Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on September 15th families and businesses across the nation will begin observing National Hispanic Heritage Month in order to recognize the many outstanding contributions to our nation that are made by Americans of Hispanic descent. One celebration taking place in the City of Palm Bay, Florida, will be the First Annual Viva Brevard festival.

Al Dia Today along with local businesses, non-profit organizations, and residents of Brevard County will gather together on Saturday October 13, 2012, near the Ted Whitlock Community Center in Palm Bay Regional Park to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month with a day full of great Latin American cuisine, culture and entertainment.

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month we also honor Hispanic Americans for their strong tradition of service in our Armed Forces. These proud patriots have fought in every war since our founding, and many have earned the Medal of Honor for their courage.

Hispanic service men and women have shown their love for the United States by answering the call to serve, and we owe them and their families a tremendous debt of gratitude. Their patriotism and valor have added to the character and strength of our nation.

The first Hispanic American to serve in the U.S. Congress represented Florida. Joseph Marion Hernandez was born in St. Augustine when Florida was a Spanish colony. In 1822 when Florida became a U.S. Territory, Hernandez transferred his allegiance to the United States and was elected a Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives serving in our nation's Seventeenth Congress. He also served as a brigadier general and was the presiding officer of Florida's Territorial House of Representatives.

There have been many Hispanic Americans with notable achievements in science and medicine. The first Hispanic American Astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz of Costa Rican descent, earned his doctorate in applied physics from MIT and flew an astounding seven Shuttle Missions. Astronaut Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic female in space, flying four Shuttle missions.

Hispanic Americans have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics and Medicine, the Medal of Honor; have won the Pulitzer, Oscar and Tony Awards, achieved sports fame, and have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

National Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the spirit and accomplishments of Hispanic Americans everywhere and events like the Viva Brevard festival provide an opportunity to share and experience the diversity of cultures from Latin American countries and bring us all closer together as a community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to stock car racing legend Dumont Smith of Satellite Beach, Florida who passed away on Labor Day at the age of 81.

A hard-working building contractor by trade, Dumont Smith was born near Union Cross, North Carolina, and at an early age developed a love for racing. In 1946, at just 15 years old, Dumont began his stock car racing career on the dirt oval speedways in North Carolina. He won the first race he ever entered, after starting 44th in the field with a car he built in his back yard with his cousin Jimmy Caudle. Then, after hanging around and watching High Point, North Carolina driver Fred Harb work on his car at a nearby shop, Dumont refined his car-building skills.

A big part of Dumont Smith's early racing was done at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC, where he was racing fairly regularly by 1948. That year was also NASCAR's very first year of operation, and Dumont was one of its pioneer members. In fact, when Dumont surrendered his NASCAR license after coming to Florida to race on the independent tracks, it was Richard Petty who took over Dumont's registered car number 43.

Dumont's racing career in Florida saw many titles and track championships as he raced for various car owners and excited fans across the state. He won the Florida State Late Model Governor's Cup in 1967 at the Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa, the Late Model Championship in 1968 and 1969 at the Palm Beach Fairgrounds Speedway in West Palm Beach and the 1969 Late Model Championships at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach and Treasure Coast Raceway in Fort Pierce.

At the Eau Gallie Speedway in Melbourne, a local track I once owned and raced on many times, Dumont won a staggering 6 late model championships in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968 and 1969. He was also the Platinum Coast 100 annual event winner for five years and held the track record in 1967. In all, his racing career in Florida lasted through 1976.

As a building contractor, Dumont along with his brothers, Percy and Jack, plus his cousins Percy Hedgecock and Jimmy Caudle, founded Satellite Beach by developing most of the initial housing neighborhoods. Dumont actually built his first house in North Carolina in 1948 at the age of 17. Just the year before, he had met his wife-to- be, Sarah. They were married in 1949, and December of 2012 would have been their 63rd anniversary. Dumont is survived by his wife Sarah, his son Lance, his daughter Linda and three grandchildren Brandon, Amber and Grant.

My favorite Dumont Smith story is from the 1966 Governor's Cup, the year before he won. Dumont was running second to Bobby Brack with just a few laps to go. Instead of driving through Bobby, running him off the track, Dumont made a bold choice--risk second place and try to pass on the outside around the turn. But the track was very slick from all the grease and leaky oil, and Dumont lost the number two position to ultimately finish fourth.

One of the spectators next to me commented that it wasn't a smart move; that Dumont gave up a sure second place. I simply replied that Dumont didn't race to finish second, he came to win. And Dumont was an honorable racer. He raced to win straight-up, no dirty tricks or rough driving. That's just one of the many qualities I liked so much about Dumont and why he had so many fans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an American hero, Neil Alden Armstrong whose recent passing has impacted not only family members and those who were close to him, but also a nation that will forever salute his unforgettable step onto the surface of our moon.

Born August 5, 1930; Armstrong lifted off the runway for the first time at the age of two on a Ford Trimotor nicknamed ``The Tin Goose.'' As a young man, he found a passion in flying planes, becoming flight certified early in life at the age of fifteen. It is no surprise that he studied aerospace engineering at Purdue University as a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps under the Holloway Plan.

After completing two years of college, Armstrong was ordered to enroll in flight training in Pensacola, Florida on the path to becoming an active duty Naval Aviator. Armstrong's resolute character and bravery reached a new pedestal after he was shot down in combat during the Korean War. He returned to Purdue University, graduated in 1955, and took an assignment to continue his Navy service at Edward's Air Force Base, where he subsequently earned a masters degree in aeronautics. Soon after, he flew as a civilian pilot for NASA's parent agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), in Cleveland, Ohio.

As a test pilot, Armstrong was exposed to innovative military aircraft, playing a central role in helping to refine and improve aeronautic technologies. Armstrong's ascension as a strong leader was inevitable as respect for his reliable character and yet humble personality was recognized within the ranks of the military and space elite.

In 1958, after a successful tenure piloting aircraft as both a civilian and military airman, Armstrong was recruited into the Air Force's ``Man in Space Soonest,'' division. He piloted some of the earliest aircraft to be engineered to breach the Earth's atmosphere and outpace the speed of sound surpassing 4,000 miles per hour. This was a very exciting era in space innovation, which remains close to our hearts in Florida's Space Coast, where many residents, including myself, were fortunate enough to be employed by NASA's Apollo program in the late 1960's.

Over the course of Armstrong's career as an astronaut he logged thousands of hours in preparation for space travel. Relentless in the pursuit to harvest knowledge, he became a college professor after his retirement from NASA. Armstrong's commitment to his work and his unwavering receptiveness of challenge after challenge set a precedent, hand in hand, complimenting the world-shadowing message of the American space revolution. He was not simply a man with a technical ability to fly, rather a renaissance example of humble character and passionate conviction for the advancement of humankind.

Those of us who were alive on July 20, 1969, will never forget what we felt as an American space pioneer, Neil Armstrong, stepped from the lunar module and was the first human to place foot on the moon. ``That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'' are a constant reminder of human achievement and American ingenuity and they serve as a constant reminder to that the seemingly impossible can be achieved.

An American icon has passed after eighty-two fulfilling years. Neil Armstrong's chronicled achievements will be forever observed in history and he will never be forgotten as the father of lunar exploration. He was a wonderful human being, a true gentleman, honest, sincere, and seemingly unaffected by his many accomplishments and notoriety. He will continue to serve as a role model and an inspiration for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Rockledge Junior League Baseball team for winning the Junior League World Series championship at Heritage Park in Taylor, Michigan on August 18, 2012.

Thirty-two years after the Junior League Baseball World Series was established in 1981, Rockledge became the tenth Florida team to bring home a championship.

The team dominated across the state of Florida, with a record of 11- 0. Rockledge continued forward to defeat five state champions from Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. They traveled for 1,158 miles and 19 hours to Michigan with a record of 16-0 as the USA Southeast regional title holder, and triumphed to become the USA bracket leader. Only team Aruba, the international title holder, was standing between the ambitions of Rockledge team members, who were led by Manager David Clanton and Coaches Tom Hall and Robbie Robedeau.

The championship began with a quick 5-2 lead as Rockledge asserted its presence. Justin Robedeau, Kevin Clanton, Trevor Payne, Andrew Parrish, Mason Studstill, Blake Beyel, Brady Martello, Michael Hall, Gavin Spinneweber, and Jackson Parker each maintained their confidence while Aruba inched closer, shortening the gap 9-8 in the 6th inning.

The Rockledge All Stars kept their composure and brought home a 12-10 win in the 8th inning. Managed by an exceptional coaching staff, each teammate played a major role in winning the World Series title, with a final 22-0 post season record. We salute the Rockledge Junior League Baseball team for their success and the measure to which they represented our community and state.

Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, today in Washington, bureaucrats are able to craft and enforce rules that cost our economy billions of dollars while remaining aloof to the consequences of their actions. There remains a disconnect between those who write these rules in the comfort of the Beltway, generating reams of red tape, and the actions taken by the courts or Congress to delay or roll back those same rules.

When a regulator has overreached, they have wrongfully robbed American citizens of their benefits, of their labor, and their means of productivity. Today there is really no penalty for those who overreach. I believe regulators should be more prudent and measured when drafting and issuing rules and regulations.

My amendment simply calls agency bureaucrats to account when they exceed their delegated authority.

Section 104 of the underlying bill permits a court to award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a small business when they prevail in a suit against an agency that has exceeded their statutory regulatory authority.

My amendment takes this as a step further by requiring any attorney's fees and costs be paid out of the administrative budget of the particular office that is found to have exceeded that authority. I believe this will give regulators greater pause before they issue regulations and will cause them to double-check to make sure that they are on solid ground. When an agency overreaches, what they are fundamentally doing is denying an American citizen their right to pursue opportunity, create jobs, or enjoy the benefits of their labor.

In a sense, they are basically robbing someone of their opportunity. Outside of the regulatory environment, when someone takes property that belongs to someone else, there are criminal sanctions if we catch them doing it. In the regulatory environment, however, the best that an American citizen can expect from the Federal Government is ``I'm sorry,'' and that's at best.

We change that in this bill. With the adoption of my amendment, we change that for the particular regulators that exceed their authority. If adopted, this amendment will give more certainty to the regulatory process, and it ensure regulators are more prudent when drafting regulations. We make sure that any damages are not paid out of the agency slush fund but, rather, out of the administrative budget of the offending office. That brings personal and government accountability to the

regulatory process, something that's desperately needed. Now they will have some skin in the game, so to speak.

I urge my colleagues to support this good amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, how much time do I have?

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Griffin).

Let me tell anyone who may not have ever seen a war with an agency over agency rules before, they dig in and they fight to the death anyway, whether it's coming out of their budget or not. I've seen them lose at three levels with a private citizen and go after them yet a fourth time because their pockets are bottomless and they hope they can break the back of a citizen like that.

You know, what make this country unique is we believe we get our rights from God. We believe in inalienable human rights here, and we give rights to government. Government doesn't give us rights. We give rights to our government. And we're charged with administering the rights that were given to our government here in Congress. And we give the administration, we give the agencies the right to write rules, specific rules. We don't allow them, without our authority and beyond the scope of their authority, to abuse citizens, to steal their productivity, their labor, and the benefits that they've worked hard for. And that's what the agencies have done. We have asked them not to do it. They've reformed the Administrative Procedures Act a number of times. The agencies just don't get the message. They see it as their goal and their destiny to be the boss.

Congress is supposed to have dominion over the bureaucrats, and this is one of the ways that we're going to enforce that dominion. We don't let the fox run the henhouse.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, my amendment stops the Securities and Exchange Commission from pursuing an agenda on climate change and keeps its focus, instead, on its core mission of protecting investors.

In recent years, we've seen the Madoff and Stanford Ponzi schemes bilk people out of over $70 billion. Many of these victims live in our districts. They are shocked and outraged that such a travesty could happen.

One would think that after such embarrassments, the SEC would do whatever it could to focus its finite resources on stopping the next Ponzi scheme. At the very minimum, it would make sense for the SEC to appear to get serious in safeguarding the public from fraud and corruption.

However, early in 2010, the SEC issued an interpretative guidance for companies to disclose the impact global climate change might have on their businesses. The SEC published this controversial guidance over the objections of dissenting commissioners. This

was done without direction from Congress and outside the traditional rulemaking process.

There are no laws in the United States explicitly addressing climate change. The guidance is inappropriate considering the SEC has bigger priorities.

I don't have to tell my colleagues that climate change is a controversial and an unresolved issue. From a securities perspective especially, climate change information on a disclosure is highly speculative, and dubious at best. If allowed to proceed, it invites all kinds of compliance costs and confusion down the road. And guess who will ultimately pay all those costs? Our constituents, the American public.

Importantly, my amendment does not stop companies from mentioning bona fide weather and environmental risks in disclosures. And if a company really wants to weigh in climate change for some reason, they're free to volunteer that information. It just keeps the SEC focused on what they're supposed to be doing, and that is protecting people and not forcing unrelated agendas down their throats.

I urge my colleagues to support the amendment and reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, how much time do I have remaining?

The gentleman's points about disclosure are on point. They simply don't apply to what this amendment does. It does not deny required disclosure of risks. Let me be clear, thousands and thousands of American families were devastated by Madoff, by Stanford, MF Global and the like. People lost their homes, people lost their cars, people lost their children's education funds, and people lost their lifelong retirement savings. I could go on and on forever, but we have a limited amount of time.

The job of the SEC is to protect those people. The job of the SEC is to protect honest people from dishonest corporations and persons. It's not to impose other agendas on the American public. It's not to talk about the environmental stewardship of corporations. If a corporation dealing with securities does not disclose a significant environmental risk, then they're going to be liable for that failure to disclose. But it's not the SEC's job to talk about their stewardship.

The SEC knew for a decade--a decade--a full 10 years--over 10 years-- that Madoff was stealing from people; and they refused to take any action for over a decade, and over $70 billion evaporated. People's lives were devastated. People died. People died. There are dead people because of what Madoff did. And the SEC didn't lift a finger. They were too busy doing other things.

Now, here we intend to put SEC back on the job and focus on what they're supposed to do: protect honest people from dishonest people.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, how much time do I have remaining?

I have endured about all I care to, and I think a large percentage of the people in this Chamber and a lot of people in this country have endured about all the finger-pointing and blame that they can endure. I don't care who shot John. I don't care who was in charge of the SEC before. The point of this bill is to keep the SEC focused on protecting investors.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Very poetic, but it's off point.

The amendment wants SEC to focus on protecting honest people from dishonest corporations and people, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chairman, I appreciate the comments; and, once again, I implore my colleagues to support this good amendment to keep the SEC on task.

Their job is to protect investors from dishonest people and dishonest corporations; and with the passage of this amendment, we will do that.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The Florida International Bankers Association has reported to me that, over the past several months, they have seen as much as $300 million leaving United States banks for overseas banks.

Why is this money leaving the United States, and what can we do to stop the hemorrhaging?

The adoption of this amendment will stop the hemorrhaging of hundreds of millions of dollars--soon to be billions of dollars if this amendment is not adopted. This is according to the studies on earlier, scaled-back proposals by the Internal Revenue Service.

For nearly 100 years, the United States has had in place a policy that encourages foreigners to put their money in our banks in the United States. We have told them that the United States is a welcoming and safe place for their deposits. Earlier this year, apparently clueless about the financial conditions we were in as a Nation, the IRS finalized a new rule to take effect in January 2013 that basically sends the message to law-abiding foreign depositors that U.S. banks don't want their money. Under this rule, the United States would no longer provide these law-abiding depositors with the confidentiality that they've had and that they need.

The new IRS rules would impose cumbersome new reporting requirements for law-abiding foreign depositors and for foreign depositors who live in nations where corruption is rampant. They will simply withdraw their money from the United States institutions and put their money to work in other nations around the world. This is bad for the United States economy.

There has been strong bipartisan opposition to the IRS proposal. The entire Florida delegation--all 25 members, every Republican and every Democrat--wrote the Treasury last year, asking them to withdraw the regulation. Bipartisan letters have gone to the Internal Revenue Service urging them to withdraw the regulation, and bipartisan legislation has been filed in the House and in the Senate to stop the regulation.

Each day Congress refuses to act, deposits are leaving the United States for Singapore, Panama, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and elsewhere. This money will not return to the United States once it leaves. Most importantly for our communities, this capital will not be available to our small businesses and families when they need it to build in America. The new regulation will harm the U.S. economy, and we must stop its implementation.

Ironically, this same regulation from the IRS was rejected about 8 years ago when the bureaucrats at the IRS thought it was a good idea then. A strong bipartisan effort in Congress led to the IRS withdrawal of the rule, and we must do that again today.

If you share my commitment to economic recovery and believe that the United States should be a welcoming place for foreign depositors who want to put their money to work in the United States, then I urge you to join in support of this amendment. Please vote ``yes.''

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, how much time do I have remaining?

This is not just about banks. This is about jobs, this is about mortgages, this is about the economy, and this is about our communities prospering. Information can be shared today on a case-by- case basis. If the IRS suggests to you otherwise, it's just not true.

There's a common misperception. Let's not forget how fortunate we are to live in the United States of America.

Too often, too many people forget this, it seems. We live under a stable government and a relatively stable economy compared to some of the other countries we receive deposits from. Many nonresident deposits come from countries where the governments themselves are very unstable, where their personal security or their property are major concerns. It's very probable that the depositor's personal bank account information could be leaked to unauthorized persons in their home country--to governments, criminals, or terrorist groups--which could make the depositors and their families targets of extortion, kidnappings, and other potentially fatal criminal activities. Imagine living with that over your shoulder every day.

Assurance from the IRS bureaucrats that your information is safe won't calm those fears. Our Pentagon has been hacked. I asked the Secretary of the Treasury if we would stand personally liable for any breaches that would cause a loss of life or harm to people whose information was betrayed. They said they would not be willing to do that.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

I don't know how many deadbeat taxpayers are in Venezuela or Cuba or Iran, but I think it's ludicrous to think that we would want to put American investments in other countries. We're looking at, according to the Mercatus Center at George Mason, a possible capital flight of $88 billion, and this is opposed to maybe, at the high side estimating, we'll recover $800 million from tax cheats, hopefully. That's just not a good percentage. That's not a good investment. That's bad business in any sense of the word.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of a good commonsense bill that will help our economy recover and help America stay strong.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Richard Keith Salick whose recent and sudden passing has left a hole in the hearts of the entire Space Coast community as well as surfing enthusiasts worldwide, lifelong friends, family, and those affected by kidney disease.

Born October 6, 1949, Richard and his twin brother, Phil, learned to surf together in their early teenage years, traveling to exotic surfing hot spots around the world making a name for themselves and eventually both were invited to join Dewey Weber's California-based Surf Team. At that time, Dewey Weber's team had only a limited number of team members from the East Coast but it also consisted of the top surfers in the world.

As Richard worked his way up the up the ladder, he earned a spot on the United States Surfing Team, was selected to join the World Contest Team and signed a contract with Hobie Surfboards. A short time later, at the age of 23, Richard fell ill and was told he needed a kidney transplant. Aided by his twin brother Phil, who was his first kidney donor, Richard recovered but was told all physical sports were out of the question--including surfing.

After a year of recovery, Richard could no longer ignore his desire to return to competitive surfing. He was the first person to develop an ``Ensolite'' padding system which he strapped around his abdomen to protect his transplanted kidney and went on to place second in his first competition. Richard continued to win surf contests and proudly displayed one of his trophies at the dialysis unit at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, inspiring other kidney patients.

Richard continued to surf professionally and was dubbed by Nephrology News as ``the First Professional Athlete to Return to Active Competition after a Transplant.'' Upon retirement in 1980, Salick was ranked the Number 1 surfer on the East Coast in the 24-35 year old division. In 1985 Richard and his brother Phil co-founded the National Kidney Foundation Pro Am Surf Festival raising millions of dollars over the years. This festival is one of the largest charitable surfing events in the world.

``Richard Salick has received many prestigious awards over his lifetime including the ``Nancy Katin Award'' at the United States Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach, California. This award was given to one competitive surfer each year and voted on by all the worldwide surfing association presidents.

``Rich also built eleven-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater's first surf board in Cocoa Beach.

Over the course of Richard's life, he endured a total of three kidney transplants all donated by his brothers Phil, Chan and Wilson. In January of 2000, Salick was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame as an ``East Coast Surfing Legend'' and was also inducted into the Black Belt Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2008 along with his son David. Besides being an accomplished surfer, inventor, inspirational speaker, and post transplant athlete, Richard would say that his greatest accomplishment was raising his two sons Philip and David, both world class athletes.

Richard has personified the successes of extreme sports activity post transplant and has served as an inspiration to all he met including transplant patients around the world. He will be missed but his legacy and spirit will live on.

I move to strike the last word.

We were at home watching NASCAR on television a couple of years ago, and my wife said, What are the armed services doing sponsoring NASCAR cars? Don't they have a better use to spend their money than to spend those big bucks on NASCAR?

And I said, Well, Katie, I can understand why you would think that. But, you know, we have a volunteer military, and they have to advertise for recruits somewhere. Where would you think the money would be better spent?

Do you think they should advertise at the philharmonic? Or maybe you think they should advertise at the ballet. We could surely get some burly,

mean paratroopers if we advertised at the ballet. I think that NASCAR is a very appropriate place to advertise for recruits, just like boxing rings might be, cage fights might be.

So I made some inquiries about it to our armed services, and they said, you're exactly right on point. As our good friend, Mr. McHenry, from North Carolina shared with you a little while ago, the statistics are overwhelmingly in favor of expenditures where you get the greatest return. And the NASCAR sponsorship seems to have the greatest return, which results in the greatest savings for our taxpayers back home.

Now, I wish we were spending this time right now, rather than trying to micromanage how our military most efficiently advertises for recruits, discussing the $14 billion our government overpaid to people who were not entitled to unemployment compensation, but got it anyway.

I wish right now we were discussing the $4 billion in refunds in the form of tax credits our government has given to bogus dependents of people who are here illegally.

I wish we were talking about the millions of dollars we've wasted in the GAO.

I wish we were talking about the millions of dollars we've wasted in crony capitalism investment in Solyndra and the like, and so-called green energy enterprises.

But no, we're not. We are sitting here today. Some people are trying to micromanage how our military gets recruits for its all-volunteer Army, and they are telling the people who are best at managing our military how to do their jobs. It's an old adage. It's an old cliche. It seems like everybody knows how to make a baby stop crying except the person holding it. I think, in this case, that applies, and I think we should yield to the best judgment of our armed services in how they feel they need to recruit.

I have seen Democratic Presidential candidates advertise on NASCAR. I saw a Democratic gubernatorial candidate advertise on race cars. As far as Okeechobee Speedway, I was at Okeechobee Speedway once, and I ran into somebody from the other side of the aisle whom I never expected to see at a racetrack.

I said, What are you doing here?

She said, Well, when person ``blank,'' who was running for Governor, decided we needed to focus on middle America, she decided she wanted to sponsor a race car at Okeechobee Speedway.

Before that, I didn't even know there was an Okeechobee Speedway.

She said, Do you know what? It was the best investment of campaign money we've ever spent.

These are from the other side of the aisle. I'm sure I could talk a lot about my friends on this side of the aisle and about how they've made good and wise investments, too.

Again, in this case, I'd like for you to rely upon and reflect upon the comments made by Mr. McHenry, who talked about the very pure and simple results and accountability that has been achieved by letting the military--the people we trust the most with protecting our country and our freedoms--do the job that they are entitled to do.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for the bill before us today that would repeal the health care law. The new health care law is unworkable, unaffordable, compromises the doctor-patient relationship, and undermines individual liberty and personal freedom. It was for these reasons and others that I opposed the bill two years ago.

Let's remember that this health care law was drafted behind closed doors and the American people were told by congressional leaders at the time that Congress had to pass it so that the American people could see what was in the 2,000-page bill. Americans have begun to see more of what is in the bill, and according to the latest polls most Americans want the law repealed. Dozens of states, including Florida, have indicated that they will do what the Supreme Court has said they can do, and that is to refuse to implement key components of the law.

For America's senior citizens there are key provisions of this law that are of great concern. The Congressional Budget Office's March 1, 2010 analysis concluded that the health care law cuts Medicare spending by at least $500 billion. It also leaves in place the flawed Medicare physician payment system that threatens senior's access to physicians as it allows a 33% reimbursement cut to take effect on December 31, 2012. This will harm seniors' access to medical care.

The new health care law makes deep cuts to Medicare Advantage plans, which will result in millions of seniors' losing their MA health plans. In fact, millions of seniors' were scheduled to lose their MA plans on December 31, 2012, except that the Administration ``found'' money to plug the hole for one year so that seniors would not receive a letter two months from now telling them that their MA health plan would no longer be available to them. Seniors are also very concerned about the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which has broad unbridled authority to unilaterally eliminate Medicare benefits. IPAB must be repealed.

Americans were promised that they would be able to keep their current health care plan, but millions of Americans would have already lost their plan had a temporary waiver not been granted to simply delay their loss until next year. Millions more will lose their current coverage and be forced into government directed health care in 2014 if this law is not repealed.

Americans were told that the law would save money and would ``only'' cost $938 billion. However, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently raised the 10-year cost of the law to $1.8 trillion. The United States has a national debt of over $16 trillion and we simply cannot afford the new law, as it will continue to saddle future generations of Americans with debt they cannot possibly repay.

We were promised the health care law would ``lower your premiums by $2,500 per family'' by the end of 2012. But even the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2011 Annual Health Benefits Survey found that premiums increased by over $1,200 in just the first year since the law's passage and they expect premiums to continue climbing.

We do not need the health care law's 159 new federal agencies and boards that are being created to stand between you and your doctor. Twelve of the nearly two dozen new taxes included in the law will specifically increase taxes on those making less than

$250,000 a year. These new taxes will not make health care any cheaper, but will further add to the tax burden that is straining family budgets and hampering the ability of small businesses to create jobs.

While I believe that there are shortcomings in our health care system, this health care law was the wrong prescription, and it is for that reason it should be repealed and replaced with a plan based on individual choice, personal liberty and economic freedom.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is very simple. It prohibits taxpayer dollars from being used for the Department of Transportation's International Highway Technology Scanning Program. According to the Department of Transportation, this program enables the Department's officials to access innovative technologies and practices in other countries that could significantly improve our Nation's highways.

I, and most taxpayers, really don't have any problem with that. If someone else has a good idea, we can and we should learn from that. But most taxpayers were outraged when ABC News and Citizens Against Government Waste highlighted that this program was bankrolling globe- trotting junkets across the world.

One such trip featured a 17-day ordeal to Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Great Britain to look at billboards, all the while, racking up taxpayer bills at five-star hotels and restaurants. Among the important research conducted by the team was a trip to Scotland to evaluate ``road furniture along rural roads.'' And in the Netherlands they took a serious look at ``examples of outdoor advertising.''

When the Federal Government is up to its neck in debt, such expenditures truly are an abuse of the taxpayers. As a result, Citizens Against Government Waste was able to apply enough pressure to the agency to suspend the $1.2 million annual program. We're not really sure what ``suspend'' means, if it's for a day, a week, or a month.

ABC News reported that upwards of $12 million has been spent on the program since the year 2000. I see the suspension of the program by Transportation Secretary LaHood as a really good start, but there is still no guarantee that such waste will not resume, as nothing in law would prevent the program from being resurrected in the future. This amendment, very simply, will ensure that the program will not come back to life during the fiscal year 2013.

Mr. Chairman, Washington is approaching another trillion-plus deficit. We simply cannot afford five-star junkets.

I urge support of the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Offered By: Mr. Posey

Amendment No. 8: At the end of the bill before the short

title, insert the following:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to my colleagues' attention to the Posthumous Purple Heart Ceremony of WW I Veteran Mr. Charles Henry Klingelhoefer born April 16, 1876 in Baltimore, Maryland, taking place in Brevard County, Florida, He is survived by his niece Ms. Diane Roberts Vess of Melbourne. More specifically, on February 6, 2012, the United States Coast Guard will honor the memory of the brave men who served on the United States Coast Guard Cutter Tampa. Mr. Klingelhoefer, one of five brothers, was assigned to the United States Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, and served as a Warrant Carpenter.

The Purple Heart was presented in honor of those who received fatal wounds in the sinking of the United States Coast Guard Cutter Tampa at 8:45 p.m. on September 26, 1918--the largest known loss of life by any U.S. naval combat unit during World War I. Under the command of Captain Charles Satterlee, the Tampa served as a convoy escort protecting ships carrying critical Allied war material in European waters. The officers and crew earned the praise of the commander of the United States Naval Forces based at Gibraltar for the ship's wartime operational effectiveness.

On that fateful evening, having just completed another successful escort mission from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom, the Tampa departed the convoy and proceeded toward the port of Milford Haven, Wales. A short time later, the shock of an explosion was felt by several of those remaining in the convoy. U.S. destroyers and British patrol craft conducted a three day search of the Tampa's last known position, but found only two unidentified bodies and a small amount of wreckage identified as belonging to the Tampa. German records suggest that the Tampa was sunk by U-Boat 91 because it had reported sinking an American warship fitting the Tampa's description at that time and date.

One hundred-fifteen people, including 111 Coast Guardsmen and four Navy men, perished that evening. The distinguished record of the officers and crew of the Tampa is most heartily commended and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.

Mr. Charles Henry Klingelhoefer and the crew of the Tampa laid their lives on the altar of freedom for the benefit our nation and our way of life. On behalf of the United States Congress I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the sacrifices endured by Mr. Charles Henry Klingelhoefer and the crew of the United States Coast Guard Cutter Tampa.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the life and service of Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret) Bob Lay for his distinguished service to the U.S. Army and his nation. Colonel Lay honorably served his country for thirty-one years.

After an Army career as a helicopter pilot in which Colonel Lay served three tours in Vietnam, he retired from the United States Army

in August 1994. During his last assignment, while serving as the Commander of the United States Army Readiness Group, at Patrick Air Force Base, he also served as the Department of Defense Coordinating Officer responsible for coordination of all disaster response and recovery missions assigned to the Department of Defense in wildfires in Georgia and in Hurricane Andrew in south Florida. He also served as the manager of the Disaster Field Office in Albany, Georgia, during the floods of 1994.

Bob served as the Director of Brevard County Emergency Management from April 1997 until his death on January 11, 2012. I applaud his commitment to our community, military and the future of our Armed Services.

Former Governor Lawton Chiles appointed Lay to the Governor's Wildfire Response and Mitigation Review Committee following wildfires in 1998, and he represented the Central Florida Region as Emergency Management Co-Chair for Central Florida Regional Domestic Security Task Force since 1999. He served on the Regional Local Emergency Planning Committee and on the Joint Toxic Hazard Control Team representing the public surrounding Kennedy Space Center and Canaveral Air Force Station. He was instrumental in establishing unity of effort as a regionalization of resources within the Central Florida Regional Domestic Security Task Force area.

Lay was recognized by the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association as the Emergency Management Professional of the Year for 2003 and received a Distinguished Service Award from the National Hurricane Conference in 2004 for outstanding leadership in response to hurricanes Charlie, Frances and Jeanne.

Bob was the President of Ascension Lutheran Church's Congregational Council and served on the Board of Directors of the Community Services Council and the Eastern Florida Maritime Area Security Committee, as well as representing Emergency Management on FEMA's National Advisory Council.

Bob is survived by his wife, Patti, two sons, a daughter and three grandchildren. This is a sudden and tragic loss for our community. Bob was a great guy, a true leader and someone who we all relied on to get us through the hurricanes, storms and other devastating events. He was calm in a crisis, cool under pressure and there was not a challenge Bob wasn't ready to face. Bob embodied the true meaning of public service.

``Bob has been an absolute rock for many, many years,'' said Brevard County Sheriff Jack Parker.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends that knew and loved him.

I am honored to rise in support of Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret) Bob Lay's service to our nation, and I am proud of his commitment to the cause of liberty, freedom and public service.

Mr. Speaker, as an elected Representative from one of the states hardest hit by the financial crisis, I strongly support H.R. 2056, introduced by my colleague, Representative Lynn Westmoreland, which takes a closer look at how our Nation's small community banks are failing at the hands of overzealous regulators.

H.R. 2056 directs the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Government Accountability Office to study whether certain practices and procedures employed by federal regulators while examining financial institutions has played a role in a record number of community banks failing in recent years. Among these are important issues relating to loss-sharing agreements and examiners' policies relating to appraisals.

Among other things, the FDIC must determine whether financial institutions are being placed into receivership or conservatorship due to significant losses arising from loans for which all payments were made on time and the contractual terms of the loans have been met. With Congressman Westmoreland, I believe that a performing loan is exactly that--one that is performing according to the terms of the contract. A regulator should not be able to step in and interject an opinion on why the loan may not perform at some point in the future, and thus penalize a community bank.

The introduction and passage of this bill indicates that there is a real world problem here, one that deserves swift diagnosis and treatment. I have heard from bankers time and again that regulators have shifted away from considering objective evaluations of loan performance, such as borrower payment history, and looked instead to subjective opinions on whether a loan may experience difficulties in the future. No business can thrive in that kind of volatile environment. Community banks are struggling in Florida. To make matters worse, surviving banks are operating in fear of overzealous regulators and as a result, small businesses are finding it almost impossible to obtain the capital they need to expand and hire more workers. Community banks are the lifeblood of our local communities and are best positioned to help our economy recover if they are able to make loans, using reasonable underwriting standards, without being penalized by their examiners.

It has been shown that states with the highest number of bank failures also have the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the country. That being said, it will be difficult to realize a full national economic recovery without addressing the issue of why so many small banks are closing their doors and why so many of them are unable to make loans in their community. As Congress continues to work to see that our economy recovers, it is essential that we press regulators for answers to the issues raised in Representative Westmoreland's study.

No one wants to see a repeat of what transpired in 2008 and the effects that still linger on today. However, we must remember that small banks did not cause the financial crisis. Their business practices are by nature thorough and cautious. I urge my colleagues to take a serious look at the issues raised by Representative Westmoreland and join me in pressing financial regulators for answers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the life and service of Jeremiah Thor Sancho, a Specialist with the United States Army, who laid down his life for our freedoms on October 13, 2011, while performing his duties in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Mr. Sancho was a JRROTC Member and 2006 Graduate of Palm Bay High School, who honorably served his country as a member of the A Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York.

Mr. Sancho's military decorations include: The Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Army Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Action Badge, and the National Defense Medal.

Jeremiah, or ``Jerry'' as he was better known to friends and loved ones, is survived by his wife, RaiAnne Sancho; his loving parents Janet and Bernardo Diaz; Sister, Jaell Diaz; Brothers Bernardo ``E.J.'' Diaz, Jovon A. Diaz; Aunt, Darlene Caraballo; Uncle, Edward Anthony Izquierdo; Grand Parents, Edward Izquierdo, Enrique Diaz, Gary and Jeannie Boyer; Mother-in-law, Sharon Bocco; Father-in-law, Joe Bocco; Brother-in-law, Joseph Bocco; Sister-in-law, Catherine Bocco; and many more friends and family members. Several hundred people attended the memorial service that was conducted at the First Baptist Church of Melbourne in Melbourne, Florida on October 28, 2011.

Jerry will be remembered by those who admired him as a fun loving, avid comic-book fan, gamer, and budding artist. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

There's no greater honor than to lay your life down for another. Jeremiah T Sancho paid the ultimate sacrifice and we'll always remember him for that. We've lost another great American, and he will be truly missed. Jerry is a true hero.

Well, first I will comment on the value of buying homes on credit. I think it's a pretty good idea; but when you go to get qualified for a home, the rule of thumb is that you should buy a home roughly not more than 2.5 times your annual income. If you compare that to our known debt of $15 trillion, our revenues of about $2.2 trillion, you would see that if our debt was a home loan, it would be 14 times our annual income. No lender would loan you money under those circumstances; they would say you are bankrupt far beyond any possibility of recovering. And that doesn't include the $60 trillion unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. So I don't know if that was really a very good analogy.

Now, to my point, there is an old political axiom that says that anytime you promise to steal from Peter to pay Paul, one thing usually happens: Paul votes for you. Total revenues, as I just said in answer to the chairman's question, are about $2.2 trillion; total expenses the Federal Government spends, $3.6 trillion.

Where does the money come from? Rather than balancing our budget like every hardworking American family, 49 other States, and virtually every local government in the country, Congress instead currently puts about 40 percent of every what has been described as ``vote-buying'' dollar it spends on our kids' and our grandkids' credit cards, to the point where each American family's share of the national debt is about $125,000--actually, in excess of $125,000. It will be hard to stop the spending. It will be like taking drugs away from an addict.

Since Congress--Republicans and Democrats--has not shown the political will to be accountable, I believe a voter-mandated, balanced budget constitutional amendment is the only hope this country has to preserve the American experiment at representative self-government. And I urge Members of this body to begin thinking about the next generation instead of the next election.

Madam Speaker, nearly every State in the union is required to balance its budget each year, including my home State of Florida. Our counties, cities, school boards and special districts are all required to make financially responsible decisions with the hard-earned tax dollars of Florida's working families and small businesses.

It is long past due for Washington to do the same, which is why the Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is one of the first bills I cosponsored as a new Member of Congress in 2009.

For 235 years, the United States has been the greatest economic success story the world has ever known. Yet, the most significant threat ever to our continued success is our unprecedented and rapidly growing national debt. From 1776 to 2008, Washington accumulated a debt of $10.6 trillion. Yet in just the last 3 years alone, another $4.4 trillion in debt has been added for a grand total of $15 trillion and counting.

Washington doesn't just have a spending problem. It has an insatiable addiction to spending money it does not have and it is threatening our children's future. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called it the greatest threat to our Nation.

The last time the House voted on and passed a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution--back in 1997--the national debt stood at $5.4 trillion. That year the Balanced Budget Amendment fell just ONE VOTE short of passage in the Senate. It's something I like to call ``The Ten Trillion Dollar Vote.''

So, you might ask: How do these gigantic numbers relate to the American taxpayer? Because of Washington's failure to control spending, each and every taxpayer's share of the debt amounts to $130,000. It gets worse. On our current path, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the national debt will reach $23 TRILLION in 2015. That's $200,000 in debt per taxpayer. This must change.

The American people were promised in 1997 that Washington would balance the

budget without a Balanced Budget Amendment. Given what we now know, it's ridiculous to believe that Washington will balance the budget and begin paying down the debt without the requirement of a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Future generations of Americans deserve to live with the same opportunities we have had. Burdening them with this unprecedented debt load is immoral and unthinkable. Only by passing a Balanced Budget Amendment can we eliminate their greatest threat to success and guarantee them the same opportunities that we have had.

I urge my colleagues to support the Balanced Budget Amendment and set our Nation on a more financially responsible and stable course.