Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Benton Police Chief Kirk Lane's appointment as the new Arkansas Drug Officer. His experience and activism truly embody what all states need in the fight against illegal narcotics.

Chief Lane is a graduate of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy and the FBI National Academy.

After graduation, Chief Lane spent 20 years with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office, where he served as the Captain of Criminal Investigations.

Chief Lane has gone above and beyond his duty in the fight against illegal narcotics by participating in many organizations, including the Arkansas Drug and Alcohol Coordinating Council, the Arkansas Prescription Drug Advisory Board, and the Arkansas Prescription Drug Monitoring Board.

As a recipient of the 2010 Benton Citizen of the Year Award and the 2012 Marie Interfaith Award, Chief Lane is recognized for his exceptional character and devotion to community.

I'm proud of my friend Chief Lane, who has proven his devotion to law and order, and he will be a great addition to Arkansas's Drug Enforcement Agency to fight against narcotics and reduce the crime rate

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the recent selfless actions of two extraordinary individuals in my district: Mr. Robin Creel and Mr. Danny Revis.

Both men work tirelessly for the Benton school district transportation program.

Last month, about 40 students from Shelby County in Memphis piled onto a bus and began their journey toward the popular Magic Springs amusement park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Unfortunately, as they traveled down I-30, their bus broke down.

Through the Arkansas State Police, word got to Mr. Revis that an entire busload of children was stranded.

After discussion with officials of the Tennessee school district from which the students hailed, Mr. Creel volunteered to use a Benton school bus to quickly transport the Memphis students to Magic Springs, where, after a full day of enjoyment, a Shelby County bus would pick them up.

Along with its well-known Benton Wave, a gesture of genuine friendliness noticeable throughout the city, Mr. Revis and Mr. Creel's commendable actions contribute to Benton's long-standing aura of friendship and compassion.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize one of Arkansas' finest, Colonel Robert A. Ator, II, of Little Rock.

A veteran of the United States Air Force, Colonel Ator retired on June 3, 2017, after proudly serving our country for 28 years. Before joining the Arkansas National Guard, Colonel Ator served 11 years on Active Duty with the United States Air Force. He is a veteran of several major combat operations, including Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Provide Comfort, Operation Provide Promise, Operation Joint Forge, and Operation Noble Eagle.

Ator is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he married Michelle, his wife of 28 years, just 3 days after graduation. Today, his son, Cadet Third Class Robert A. Ator, III, is a sophomore.

Colonel Ator is the recipient of numerous awards and medals, including the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster, and the Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster.

Colonel Ator is an example that all Arkansans and Americans can admire. I wish him and his family the very best in their future endeavors.

Saline County Career and Technical Education Center

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the proposed plans for a career and technical education center in my district.

Lamont Cornwell of the Saline County Economic Development Corporation presented detailed plans to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission on June 8 for a center that is specifically aimed at training our State's skilled workforce community.

The center would allow students to enroll in science and technology career preparatory classes, careers that will only become more invaluable as our Nation moves forward.

The center will impact parents and children of all socioeconomic statuses and positively change our technical career education environment in central Arkansas.

As co-chair of the Congressional Skilled American Workforce Caucus, I was encouraged to see the recent passage of H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education Act. I am encouraged to see leaders in Saline County step up and embrace a passion for our skilled workforce community.

Honoring Foster Parents

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the importance of foster families around Arkansas and the organizations dedicated to their recruitment.

According to recent Arkansas data, the number of foster youths has outpaced the number of spaces available in foster homes by 1,283. Many families have already stepped up to the plate to provide a loving home for children in the foster system.

One such family, Andrew and Amy Baker of Searcy, Arkansas, was recently named Foster Family of the Year by our State's Division of Children and Family Services for their

dedicated efforts to reunify foster children with their biological parents.

In addition, there are organizations around our State that have been at the forefront of recruitment efforts for foster families, including 50 families in the month of April alone.

One such organization is entitled The CALL, locally directed by Lauri Currier, who notes that a stable, loving home can make a huge difference in a child's life, specifically with regard to escaping the grasp of neglect and abuse.

Today I want to emphasize Ms. Currier's statement that if one family from each of the 6,000 churches around Arkansas came forward to adopt, no more children would ever be waiting for a forever family.

Fishing with a Hero Summer Program

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a hands-on mentorship program in my district created through a partnership between the Bryant Police Department and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bryant.

The summer program entitled ``Fishing with a Hero'' pairs Boys and Girls Clubs students with local police heroes to bond over the longstanding, joyful pastime of fishing.

Through a 2-day fishing instruction program, local police officers are able to build quality mentoring relationships with students in traditionally underserved or impoverished communities.

Along with being one of the students' favorite programs, the established relationships aid in creating long-term bonds between our law enforcement officers and local youth.

The stability and prosperity of our local communities hinges on mutual respect between our citizens and our law enforcement officers. The creation of genuine relationships at a young age ensures the longevity of that important respect.

Honoring Robin Creole and Danny Revis

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the recent selfless actions of two extraordinary individuals in the Second Congressional District of Arkansas, Robin Creole and Danny Revis. Both men work tirelessly in the Benton School District transportation program.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Greenbrier Middle School on being named one of 465 Schools to Watch by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform in 2017.

By establishing organizational norms, structures, and arrangements, Schools to Watch achieve academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equity.

Those three characteristics are paramount to middle-grade success and young adolescent development.

I am encouraged to hear of Greenbrier Middle School's unyielding sense of purpose and dedication to the success of their students; and, I am excited to personally congratulate their outstanding efforts during their visit to Washington this month.

Our youth are our future, so I look forward to further Arkansas schools joining Greenbrier in the pursuit of excellence.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Little Rock's CHI St. Vincent for being named to the 2017 list of 100 Great Hospitals in America by Becker's Hospital Review.

CHI St. Vincent Infirmary's history of excellence in patient care dates back to 1888, when it began as a 10-bed charity hospital and the first hospital in Little Rock.

Over the years, to meet increasing demand for patient care, in addition to expansion for construction, the hospital has made four moves to larger facilities. In 1906, the hospital opened Arkansas' first nursing school, the St. Vincent's Infirmary School of Nursing.

I am proud to have come into this world at St. Vincent, as did our two children.

I would like to thank CHI St. Vincent for continuing its 129-year legacy of leadership in patient care centered on service and quality care in central Arkansas.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for his leadership in guiding the Financial CHOICE Act through the Financial Services Committee and the House.

Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record a letter from the Arkansas State Bank Department, and an article by the Arkansas Bankers Association entitled ``Disappearing Community Banks.''

Arkansas State

Bank Department,

May 1, 2017.

Hon. Jeb Hensarling,

Chairman, House Committee on Financial Services, Washington,

Mr. Chairman, in this debate today, let's hear what a commissioner of banking from Arkansas says:

``I am writing in support of H.R. 10, the `Financial CHOICE Act of 2017.' As a State bank regulator, I have seen the huge burden Dodd- Frank Act of 2010 has placed on community banks. Since the financial crisis, several community banks in Arkansas have curtailed or discontinued lending activities--particularly, residential mortgages-- which has been detrimental to the consumers they serve.''

That is a compelling endorsement of this bill from a regulator, Mr. Chairman, not from a Member of Congress.

And when you look at working families in Arkansas, recently I was told about an Army National Guard member from north Little Rock, in my district, who was informed that he would not receive a home to purchase a manufactured home that would have been twice as large and less expensive than the 60-year-old house he was renting for his family.

Or a hairstylist from Nevada County, who I received a letter from. She and her husband, a welder, were denied a loan to purchase a new home, despite having verifiable income.

That is why we need to repeal, replace, and pass the Financial CHOICE Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the bravery and courage of so many men who sacrificed everything on D-day. At 5:52 in the morning on June 6, 1944, in a position about 4,000 yards from Omaha Beach, one of the oldest ships in the U.S. Navy, a World War I battleship, the USS Arkansas, opened fire on German positions at Omaha Beach in support of more than 30,000 American soldiers tasked with securing the beachhead. The countless heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy on that fateful day 73 years ago will never be forgotten.

I had the honor of visiting this hallowed ground over Memorial Day, and while I was paying tribute to the brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, an older Frenchman by the name of Mr. Vonclair approached me simply wanting to honor his liberators. He said that he just wanted to thank an American. He was 10 years old when D-day occurred, and he will never forget how the United States of America came to his and so many others' aid in the liberation of Europe from the Nazi menace.

Mr. Vonclair's love for America and our GIs speaks volumes about the goodwill and exceptional character of our great Nation. It is a privilege to offer my sincere tribute to the brave men who laid down their lives in the defense of those French and American shared convictions of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Recognizing Staff Sergeant Robert Dale Van Fossen

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in recognition of one of Arkansas' finest, Staff Sergeant Robert Dale Van Fossen of Greenbrier, Arkansas. On November 22, 1952, a Douglas C-124A Globemaster II took off from McChord Air Base in Tacoma, Washington, headed for Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage. Staff Sergeant Robert Dale Van Fossen, along with 51 others, was onboard. And near Middleton Island, in the Gulf of Alaska, the plane disappeared.

Eight days after the plane's disappearance, part of the wreckage was located some 50 miles east of Anchorage. Unfortunately, a week into the search, the recovery team had to call off the effort due to weather conditions. The families of the victims were notified they would not have any remains to bury.

Finally, in March 2016, after 64 years and extensive recovery efforts, Staff Sergeant Van Fossen's remains were confirmed found and returned to his home in Heber Springs, Arkansas.

I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Staff Sergeant Van Fossen and hope that they are now able to find peace that he is finally home and in his final resting place.

Conway Bikeshare Program

Mr. Speaker, last month we recognized National Bike Month and the many bicycling benefits that we have as citizens. I rise today to recognize the city of Conway, Arkansas, for its installation of their successful public bikesharing program and to emphasize its leading example of advocacy for an active lifestyle.

As a long-time biker, I am pleased to see the city work to provide an alternative and convenient source of transportation for residents of Conway to help relieve congestion and promote a healthier city.

As a former board member of the Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas, I am glad to see Conway's bikesharing program as one more step on the path towards fulfilling the mayor's vision of a vibrant, healthy, and bike friendly city.

Recognizing Richie Arnold on His Retirement

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in recognition of a great Arkansan, a long-time Conway resident, and one of the pillars of the Conway Corporation, Mr. Richie Arnold. Mr. Arnold is retiring from his post as CEO after 39 years with the company. He hails from Harrison and is a University of Arkansas graduate with a degree in accounting. He joined Conway Corporation as a manager of data processing before becoming manager of finance and accounting and then ultimately the chief executive officer in 1998.

During his tenure at Conway Corporation, he always worked to keep the

company ahead of the curve and was responsible for transitioning the utility to full computerization. Mr. Arnold was instrumental in assisting Conway Corporation in leading a path to diversifying services by adding new services for the citizens, such as digital cable, internet, telephone, security services, and water.

Mr. Arnold recently earned a national recognition after being listed in the ``Regional 50'' in Cablefax magazine. My congratulations and best wishes for Mr. Arnold's future endeavors.

In Honor of the 100th Birthday of Mr. Herman Higgs

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Mr. Herman Higgs, a World War II veteran who celebrated his 100th birthday last month. Born in Calhoun County, Arkansas, Herman was drafted into the Army and served the entire span of World War II, including as a POW in the last year. He was a platoon sergeant of a transportation convoy that was captured in December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge.

In the spring of 1945, Patton's army arrived, and Herman was freed, along with other American GIs and the Jewish prisoners who had survived the atrocities of the Third Reich. He was granted an honorable discharge a few months later and returned to Calhoun County, where he served 29 years as a police officer and 24 years as a U.S. marshal.

The city of North Little Rock, Arkansas, dedicated May 13 as Herman Higgs Day. Herman's example is one that all Americans and Arkansans can admire, and I would like to extend my congratulations to Herman for his life of service and this remarkable milestone of a centennial birthday.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the struggles that foster youth encounter, and to celebrate their perseverance and fortitude as they attempt to navigate this complicated system and transition to adulthood.

In Arkansas, we have over 5,000 children currently in the State's foster care system.

I am proud to work with my colleagues on the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth to shed light on the perpetuation of poverty and dysfunction our current system enables. And I stand proudly in support of House Resolution 314, recognizing May as National Foster Care Month.

For the past 2 years, I have had the opportunity to have a former foster youth personally shadow me for a day. What a rewarding experience.

This year, I am honored to host Starr Wilson, a former foster youth from my district. After spending 10 years in foster care, Starr, who is full of drive and passion, graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Unlike Starr's story, though, when many youth across America age out of the system, they find themselves with no place to call home, and they lack the encouragement and structure they need to pursue happiness.

Therefore, I am proud to stand with the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth in praise of the Sixth Annual Foster Youth Shadow Day here on Capitol Hill, which allows these youth to come across our country and share time with Members of Congress, and aspire to be the leaders of generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, all of us in the Western Hemisphere are in horror. Venezuela is a failed state and potentially on the brink of civil war. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that thousands of Cuban intelligence agents are helping the Maduro regime maintain control over the army, while Maduro orders his soldiers to shoot his own people who are demonstrating in the streets.

We cannot let countries like China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba continue to play a role in propping up the Maduro regime. While I commend Treasury Secretary Mnuchin for issuing sanctions against individuals of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, I call on the administration to ratchet up the pressure on these outside forces and have them answer for their role in the emergency situation in Venezuela.

While we face many challenges across the globe, America must reengage in the Western Hemisphere and not let the neighbors in our backyard slide back into tyranny.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Sessions for holding this Special Order. It means, I think, a lot not only to the Scouts that are here in the House of Representatives and the Senate to recognize the importance of Scouting to our country, but to all the mothers, fathers, and Scouts that are seeing this proceeding on C-SPAN or will hear about it to realize that they are participating in something that is very special.

I mean, I think of Scouting, really, Mr. Speaker, as a gift to the country for all of the reasons that the previous speakers have noted. I can't think about Scouting without thinking about what it has meant to me, Chairman Sessions, and influencing on my young life. Role models is the first thing that comes to mind with Scouting.

I think about my dad--who was not an Eagle Scout. He was a Sea Scout--and he ended up being basically a Life Scout for life, as people say in Scouting. But nobody was more influential to me in my youth than my dad--currently 91 years old--a Scout still at heart, and all the experiences we had together, how we bonded as father and son, and how, when I went off to college, Mr. Speaker, he continued to be a role model and adult leader for young men for years to come.

That is the kind of person that is in every one of our communities all over this country, helping mold our young people through the Scouting program.

Mr. Speaker, Scouting was my first paid job. I worked at a Scout camp. I earned, I believe, something like $10 a week, plus room and board, of course. It is when I first learned who FICA was because, at $10 a week, I wanted to know who took this $2 out of my $10 check. So I learned my first lesson about Federal economic policy and who FICA was as a Boy Scout working at the end of a very dusty parking lot for 7 weeks in the hot summer of Arkansas, teaching, pioneering, cooking, and camping merit badges.

But I think of other adults besides my dad. I think about Angelo Coppola and Fred Bean, both constituents of mine now that I serve in the people's House who were camp directors at that camp where I was a very happy employee and Scout for those summers in the early 1970s.

So Scouting is about role models. Scouting is about character building, and that starts that relationship, I think, between our moms and our dads that are involved in the Scouting program, and what we give to kids today. And, boy, do we need that character development.

The Boy Scouts of America was formed in 1910 and was inspired by British war hero Robert S.S. Baden-Powell of the Scouting program started back in the U.K. A lot of people today who are involved in Scouting, even at this moment, Mr. Speaker, don't know that the U.S. Congress presented a law to Woodrow Wilson, who signed it in 1916, chartering the Boy Scouts of America.

We are chartered by the United States Congress, and what a special feeling it is for all of us who are Scouts in Congress today to recognize that something that was so important to our youth was, in fact, chartered by the body that we serve in today.

In the early 20th century, Baden-Powell was thinking about how to expand army youth training with a place for all boys to dedicate their efforts to peace, not war, and he wanted Scouting to improve boys' lives by building their character, physical fitness, and outdoor skills.

He put a premium on bringing boys together from all walks of life, mixing boys from the elite prep schools and boarding schools with those in working class homes. And we do that today, Mr. Speaker. We bring boys from all backgrounds into the character-building exercises of Scouting.

Mr. Collins, a few minutes ago, talked about the importance of outdoor recreation, and that was certainly what brought me in. My interest in Scouting was outdoor recreation. When you think about it, in 1910, people were moving off the farm. People were urbanizing. We were passing laws on child labor. We were trying to make sure our boys coming off the farm away from home would have a good set of role models. So Scouting was so important to that urban youth that they get character and that outdoor experience.

And while that was a big deal back in 1910, I would argue, as Chris Collins did today, that it is a big deal now. He talked about a nature deficit. There is no doubt that we have that today, just as we did in some people's views back in 1910.

In 2005, Leonard Sax wrote a seminal book that I urge not only all of our Members to read, but people watching these proceedings to read, ``Boys Adrift,'' where he argued that the lack of experiential learning and free playtime--particularly outdoors--in our childhood is diminishing our effectiveness in learning as managers and our interpersonal relationships.

In 2008, Richard Louv wrote a book called ``Last Child in the Woods,'' where he argued that unstructured outdoor playtime is critical to childhood development.

Well, that is exactly what Scouting does. It provides outdoor recreation, something I think is essential to childhood development; something that we have lost because of not only urbanization, but our changing behavior.

One recent nature conservancy poll found that only 10 percent of American teens spend time outside every day. I can't imagine on a day where the sun was shinning when I was a teenager that I ever spent any time indoors. My parents were always on the hunt: Where is he? He is outside somewhere.

According to research by the Harvard School of Public Health, American adults spend less time outdoors than they do inside vehicles; less than 5 percent of their day.

So I think the scientific research says our boys and our girls need outdoor recreation. They need experiential learning. This is what is the core of the Scouting program. Like air and water, our wild places, our National Parks are essential to the education of our children and have greatly benefited the Boy Scouts and the Scouting experience. I can't imagine what my life would be like without that Scouting experience in terms of my love of the outdoors.

The second thing that attracted me to Scouting was the leadership opportunities. Baden-Powell said he wanted to be boy-driven. And here, 101 years after President Wilson signed the Boy Scouts of America into law, Scouting prides itself, Mr. Speaker, on being boy-driven, kid- driven. That is how we teach responsibility, character, and leadership.

I like this famous list, Mr. Sessions, that we use at so many Eagle Scout ceremonies called ``100 Scouts.''

Mr. Speaker, of 100 Scouts, people who participate in Scouting:

Thirty will drop out their first year, but they will remember the program fondly.

Twelve will be from a family that has no religious organization or religious membership, and many will begin their first contact with the need to be morally straight and have, at their heart, a belief in God; 12 will be touched by the Scouting program.

Five will go on to earn their religious award from whatever faith tradition they have.

One will use their Scouting skills to save a life.

One will credit Scouting skills for saving their own life.

Eighteen will develop a lifelong hobby.

Eight will find their vocation through the exploration of the merit badge work they did as a Scout.

Seventeen will later become Scout leaders, like all of our Members here on this floor tonight.

Four will become an Eagle Scout.

Four out of that 100, Mr. Speaker, will earn the rank of Eagle Scout, and at least one will say they value earning that Eagle award more than their college degree.

When it comes to the role that Scouting plays, it is something that I am so proud of because I have a Scout in Troop 30 in St. Paul's Methodist Church in Little Rock, and I am so proud of the work that he has done on that trail toward Eagle. He is in the middle of planning his project now to combine his love of golf and Scouting. It is a service project at The First Tee of Central Arkansas in Little Rock, and I reflect it on the value of these Eagle projects across our communities in all 50 of our States and around the world.

Just in America, using 2014 data, about 150--140 people earn their Eagle rank a day in the United States. And in 2014, they spent 8.1 million hours, Mr. Speaker, on their Eagle Scout project, benefiting our towns, our communities, all over this country.

In the nonprofit world, if you applied a typical pay rate to that, a project rate that the independent sector uses of about $23 an hour, that is $188 million in public service value our Eagle Scouts have contributed across this country.

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell Mr. Sessions how much I appreciate his taking time to highlight Scouting, and the value of Scouting to our town and our communities, but, more importantly, to our families at creating that sense of character that we have talked about tonight.

I am one of those people that values my Eagle Scout award, dating back to 1972, from Troop 27, at Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church in Little Rock. And I am so proud that this many years later I still have the ability to support my son who is on that Eagle trail, and have the support of my dad that many long years after 1972 and my Eagle award because, in our family, we believe in a good turn daily. We believe in the Scout law. We believe in the Scout oath. And if there is one thing you need to do to survive in Congress, you have got to be prepared.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Sessions for the opportunity to share these comments in support of Scouting. I thank the gentleman for his service to the National Eagle Scout Association and his long service to Circle Ten Council in Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Speaker, stories from the survivors of Assad's bombings and chemical attacks are almost impossible to read due to the grotesque descriptions of innocent people and children suffocating, foaming at the mouth, and suffering from seizures.

If, in 2013, the Obama administration had taken decisive leadership against the use of chemical weapons, insisted on a U.N. strategy to isolate Assad and Russia, verified the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, and created no-fly zones, we might have avoided 500,000 innocent deaths and millions of refugees.

Through his appropriate and proportionate bombing, President Trump told Assad that America will no longer ignore the unspeakable acts of violence against innocent people. We also learned that the U.S.-led coalition aircraft bombed, last week, pro-regime forces after they breached a deconfliction zone and advanced on a base occupied by U.S. special forces.

I call on the United Nations to follow America's lead by pursuing a ceasefire in Syria, creating safe zones, and holding Assad accountable for his war crimes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of one of our Nation's greatest leaders and, for me, in my young career, a mentor and good friend, William Coleman, Jr., who passed away earlier this year at the age of 96.

Throughout his long career, Bill helped shape the future of our country in a past full of racial tension.

In 1948, Bill became the first African American to serve as a law clerk on the United States Supreme Court, and helped draft the legal brief for the landmark 1954 case, Brown v. Board of Education.

Bill later became our Nation's second African-American Cabinet official, serving as Transportation Secretary for Gerald Ford.

I extend my respect, affection, and prayers to his family, his loved ones, his former law partners, and his staff.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today during National Police Week to pay tribute to the Nation's law enforcement men and women.

Established in 1962 by President Kennedy, National Police Week serves as a reminder of the incredible sacrifice our police officers make every day to serve and protect the people in our States and communities.

Just last week, Lieutenant Kevin Mainhart of the Yell County Sheriff's Department was killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop in Dardanelle, Arkansas. This tragedy reminds us of the danger that all of our men and women who police our streets have to face.

Every American should be proud of our neighbors and fellow citizens who get up every morning, put on their uniform and badge, leave their families, and serve us all, keeping our cities and towns safe and trying to build the trust and faith among our citizens.

I respect and appreciate the important work of our police and our law enforcement men and women in Arkansas and throughout the Nation. They deserve our gratitude.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 910) to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide a safe harbor related to certain investment fund research reports, 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.

Today I rise in support of H.R. 910, the Fair Access to Investment Research Act, which I have had the pleasure of working on with my friend from Illinois (Mr. Foster) in this Congress and now-Governor Carney in the last Congress.

Mr. Foster, I had the pleasure to speak with Governor Carney this weekend and tell him of our great collaboration in this Congress, and he sends his warmest regards for the process.

This bill, Mr. Speaker, is a commonsense, bipartisan, bicameral effort to increase access to research and information on exchange- traded funds, or ETFs, an important and rapidly growing investment vehicle in the United States and around the world.

Before coming to Congress, I worked in the banking and investment industry for nearly three decades, and I have witnessed firsthand the explosive growth in the ETF industry. Since I started my latest firm in the late 1990s, I have seen the exchange-traded fund selection grow from about 100 funds with about $100 billion in total assets to today's 2,000 funds with about $2.4 trillion in investment assets.

However, despite this rapid growth in the popularity in the ETF market and their increasing importance to retail investors, most broker-dealers do not publish research on ETFs due to anomalies in our securities laws and regulations.

The SEC has implemented safe harbors for research in support of various asset classes, including listed stocks, corporate debt, and closed-ended funds, and Congress has provided explicit safe harbors for research related to the offerings of emerging growth company securities. However, despite their similarities to those asset classes, ETFs do not benefit from similar safe harbors.

An ETF safe harbor is also not a novel concept to the Commission, and there is bipartisan consensus that this is something that the SEC should have done years ago. In addition to providing feedback on this bill for the past 3 years, the SEC, itself, has looked at granting a safe harbor for ETF research on multiple occasions but never quite got around to it.

The Fair Access to Investment Research Act simply directs the SEC to provide a safe harbor for research reports that cover ETFs so that these reports are not considered offers under the Federal securities laws. Because ETFs are continuously brought to the market, a safe harbor is necessary for broker-dealers to publish this research.

It also holds the SEC accountable to Congress by providing an interim safe harbor if the SEC does not act within a 270-day period, which would be effective until the Commission finalizes its rules in this area.

Providing this safe harbor will increase access to investment information for consumers and improve the efficiency of our capital markets. Given the importance of ETFs to the market and to the 6 million or so U.S. households that hold ETFs, steps to facilitate research and allow investors access to this useful information are long overdue.

Mr. Speaker, we want more information for our consumers about how their investments work, how an ETF fits into their investment portfolio, how it is consistent with their time horizon and their goals, and what the transaction costs are. What are the unique strategies around that ETF? Does it, in fact, use leverage or not? All these kinds of details will help our consumers know more about these products.

As our Capital Markets Subcommittee ranking member, Mrs. Maloney, stated so eloquently at our markup earlier this year: It makes sense to get more research out there on ETFs. After all, if you are concerned with the growth of ETFs, then the last thing you want is less research.

True it is.

This bill in no way undermines or eliminates any investor protections in the Federal securities laws or the SEC's ability to oversee the registration and sale of ETF securities explicitly, containing a rule of construction that the applicability of the antifraud and antimanipulation provisions of the Federal securities laws are in no way limited by this legislation.

This safe harbor would also only apply to bona fide research and in no way limits FINRA, the Federal securities regulators, and the SEC's ability to regulate sales and marketing literature that is used for ETFs.

I would like to thank, again, my colleagues, Mr. Foster and Governor Carney, Senators Heller and Peters for their work in the United States Senate, my chairman, the ranking member, and Mrs. Maloney and the staff on both sides of the aisle for their hard work on this pro-consumer, commonsense proposal to make more information available to America's investing households.

In March, H.R. 910 passed the House Financial Services Committee by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 56-2,

and a similar version of this legislation passed the House in the last Congress by a vote of 411-6.

I urge all my colleagues to support this bill today, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Illinois for his comments and his constructive help on designing and completing the legislative process on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, an integral process of getting this bill completed was certainly by our staff, and I want to pay particular attention to Holli Heiles of my personal staff, who, this day, leaves the world of the personal staff and moves to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments of the House Financial Services Committee. I want to thank Holli Heiles for her outstanding work on this bill and for her outstanding work on behalf of the people of the Second Congressional District of Arkansas, as well as to congratulate her on her move to the committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work done together on this bill. I don't have any other speakers on this particular bill.

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. 1312) to amend the Small Business Investment Incentive Act of 1980 to require an annual review by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the annual government-business forum on capital formation that is held pursuant to such Act, 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, today I rise in support of H.R. 1312, the Small Business Capital Formation Enhancement Act, which would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to respond to the recommendations from its annual forum on small business capital formation.

Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, and, according to the SBA, have provided 55 percent of all jobs and 66 percent of all net new jobs over the past 40 years. These small

businesses are intimately familiar with their businesses and the regulatory environment, and who better to provide insights to regulators and lawmakers on how to best provide and promote capital formation and remove unnecessary regulatory barriers and burdens?

Nearly four decades ago, in 1980, Congress recognized the importance of our small-business owners and their having a voice and sharing their recommendations with the SEC, and Congress required the SEC to conduct an annual forum to review the current status and issues surrounding small business capital formation. But while the Commission is required to conduct this forum, its obligation goes no further.

Though the SEC often praises this small business forum and the insights and recommendations from the small business community, the SEC has no obligation to respond to or act on the forum's recommendations and findings and has rarely done so. For example, many of the provisions of the JOBS Act came from recommendations from the small business forum, but it was Congress who had to move forward with these ideas, not the SEC.

This commonsense bill introduced by Mr. Poliquin and Mr. Vargas would require the SEC to formally respond to these recommendations just like they legally have to acknowledge and respond to recommendations from their Investor Advisory Committee. Similar legislation passed the House last Congress by a nearly unanimous vote, and, earlier this year, H.R. 1312 passed the House Financial Services Committee by a unanimous vote.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill, and I thank, again, my good friends from Maine and from California for their hard work on this bipartisan bill that ensures the voice of our small business community is heard.

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

Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate the gentlewoman from New York's views and her helpful work on this legislation.

We have lost over the last 20 years some 50 percent of our public companies. When I was getting out of college, one of the great dreams in business would be that you could have a company that was so successful that you could go public. Over the years, obviously that process has made it more and more difficult for our entrepreneurs to pursue their dream of a public company.

So what better way to make sure their voice about our rules, our laws, the process of being public, and the process of registering and disclosing is all made in a way that does not discourage our entrepreneurs and our small-business people from pursuing that dream of going public.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin), my distinguished friend who serves on the House Financial Services Committee and is a gentleman who is a voice for small business at every meeting of the House Financial Services Committee.

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

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