Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time tonight. It is my hope tonight that we will have a discussion in our country and in this historic Chamber on trade policy. I am delighted that two of my good colleagues have joined me to carry on this discussion.

A key tenet of international economic policy for the Trump administration has been to improve U.S. bilateral and multilateral trade arrangements with an eye toward enforcing reciprocity with our trading partners as it relates to tariff levels and the elimination of nontariff barriers. The goal: to simply achieve more market access for American goods and services.

Mr. Trump recognized this, campaigned on free and fair trade, and routinely emphasizes the importance of reciprocity between trading partners. He has stated that he prefers bilateral arrangements over multilateral arrangements by indicating that he did not want to pursue the Transpacific Partnership or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, one with Asia partners and one with the EU.

While it is true that bilateral treaties are easier to negotiate and acquire, select multilateral arrangements can achieve broad geopolitical and geo-economic strategic objectives.

In the case of TPP, it could, potentially, significantly leverage the economic clout of China in Southeast Asia and obviously link longstanding free trade partners across the transatlantic region with the TTIP.

President Trump has also initiated the effort to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, among the United States, Mexico, and Canada. He has called this agreement one of the worst ever, but has offered concrete ways to improve it and modernize it for current conditions in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. No doubt, these are, in fact, significantly different than back in 1992 when the NAFTA agreement was arranged.

This work continues in earnest, and I am pleased that the administration has made significant strides in improving NAFTA between Canada and Mexico over the past year, something that I think is very important in my home State of Arkansas, where Mexico and Canada are absolutely the largest trading partners that our companies and farmers have in my home State.

President Trump's objectives of changing the mercantilistic trade policies of China have proven more challenging. Tonight, we will talk about the President's strategy, because we want the United States to have an opportunity in China. We want a more open China trading process. We want more goods and services made in America sold in China.

But over the last 3 decades, China has developed into one of the world's largest and fastest growing economies, but also one of the world's largest protectionist economies, putting up barriers to American goods and services in both tariff matters and in nontariff ways.

We are going to talk about that tonight, and I would like to start by talking about that with my friend from Ohio. What is interesting is that this strategy of getting at a more open China, ending a more mercantilistic trading policy with China has taken a couple courses of action: one, the President has imposed section 301 under the Trade Act of 1974, going after China's intellectual property theft in the U.S., their ability to compel U.S. companies or companies from the European Union to give up their intellectual property in order to do business in China, clearly a violation. And so the President has proposed a 301 investigation and tariffs related to that.

He has also imposed tariffs under the 1962 act for national security purposes across the board on steel and aluminum--all countries, all products. And that is very challenging, Mr. Speaker, because, if the real issue is getting at China, the world's largest subsidizer and dumper of steel and aluminum, this may not be the most successful strategy to accomplish. That could, in fact, be a distraction from our ultimate objective in opening China.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), my friend, so that we can have his perspective on tariffs and trade and how we can improve and be more successful in getting the outcomes that we want.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Ohio. He is a valued member of the House Financial Services Committee, and his decades of work in private business and in manufacturing is ideal for this discussion. He knows about intermediate goods manufacturing and how a lot of those parts are made domestically, but some parts, critical parts, might be made abroad. Nonetheless, they allow us to create a competitive manufactured good here in the United States, employ Americans, and then potentially sell that domestically or export it to, yet again, another country. I appreciate his manufacturing expertise.

We are also joined tonight by my friend from Illinois, a distinguished member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Darin LaHood, who comes from America's heartland of agriculture and can speak to the issue of how do we achieve this outcome that we want: more open markets, fairer and reciprocal trade, but how do we do that in a way that minimizes the impact on American consumers and our agricultural producers.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. LaHood from Illinois, for his expertise in agriculture and these markets. I think it is very important to have his example.

I might react by saying the gentleman was talking about the power of working together. I was reflecting that if we were working together to leverage the challenges of China, we are about 15 percent of two-way trade with China. The European Union is about 15 percent or so of trade with China. Japan is another seven. Clearly working together on some of these issues that we have in common would give us more leverage.

Let me just outline four key objectives I think of U.S. trade policy with China that I believe would be shared by those two other groups that I mentioned, the European Union and Japan.

Ensure China fully complies with its obligations as a member of the WTO, including the beneficial agreements on government procurement, information technology, environmental goods agreement, and a trade and services agreement. These are things, Mr. Speaker, that we have worked on bilaterally and multilaterally since China entered the WTO in 2001, an admission I think now that many people question, was China really ready to join the World Trade Organization in 2001?

That is number one.

Number two, that we fully protect U.S. intellectual property rights and establish ways and means to cease government-directed cyber theft of U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property both for commercial and national security reasons.

I am reminded that Ambassador Winston Lord, the U.S. Ambassador to Beijing in 1989, when he was briefing President Bush 41 in preparation of his first foreign trip. President Bush's first foreign trip in February of 1989 was to China where he had served as our representative back in the 1970s. Ambassador Lord wrote that memo to the President and said:

You have got to talk about religious freedom, human rights. You have got to talk about Taiwan. You have got to talk about Tibet. And you have got to talk about theft of intellectual property.

This was in February, 1989, Mr. Speaker, and we are still debating that issue today, unresolved. I would say that the European Union shares that view.

Now, here is the amusing point. Ambassador Lord and the State Department team, when they sent that memo to President Bush 41, said that it was in its eighth printing, and they were sorry that the author wasn't getting any royalties for it. Meaning, we have been talking about this since we established diplomatic relations with China back in 1979, and we have been fighting this intellectual property theft.

Number three, seek changes in China's extensive industrial policies which protect domestic sectors and firms, particularly China's state- owned industries. China's objective is for these state-owned enterprises to be global competitors compatible with other trading partners, but they are not. They are state-owned. They are state- subsidized.

Finally, fourth, promote changes to industrial policies that provide open

and reciprocal treatment for American exporters of goods and services by reducing nontariff barriers and making China's tariff level comparable with U.S. tariffs.

I think those four things, Mr. Speaker, is what all of us agree on tonight, and I think they would benefit the European Union as well. But I think my friends hav made a good case that if we were to partner with the E.U. and with Japan, we would have a lot more economic clout in delivering on that negotiating posture.

I would ask my friend from Ohio, does he share that view? What are his thoughts about what are alternative strategies maybe in the steel and aluminum area?

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Ohio.

It is quite clear that in Article I the Congress exclusively in an enumerated power has the power of regulating commerce between foreign nations and, of course, we know setting duties, levies, and taxes as an Article I power. I think you make an important component, just like Congress partnered with the executive branch on how to rightsize certain overregulation in our economy from the previous administration or how Congress collaborated with the Treasury Department in designing tax reforms to make America more competitive to have people bring business back to the U.S., not be double taxed on foreign earnings. In both of those examples, as you note, we collaborated, the executive branch and the legislative branch.

So I do think that also would strengthen the sequencing of our strategy to get at the heart of what I think our key challenges are which revolve around access into China.

I ask my friend, Mr. LaHood, does he have thoughts on this line of discussion?

Mr. Speaker, my friend from Illinois mentioned enforcement. I was looking in the archives this week when I was thinking about China, and I found an article that I wrote back in 1996 as a private citizen about the Clinton administration's China policy.

The paragraph on China and trade reads like this:

China, as a world power, for her part, must recognize that

bilateral and multilateral treaties are to be enforced. Lack

of compliance with international treaty obligations must

produce a known and delivered set of sanctions by the world

community. China must clearly understand the consequences of

noncompliance.

I would argue so strongly about the gentleman's point that have we-- when I say ``we,'' I mean the United States, in the past two decades, the European Union as an entity and others--have we done a good job at enforcing those norms and those treaty provisions and those basic tenets of being a WTO member aggressively and collectively against China? I would argue we have a mixed record at best. But I think the gentleman makes a very good point about enforcement.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson).

Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about the steel and aluminum tariffs across the board. I have raised that issue before I was joined by many Members of the Congress on that issue because I felt like it came out of the blue to Members of Congress engaged in trade policy, whether on the House Financial Services Committee or on the House Ways and Means Committee, and that it was sweeping in its nature.

It has produced the challenge you talked about that 20,000 American businesses are trying to seek an exclusion from that.

I have several in my district, Mr. Speaker, who make the steel belts and steel-belted radial tires who are hurting. These are companies in Arkansas that use a steel rod that is not made in America, Mr. Speaker, and that is spun into the steel belt that is sold to the tire manufacturing industry. They are being hurt by this kind of across-the- board steel and aluminum tariff.

If we are concerned about a good, healthy aluminum industry for national security purposes and a good, healthy steel industry for national security purposes, then we ought to go after, directly, the world's largest dumper of steel and aluminum, which is China and their state-owned enterprise sector with their subsidies, and not sweep up everyone engaged in that intermediate goods manufacturing in America, not penalize our partners in Europe who share that concern with us, who could help us go after that.

Ambassador Lighthizer made a comment. He said: Well, one of the key reasons for going across the board like that was the risk of transshipment risk, in other words, violating the rules of origin, passing Chinese subsidized or dumped steel through a third country into the U.S., like Mexico, for example, or Canada, for example, just to name two possibilities.

That got me thinking: Well, surely--back on my friend from Illinois' comment about enforcement--there is a more elegant way to tackle what is really a regulatory issue, a transshipment risk, rule of origin risk. Why don't we see what others are doing?

So I looked at Canada. Just in March of this year, Mr. Speaker, the Canadians put in place a whole new regulatory regime working with the Americans to block rules of origin changes or transshipments of Chinese steel or aluminum through Canada. And, likewise, we have worked with the EU; and the OECD has their own steel committee that works to, on a regular basis, block that kind of work.

So I just wonder, if we had consulted and worked together, perhaps we could have taken a more sophisticated route at stopping steel and aluminum dumping that is damaging our American industry. We do need a protective steel and aluminum industry in this country, no doubt.

We also have good friends like Canada, good allies who produce it, but that is not to say that we don't want to have a vibrant industry here.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson).

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time of my colleagues tonight on the floor. We have worked hard tonight to talk about how do we have a more constructive partnership between the executive branch and the legislative branch like we do in designing economic policy, tax policy, regulatory reform policy, like this excellent description that Mr. Davidson gave of how we created a modernized CFIUS approach for reviewing investments into the United States.

We had full engagement with General Mattis at the Pentagon, Secretary Mnuchin at the Treasury Department, Secretary Ross at the Commerce Department, and the White House, with Senator Cornyn in the United States Senate, Andy Barr, Robert Pittenger here in the House working to create a collaborative approach regarding how to have a great national security policy for investment in the U.S.

I think we have all argued here tonight that, with our Article I engagement in the House Financial Services Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, we want to be a constructive partner on accomplishing the President's objective, which is fair and reciprocal trade, first and foremost, with China, and to finally break this cycle we have talked about tonight of inadequacy, of holding them to account, making progress, enforcing their rules of the road under WTO, all with a heart toward helping our consumers, having more choice, more free

trade, more opportunity to expand our economy, not contract, as we get into a downward spiral on a tariff-only strategy.

Mr. Speaker, we want to work successfully with this administration on a new and modern NAFTA and with a successful set of trading arrangements with our friends in Europe and in Asia.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from New York (Mr. Zeldin) for his leadership in this House on this important topic and for his voice that carries across all freedom-loving people about the relationship that we are trying to have with Iran; on the failures of the Iranian nuclear deal and why it is a bad deal for America and for our allies; why it has put the American people at risk and our security at risk, particularly for not only our country, but our allies, and, particularly, our ally Israel.

This deal has major flaws that have been noted over the past couple of years, including the sunset provisions, which never should have been included, and zero monitoring of the Iranian military or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sites.

It allowed continued research and development on advanced centrifuges for the Iranian nuclear program, and it didn't prohibit, Mr. Speaker, any ballistic missile technology. In fact, when Secretary Kerry was negotiating this deal, Iranian representatives traveled to Moscow, no doubt to attempt to acquire ballistic missile technology.

My concerns are shared, Mr. Speaker, by a large bipartisan group in the House, and I recall the votes in the Senate to disapprove this deal. These procedural votes in the Senate demonstrated that the nuclear deal negotiated by Mr. Kerry and Mr. Obama was well short of the treaty approval level--that is, two-thirds of the Senate--which would have been necessary had the Obama administration actually attempted to submit the JCPOA as a treaty.

Without decertification, this deal allowed Iran to head in the same direction as North Korea, and I support the President in his decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal.

Mr. Speaker, I pledge to work with my colleagues in the House like Mr. Barr from Kentucky, who chairs our Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade on sanctions; my colleague Mr. Zeldin on the Financial Services Committee; as well as our colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee who will support policies that will target Iran's terror financing, its missile technology, its violations of human rights, and, certainly, the topic of the night, its nuclear program.

It is well documented by the U.S. Department of State in multiple administrations that Iran is the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism. They have a history of arresting American citizens and citizens of other Western countries with no chance of a fair trial.

We must not forget the people of Iran who are living under the oppression of this extremist Islamic regime that is a persistent violator of human rights and religious freedom. Recently, just in May, the regime arrested a 19-year-old Iranian girl for posting on Instagram a video of herself dancing in her own room. Dancing.

I stand here tonight with the people of Iran and support their peaceful protests against the oppressive and corrupt mullahs in Tehran. The House took an important step earlier this year by passing a resolution in support of the Iranian people.

Today, Iran's economy is on the brink of collapse.

What happened to the $150 billion in freed financial assets that was unfrozen on day one in the Iranian deal? There was no quid pro quo on that. Those funds were freed, Mr. Speaker, on day one, whether Iran complied with the long-term aspects of the agreement or not.

What happened to the $1.7 billion, pallets of currency that were delivered to the mullahs by the Obama administration in the middle of the night at the Geneva airport? Where is that money for the Iranian people? It is not hard to guess where it went or who has it, which is why we passed Congressman Bruce Poliquin's bill, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act, a commonsense measure that will let the people of Iran see what the regime is doing with those billions, and what has happened to them since Iran got the money back.

I call on the Senate to pass this bill so that we can show the world how corrupt the regime is. Today, Mr. Speaker, the Iranian currency compared to the U.S. dollar is over 40,000 to 1. On the eve of the Islam Republic, it was 70 to 1.

The Iranian people have borne the brunt of 35 years of corruption and terror, and I stand with them tonight, and I stand against the failures of the deal that we ar talking about.

At this critical moment in Iran's history, I stand on the floor of the American people's House, and the Iranian people are in the streets, not chanting ``death to America,'' Mr. Speaker, but marching for the same endowed freedoms that we enjoy here every day: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Zeldin for hosting this Special Order and for giving Members the opportunity to participate and highlight the flaws of this failed nuclear deal, the importance of why decertification works, and the corruption and the brutality of the Iranian mullahs.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5783) to provide a safe harbor for financial institutions that maintain a customer account at the request of a Federal or State law enforcement agency, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as a former community banker, I have dealt with the conflict of wanting to help law enforcement agencies when receiving what is called a keep open letter, while not being able to because of the need also to comply with the requirements of my regulatory responsibilities, the rules on setting out how banks have to open and close a suspected account by a regulator.

Today, the overall purpose of this bill is to support law enforcement and reduce money laundering and terrorist financing through our banking system. That is why, along with my good friend from Illinois, Dr. Foster, I was pleased to introduce this commonsense bill. It enables partnerships without repercussions between law enforcement agencies and local community financial institutions by allowing law enforcement to monitor the cash flows associated with criminal investigations at a financial institution.

Under the Bank Secrecy Act and the anti-money laundering regulations, banks face strict rules for managing accounts so that they cannot facilitate money laundering, terrorism financing, drug running, or other illegal activities.

Sometimes banks receive notices from law enforcement agencies known as keep open letters. That requests a bank to keep open an account so that the law enforcement agency can track payments and better monitor criminals.

Such requests might come from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, local police, or any other law enforcement agency.

If banks help law enforcement comply with keep open letter requests, they in turn, unfortunately, risk being penalized by regulators for allowing an account to be open and continue to be open by someone who is suspected of a crime.

This commonsense bill supports those efforts by law enforcement by allowing the financial institutions to comply with the keep open requests and maintain a suspicious account without being penalized by regulators.

Financial institutions will no longer be liable for maintaining an account for law enforcement investigative purposes.

Under this bill, no Federal department or agency may take an adverse supervisory action with respect to that financial institution for keeping open such an account.

This is a commonsense bill and I urge all my colleagues to support it. It will give law enforcement the tools they need to prosecute bad actors and, I think, be better and more fair in its treatment for our financial institutions.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to just urge my colleagues to recognize this as a strong group of bipartisan work by Dr. Foster and it received solid support in the committee, that it balances the law enforcement obligations to investigate criminals, but also treats, in the regulatory system, our community financial institutions in a more fair manner. I hope all my colleagues will support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 435) to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to clarify Federal law with respect to reporting certain positive consumer credit information to consumer reporting agencies, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 435, introduced by my good friend from Minnesota, Keith Ellison, The Credit Access and Inclusion Act of 2017, would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to authorize the Department of Housing to furnish consumer credit reports to include an individual's payment history from rental payments for a dwelling, including HUD-subsidized properties, and payment history for utility and telecommunications contracts.

I want to thank my friend for this great piece of work on his part on making credit more accessible, making it easier to get the data that consumers need to build a credit record. It is not all just credit card payments, Mr. Speaker, or payments to banks.

This kind of work that my friend from Minnesota has tackled improves consumers' ability to build that very, very important thing in our society, which is access to credit.

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

Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank my friend from Minnesota. We have worked together on this bill during the year. I am pleased to see it back on the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I urge bipartisan support for helping all American consumers have a new and better way to help build their credit and get access to credit to preserve the American Dream.

Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers on this side, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4294) to amend the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to provide a criminal penalty for unauthorized disclosures of certain individually identifiable information by officers or employees of a

Federal department or agency, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an exchange of letters between the committees of jurisdiction.

House of Representatives,

Committee on the Judiciary,

Washington, DC, June 22, 2018.

Hon. Jeb Hensarling,

Chairman, Committee on Financial Services,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Hensarling: I write with respect to H.R.

4294, the ``Prevention of Private Information Dissemination

Act.'' As a result of your having consulted with us on

provisions within H.R. 4294 that fall within the Rule X

jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary, I forego any

further consideration of this bill so that it may proceed

expeditiously to the House floor for consideration.

The Judiciary Committee takes this action with our mutual

understanding that by foregoing consideration of H.R. 4294 at

this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over subject

matter contained in this or similar legislation and that our

committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as

this bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may

address any remaining issues in our jurisdiction. Our

committee also reserves the right to seek appointment of an

appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate

conference involving this or similar legislation and asks

that you support any such request.

I would appreciate a response to this letter confirming

this understanding with respect to H.R. 4294 and would ask

that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be

included in the Congressional Record during floor

consideration of the bill.

Sincerely,

Bob Goodlatte,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff), the author of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6069) to require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a study on how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to buy, sell, or facilitate the financing of goods or services associated with sex trafficking or drug trafficking, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend from California, Juan Vargas, and my colleague from Pennsylvania, Keith Rothfus, for their work together to cosponsor H.R. 6069, the Fight Illicit Networks and Detect Trafficking Act.

This is extremely important, and it is in keeping with the work that we have been doing in our subcommittee on terror finance, illicit financing, and also the work we have done on this House floor about stopping human trafficking that we see in this country and, also, the intensive work in the last 2 weeks on opioid legislation in trying to stop these kinds of drugs coming into our country.

This legislation would require the Government Accounting Office, the GAO, to study and report to Congress on how online marketplaces, including those on the dark web, are used as platforms to facilitate the financing of goods associated with drug trafficking or sex trafficking.

They would study payment methods, including virtual currencies and peer-to-peer payment services, that are also being used in drug and sex trafficking online; illicit funds that have been transmitted online and how virtual currencies are reintegrated into the U.S. financial system; and finally, Mr. Speaker, the study would have the participants of sex trafficking or drug trafficking trade online that benefit from the trade.

Although virtual currencies can be used for legal purchases, they have become a common financial payment method for criminals.

Online marketplaces, including the dark web, have become a prominent platform to buy, sell, and advertise for illicit goods and services associated with sex trafficking and drug trafficking.

According to the International Labor Organization, in 2016, 4.8 million people in the world were victims of forced sexual exploitation, and in 2014, the global profit from commercial sexual exploitation was $99 billion.

According to the U.S. Treasury's 2015 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment, an estimated $64 billion is

generated from U.S. drug trafficking operations.

Illegal fentanyl in the United States originates primarily from China and is readily available to purchase through online marketplaces. Certainly, all of my colleagues have heard extensively, over the last 2 weeks, the stunning horrors of how fentanyl has entered our marketplace, with one estimate that, just last year alone, enough came across our borders in this country to kill half the U.S. population.

According to the DEA, in 2017, the National Drug Threat Assessment, transnational criminal organizations are increasingly using virtual currencies. This bill will allow Congress to fully understand the extent to which virtual currencies are being used to facilitate drug and sex trafficking.

The bill will also study how virtual currencies can be used to detect and deter illicit activities and propose legislative solutions to fight these crimes.

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

Mr. Speaker, for the bipartisan work on this bill, I want to again thank Mr. Rothfus and my good friend Mr. Vargas. You can see that he has the heart of a Jesuit and the mind of a Harvard lawyer.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today during National PTSD Awareness Month to call attention to this topic that is so important to the lives of our veterans and their families.

Nowhere is the connection between PTSD and suicide felt more strongly than in the veteran community.

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and on average, we lose 20 veterans per day to suicide.

Far too many of our veterans are left with the difficulties of overcoming PTSD and addiction on their own. Our Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, led by Dr. Margie Scott, is one of nine systems nationwide that is currently involved in the Clay Hunt SAV Act pilot program in our Nation.

This program gives our VA employees the necessary tools to reach out to high-risk veterans and offer guidance, while providing essential suicide prevention services.

I have got three wounded warriors on my district staff, Mr. Speaker, and we are together dedicated to our veterans.

I am grateful to our veteran service organizations and our work together to spread the word on how we need to help our veterans avoid the crisis that comes with the risk of suicide.

To our vets, you are not alone. All vets believe in the buddy system, and the Veteran Crisis Line keeps that bond.

Please call 1-800-273-8255 if you are having a crisis or you know a veteran in crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5788, the STOP Act, sponsored by my good friend Mike Bishop.

This important piece of legislation would secure our mail system from fentanyl and other dangerous synthetic opioids that are flooding into the United States from foreign countries, namely China and Mexico.

The opioid crisis kills more than 100 Americans each day and caused more than 45,000 deaths last year alone. In 2016, more Americans died from a drug overdose than we lost in Vietnam. A third of those deaths are attributable to fentanyl.

Over the last few years, I have witnessed my kids losing their peers to this crisis, and it is terrifying.

Yesterday, I spoke to the mother of Nate Gordon, a young man from my district, who lost his life due to a fentanyl-laced overdose. Nate's mother and the rest of his family are heartbroken.

We have a responsibility to stem the tide of this crisis and prevent more families from suffering the tragic loss

of one who is loved to opioid addiction. A vital component of this effort is plugging the holes in our mail system and stopping illicit substances from entering the United States.

So far this year, Customs and Border Patrol, working with the U.S. Postal Service, has seized more than 790 pounds of fentanyl. That is enough fentanyl to kill 179 million people. To put that in perspective, that is more than half our population.

My friend Mr. Harris talked about the size of a grain of rice. How about 1 gram, Mr. Speaker, a Sweet'n Low packet, something that we use every day? It is enough to kill 500 people.

The STOP Act is a great companion to the bill I recently introduced with my friend Tom Cotton that provides the U.S. Postal Service with more resources to screen international mail to stop these insane amounts of drugs coming into our country.

I thank my friend from Michigan for his thoughtful work to implement this much-needed policy change. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Sam Shultz for his 40 years of service to Arkansas children at the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. As a former member of the Children's Hospital Board of Directors, it is a special pleasure for me to recognize Dr. Shultz for his recognition as a champion for Arkansas children.

He mentored and taught many of our pediatricians who are currently practicing in Arkansas. Throughout his career, Dr. Shultz worked with the Arkansas State Department of Health and the Department of Pediatrics to hold clinics in rural areas of our State. These clinics were primarily for children with health complications whose families had trouble traveling to Little Rock.

He also assisted in writing various Arkansas public health regulations, such as checking newborns for thyroid conditions and also increasing the number of nurses in our schools.

After decades of service to our Nation's youth, Dr. Shultz retired earlier this year. My congratulations on an incredible career, and best wishes for his future pursuits.

Recognizing the Service of Mr. Tom Foti

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of a man who has had an indelible impact on conservation and preservation throughout Arkansas, Mr. Tom Foti. Tom is retiring at the end of this month, after serving as the Arkansas National Heritage Commission's senior ecologist for over 2 decades.

Tom dedicated his life to answering the call to serve the outdoors. From

publishing ``The Natural Divisions of Arkansas'' to giving numerous educational programs for schools and the general public, he lived his life to serve our Natural State.

In 1976, he became the director of Arkansas Ecology Center, the organization he had volunteered for as a youth.

Tom's service to the State of Arkansas and to the environmental conservation area will never be forgotten, and I join all Arkansans in congratulating my friend Tom on a remarkable career and a well-deserved retirement.

Mount Vernon-Enola High School Cybersecurity Team

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Mount Vernon- Enola High School cybersecurity team for their second place win in the Air Force Association's National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

I would also like to personally recognize Catherine Holland, who is the STEM teacher, and introduced the program to the school.

The CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program was created in 2009 by the Air Force Association, to motivate students toward careers in cybersecurity. This is the first year the school has had a team in the competition.

The team consisted of five students: Lincoln Collins, Ty Wilson, Chandler Honeycutt, Gavin Harper, and Maddock Davis. The group was 1 of 5,584 teams that registered for the competition. The group showed dedication to the competition by practicing in the afternoons and on Saturdays.

I congratulate Mount Vernon-Enola High School's team and wish them much continued success in the years to come, both in school and in their future careers.

Recognizing the Accomplishments of Stacy McAdoo

Mr. Speaker, I rise today and recognize the accomplishments of Stacy McAdoo, a speech communications teacher at Little Rock Central High School.

Stacy was recently named the Little Rock School District 2018 Teacher of the Year. In addition to teaching communications, Ms. McAdoo coordinates the important college readiness program, designed to help all students develop the skills they need to be successful in college.

As a result of her hard work, Stacy was also awarded the Marian G. Lacey Educator of the Year Award, a top award within the Little Rock School District.

Stacy McAdoo's commitment to education is one all Americans and Arkansans can admire. I am proud to represent her and all of the teachers of central Arkansas who are making a difference in the lives of our young people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a great citizen of Arkansas and one of the pillars of Scouting in our State, John Carman.

John is retiring after 21 years of service as the Scout executive of Quapaw Area Council. He is the longest serving Scout executive in the history of the council.

During his tenure, John played an instrumental role in more than doubling the council's territory, currently encompassing over half the geography and half the population of the State of Arkansas.

Also, under John's leadership, the Quapaw Area Council, for the first time ever, was recognized as a Gold Level Council by the Boy Scouts of America's Journey to Excellence program, the highest award a council can earn.

After a 35-year career as a professional Scouter, John and Mary plan to move to Louisville, Kentucky, and spend more time with their beautiful family.

My congratulations to John on an incredible career and best wishes for his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Louisiana for the opportunity to speak tonight in the House Chamber on what the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has had across our country and, particularly, in the Second Congressional District of Arkansas.

Like for most Americans, Arkansans are actively benefiting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed by President Trump at the end of last year, through lower withholding rates--all Americans should check your check and look at the difference in withholding this year versus last year--a streamlined tax filing process, a doubled child tax credit, a doubled standard deduction, Mr. Speaker, that now says 9 out of 10 Arkansans living in the Second District can file a simple tax reform and not have to go through the paperwork of itemizing, and flexibility in tax advantaged savings for their kid's education has expanded to K through elementary and high school. This helps our families, Mr. Speaker.

I hear numerous examples from Arkansans and business people across the district of how they are seeing that benefit manifested besides the changes in their paycheck.

My friend, Mr. Crawford, referenced Entergy Arkansas. All C corps that are utilities in this country are required to share the benefits of our tax cut directly with the households in their electricity bills and their gas bills. Those rates are falling directly proportionate with the reduction in tax cut rates to the point that Arkansans will save about $20 a month on a typical electrical bill.

I had a woman write me just a few months ago, right after the law passed, saying that she checked her check in February on withholding, and she found that the change in withholding now paid for the health insurance premium that she is covering for her daughter. These are not crumbs, as alleged by certain leaders in Washington. These are dollars our families get to spend in a way that benefits them.

A local banker in my district announced $500 bonuses for each of their 800 employees, Mr. Speaker. That is

real money, in addition to the tax savings. That executive at the bank said:

The tax reform has created the opportunity for us to reward

our employees who are working hard each day to both serve our

customers and enrich relationships in our communities.

Those are not crumbs, Mr. Speaker.

And to make a statement like calling you keeping more of your money crumbs, that just shows you how out of touch some political leaders are up here in the beltway.

Real families in Arkansas and across our country want to have more income for our families. Our businesses want more money to invest because if we invest money, we grow our companies faster. We add employees, and we boost the GDP. We are part of that American Dream that we are witnessing with the lowest unemployment rates in decades, the highest optimism in decades.

Arkansans and Americans should know that House Republicans are working hard on policies to complement the tax reform package to help them keep more of what they earn.

I commend my colleagues for the work that we have done to bring American families and businesses tax relief. For years to come, there will be benefits from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It was a long wait for 30 years to get this change, but it is reminiscent, back in 1963, of President John Kennedy when he argued for tax cuts, stating the goal is to achieve the most prosperous, expanding economy. Exactly right, President Kennedy. House Republicans share that vision, and we have set a foundation for communities across the country to reap the benefits of their hard work and their contributions to our Nation.

These reforms are not only good for our families, they are necessary for faster economic growth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the hardships that many foster youth have had to endure and highlight the persistence and determination that they embody as they develop and transition to adulthood.

In Arkansas, we have over 5,000 children currently in the State's foster care system. As a member of the Foster Care Caucus here in the House, I am proud to cosponsor our resolution and have had the pleasure for the last 3 years to sponsor a former foster youth for Shadow Day here on the Hill.

This year I am honored to host Stefan Specht, a former foster youth from my district. Stefan is currently enrolled with Job Corps to obtain a certification in office administration and plans on working towards a degree in business.

Stefan is also a part of Immerse Arkansas, a vital program dedicated to helping foster youth with the difficult transition to adulthood. This program was a critical part of the changing point in Stefan's life and giving him a place to belong.

Many foster youth are not provided with programs like Immerse or a community to help support them in finding a career and home after they exit the foster care system. I am proud to be in this caucus and so proud to support our Shadow Day here on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the full committee for having us on the floor today to talk about S. 2155.

I have heard all of this cold water from the opposition today, but this is the definition of bipartisanship. Sixty-seven votes in the Senate, in this environment, in this town, is bipartisan. So many of our bills emanated here in the House with strong bipartisan support.

As a former local chamber of commerce chairman and a local community banker, I have seen firsthand, Mr. Speaker, the negative effects of the Dodd-Frank Act since it was passed in 2010.

I know we have had 140 hearings on how to make sense of improving Dodd-Frank, to rightsize the regulatory system for small financial institutions, allowing our community banks and credit unions to actually serve our small businesses and our consumers.

Rather than spending too much time on compliance, these institutions can redirect resources toward what they do best: approving loans, mortgages, and providing credit to small business.

This bill has widespread support. You would never know it, listening to the opposition, but it has widespread support on a bicameral, bipartisan basis in this building.

One particular provision, led by my friend Mr. Barr from Kentucky, I know will help hundreds of Arkansans, hardworking families who need access to credit for manufactured housing in the rural parts of our State. This bill will help people get housing, thanks to the work of the Senate and the House.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of S. 2155.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from New York for yielding and compliment him for his leadership on this topic.

Just like rebuilding our transatlantic relationship on NATO and our partners for military work and just like our work in exporting energy now, natural gas and oil, to Europe to offset the Russian dominance, this work, this political work, is essential. I thank my friend from New York, and I was proud to be an original cosponsor on this legislation.

I want to tell you, on a recent visit in the last few months I had to Krakow, Poland, I was with the Kosciuszko Institute there in Krakow, which has studied Russian cyber attacks throughout Central Europe extensively.

They were telling all of us that they are the front line of propaganda, cyber attack, testing and training for what we have seen in the United States and around the world.

The institute cited Estonia in 2007, Georgia in 2008, the Ukraine in 2011, and the 2013 Energetic Bear attack as well-known public examples of how Russia is using Central Europe to perfect their strategies before deploying to other Western countries, including what we witnessed here in the United States.

By the Congress addressing and passing Mr. Suozzi's bill, we can help Europeans on the front lines of the fight against the Russian corruption, propaganda, and cyber intrusion machine.

I thank my friend for the time he so generously gave to me.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the 2018 winners of my office's Educational Award Program.

Each year, my office recognizes students who have shown their continued dedication to excelling academically, leading in their schools, and improving in their communities. Since 2015, we have recognized 91 juniors and seniors from 29 high schools across Arkansas' Second Congressional District. These students have continuously demonstrated a strong commitment to community service, leadership, teamwork, and high academic achievement.

It is my sincere hope that the receipt of this award serves not only as an honorarium for these exceptional students, but also as motivation for other central Arkansas students to strive for the highest levels of excellence both in and out of the classroom. I wish them all the best as they continue their studies.

Recognizing the Achievements of Edward Poletti

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievements of Edward Poletti, chief of learning resources at Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

The Library of Congress' Federal Library and Information Network has awarded Mr. Poletti with its Federal Librarian of the Year Award. Along with this honor, his name will be added to a perpetual plaque listing each year's recipients. Mr. Poletti is being awarded for his skill in survey designs, statistics, and for providing his statistical talents to many other librarians needing assistance with data interpretation and survey design.

He is also receiving the Lois Ann Colaianni Award for Excellence and Achievement in Hospital Librarianship from the Medical Library Association.

I honor Mr. Poletti's 36 years of service as a Federal librarian, assisting so many throughout Arkansas and the Nation.

Recognizing Susan Cookus, National Female Volunteer of the Year

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Susan Cookus of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System for being named National Female Volunteer of the Year.

The National Advisory Committee of the Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service named Ms. Cookus the National Female Volunteer of the Year after reviewing nomination letters from the Central Arkansas VA and from our veterans in central Arkansas.

Susan's dedication and service to veterans and their needs have earned her a great deal of appreciation, recognition, and respect over the years.

Ms. Cookus is also a member of the Soldiers' Angels, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides aid and comfort to the men and women of the U.S. armed services, their families, and an expanding veteran population. Ms. Cookus

volunteered more than 570 hours and helped distribute more than $720,000 in donations in the past year brought in by Soldiers' Angels.

There is no one more deserving of this award, and I am proud to have such a dedicated member of my district volunteering and helping our veterans.

Recognizing the Lifelong Service of Esther Crawford and Emma Wilbert

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the lifelong service of two constituents of mine, Esther Crawford and Emma Wilbert, both of whom were recently inducted into the North Little Rock, Arkansas, Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.

Esther serves as a board member for the North Little Rock Education Foundation and the William F. Laman Public Library. She has earned the designation of Most Vital Pal at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute for all of her help to their multiple myeloma patients.

Emma serves as activity director at the Campus Towers' senior public housing facility in North Little Rock, after she retired from a 28-year career with the U.S. Postal Service. She was elected as vice queen for the Hays Senior Citizens Center's Red Hat Society chapter for 7 years and serves in both the sanctuary choir and nursing home ministry of Greater Second Baptist Church in Little Rock.

Senior Hall of Fame selections are bestowed every 2 years on individuals for their significant contributions to North Little Rock, Arkansas' senior citizens. I congratulate them.