Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, every day, over 3,200 children are aborted in this great country, the same country that is called the land of the free and the home of the brave. This isn't just unacceptable; it's a horrific tragedy.

And my heart goes out to all women who feel that abortion is the only option. God made them special and made their children special too. These children aren't free and will never have the option to be brave.

Currently, in Philadelphia, Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor, is on trial for multiple counts of murder. One count is for a woman who died during an abortion at his clinic.

The horrific findings in Mr. Gosnell's clinic serve as just one more devastating wake-up call. As a country, we should work to protect everyone, including women and children.

When will we be bold enough to enact serious changes?

These children are precious and are truly gifts. We should not use any taxpayer dollars to fund abortion. And I also believe that we should prohibit abortions for unborn babies who are more than 20 weeks old in-utero, which is why I recently cosponsored the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Yesterday, I had the distinguished opportunity to greet three busloads of Florida World War II veterans participating in an Honor Flight.

In total, more than 80 proud Floridians who bravely fought to free the world of evil during World War II had the wonderful opportunity to visit and reflect at their memorial. As the son of a World War II veteran, I was blessed to have the opportunity to join my father as he participated in a previous Honor Flight just 2 years ago. Although he has since passed on, I know he truly cherished this great experience.

American veterans are the backbone of the freedom and prosperity this country has enjoyed for over 200 years. Without their service, we would not be the Nation we are today. We would not enjoy the privileges of this democracy--the greatest experiment in government known to mankind. Unfortunately, veterans across the country continue to encounter unacceptable problems and delays in receiving appointments from the Veterans Administration for essential medical and specialty health care needs.

That is why I am proud to introduce H.R. 241, the Veterans Timely Access to Health Care Act.

This legislation, supported by the Military Officers Association of America, will ensure that veterans seeking medical care from the VA facility receive an appointment within 30 days. Moving forward, this legislation will go a long way in ensuring veterans' critical medical needs no longer slip through the cracks of the system.

As I continue to reflect on the proud history and service of the many World War II veterans like my good friend Charlie Clark, with whom I visited yesterday and whom I had the pleasure of knowing for several years as a member of the local YMCA, I will also look forward to ensuring that our youngest generation of veterans receives the support and timely access to health care that they have so honorably earned.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to the Grijalva substitute amendment.

The amendment before us right now does nothing to get our nation back on a sustainable spending path. Instead, it proposes devastating cuts to the Department of Defense that would threaten our national security. It does nothing to protect the solvency of the Medicare trust fund. And this budget further complicates the tax code by creating five additional income tax brackets.

Americans are in this economic crisis together. We must work together to overcome these challenges that are having devastating effects on our economy, the jobs market, and could seriously hinder the standard of living for the younger generations.

The House budget, the Republican Path to Prosperity, builds upon the bipartisan Fiscal Commission which my bill, the 'Bowles-Simpson Plan of Lowering America's Debt Act,' also does. To be effective, Congress must eliminate waste and restore fiscal discipline to the government. The Simpson-Bowles Commission has given us a framework to implement targeted cuts so we don't have to subject the American people to arbitrary across-the-board-cuts again. The budget before us today is the way to go.

At a time when our country is more than $16 trillion in debt--all of which is saddled on our children and grandchildren--Congress must act to end the years upon years of rampant, runaway federal spending that has occurred under both political parties.

It's Congress' job to pass a budget that is balanced and carefully spends Americans' hard-earned tax dollars. I urge my colleagues to reject the Grijalva amendment and instead implement the House Republican budget, the responsible, balanced budget which builds on the Simpson-Bowles Commission's suggestions, and will foster a healthier economy and help create jobs across America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a good friend and an American hero, Gerald Virgil Myers.

Virgil passed away on Sunday, March 10, at 94 years old.

He served our country in the Army during WWII, having fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Three American G.I.s discovered the Buchenwald Concentration camp from entering the west gate; Virgil was one of them. At the time when he entered there were 26,000 inmates in the camp.

He earned many honors including the Silver Star medal, the Bronze Star medal with Valor, the Purple Heart medal, the Infantry Combat Badge medal, the Good Conduct medal, the Victory Medal WWII, received the Medal of Honor from Luxembourg Government, the Mairie Medal by French Government, was declared an Honorary Citizen of Luxembourg in 2004, and an Honorary Citizen of France in 2005.

When he returned home from the war in January 1946, he was discharged from the Army. He went back to work for Quaker Oats Co. in Kansas and attended night classes at Johnson Business College. Virgil and his wife, Emma ``Bobbie'' Tracy Myers, retired to Lakeland, Fla. Bobbie and Virgil had celebrated their 70th anniversary before Bobbie's passing.

He loved golfing and traveling and was very involved in the community, as a member of the Polk Co. Veterans Association and a President of Central Florida Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge.

We in central Florida and all across America owe a debt of gratitude to this great man and his service to our country and community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 25 years of service that David Wendel has given to the Catholic Church as a Deacon.

He started as an altar boy at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Lakeland for Father Bryan Walsh. He continued to serve at St. Joseph's and then also started serving at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Lakeland in the mid-1980s.

Mr. Wendel became one of the first 500 volunteers to join what is now known as AmeriCorps and assist our country.

His commitment to service led him to believe that if you see a problem, you must get involved in fixing it. He encouraged many members of his family to get involved in their communities. Every Saturday he took his nephew, Brian, to visit the elderly and handicapped which helped create a foundation for service in Brian's life.

Mr. Wendel now serves at a church in Georgia.

I want to thank him for his 25 years of service to our community and country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.

Unfortunately, with the pending sequester, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that they may close 238 control towers, including the tower at my local airport.

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport hosts the annual 6-day Sun 'n Fun fly-in that celebrates aviation and is the second-largest event of its kind in the world. This Sun 'n Fun fly-in is also the second largest convention in the State of Florida. It provides a $50 million economic impact to the region

each year. The potential closure of the tower is unacceptable.

As we know, President Obama initially proposed the sequester in 2011. I voted against its creation, and I voted twice to replace its arbitrary cuts. Americans deserve real solutions and genuine accountability. Improper payments by the Federal Government exceeded $115 billion in 2011. Surely, the President would be willing to address those improper payments before allowing the sequestration cuts to take place.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your efforts and leadership on this particular issue.

Mr. Speaker, at a time when our country is more than $16 trillion in debt, I rise today in support of H.R. 273 and in support of my colleague from Florida's efforts to hold the Federal Government more accountable to taxpayers.

As a former chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, I held hearings about the discrepancies in compensation and benefits between Federal employees and private sector employees. And it's interesting to see what we found out. For example, the Congressional Budget Office found that the total compensation for Federal employees was 16 percent greater than that for the private sector employees. The CBO has also reported that Federal employee benefits were 48 percent more costly than the private sector employees' benefits.

As a former small business owner, I'm shocked to learn how serious these discrepancies truly are. In the private sector, I've had the responsibility to make a payroll, balance my budget, and reduce spending during difficult economic times. At a time when our children and our grandchildren are funding the Federal Government with a credit card, Members of Congress have a responsibility to make the tough choices and reduce spending. That is why, during my time as chairman, I oversaw 2 years of Federal pay freezes.

However, these Federal pay freezes were not my idea. In fact, it was a bipartisan idea. The President, in his Simpson-Bowles Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, recommended a 3-year pay freeze for Federal employees. As a proponent of the Simpson-Bowles plan, I am happy that the House will be following through today on this recommendation.

Our talented Federal workforce performs exceptional duties critical to the effective day-to-day operation and functioning of our government. However, the government must also examine every area of its budget during

these difficult economic times in order to become more accountable to taxpayers.

Just so we're clear, this legislation also freezes pay for Members of Congress--that's right, Members of Congress, including my own--for the remainder of the year. If we are asking families of the Federal workforce to bear some of this burden and to live within their means, so should we, as Members of Congress, do the same.

With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan Bowles-Simpson recommendation and vote ``yes'' on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address that issue which will have a significant fiscal impact on the economic well-being of this country in just 16 days. That is the issue of sequestration.

I have to agree with the minority whip from Maryland, who earlier spoke today that it's time to stop the blame game. There is no need to blame any more about this terrible fiscal policy which we are about to sustain.

You see, across-the-board cuts that the looming sequester will implement in a couple of weeks are bad policy and a result of bad politics. I believe that we must cut spending, and I rise here in support of careful, targeted cuts.

It is a shame that 850 jobs will be lost in Florida schools while we build a $750,000 soccer field in Guantanamo Bay for terrorists. It's a shame that more than 26,000 special education students will see cuts to their education in Florida while government agencies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada. And it is a shame that more than 35,000 health care workers in Florida are projected to lose their jobs while more than $115 billion was lost in improper payments from this government in just one year.

We must ask ourselves, for every $1 that we are going to spend, is it worth mortgaging and borrowing our children's and our grandchildren's future for 41 cents for every one of those dollars. I submit to you that it is not.

Let's rectify this situation. I urge the Senate to take up the House- passed legislation, which would make targeted cuts to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse so that important essential government programs will not lose their funding.

The American people not only demand and deserve transparency in

their appropriation process, but they also demand and deserve that we be prudent and fiscally responsible in making sure we operate and appropriate within our means.

I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his exceptional work on this particular act.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the PLAN Act. For the past few years, our government has been operating off of stopgap measures that have led to frequent partisan debates and negotiations, threatening government shutdowns, and withholding pay from our men and women in uniform. At a time when our country is more than $16 trillion in debt, all of which is saddled on our children and grandchildren, we must act on the years upon years of rampant, runaway Federal spending that has occurred under both political parties. To be effective, we must create a plan for how we spend the hard-earned taxpayers' dollars. That plan is a budget--a budget that needs to balance over time.

The House has passed legislation each year that would work to balance our budget. Since the Senate will not take up our legislation that the country and the people of Florida so desperately need, we are calling upon the President to do his job: to propose a solution that will balance our budget throughout the next 10 years.

The Senate has not passed a budget in nearly 4 years. On Monday, this President, for the fourth time, missed his legally obligated deadline for filing his budget request. We're requiring the Senate and the President to show some leadership by submitting a budget plan to preserve America's future.

Mr. Speaker, I solemnly rise today in memory of more than 50 million innocent lives who were lost as a result of the Roe v. Wade decision that was handed down 40 years ago today.

As Americans, we have a moral obligation to protect the rights of the unborn, and to protect the sanctity of life.

That is why I was proud to cosponsor two pieces of legislation that would prohibit the hard-earned dollars of taxpayers that make up family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions.

Introduced by Rep. Diane Black and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, these bills will prohibit hundreds of millions of federal taxpayer dollars from subsidizing large abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.

As a Christian, a father, and a Member of the Pro-Life Congressional Caucus, I am deeply committed to preserving our nation's traditional family values and will always be a strong advocate for policies that value the sanctity of life.

`` . . . or as a Member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.''

Section 4:

``The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.''

Mr. Speaker, October 10th is the National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Despite its small geographical size, Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and a free market economy that respects human rights and the rule of law.

The United States and Taiwan have enjoyed a strong security and economic partnership for over half of a century. Our common interest in peace and security has guided U.S.-Taiwan relations and our commitment to Taiwan's security, as stated in the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, has enabled Taiwan to build a strong democratic government that, today, serves as a beacon for others in the region and beyond.

Similarly, Taiwan's economic partnership with us has benefited both countries. As a result, Taiwan is our ninth largest trading partner, with the United States importing nearly $36 billion worth of Made in Taiwan goods and exporting $26 billion in goods and services to Taiwan.

In recent years, the communications between Washington and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's administration has been smooth and effortless. However, there is still room for improvement. For instance, we still need to assist Taiwan's meaningful participation in world agencies, help Taiwan meet its military needs, negotiate a free trade agreement with Taiwan, and waive visa requirements for Taiwanese tourists coming to the U.S. With the support of the United States, I hope Taiwan's goals come true.

Congratulations to the people and leaders of Taiwan on their National Day.

Mr. Speaker, the President has twice told the American public, through his budget and deficit reduction proposals, that he believes our seniors should be paying more for Medicare if they want to stay in their homes. Twice in the past two years, President Obama has proposed mandating that Medicare beneficiaries pay--for the first time since the Medicare program came into existence--an additional out of pocket charge for their home health care services. Twice, President Obama has told seniors that they must choose between getting their care at home, where they have lived for years, and moving away from their homes, their belongings, and their communities to get their daily care at a nursing home or hospital.

Mr. Speaker, this choice is not only unnecessary, it is inefficient. Home health care providers deliver care management services, vital daily care, and in-home health care services at a low cost. We shouldn't tell our seniors, our parents, that they must choose between their home or their health care. We should keep home health care free of co-payments to ensure that they have the ability to remain in their homes, in their communities, and with their families and memories.

This is just another example of why ``Medicare as we know it'' will be bankrupt in ten years. Seniors who prefer home health care should always retain that option and be provided choices of plans that will ensure their wishes are granted, rather than live at the whim of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. Dignity, care, and being home are small comforts when one is ill, or dying. But, eliminating a cost effective provision of care that current seniors expect, paid into and bargained for, is wrong. Medicare must change for the future, and seniors deserve choice, but for those currently or near entering the system, the rules should not be changed at the last minute.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take a brief moment to say thank you to today's chaplain. I would also like to thank the Speaker for making this possible.

The invocation today was offered by Father Matthew Mello of Resurrection Catholic Church in my hometown of Lakeland, Florida.

Mr. Speaker, in 1963, my mother and father helped found the church Father Mello calls home. And like my parents and most Floridians, Father Mello is a geographic mutt: born in New Jersey, attended grade school in Puerto Rico, went to high school in Florida, attended seminary in Indiana, and studied theology in Chicago.

We don't know if he's a Yankees fan, a Cubs fan, or a White Sox fan. But one thing's for certain: since 1998, Father Mello has been a constant and reassuring presence in the spiritual life of countless residents of my hometown and to my family. His presence in my dad's final year of life was a comfort to him as well as to my family.

Father Mello personifies Christ's instruction to us to be the ``servant of all.'' I firmly believe, as the Bible also says, ``that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.'' Knowing Father Mello, I have no doubt that today's prayer was heard on high.

I thank him for his prayer today and his lifetime of service.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as cosponsor of H.R. 3009.