republicans make mistakes as well. So thank you very much.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I am curious, though, how, getting back to this particular amendment and this particular bill, as we are removing this program, why is this program so vital if it was authorized in 1975, and in 1995 the Clinton administration under HUD used this language?

The language that they said is they wanted to remove this outdated, obsolete, and underutilized program.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California, our subcommittee chairman of the international policy, Mr. Miller.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished freshman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished freshman from Illinois (Mr. Dold).

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 72, which would direct the Financial Services Committee to conduct an inventory reviewing existing, pending, and proposed regulations that impede job creation and economic growth. Once again, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are afraid of the answers that they will find when we shine the light of truth on what these regulations do.

As Members of Congress, we need to work with job creators to help create an atmosphere in our country that will foster job growth, particularly within the small business community. Simply put, the private sector, not the public sector, creates prosperity. We don't need more government or a bigger one. Last year alone, the executive branch issued more than 3,000 new rules and regulations which their own Small Business Administration reports will cost businesses over a trillion dollars.

Both sides of the aisle agree that small businesses are the backbone and the engine of the economy and provide more than two-thirds of all American jobs. As a small business owner, I know firsthand how Federal regulations can choke small businesses. The average small business with less than 20 employees faces an annual cost of $10,585 to comply with a myriad of Federal regulations per worker they employ. For my small gravel company that employs two full-time workers, including a gentleman who's worked for my grandfather, my father, and myself, that equates to more than $21,000 that I have to spend towards compliance-- money that I could be using to invest in much-needed new equipment.

Last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate fell from 9.6 percent to 9.4 percent. This drop is due largely to people who have simply stopped looking for work. In some areas of my district, the Second District in Michigan, that number is nearly double the national average.

I believe there are some universal principles of successful businesses that Congress could work on to help grow our economy again. For government, that means creating an atmosphere for success through a reasonable tax and regulatory environment.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2.

A lot has been said during this debate about what the American people want. Some have said the American people want ObamaCare, many others have said that they want a repeal of it. Well, I was not in Washington over this past year, I was in Michigan hearing complaint after complaint from regular citizens and small business owners about the cost and unreasonable mandates that are in ObamaCare. I told them to stay tuned. Well, the American people have spoken. And over the past week, I've had an opportunity to engage my constituents even more, including hosting three telephone town hall meetings. We did a survey as part of those town halls, and over two-thirds of the more than 1,000 people that took part in this survey agreed with my position of repealing ObamaCare. I understand the real concerns and health issues that people have, but we will address these issues in the replace portion that you will be seeing soon, so please stay tuned.

I am also a small business owner, and I have been talking to other small business owners, and they, too, are frustrated. Provisions like the costly mandate requiring them to file additional 1099 forms have made them angry.

We cannot continue to have legislation that forces small business-- job creators--and future generations to foot the bill. Our replacement plans bring hope, so stay tuned.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in voting to replace this bill.

I thank my friend from California for yielding me this time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution today.

I, like all of my colleagues, was shocked and very sobered by these events. I was especially touched as a new Member seeing the location and the situation and the circumstances. This is something we all have done as Members. As a former district director for a former Member of this body, my heart especially goes out to the family of Gabe Zimmerman, of Ron Barber and Pamela Simons, to all the staff who have ever served Members in this House, both here in Washington and out of that district. We want to say thank you for your service. We want to say that our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with those families that have been touched. And rest assured, your safety is on top of our mind for us all.

As a father, I mourn the loss of a 9-year-old daughter. I too have a 9-year-old daughter, and I think all of us as

parents cannot help but look at this and be heartbroken.

As an American, this is an assault on our humanity. This is not the first time this has happened in our Nation's history. It is a sad day nonetheless. We are again asking God to heal our land. We will rise to this challenge as a people. I will continue to do my job as a duly elected Member of this body. I know my staff will do its job. I know all of my colleagues' staff will do their job as well; and we as a body, most importantly, will continue to do the people's work as we move forward through this tragedy.

We again will rise to this challenge, and we pray that healing and grace and peace be brought to all of the victims.