Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the accomplishments of Dr. Dwayne McCay who currently serves as the President of Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. McCay is a renowned engineer and research scientist who was recently named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors class of 2016--a highly prestigious professional distinction.

Dwayne McCay grew up in the cotton fields of northeast Arkansas with a passion for literature. In the late 1950's and early 1960's, as the world witnessed space exploration for the first time with the launch of Sputnik, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, and Astronaut Alan Shepard, Dwayne found himself looking toward the stars like so many youth at that time, including myself. He and his young friends founded a rocket society in 1961--WOMC (Wike, Oldham, McCay and Crowell)--and they had three successful launches of their homemade rockets with McCay acting as the propellant engineer.

Dwayne went on to achieve a Ph.D. in engineering and mathematics from Auburn University. He pursued a career as a research engineer with ARO, Inc., then as a senior research physical scientist with the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory. He went on to become a senior engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, being elevated to branch chief, and later division chief.

Prior to serving as President of F.I.T., Dr. McCay served as Provost and Chief Academic Officer at the Florida Institute of Technology and became Florida Tech's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) in January 2011. Dr. McCay was previously at The University of Tennessee Space Institute, where he served as Alumni Distinguished Service Professor of Engineering Science and Program Chair of Engineering Science and Mechanics, and was chosen in a national search in 1993 as the chief executive officer for the campus.

He and his wife, Dr. Mary Helen McCay, also an accomplished inventor and engineer, hold 15 joint U.S. patents in the area of metallurgical engineering. Together they have authored approximately 200 technical publications and, in 1998, achieved the national honor from the U.S. Department of Energy's American Museum of Science and Energy for their technological achievements.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dr. Dwayne McCay, as well as Dr. Mary Helen McCay and the dedicated faculty at F.I.T., for their contributions to science and engineering, and for their commitment to inspiring young minds and future scientists of our nation.

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago our nation observed National Small Business Week and recognized the positive impact that entrepreneurs and small businesses have on our local economies and our communities. In that spirit, I wish to bring to the attention of the House one small business located in my hometown of Rockledge, Florida, called Alamo Mexican Kitchen.

Alamo Mexican Kitchen just recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary, a true milestone for any small business. Established in 1967 by Irene and Alberto Enriquez, the Alamo has become a staple on Florida's Space Coast and favorite restaurant for many local patrons. In the mid- 1960's, the Enriquez family moved to Florida from EI Paso, Texas, with the Apollo program. A short time later, like many small business owners, they took a risk, opened Alamo Mexican Kitchen, and with it they brought an entirely new flavor to our area--Mexican food.

Before the Alamo, you couldn't find Mexican food anywhere in our area. In fact, when my own family moved from Southern California to Florida in 1956 with the space program, very few residents were familiar with Mexican food. My mother used to have our relatives send her tortilla shells so we could enjoy our weekly taco dinners. It wasn't until 1967, when Alamo opened, that we could enjoy real Mexican food in a local restaurant. Since then, Katie and I have been faithful patrons of the Alamo, owned by the same family for 50 years.

Today, five generations of the Enriquez family have worked at the Alamo, and many past Alamo employees have gone on to open their own successful Mexican restaurants--a true testament to the Alamo's success. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the Alamo Mexican Kitchen, its employees, and the Enriquez family on celebrating 50 years of serving fine Mexican cuisine.

Mr. Speaker, on March 24, 2017, Families of the Shield, Inc. will honor the life and sacrifices of Command Sergeant Major William Francis Ryan (USA, Retired) by raising the United States flag over a Big Red One Statue at Eddie's Sunrise Diner located at 55 E. NASA Blvd. in Melbourne, Florida. On February 28, 2017, at my request, the Architect of the Capitol flew the United States Flag over our Capitol Building to further honor Command Sergeant Major Ryan.

Command Sergeant Major Ryan first joined the Merchant Marines and received six Russian medals. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 landing on Omaha Beach June 6, 1944, with the first wave of American soldiers. Ryan was a member of the 1st Inf. Div.'s 16th Infantry Regiment during D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. During his 30 plus years of service he also volunteered for numerous tours of duty in Korea and Vietnam.

William Ryan retired from the military in 1973 to enjoy his boat, volunteer at the Honor America Museum. Over the years, made several trips back to Belgium and France to honor our fallen heroes, most recently for the 70th Anniversary of D-Day.

Command Sergeant Major Ryan's awards and decorations include: the Bronze Star Medals with (V) Device, the Army Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart, Distinguished Unit Citation, American Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal (1st-9th Awards), European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal (GER), National Defense Service Medal (1OLC), Korean Service Medal, Vietnam Services Medal, Belgium Fourragere, In Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Campaign Medal w/ 60 Device, Combat Infantry Badge.

William Ryan is survived by his beloved daughter Corrine and her husband Charles; his son Mark, his wife Shannon and their son Paul; his former wife, Lorraine Ryan; predeceased by his son, David W. Ryan and his sister, Margaret Christie. He will be remembered by his many grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and dear friends.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the late Command Sergeant Major William F. Ryan's service to our nation and his commitment to the cause of liberty.

Mr. Speaker, on March 7th the City of Palm Bay will recognize the courage and bravery of the City's law enforcement officers and civilians during their Annual Valor Awards Ceremony to be held at the Front Street Civic Center located in Melbourne, FL. Over two-hundred Law Enforcement Officials and Civilian Employees make up The City of Palm Bay's Police Department.

The 160 Sworn Officers, and all the men and women that make up the Palm Bay Police Department lay down their lives on a daily basis as peacekeepers, maintaining law and order for the protection and enhancement of our community. Their motto of Connect, Serve, and Impact speaks of officers connecting with the community as they serve with pride to provide a positive impact to its citizens. Their selfless actions are right and noble, and help keep our community safe.

The Palm Bay Police Department obtained its State of Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation status on October 31, 2007 from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation, Inc. and has successfully achieved reaccreditation over the last nine years.

I am honored to show my support for the law enforcement personnel of the Palm Bay Police Department and their heroic acts. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families. Among those to be recognized are the Medal of Valor Recipients: Officer of the Year Thomas Ribnicky, Officer Reed Caswell, Officer David Morales, and Officer Millan Valdes. Civilian of the Year Recipient, Crystal Baker.

The Distinguished Service Award Recipients: Officers Jason McCoy, Samantha Missale, Neal Valenti, Robert Vickers, Cassandra Woronka.

Officers and Civilian Recipients of the Life Saving Award: Steve Shytle, Ryan Van Note (2x), Sean Dutill, Robert Vickers, Cassandra Woronka, Jon Anthony, Brian Miller.

Officers & Civilian Recipients of the Meritorious Service Award: Roy Lavanture, Thomas Ribnicky, Cliff Graves, Sean Pindar, Millan Valdes, Parker Farmer, Nicholas Szczepanski, Rebecca Tillett, Ken Shedrick, Lewis Jones, Michael Pusatere, Ron Lugo, Shane Mertens, Christopher Snedeker, Tyler Fooks, Mark Trammel, Kimberley Waters, Edwin Lutz, Tim Lancaster, Dawn Strickland, Jessica Hinchman, Rebecca Wolfe, Phillip Clendenin, Natasha Hauber, Bridget Sander.

Community Service Award: Greg Leonard (2x), Kyle Schuck, Alcine Phan- Pennington (2x), Scott Eakins (2x), Shane Mertens, Christopher Snedeker (2x), Richard Marion, Joseph Hamilton, Tim Landers, Carlos Valentin, Aaron Yuergens, William Pennington, Bailey Sullivan, Ryan Austin, Bryan Cammarta.

Mr. Speaker, on a brighter, more positive, and nonpartisan side this morning, it is an honor and a pleasure to recognize the lifetime achievements of my longtime friend and a true patriotic citizen, Judge Alli B. Majeed, who has just retired after 24 years of service on the bench.

He was the longest serving county judge in the 18th Judicial Circuit. That includes Florida's Brevard and Seminole Counties. Judge Majeed, or A.B. as many of us know him, was born in the former British colony of Guyana, South America, to parents who were descendants of indentured servants from India.

Having grown up in a small village, his family didn't have much, and they worked hard for what little they did have. A.B. cherished the opportunity to attend and graduate from high school.

In 1969, he came to the United States on a student visa. He was Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude from Howard University here in Washington, D.C. In 1975, A.B. graduated from the Catholic University of America's Columbus Law School.

Alli became a U.S. citizen on November 16, 1979, and began his legal career working as an attorney and supervisor at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, where he served the needy and indigent clients. He went on to work as a criminal attorney, assistant public defender, and assistant State attorney.

I knew A.B. before he was appointed as a county judge in 1993 by then-Governor Lawton Chiles to fill a vacancy and was subsequently reelected to new terms unopposed all but one time. Once on the bench, Judge Majeed became known as a competent and respected judge.

He also became well known for his motivational and educational talks about the importance of jury duty to groups of new jurors, many of whom show up disenchanted about being selected to serve. As someone who has been a juror and has heard his talk firsthand more than once, I can promise you that it is extraordinary. No one in my pool of jurors looked forward to being called for jury duty, but after Judge Majeed's patriotic, uplifting, and inspiring lesson, everyone became enthusiastic about the opportunity to serve.

``We take an oath to obey, preserve, and protect the Constitution of the United States of America,'' said Judge Majeed.

To the Majeed family, this oath is serious business. He has three nephews who have served in our Nation's Armed Forces: Steve Majeed, U.S. Navy; Rick Majeed, United States Air Force; and Omar Majeed, United States Marines.

``I love this country,'' he said. ``We believe deeply in it.''

In his letter of resignation to the chief justice of the State of Florida, Judge Majeed penned these words: ``I am beholden to the United States of America who opened her doors to me as a twenty two year old, on a student visa. She allowed me to dream the impossible dream, then showed me the way to make those dreams come true.

``Serving the public, interacting with the Bar, and my many judicial colleagues have left me with a sense of accomplishment beyond my loftiest dreams.

``As I tender my resignation my heart is filled with great joy of twenty four years of judicial distance well run. With credit to President Lincoln, I go forth from this place with malice towards none and charity towards all.''

Judge Majeed was elected president of all of the county judges in the State of Florida. He has dedicated much of his noncourtroom hours to civic activities motivating and educating the public on the virtues of the United States Constitution and our democratic Republic.

Alli Majeed is the father of three daughters and one son. His wife, Yasmin Majeed, is very active in community and charitable causes throughout our community. I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting Judge Alli Majeed's achievements, his service to our community, and his commitment to our country.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is about transparency and accountability. I rise to urge my colleagues to support it.

When an agency decides to write a rule or revise an old one, they are sometimes required to share technical or scientific information to support their proposal. For many years, scientific research has relied upon the peer review process to ensure quality, integrity, and objectivity of published work. Peer review is when scientists open their research to the scrutiny of other experts in their field in order to receive feedback, criticism, and ensure their conclusions are sound.

Unfortunately, when peer reviews of information return unfavorable comments or raise unforeseen issues with the quality of work, some agencies have acted to silence or hide the critiques. This, of course, is bad science, and it results in bad public policy.

A recent example of this abuse occurred during a highly technical rulemaking proceeding in which an agency relied heavily upon a single study that many criticized as profoundly inadequate. The agency commissioned two peer reviews of the study, which were completed and returned 2 weeks into the comment period for the public. However, after both scholars submitted highly critical reviews that echoed the concerns of the many commentators, sadly, the agency withheld the release of their work to the public. When the agency finally did release the information as required by law, it was on the Friday that marked the very last day of the comment period as part of a massive document dump that buried the negative reviews.

The political cherry-picking of scientific information and manipulation of the public record harms both the quality of Federal regulations as well as the overall integrity of the rulemaking proceeding. When Federal agencies distribute scientific research supporting a proposed rule, the public and those affected by it deserve to be certain that the science is of the highest quality and have a due process right to comment meaningfully on the rules the science intends to support.

My amendment will help protect this basic principle of good government and ensure fairness in Federal rulemaking by requiring that the public be provided with a clear timeline for disclosure of any influential scientific information. The amendment will also require agencies to offer an explanation if they revise the anticipated public release date of peer reviews. Simply put, the Federal agency will no longer be able to shield from the public view the existence of information that is central to evaluating a proposed rule.

We cannot continue to allow the Federal agencies to march toward a predetermined outcome at the expense of sound science and policy. I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. Chairman, most members of the public don't know what a rule is. Rules are laws made by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.

We collected 4 years' worth of Daily Registers in my office. Those are executive orders, rules, proposed rules, changes to rules. I ask people how big they think the stack is. I get answers 4 feet, 6 feet, 7 feet. Well, actually, in 4 years' time, the stack was 7 stacks over my head--over 70 linear feet of laws made by unelectable, unaccountable people.

The public thinks we make the laws. Most of the laws we don't make. We allow unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to make the laws; and the very least we can do to protect the public is ensure that we have transparency and accountability for their procedures, and that is exactly what this amendment does.

Mr. Chairman, before I close, I include in the Record a letter from a leading policy research institution that highlights the need for legislation like my amendment that will improve the public peer review process in our Federal agencies.

Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public

Policy Studies,

Washington, DC, January 11, 2017.

Re Republic Peer Review.

Speaker Paul Ryan,

Washington, DC.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,

Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi: As both of

you know first-hand, developing and implementing good public

policy is no easy task. The issues before regulatory agencies

are often complex and technical, and therefore resolution

benefits from input from the best minds both in and out of

government. Yet, simply because someone writes a lengthy

report on a particular topic does not automatically mean that

their analysis is valid. No presumption of scientific

legitimacy can be afforded when making good public policy.

Instead, if policymakers are going to rely on a particular

study, then that study deserves to be critiqued first via

public peer review in a dispassionate manner to see if the

prescriptions and findings hold up. This public peer review

is exceedingly important when deciding controversial matters,

particularly because reviewing courts are loath to second-

guess expert administrative agency's policy decisions--

choosing instead to limit themselves only to questions of

law. (See, e.g., USTelecom v. FCC, 825 F.3d 674, 697 (D.C.

Cir. 2016) (we do not ``inquire whether `some or many

economists would disapprove of the [agency's] approach'

because `we do not sit as a panel of referees on a

professional economics journal, but as a panel of generalist

judges obliged to defer to a reasonable judgment by an agency

acting pursuant to congressionally delegated authority.''))

As such, the peer review process allows the public to better

hold government to account and results in more informed

policymaking.

Unfortunately, while the Office of Management and Budget

mandates peer review, many administrative agencies do not

take the peer review process seriously. By way of example, I

am attaching an op-ed I wrote in The Hill last year

demonstrating how the Federal Communications Commission

flagrantly violated the public's due process rights by hiding

until the very last moments the highly-critical results of

the agency's peer review of an outside economic study which

the agency intended to be the foundational document to impose

price regulation for Business Data Services. By any account,

such behavior is not an example of ``good'' government.

Legislation to improve the public peer review process at

federal agencies is therefore both welcome and necessary.

Sincerely,

Lawrence J. Spiwak,

President, The Phoenix Center.

As the letter states: ``No presumption of scientific legitimacy can be afforded when making good public policy.'' Unfortunately, many administrative agencies make this assumption and do not take seriously the peer review process. For that reason, I once again urge my colleagues to support this good government proposal for transparency and accountability that will help protect the integrity of the Federal rulemaking process.

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

Mr. Speaker, on December 20, 2014, Brevard County families, businesses and local community organizations will gather together to celebrate the Sixth Annual Christmas Extravaganza. This wonderful event, which will take place at the Max K. Rodes Park in West Melbourne, will provide an uplifting message of hope during this Christmas season as so many families are still facing difficult challenges.

The House at Palm Bay, Brevard County Parks & Recreation and their business partners have recognized the importance of providing a positive venue for residents and children to celebrate Christmas.

What makes the Christmas Extravaganza so special is that there is no cost to attend--everything is absolutely free to the public. From cotton candy and hot dogs, to live music performed by the Bay West Church Band, and

fun activities for children, such as face painting, rock wall climbing, bounce houses, and a robotics demonstration, the sponsors of this annual event have committed to serving others during this Christmas season and giving back to their community in order to make a difference in someone's life.

This year, over sixty local businesses and organizations have made donations of food, gift certificates, equipment, cash and goodie bags. Toys for Tots will again make donations of toys for local children while the Sheriff, law enforcement officials and firemen have all volunteered their time. Florida Institute of Technology has partnered with The House at Palm Bay's Christmas Extravaganza team to provide free trolley rides for children and adults alike. Also, this year the Heritage High School Marching Band will be performing along with members of The House at Palm Bay's drama team which will provide their rendition of the Music Box, a Musical Drama for all ages.

Senior Pastor Ken Delgado of The House at Palm Bay said, ``The essence of Christmas is about sacrificial giving. Parents do everything possible, to their own hurt, to bless their families. What an honor it is to see the business community sacrificially coming together to create a moment where families can find love, hope and joy--it's the example of the love, hope and joy that was expressed through the life of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.''

The Cities of Palm Bay and Melbourne have issued proclamations of support for this year's Christmas Extravaganza and the Brevard County Commission passed a resolution commending these efforts and encouraging families to attend.

I salute all those who have given so much to make the Annual Christmas Extravaganza possible, and applaud all the communities across our great nation who have seized upon this opportunity to spread the Christmas spirit through good deeds and charitable acts.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I, again, want to thank Congressman LoBiondo for his work on this National Estuary Program and this legislation to reauthorize this important program for another 5 years.

Thank you also for working with me on provisions for my bill, which I introduced with Representative Murphy of Florida--H.R. 5117, the Estuary Urgent

Needs Priority Program. Our provision establishes a competitive awards program for estuaries to help prioritize funding to estuaries facing urgent needs. It does so without spending any additional money. We simply reprioritize and require all money appropriated from Congress for estuaries to actually be spent on estuaries.

Mr. Speaker, the National Estuary Program encourages communities to work toward having healthy estuaries by providing annual base grants for projects to improve and to monitor the quality of their water and the species that live in them. Healthy estuaries provide a diverse home for flora and fauna. Estuaries also provide for countless hours of recreational enjoyment and billions of dollars in economic impact.

My congressional district is home to one of the most diverse estuaries in the country, if not in the world--the Indian River Lagoon. Our lagoon's natural beauty has always been central to our community as a key to improving our quality of life, as a recreational area for fishing and boating with friends and family, and as a significant contributor to our local economy. I raised my family along this 156- mile lagoon, and I know firsthand how important this legislation is to making our local estuary program a success.

We have all seen the adverse consequences of sea grass loss and harmful algae blooms. The opportunity to compete for additional funding, which this bill provides, would be a valuable tool in combating the types of issues we have seen in our estuary. The bill before us redirects money away from the EPA's Washington bureaucracy and toward actual projects and initiatives across the Nation's estuaries.

I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation so that we can continue the great work that the NEP provides as it facilitates estuary protection and restoration initiatives.

Mr. Speaker, on October 24, 2014, Honor America, Inc. will celebrate its 40th Anniversary and hold its 3rd Annual Patriot Awards Dinner at the Rialto Hilton in Melbourne, Florida. Founded in 1974 in Washington, D.C. by the Rev. Billy Graham, Bob Hope, Hobart Lewis, and J. W. Marriott, Honor America seeks to reawaken a sense of pride in American traditions, ideals, and accomplishments.

It's critical to the survival of our nation and our freedom for young people to learn about our nation's cultural heritage, our Constitution and history. That's what Honor America is all about--promoting awareness of the great blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--instilling both pride in American citizenship and respect for our flag.

To do this, Honor America sponsors the Liberty Bell Memorial Museum, the Brevard Hall of Fame, and the Melbourne Military Memorial Park in Melbourne, Florida. They also sponsor the City of Melbourne's Independence Day Parade and Veteran's Day Parade to pay homage to the many Americans who have made tremendous sacrifices protecting and defending our liberty.

I urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating Honor America for their tireless efforts to remind us all what it means to be an American and celebrate it.

Offered By: Mr. Posey

Amendment No. 18: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for coming in contact with a lot of people during my lifetime, and Richard Salick is certainly one of them. In fact, I think so much of Rich and his selfless giving to others, I introduced this legislation, H.R. 451, to designate the U.S. Post Office on North Brevard Avenue in Cocoa Beach as the Richard K. Salick Post Office.

Rich Salick, who passed away on July 2 of 2012, was a local hero and a true champion to many people. Rich was a champion surfer through much of the late 1960s and 1970s, but he was also a lifelong sufferer of kidney disease and a longtime advocate of supporting kidney transplantation and kidney disease patients.

What made Rich a champion was not the number of trophies that he won--which was considerable--but the battles he willingly and personally waged on behalf of others in need.

At age 23, at the high point of his professional surfing career, Rich fell ill and was told by doctors that he would die if he did not get a kidney transplant. Aided by his twin brother, Phil Salick--who was his first kidney donor--Rich recovered, but was told all physical sports were out of the question in his future.

After a year of recovery, Rich developed a unique padding system to protect his transplanted kidney and went on to win surfing contests and even proudly displayed one of the trophies in the Shands teaching hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Rich would routinely call kidney patients to offer them a message of hope and to aid their recoveries.

His work did not stop there. Rich and Phil began hosting small surfing events to benefit those on dialysis. Every year, these events grew larger and larger and larger and culminated into hugely successful annual surf festivities.

These events have raised millions of dollars for the National Kidney Foundation and are some of the largest charitable surfing events in the world.

When I was serving in the State legislature, it was not uncommon to meet Rich Salick walking the halls of the capitol advocating for kidney patients, trying to find some commonsense fixes to some of these flawed laws to help make lives better for other people.

The National Kidney Foundation tells us that 90,000 Americans with kidney disease die each year, and approximately 100,000 Americans are waiting for a direly-needed kidney transplant.

Every year, I join hundreds of others in our community to participate in the annual Cocoa Beach Kidney Walk, known as Footprints in the Sand, to support those who suffer from kidney disease and to honor Rich's commitment.

Despite suffering from kidney disease for most of his adult life, Rich proved that others with the same condition can truly accomplish anything they set their minds to.

He was the first professional athlete ever to receive a transplant and return to his sport at a professional level. In 2000, he was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame, and in April of 2008, he was also inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, a man of many talents.

He received the prestigious Nancy Katin Award in 1977 for his worldwide humanitarian work.

I would like to thank Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Cummings, and the members and staff of the committee for moving this bill to the floor to honor a great American and a true champion.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Chairman Crenshaw for his help on this amendment and for his support on this issue of critical importance to the Florida financial industry.

My amendment transfers $1 million from the Internal Revenue Service enforcement division to the IRS office of the inspector general. It is my intent that this money be used to study the impact of IRS nonresident alien bank account reporting and requirements on the United States economy.

The IRS has issued a final regulation requiring all banks in the United States to report to the IRS the amount of interest paid to nonresident alien individual depositors. Now these are people who are not taxpayers, and they do not owe us taxes.

These payments are not subject to U.S. taxes, so these reports do not collect a single penny of additional revenue. This regulation also reverses a 90-year policy that the interest earned by foreign depositors in American banks would not be taxed or reported.

When the IRS first proposed this regulation in 2001, a bipartisan coalition of more than 100 Members of Congress opposed it. The IRS eventually withdrew the crazy proposal.

In 2011, the entire Florida delegation signed a letter to the Internal Revenue Service expressing concern with the economic impact of this policy, and I thank my colleague, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for taking the lead on that initiative.

On July 25, 2012, the House passed my amendment to H.R. 4078, the Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act, which would have prevented the IRS from enforcing the IRS nonresident alien reporting requirement. The amendment was passed with bipartisan support, but the Senate failed to take up the bill.

The IRS regulation places United States banks at a global disadvantage relative to foreign banks that lack such reporting requirements. Furthermore, United States banks hold $500 billion in nonresident alien bank accounts.

Millions of dollars have already been withdrawn by foreign depositors, and it only promises to get worse. Because every dollar in bank deposits generates nearly $9 in lending, these withdrawals will reduce the amount of credit available to individual and commercial borrowers, hurting the United States' economy at a time when we need to be recovering, not suffering worse.

A similar IRS program imposes a requirement on foreign financial institutions to report information on accounts held by Americans overseas. This has already resulted in foreign banks canceling banking services to U.S. citizens to avoid compliance costs.

For these reasons, I ask that the money transferred to the IRS inspector general be used to conduct an economic impact study of these policies, including an analysis of the effect on capital

levels, capital flight, safety and soundness, and changes to public confidence in depository financial institutions, something Treasury is arguably required to do already under current law, but has refused to do.

I include a letter of support from the Credit Union National Association and the World Council of Credit Unions to be entered into the Record.

Credit Union National Association, Inc., and World

Council of Credit Unions, Inc.,

July 14, 2014.

Hon. Bill Posey,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Posey: On behalf of the Credit Union

National Association (CUNA) and the World Council of Credit

Unions (World Council), we are writing to thank you for your

efforts to address the difficulties and compliance costs

associated with the newly-implemented Foreign Account Tax

Compliance Act (FATCA). CUNA is the largest credit union

advocacy organization in the United States, representing

America's state and federally chartered credit unions and

their 99 million members. World Council is the leading trade

association and development organization for the

international credit union movement. Worldwide, there are

nearly 56,000 cooperatively owned credit unions in 101

countries with approximately $1.7 trillion in total assets

and 200 million credit union members.

FATCA is designed to create a tax information reporting and

withholding system for certain payments that are made to

financial institutions and other entities. The FATCA statute

passed by Congress in 2010 requires foreign financial

institutions to register with the IRS and detect taxable

account activity by U.S. citizens in foreign countries; these

requirements are making it difficult for U.S. citizens living

overseas, including American credit union members, to

maintain access to financial services in the countries where

they live. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) FATCA

regulation also requires U.S.-based financial institutions,

including U.S. credit unions, to conduct due diligence and

tax withholding on international funds transfers even though

the FATCA statute passed by Congress made no mention of U.S.-

based credit unions or banks.

CUNA and the World Council support the amendment you intend

to offer to HR. 5016, the Financial Services and General

Government Appropriations Act of 2015. Your amendment would

transfer $1 million in finding for the Internal Revenue

Service (IRS) enforcement division and instead provide $1

million to the IRS Inspector General's office to conduct an

economic impact study of FATCA. We believe this study is

necessary given the complexity of implementing FATCA, the

complex rulemaking that has taken place, and the myriad

unintended consequences of the law on U.S. financial

institutions and U.S. citizens living abroad.

We appreciate all of your work to ensure that credit unions

remain focused on their mission of serving their members

rather than spending precious time and resources complying

with unduly burdensome regulations.

On behalf of America's credit unions and around the globe,

thank you for offering this amendment. We look forward to its

consideration and enactment.

Sincerely,

Bill Hampel,

President & CEO, Credit Union National Association, Inc.

Brian Branch,

President & CEO, World Council of Credit Unions, Inc.

I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw).

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

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

This legislation would not be necessary if the IRS or the Treasury had already done what was required by law. When you promulgate a rule that has over a $100 million impact on the private sector, you are supposed to do a cost-benefit analysis, and they refused to do it in this case.

They took the position that, well, it doesn't cost that much money just to fill out a little form and try and rat out foreign bank depositors here.

The reality is studies show it clearly will have a multibillion- dollar impact.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to salute the career accomplishments and community service of Mr. Richard A. Ennis on the occasion of his retirement as the Executive Director of the Melbourne International Airport, a position which he has held for the past nine years.

Our community credits an increase in tourism and airline traffic to Richard's tireless work and advocacy for our airport. He is noted for positioning Melbourne International Airport as a prime location for the aviation and the aerospace industry. Due to his strategic plans, the airport is now one of the world's fastest growing aviation and aerospace manufacturing and maintenance hubs.

Our economy has been positively impacted by Richard's efforts to increase the airport's capital improvements by more than $150 million which has led to the expansion of new manufacturing and maintenance facilities and resulted in the creation of hundreds of new jobs.

Richard's community service includes serving as the Chairman of the Babcock Street Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Committee.

I also commend Richard's service to the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1970.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forestry which he earned while attending the University of Florida. He also attained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Rollins College.

Previously Richard was employed with Hoyman, Dobson & Company in 1982 where he audited the City of Melbourne and Melbourne International Airport's records for two years. He then served as the Assistant Finance Director with the City of Melbourne in January 1984 and served as the Deputy Director of Finance and Administration with the Melbourne International Airport in 1992.

Mr. Ennis received his national certification as a Certified Public Finance Officer in 2001 and assumed additional duties of Deputy Director of Finance and Administration and Operations.

Richard was promoted to interim Executive Director of the Melbourne International Airport in February 2005 and officially became the Executive Director on August 17, 2005.

I urge my Colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. Richard A. Ennis for his dedication to our community and his exceptional service to our nation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Harmful algal blooms and hypoxia events occur throughout the United States. They are damaging to water bodies, and are harmful to plant and animal life. They also cost local communities millions of dollars and many hours of recreational enjoyment. The adverse effects are both near-term and long-term.

The continued need for advancing research on harmful algal blooms and hypoxia events is very apparent. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation will continue robust funding for this important research, leading us to a better understanding of the causes, effects, and steps we can take to prevent harmful algae and hypoxia events in the future.

Reported to the floor with bipartisan support from the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, S. 1254, the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2014, includes provisions that Representative Bonamici and I were privileged to advance. As amended, this bill will better streamline and coordinate existing harmful algae bloom and hypoxia research activities at NOAA and other Federal agencies.

We place a high priority on using research to create implementable action plans to minimize the economic, ecologic, and human health impacts from harmful algae blooms.

By incorporating provisions to encourage collaborative research between local, State, and Federal agencies, we

will be able to avoid costly duplicative research, which will stretch every dollar further and significantly advance this important research.

In my congressional district, the Indian River Lagoon has experienced algae blooms each year from 2011 to 2013, leading to the loss of nearly half of all the sea grass beds--the primary means of measuring health in the Indian River Lagoon. Prior to 2011, sea grass beds in the lagoon had been on a steady increase for nearly 15 years. The devastating economic and ecologic impacts of these blooms over the past 3 years can be felt across the entire length of the 156-mile lagoon.

The economic impact of the Indian River Lagoon is approximately $3.5 billion. A healthy lagoon is vital to the economic well-being of the Treasure Coast and the Space Coast. I raised my family on the lagoon, so I can speak from personal experience about the changes we have seen and the benefits of our lagoon to our communities.

Our bill gives researchers another tool to help us better understand, anticipate, control, and mitigate harmful algal blooms like those we have seen in the Indian River Lagoon and in communities across the country.

I would like to thank Chairman Smith and the majority and minority staff who worked together to shepherd this bill through committee. I would also like to thank the ranking member of the Environmental Subcommittee, Ms. Bonamici. It was a pleasure to work with you and your staff to make several bipartisan perfecting changes to the Senate bill so that this bipartisan measure can make it here to the House floor.

I would encourage my colleagues to support the bill before us so that we can reauthorize this important program and continue to advance this research that is so important for communities, like the coastal community I am privileged to live in and represent in Congress.

I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joined here today by my colleague, Resident Commissioner Pierluisi, whom you just heard from, in support of our bill, H.R. 1726, to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment, known as the Borinqueneers.

During the darkest days of the Korean war, the Borinqueneers, an ethnically segregated unit, served with singular distinction during a multitude of major and minor combat engagements. During the now famous Battle of Chosin Reservoir, the regiment fought alongside the 1st Marine Division, covering them through what is recognized as one of the greatest strategic withdrawals in military history. The regiment was known for its fierceness in the face of the enemy and demonstrated their exceptional courage by launching the last recorded battalion-size bayonet charge in U.S. military history.

For its service, the regiment was singled out for special recognition by General Douglas MacArthur, who declared:

I am proud, indeed, to have them in this command. I wish

that we might have many more like them.

Last month, Borinqueneer Master Sergeant Juan Negron was awarded the Medal of Honor, our Nation's highest military honor for heroic actions ``above and beyond the call of duty.'' His actions reflect the fighting spirit, sense of duty, and dedication of the entire regiment.

The Borinqueneers are part of a proud tradition of distinguished American soldiers that include the Tuskegee Airmen, Montford Point Marines, Navajo Code Talkers, and the Japanese American Nisei regiments, all of whom have already received the Congressional Gold Medal.

I would also like to recognize the grassroots efforts of the Borinqueneer Congressional Gold Medal Alliance and their national chair, Frank Medina. For many of their members, this bill was their first time ever contacting a Member of Congress. Congratulations. We would not be here today if it were not for the tireless efforts of literally hundreds of people in the Borinqueneer community.

I would also like to thank Rob Medina of my Florida office, who first brought this issue to my attention, and Robert Carter, my legislative counsel, who has advanced this legislation as a member of my staff.

I rise in full support of the Borinqueneers and urge all of my colleagues to join us to ensure that these American soldiers are recognized for their exceptional, their courageous, and their selfless service to our Nation. And I call upon the Senate to take prompt action to pass this bill and allow us to declare, ``Mission accomplished.''