Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, this is a great day, a great week for America. Here we are celebrating not only our great veterans, who have given us our freedom and our way of life, but also our great police officers, who stand between ourselves and a more chaotic environment. We are grateful for everybody that steps up, not only our men and women in uniform who have represented us, but also our men and women in blue.

Mr. Speaker, I represent the Second Congressional District of the great State of Maine. This is the largest geographic district east of the Mississippi River. We have an 8-hour drive if you go from Fryeburg to Van Buren over beautiful country roads, all kinds of critters in the roads, including moose, so you have got to be careful when you are driving, but let me tell you, we also have 125,000 veterans in the State of Maine, more than half of which, Mr. Speaker, are in the Second District.

We love our veterans in the State of Maine. We absolutely love our veterans. We honor them, but we only have, Mr. Speaker, one veterans hospital in the State of Maine. It is in Togus, the first VA Hospital in America to take care of our veterans coming back from the Civil War. But, you know, if you live in Frenchville, Maine, or you live in Van Buren, you might have a 3-, 4-, or 5-hour drive to Togus at 2 o'clock in the morning when the snow is blowing sideways in February.

We need to make sure we give folks an opportunity--who served our country--to get healthcare closer to them. It just makes sense.

Now, a lot of people, Mr. Speaker, say, ``Well, we don't want to privatize the VA.'' Neither do I, and nobody wants to, but it makes sense to make sure we augment what they can do so our veterans can get healthcare closer

to home, and that is exactly what this program does.

Now, one thing I have to mention to you, Mr. Speaker, is that some of our rural hospitals who have contracted with the VA and provided great services to our veterans have not been getting paid on time. This is a real problem when you have got a small hospital that might not have bills paid for 1 to 2 years.

Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure all of our rural hospitals in the State of Maine and throughout the country get paid, and this bill says if they are not paid within 30 days, then interest starts accruing on that.

This is a great win for our veterans, for our small community hospitals that need to stay open for everybody, and for this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America.

The Maine Elks Association is a strong, community-minded, and patriotic organization that supports our veterans and local communities in various ways.

Since the Elks incorporation in 1868, it has become one of America's oldest and largest fraternal organizations in the country. Its members have proved to be strong Americans, leaving a legacy of youth-oriented, charitable, and community service programs that are all encompassing.

Today, the legacy of the BPO Elks and other honorable citizens thrives in Maine under current Maine State President, David Anderson. The Maine State Elks Association is celebrating their fundraising efforts for the Maine State Elks project, Maine Children's Cancer Program, and the fact that they have raised over $4 million to date for the children of Maine.

We are so proud to have Elk members in the heart of our Great State of Maine, and I am honored to serve in the United States Congress on behalf of its members. As we celebrate the Elks, we look forward to many more years of tradition and community projects.

Mr. Speaker and distinguished colleagues, please join me in recognizing the 150th Anniversary of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and wishing its members the very best in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, my fellow Mainers woke up to heartbreaking news: Corporal Eugene Cole, a deputy at Somerset County Sheriff's Office in Norridgewock, was shot and killed in the line of duty. This horrific act was the first killing of a police officer in Maine in almost 30 years.

Every day, Mr. Speaker, for 13 years, Eugene Cole put on his uniform and his equipment and set out to protect our families in Maine. Mr. Cole served central Maine with honor and integrity and a relentless sense of duty.

Mr. Speaker, Maine is one of the safest places in the country to live and work and raise your kids, and that is because of heroes like Eugene Cole. I am so grateful for his work and his sacrifice.

On behalf of all of my fellow Mainers, Mr. Speaker, I send our deepest sympathies to the family of Eugene Cole. I will be praying for them during this very, very difficult time.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to wish Mr. Michael A. Mullins a very happy 80th birthday, which he celebrated on February 1. Mr. Mullins faithfully served our country for 40 years in the U.S. Army and as a civil servant with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency before his retirement in 2001.

I would like to thank Michael for his service to the United States, and wish him a year full of blessings and good health.

Mr. Speaker, the big career spenders here in the House and in the Senate who have only recently found fiscal discipline, well, today they have the chance to join me to vote for, vote ``yes'' for, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

When I was the Maine State treasurer, Mr. Speaker, I helped make sure that Augusta's books were balanced without gimmicks. Now it is well time that Washington is forced--forced--to live within its means just like every other family and small business in the State of Maine.

Mr. Speaker, 49 States in this country have constitutional amendments at the State level to make sure they spend only what they take in. It is about time Washington has the same discipline. Mr. Speaker, it is not fair and it is not right when career politicians spend every single nickel that they collect from you in taxes and then borrow as much as they want to spend more. The spending in this town, Mr. Speaker, is out of control.

A lot of us have seen enough. That is why I ask every Republican and every Democrat in both the House and in the Senate to pass a commonsense, balanced budget amendment to our Constitution.

I am very proud to say, Mr. Speaker, that the first piece of legislation that I cosponsored the day after I was sworn in 3 years ago was a balanced budget amendment. Every big spending bill in this town is loaded with pork. The process is terrible. To force an up-or-down vote in the 11th hour on a bill that is a couple of thousand pages long does not make sense. A balanced budget amendment would finally force Washington to prioritize our spending, like we do for those of us who run businesses or balance a family checkbook. Prioritize our spending, and that will help eliminate waste. And that only will lead to balancing our books and then having the ability to start paying down $21 trillion in debt.

I look, Mr. Speaker, at these young adults in the gallery. It is immoral to saddle these great young adults with $21 trillion in debt, and rising, that they have got to pay. A Federal Government's budget which is legally required to be balanced will force the House and the Senate, even with the Senate's harmful 60-vote filibuster rule, to spend only what we take in.

Mr. Speaker, this is our chance, today, to start running our government more like a business, more like a family budget. It is common sense to spend only what we take in.

Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest gifts we can give to our kids and grandkids is taking care of this spending and this debt problem so they are not saddled with a mountain-load of this stuff. America, today, Mr. Speaker, is watching. Who has got the guts, which Republicans and which Democrats in the House and the Senate? Who has got the guts to stand up and do what is right and pass a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution?

I will. I look forward to it. I ask everyone to join me.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding me the time, and I thank the chairman for moving this very important piece of legislation through our committee, the Financial Services Committee, and onto the floor.

This is a commonsense bill, Mr. Speaker, that I encourage everybody, Republicans and Democrats, to support, H.R. 4566.

Throughout the great State of Maine and across America, Mr. Speaker, we have millions and millions of small

savers and small investors who are planning for their retirement or for the college education for their kids or their grandkids.

The people of Maine, Mr. Speaker, are the most honest and hardworking folks you can find anywhere, and every week thousands and thousands of Maine families are setting aside small parts of their paychecks into an IRA or a 401(k) plan so they will have enough money for their retirement, or setting aside small amounts of money for their son or their daughter to attend a college, a community college, a university, or a technical school.

Today, Mr. Speaker, almost 55 percent of all American families, about 100 million of our fellow Americans, entrust these savings to mutual funds and other pension advisers such that they are able to grow and to provide them with a larger nest egg down the road.

These asset managers, Mr. Speaker, are currently operating under the uncertainty of whether or not they will be subjected to very costly and, in many cases, unnecessary stress test regulations which are designed for large money center banks with very different functions in our economy.

Mr. Speaker, when a bank takes in deposits from its customers, it is obligated to return those deposits and, hopefully, with interest. Now, it is important that those banks have enough reserves to make sure that, during a recession, they are able to meet those obligations. For many of these banks, stress testing does make sense.

However, Mr. Speaker, mutual fund and other asset managers perform a very different function. If one invests for their retirement or their college savings, their goal is to grow that nest egg, but it is not guaranteed to be the case by the asset managers who are performing that job. In effect, Mr. Speaker, these asset managers of mutual funds serve as an agent for the investor and the small saver, with no liability to return these savings in full; but, of course, they take the risk for a better return down the road.

Now, if you do have a huge money center bank with tentacles running throughout the economy and that bank fails, it could represent a systemic risk to our economy. But investors in a poorly performing mutual fund are simply able to switch their account to a better performing mutual fund house in order for a better return down the road with no systemic risk to the economy, in part, Mr. Speaker, because the assets themselves are held at a bank custodian. They are not even held at the mutual fund company or at the asset management firm.

Now, my bill, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4566, exempts most nonbank financial institutions, like mutual funds, from costly stress test requirements. And this, Mr. Speaker, is so important to our small savers across the country because, when you have costly, cumbersome, and unnecessary regulations, they are paid for by the savers in these mutual funds and by these pension fund investors. And when they are paid out of their rate of return, their rates of return drop, and, therefore, the value of their nest eggs drop.

Mr. Speaker, government should be in the job of helping our families live better lives with more financial security, and H.R. 4566 helps us do just that by removing one-size-fits-all regulations that fit for lots of banks but not for the asset management community.

Today, Mr. Speaker, approximately 4 percent of the expenses of asset managers are for complying with regulations. If we do nothing, that number is expected to go up to 10 percent of their expenses, just on compliance, within 5 years. Now, that makes a big difference because the higher the expenses, the lower the rate of return, the smaller the nest egg for those who are saving for college or for retirement.

To give support to my point, Mr. Speaker, for the past 10 years, economists at our own Securities and Exchange Commission and at our own Treasury have not been able to design a stress test for asset managers and for thousands and thousands of mutual fund companies across the country, and that is because it makes no sense to try to do so.

Stress testing as a prudential regulation simply does not fit every participant in the United States financial services sector. There are intrinsic differences between banks and asset managers, and my bill, Mr. Speaker, recognizes that difference and properly exempts most nonbank financial institutions from stress tests. That, in turn, again, Mr. Speaker, will lower the cost and increase the rates of return for Main Street investors across our great State of Maine and across America.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity to address this very important issue, and I encourage everyone, Republicans and Democrats, both sides of the aisle, to please vote ``yes'' for H.R. 4566, Alleviating Stress Test Burdens to Help Investors Act.

Mr. Speaker, who says that a terrific Representative from one of the most urban areas in the country, Los Angeles, California, cannot get together with a Representative from one of the most rural parts of America up in the great State of Maine?

I thank Ranking Member Waters for her extension of bipartisanship. I also thank Chairman Hensarling very much for brokering this. This is going to be a great day for America, a great day for Maine, and a great day for California.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity very much. You notice, Mr. Speaker, those who do not live in the great State of Maine are very envious of those who do; so I take full advantage of the moose, bear, and other critters that we have in the State of Maine.

Right now, today, Mr. Speaker, I am talking about H.R. 4263, the Regulation A+ Improvement Act, and I want to congratulate the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. MacArthur) for the great work he has done on this bill, and I want to thank Chairman Hensarling for bringing this bill to the floor. It is very important for all of us to consider this.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we all know what we want in this country, which are more opportunities and more jobs for our kids--better opportunities for our kids so they will have better lives and more freedom. This cannot happen, Mr. Speaker, unless our businesses are able to grow and hire more individuals and pay them more.

Now, that mostly can only happen, Mr. Speaker, if businesses are able to more easily borrow money. The chairman and I both know that the government's job is to help our economy grow, not get in the way.

That is why Reg. A+ cuts through the red tape such that more small- and medium-sized businesses are able to access capital, grow their operations, and hire more people. In a sense, Reg. A+ has implemented, Mr. Speaker, billions of dollars of new financing and has led economic growth in small to medium businesses to grow and present more opportunities for their workers. So Reg. A+ works. We know that because the evidence is there.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by saying, Mr. MacArthur's bill is a commonsense technical adjustment to a bill--a rule, rather, that works. It simply increases the amount that companies are able to borrow under this rule that works.

Please, everybody, Republicans and Democrats, support Mr. MacArthur's bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman very much for helping bring this very important bill to the floor. I also thank Chairman Rob Bishop from Utah, who also was very instrumental in bringing this bill to the floor. In addition to that, I thank all of the staff members of the Natural Resources Committee here in the House for all their great work. This is so important to our State.

Mr. Speaker, the great State of Maine is called Vacationland. Now, we have a population of just 1.3 million hardy souls in Maine. However, every year, our population swells to about 40 million vacationers from all over the world. We have such stunning natural beauty in Maine in a pristine natural environment in all these welcoming small towns that it is no wonder that people flock to Maine.

Now, right smack in the middle of midcoast Maine is our crown jewel called Acadia National Park, and we just love Acadia National Park in Maine. We are so proud of this. If you happen to vacation in Maine--if you haven't, you and your family deserve a vacation to Maine. If you drive up to Cadillac Mountain, you see this panoramic view of Penobscot Bay, and coming out of those sparkling waters of the Atlantic are these green-topped islands. You might rent a bike and go to these terrific, groomed historic carriage trails that wind through the woods of Acadia. Take your kids down to Sand Beach, right in Acadia National Park, and when their toes hit that ice-cold water, they shriek with joy. This is Maine. We are very proud of Acadia National Park.

Mr. Speaker, I do have to say that a couple of years ago, unfortunately, Acadia National Park expanded beyond its boundaries. This is because there was conflict in a couple laws that date back quite some time. Now, I am very happy that my bill that I worked on with great help from my fellow Member of Congress, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree from the First District, clarifies this boundary for Acadia National Park. It also closed a few loopholes but still allows the boundaries to be adjusted in very minor ways with abutting pieces of property.

Now, I made it clear, Mr. Speaker, that I would not sign on to this boundary clarification issue until one more thing is done, and that is to protect the livelihoods of hundreds and hundreds of hardworking Mainers who harvest bloodworms, sandworms, clams, and periwinkles along the mud flats around Acadia National Park.

Now, those folks who visit Maine from Utah or Kansas and spend a lot of money to come up and vacation in Maine expect to see the great ocean in front of them, Mr. Speaker. But because the Moon revolves around the Earth and the gravitational pull of the Moon causes one of the unique things in Maine, we have big tides. So if you are vacationing in Maine and you find out when you wake up in the morning the water is gone, don't worry about it. Six hours later, it will come back.

Now, the ebb and the flow of the tides in Maine along the coastline create what we call the intertidal zone. It is a zone between the high watermark and the low watermark.

Now, in the State of Maine, we are very clear that this land is owned by the people of Maine, not by the Federal Government. So I was alarmed a couple of years ago when some of the people called me up and said: Mr. Poliquin, we worked an entire tide, and someone from Acadia National Park didn't understand the rules and asked us to turn over our bucket.

Now, we have hundreds and hundreds of families that rely on harvesting in the intertidal zone, and we have to make sure that we have corrected this problem.

Now, this is a clear example of what we call the public trust doctrine. This common-law document, which we adopted from the British ancestors, gives public access to this land between high and low waterlines for the purpose of ``fishing, fowling, and navigation.''

Now, unlike some States, Mr. Speaker, some property owners in Maine own to the low watermark of the tidal range, so this doctrine is incredibly important for the public to have access to our flats for these purposes.

This bill that we are passing today codifies the unique ownership and public access rights of Maine fishermen on the intertidal who have worked on this for hundreds of years. Traditional harvesting is meant to include the harvesting of clams and worms, which are harvested by hand with a rake at low tide, and the collection of periwinkles. It also includes accessing intertidal areas by boat at all tides for the purpose of harvesting these species.

Now, to be clear, the intent of this bill is for ``traditional harvesting.'' By doing so, this will ensure that our wormers, clammers, and others who live in the area will continue to be able to do what they have been doing for many, many years.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate again Chellie Pingree, my compatriot from the First District who did a great job on this, our staffs, and the staff of the Natural Resources Committee. We extended ourselves, Mr. Speaker, in a bipartisan way to all the stakeholders in the area, including the Acadia Advisory Commission, the Maine Marine Worm Harvesters, the Maine Clammers Association, the National Park Service, the Friends of Acadia, and all those who want to make this right for the boundary of Acadia National Park forever to be cemented in law.

At the same time, we protect the livelihood of some of the hardest working people you will ever find in this country, Mr. Speaker. These individuals will rake and dig for these worms in the summertime, in the hot weather, and in the wintertime when the snow is blowing sideways.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage everybody to vote for this bill.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for moving this very important package of bills through the Financial Services Committee and now to the floor.

Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate a terrific Congressman from the State of Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for the great work he has done in reconstituting the TRID Improvement Act. This bill, Madam Speaker, is designed to help our homeowners or would-be homeowners go through the process comfortably and efficiently, and also help our financial professionals who help them, in turn, to secure residential mortgages.

This bill, as has been noted earlier, Madam Speaker, passed with very strong bipartisan support, and I encourage everybody on the floor, Republicans and Democrats, to weigh in with a ``yes'' vote on H.R. 3978.

Now, Madam Speaker, Mr. Hill's bill has two very important pieces that help our families and also help our economy grow.

First, in title I, section 101, this bill allows title insurance companies to accurately disclose the premiums they charge for their service and also the discounts that are available to our home buyers across the country. Right now, the CFPB does not allow such disclosures, which is unfair and confusing for our home buyers.

Madam Speaker, secondly, in title V, section 501, this bill includes the Eliminating Barriers to Jobs for Loan Originators Act, of which I am proudly a cosponsor. This bill, Madam Speaker, allows mortgage loan officers at a bank to move to do the same work at a nonbank financial institution without sometimes waiting weeks or months for redundant and unnecessary relicensing.

Now, that is just not fair, Madam Speaker, to the folks who are trying to help our families secure mortgages so they can move into a new place to work.

I encourage everybody on both sides of the aisle to support this excellent bill. It is bipartisan. Again, I congratulate the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), and I salute our chairman for moving this so quickly through the process.

Madam Speaker, Downeast Maine, along the Canadian border, is one of the most stunningly beautiful parts of the world, but, sadly, it is also one of the poorest.

During the past 30 years, Madam Speaker, most of our paper mills in Maine have closed because of high taxes, harmful regulations, unfair trade, and a declining demand for paper. However, Madam Speaker, the Woodland Pulp and tissue mill is doing quite well: 500 well-paying jobs with benefits, the largest private sector employer in Washington County, in Downeast Maine.

Today, Madam Speaker, the Federal Government has a chance to help. Since 1836, the Woodland mill has managed an upriver Forest City water storage dam to make sure the river and the lake levels in the area are properly maintained, and this makes sure that the fragile and world- class salmon and bass fisheries are protected.

But now, Madam Speaker, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is demanding that the Woodland mill spend $6 million on a fish ladder and other requirements in order to renew its license. But the dam already has a fish ladder that works fine, and it does not generate any electricity for the mill, and it cannot afford the $6 million price tag for these unnecessary requirements.

Now, the Maine Legislature, Madam Speaker, has already voted to allow Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife to assume control of the dam to make sure this wildlife habitat and the property owners are protected and that the mill can continue to prosper without these undue and unnecessary regulations.

Madam Speaker, I ask today, right now, that FERC do what is right and allow the transfer of the ownership of this dam from the mill to the State of Maine, which solves this critically important problem in one of the poorest areas of the country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Town of Mexico, Maine. Mexico is a small mill town, full of hardworking Mainers with a strong, community-minded spirit.

Since its settlement in 1780 and incorporation as a town on February 13, 1818, Mexico has proved to be a friendly and welcoming town, supporting and fostering freedom and

independence. The name ``Mexico'' flows from its residents' admiration for the country of Mexico, and its struggle and separation from Spanish domination. An active military town, Mexico sent over 80 of its very own to fight with the Union Army during the Civil War. Notable individuals such as Chummy Broomhall, a World War II soldier, American cross country skier. and Olympian, and the Hon. Charles Walton, former Maine lawyer and United States Congressman hail from Mexico, Maine.

Today, the legacy of these and other honorable citizens thrives in Mexico. It is a growing town, hosting a branch of the University of Maine system, a technology school, and an adult learning center. Countless convenience stores, mini malls, and more are becoming increasingly common in the town. Each year, Mexico's ponds, lakes, golf courses, and ski areas attract hundreds of tourists to the area and showcase some of Maine's best natural resources and beauty.

We are so proud to have Mexico in the heart of our Great State of Maine, and I am honored to serve in the United States Congress on behalf of its citizens. The town is a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family. As we celebrate Mexico's Bicentennial, we look forward to many more years of tradition and vibrant growth in the town.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the 200th anniversary of the Town of Mexico, Maine, and wishing its residents the very best in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to salute Chellie Pingree, my cosponsor on this bill, H.R. 2504, for the great work that she has done and that we have done together.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you that the job of government is to help our families, to help our small businesses, such that the kids and the young adults in Maine can stay in our State, such that they can raise their families and have a wonderful life.

The best part of the world is in the State of Maine. Now, Ms. Pingree represents the southern part of our coast, Mr. Speaker, the southern half, from Camden down to Kittery. I represent the downeast part of our coast, from Lincolnville up to Eastport.

Now, in the downeast part of our coast, mostly we are the folks that dive for the sea urchins and cucumbers. These are little critters that are delicacies in the Far East. We might not eat them here in Washington, but they are delicacies in the Far East. And in Chellie's district, the southern part of the coast, they process these critters.

Mr. Speaker, this is very dangerous work. The folks that harvest these sea urchins and cucumbers strap on tanks and go into deep, dark, cold waters off the coast of Maine, and they are doing a great job getting this product to market.

This product is incredibly perishable, so it is very important to get them from the bottom of the sea floor in coastal Maine onto their boats, down to Portland where they are processed in Ms. Pingree's district, and then onto a truck, down to JFK, get them on a plane, and get them to the Far East and sell as many of these critters as is humanly possible.

This is where the problem comes in. As Ms. Pingree said, we already inspect this perishable delicacy in Maine. We do not need, Mr. Speaker, a second set of regulations that inspect them down in New York.

And God forbid that it is on a holiday and folks don't show up to inspect them.

What happens to this very perishable product?

It sits in a warehouse on a tarmac where it is exposed to things that would cause them to go bad.

So we need to do commonsense Maine stuff here, which is to eliminate overregulation. We already inspect this product in Maine. We don't need to do it again down on a tarmac in New York.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage everybody, Republicans and Democrats, to work the way Chellie and I have on this, in a bipartisan manner, to make sure our families in Maine have an opportunity to dive for sea cucumbers and sea urchins and get them to market as quickly as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for giving me the time to speak on this; I thank Ms. Pingree for the same. I really appreciate leadership moving this through the floor here. I hope we have a very big, bipartisan, unanimous vote on this, because it is commonsense Maine. It is the right thing to do.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Pingree. I appreciate her work on this. Congratulations.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Tipton for managing the floor today on this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. Hensarling, for moving this very important bill, H.R. 2255, through the committee and on to the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate and thank Mr. Trott, a terrific representative from the State of Michigan, for all of his work on this bill to help families and charitable organizations throughout our country.

Mr. Speaker, the great State of Maine that I represent, the rural part of our State, has the oldest average age in the country. We love our seniors. I know not only in Maine, but across the country, they are very special parts of our society. My parents are 89 and 87. I am very involved in their lives, especially in their healthcare.

I worry, Mr. Speaker, about our seniors. I worry about their healthcare. I worry about their safety. And one more thing I worry about, Mr. Speaker, is about them becoming victims of financial scams.

Now, this happens throughout our country, and has increasingly so, such that, today, almost $3 billion is the result of scamming our seniors every single year. I will tell you, these con men, Mr. Speaker, become very creative.

In particular, one type of scam that I have learned about just absolutely hits me home. A grandmother receives an email from, supposedly, a granddaughter, and this granddaughter is stuck overseas in a country where she has been traveling. She is emailing her grandmother, saying: ``Gram, I need money. I am in trouble. Can you please wire $10,000 to this bank account in this country so I can get home? And, by the way, please don't tell mom and dad.''

Mr. Speaker, can you imagine the confusion and the heartache that grandparents would have receiving this sort of email?

Well, the good news, Mr. Speaker, is that the Senior Safe Act, which I authored here in the House, along with Ms. Sinema, is embedded in Mr. Trott's bill, H.R. 2255. This bill, the Senior Safe Act--now part of Mr. Trott's bill--will help stop financial scams of seniors before they happen.

It is a commonsense bill, Mr. Speaker, such that if a bank teller speaks to one of his or her customers they have known for maybe decades, and the senior says, ``I would like to close my account and wire the proceeds overseas,'' this bank teller can stop, pause, call the authorities, and say, ``We might have a problem here, Mr. Smith, so let's get back to you on that,'' and the teller can do this without retribution from our privacy laws.

Mr. Speaker, I ask everybody, Republicans and Democrats, men and women, to please support H.R. 2255, which the Senior Safe Act is embedded in.

Mr. Speaker, all businesses in America, large and small, should be fairly and predictably regulated, including those companies in the financial services industry.

Now, Mr. Speaker, when the real estate market collapsed in 2008, Washington did what it does often. It overreacted by imposing smothering layers of new regulations on small community banks, credit unions, and retirement advisers, when it should, Mr. Speaker, have focused its attention on eight or nine large, major money center banks that have tentacles that run throughout our economy.

Mr. Speaker, the goal of Dodd-Frank was to increase regulations on financial institutions that could bring down the economy if they got in trouble.

Now, the problem, Mr. Speaker, is that this regulatory net was cast so wide, it caught our small community banks and credit unions in having to deal with costly, unnecessary, and redundant regulations.

I travel the State of Maine, Mr. Speaker, and meet with our small financial institutions. They tell me: Bruce, we are spending so much time and money hiring compliance officers to deal with these regulations instead of loan officers to make sure we get money out to our families and our small businesses can borrow and grow.

God forbid, Mr. Speaker, that the Bangor Savings Bank or the Maine Family Federal Credit Union in Lewiston gets into trouble. If they do, they will not bring down this economy.

Why in the world should they be imposing or have to deal with this additional layer of regulations as they are designated as a SIFI?

Mr. Luetkemeyer's bill is a terrific bill. It is common sense. It is bipartisan. It will require the Federal Reserve to finally factor in the role and the function of these financial institutions in the economy, instead of arbitrarily based on assets.

This means, Mr. Speaker, that our community banks and our pension advisers, our retirement advisers and credit unions will be able to focus on growing the economy and extending credit so our families can get a home mortgage, maybe buy another automobile, or maybe one of the lobstermen can get a new diesel put in their boat for the season.

The is a good bill, Mr. Speaker. I am grateful that Mr. Luetkemeyer introduced H.R. 3312. I encourage everybody on both sides of the aisle to help American businesses and families by supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I speak today and rise in support of the rule for H.R. 1638, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Hensarling also for moving this very important bipartisan piece of legislation through the House Financial Services Committee.

Additionally, I want to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who supported my bill last year. Unfortunately, it got stuck in the Senate, so we are doing it over again this year in the House.

Mr. Speaker, the primary responsibility of every Member of Congress is to help keep our families safe. Embedded with that promise is to support and defend our Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, moms and dads in Maine and across America are increasingly alarmed by the frequency of terrorist attacks here at home, with another attempted attack 2 days ago in New York City.

Mr. Speaker, today, there are 1,000 ongoing investigations of terrorist activity by the FBI in all 50 States.

Mr. Speaker, that is why H.R. 1638 is so important. It is a commonsense bill that will help keep our families safe and free. In doing so, we should never make this a political issue.

Mr. Speaker, the Iranian Government is one of the chief sponsors of terrorism and instability throughout the world. Their senior political and military leaders and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps train, arm, and fund terrorist organizations around the world. They have become experts at using the internet and social media to radicalize, to recruit, and to direct terrorist attacks around the globe, including here in the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, the Iranian Government has American blood on its hands.

Now, there are approximately 70 to 80 top political and military leaders in Iran that control about one-third of its entire economy. They use their power to corrupt the telecommunications, the construction, and other important industries in that country.

A recent investigation by Reuters found that the Supreme Leader in Iran alone has accumulated tremendous personal wealth through a foundation claiming to help the poor. So while the corruption has grown, the average Iranian citizen earns the equivalent of $15,000 per year.

Mr. Speaker, the citizens of Iran and the people of the world should know how much wealth has been accumulated by these chief sponsors of terrorism and what the money is being used for.

Companies across the globe looking to possibly do business with Iran should also understand what they are dealing with before they invest.

That is why my Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act is a straightforward, main, commonsense bill. It simply requires the U.S. Treasury Department to collect, to maintain, and to post online the list of these 70 or 80 senior political and military leaders in Iran, their personal assets, and how that money was acquired and what it is being used for.

My bill requires the Treasury Department to post this information on their website in English as well as the three major languages that are used and spoken, rather, in Iran: Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri. The information should be available, easily downloaded, and shared by everyone who wants to see this.

Mr. Speaker, I might also add that this information comes from publicly available sources. It is not classified information.

Now, I have heard folks say: Well, this is not a good idea to expose the Iranian Government's corruption in their funding of terrorism, because, if you do, we might not be able to work with these people.

Are you kidding me?

These are the radicals who regularly chant ``Death to America.'' It doesn't make sense to hope that they will abandon their support for terrorism by not shedding light on their corruption. Mr. Speaker, hope is not a national security strategy.

My bill helps make sure Congress gets its priorities straight when it comes to this issue. Protecting American families here at home and helping to safeguard our troops overseas, where they are fighting for our freedom, is the right thing to do.

Mr. Speaker, so let's use one click of a computer from any corner of the globe to help expose the illicit activities of the chief sponsor of terrorism in this world. Secrecy and corruption breed more terrorism by governments like those in Iran.

Let us stand up, Mr. Speaker, for every peace-loving nation around this world, and let's stand up to protect our families here at home.

Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the time and the consideration. Please vote ``yes'' for H.R. 1638, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act.