Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Mr. Bob Egolf of Churubusco, Indiana.

For 65 years, Egolf worked in the grocery business. He started his career at John Shelton's IGA, located on North Main Street in Churubusco in 1956 when he was 14 years old. Seven years later, he purchased the grocery from Shelton in 1967, and in 1982 built a new store south of Churubusco on US 33.

Egolf's IGA is known throughout the area for its freshly cut meats and daily baked bakery

items. Egolf opened the store early and closed late, operating from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. He made it a point to talk with his customers and would take special orders of items that people wanted.

Egolf was one of the longest continuous business owners in Churubusco's history. In addition to running his business, he frequently gave his time and money to local causes. But for Egolf's partnership with the Churubusco News, the newspaper would not exist today. He also contributed to the community through various organizations, such as with the Churubusco Area Jaycees, Churubusco Chamber of Commerce and as a longtime Smith Township trustee.

The story of Mr. Egolf is one that is uniquely American: defined by hard work, sacrifice, and service to others. Though Bob is no longer with us, his spirit of good will and generosity to those in Churubusco and beyond endures.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Whitko Career Academy in Whitley County for their impressive and important work to help young Hoosiers succeed in the 21st century workforce. Part of Whitko Community Schools in Larwill, Whitko Career Academy was founded in September 2019 to help create career opportunities for students in the surrounding community.

Upwards of 500 students walk through the doors of the academy each day. Inside, each student engages in hands-on, skills-based learning. Made possible through partnerships with The 80/20 Foundation Trust and The Whitley County Community Foundation, the academy gives these students the tools they need to pursue livelihoods in manufacturing, engineering, agriculture, technology, education and more.

Earlier this month, the academy formed a three-way partnership with WishBone Medical Inc. in Warsaw and Red Star Contract Manufacturing to bolster the academy's engineering curriculum. Students will be manufacturing components for one of Wish Bone's pediatric medical devices. This year, the academy will also serve as the home of the Whitko Agricultural Program and Future Farmers of America-- organizations together dedicated to training the next generation of leaders in agriculture.

In the year and a half since its founding, Whitko Career Academy has established itself as a model for career and technical education. Hoosiers are thankful for, and proud of, this institution for the immediate impact it has brought to northeast Indiana. This record is testament to the life-changing education hundreds of young Hoosiers have received, and will continue to receive, at the Whitko Career Academy for years to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Kathie Green, a member of my staff and a trailblazer in the field of constituent services.

Kathie will be retiring next week after 13 years of service to northeast Indiana and the congressional office of the Third District. She was originally hired by former Congressman Mark Souder. She worked for former Congressman Marlin Stutzman and has worked for me for my entire time in Congress as well.

More than anything, Kathie has an uncommon passion for helping others in need, and that passion was perhaps most evident during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus last year. She made hundreds of phone calls every week to help those who needed it most during a very difficult time, and that is what she did for 13 years.

Today, I want to pay tribute to her for her distinguished career in service to our district. Thank you, Kathie Green.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate northeast Indiana-based automotive and industrial paint supplier and distributor Automotive Color & Supply Corporation for 70 years of business.

Richard Byers, Sr., acquired part ownership of the company and began to operate the business shortly after its founding in 1951. Richard attained full ownership of the company in 1970, and the Byers family has owned and operated Automotive Color as a family business since.

Automotive Color has established itself as one of the leading automotive and industrial paint and supply distributors not just in the Midwest but throughout the United States. Paint from Automotive Color is used on race cars, commercial and private aircraft, spacecraft, ocean vessels, movies and TV show sets, and more.

At a time when American industry is in convalescence from the coronavirus pandemic, this historic milestone is even more extraordinary.

Hoosiers are thankful for and proud of Automotive Colors' contributions to northeast Indiana and the country. This record is testament to the exceptional service and quality they have provided, and will continue to provide, for generations.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the service of Mr. Ed Goetz of Wells County.

Next week, on Monday, February 15, Mr. Goetz will celebrate his 100th birthday. Congratulations Mr. Goetz on this wonderful occasion. I hope his heart is filled with joy knowing that he has experienced our country's greatest blessings, including the affection of family and friends over a long, well-lived life.

Our Nation owes Mr. Goetz a debt of gratitude for his dedicated service to our country while serving in the United States Army during World War II. As a flight engineer stationed in the South Pacific, Goetz flew a total of 37 combat missions over Japan, including one during which the crew was forced to crash land in the middle of the ocean.

In 1964, Goetz moved to Bluffton, where he became active in his church and the Boy Scouts. Goetz served on the boards of the United Way and The Wells County Foundation, helped provide income tax preparation for over 25 years, served as the treasurer for Friends of the Library for nearly 30 years, and worked to fill the Ossian Industrial Park with hundreds of jobs. In 2010, at age 90, Goetz was named the Wells County Citizen of the Year.

The story of Ed Goetz is the story of American greatness. As a patriot who served his country in war and community in peace, this honor is a testament to his commitment to the American people and ideals to which our Nation strive.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to veterans cared for by the Department of Veterans Affairs in northeast Indiana and across the United States.

Each year, the week of February 14 is an opportunity for Americans to express their collective gratitude for the more than 9 million veterans of the United States Armed Services who are cared for in the VA system. This year's National Salute Week is the most important one to date, given the difficult times our nation has faced over the last 12 months with many of America's veterans hardest hit.

This week also serves as an opportunity for Hoosiers and Americans everywhere to learn about the role of the VA medical system, to encourage citizens to visit hospitalized Veterans and to become involved as volunteers Nationwide, over 61,000 volunteers provide more than 9.2 million volunteer hours serving America's veterans. Volunteers are a priceless asset to our veterans, to the VA and to the country.

As a veteran myself and member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee in Congress, I am honored to have served in uniform and to serve the people of northeast Indiana in Congress. One of my top priorities has been, and always will be, ensuring those who served the United States receive the honor, care, and opportunity they deserve.

This is a testament to the honor and sacrifice of those heroes who have served our country, and to those who serve them

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, and I congratulate my friend in his new leadership role in addressing what is one of the most important issues in our country today, which is fiscal irresponsibility and a now nearly $30 trillion national debt. I appreciate his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, that is why today I rise in opposition to this, the Democrats' sham $2.1 trillion parody of a budget. Democrats, in their own words, having failed again to pass a budget last year, now say: ``The 2021 budget resolution has a single purpose. It gives Congress the option of using a budget reconciliation.''

However, this is a very different tune than what my Democrat colleagues said just a few years ago. In August 2017, Senate Majority Leader Schumer said reconciliation is ``the wrong way to do the business of the country,'' and he demanded a bipartisan solution instead.

Democrats are once again shirking their duty to produce a budget while intending to ram a partisan spending bill down the throats of the American people.

However, in 2019, the Republican Study Committee, which I chair, produced a budget that balanced in 6 years. It reduced tax burdens on American families, limited the Federal Government to our core constitutional responsibilities, and prioritized individual liberty.

Speaker Pelosi once infamously said: ``Show me your values. Show me your budget.''

Well, now we know what those values are. At a time when most small businesses are fighting for their lives, they would proudly impose minimum wage hikes and Green New Deal sanctions that would starve our economy.

What they won't tell you, though, is where they plan on getting this money

from--from American workers, American families, and robbing future generations. That is where.

Mr. Speaker, every dollar taxed, borrowed, or printed by the government is a dollar taken from a hardworking family. It is a credit on a small business, or it ends up creating price bubbles that wipe out a lifetime of savings.

Mr. Speaker, we know these are their values, but I ask: Are these America's values?

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend 4Ever Metal Roofing for its invaluable support of Hoosier Veterans, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since its founding in 2016, the company has grown to employ several Hoosier veterans, contributed $7 million to northeast Indiana's economy, and has expanded its reach to serving the tri-state area of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

However, the company's commitment to our region stretches beyond providing jobs to Hoosier veterans and services to consumers. During the pandemic, 4Ever Metal Roofing donated $30,000 to FW22, a local non- profit focused on suicide prevention and supporting veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI. This donation went a long way to ensuring a Hoosier veteran and his family had Christmas presents this year, and the remainder of the donation will be used to support the work of FW22 as it assists many more struggling veterans in the region.

Going above and beyond to assist those in the community, especially those who fought to protect it, will always be something worth recognizing, and I commend 4Ever Metal Roofing for this selfless act of kindness. These are the kinds of partnerships that make our country great. I wish 4Ever Metal Roofing nothing but the best as they continue to grow in the years to come.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 962, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Madam Speaker, if this unanimous consent request cannot be entertained, I urge the Speaker and the Majority Leader to immediately schedule the Born-Alive bill so we can stand up and protect the sanctity of human life, and I would ask all others to join in in that request.

Madam Speaker, I was proud to serve my country in uniform in Afghanistan, and now I am proud to serve in this Congress. I am proud to serve in a new and different way on what has historically been the most bipartisan committee, the House Armed Services Committee. Truth be told, I had expected that this committee above all other committees would always work together in support of our national security.

After all, for over 50 years this committee and this Congress have risen above partisan politics and passed the National Defense Authorization Act. Sadly, today it appears that tradition might come to an end.

Madam Speaker, it doesn't have to be that way. This motion is an opportunity for my friends on both sides of the aisle to rise above petty partisan politics and do what the American people sent us here to do: to support our troops and defend our homeland.

This year the NDAA has unfortunately become the Nondefense Authorization Act and instead has been hijacked with a partisan political agenda, unlike the last couple of years when we all actually worked together to restore military readiness.

At a time when our enemies are challenging us on the world stage, we simply cannot put our troops at risk and jeopardize our national security, which is exactly what the underlying bill would do.

Let us show the American people the leadership they deserve. Let us give our troops the raise they have earned. Let us restore readiness and pass a worthy National Defense Authorization Act.

Madam Speaker, mark my words, this is the moment of truth for this Congress. This is the single most defining moment of this Congress so far. This motion is an opportunity to show the American people that we can rise above petty partisan politics.

Will my colleagues on the other side of the aisle really vote against a well-earned pay raise for our troops or for bolstering our readiness accounts?

Madam Speaker, our soldiers, our sailors, our airmen, and our marines deserve better. The American people deserve better.

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

Mr. Chairman, here we are again debating another spending package that does absolutely nothing to address our $22 trillion national debt.

The bill before us today proposes to spend $24.5 billion, which is more than $1.4 billion over last year's total. This puts us further down a path toward busting the budget caps.

Mr. Chair, I respect my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but I sincerely worry that they do not understand the dangers that lay ahead with these bloated spending packages.

Here is a glimpse. Our children will face a less prosperous future and our national security will be needlessly threatened through the inevitable sequestration that results from busting the budget caps.

My amendment is simple. It would reduce nondefense spending in this bill by 14 percent, which is the level needed to avoid the outcome that I just described.

There is no reason that Washington can't do what American families do

each and every day, which is living within their budget.

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

Mr. Chairman, a few billion dollars here, a few billion dollars there, $25 billion over there, eventually it adds up. That is why the American people are demanding now more than ever for their Nation's leaders to do something about a $22-trillion-and-growing national debt.

Mr. Chairman, we are running out of time to put our fiscal house in order. Deficits will soon top $1 trillion and grow to nearly $2 trillion over the next decades.

My constituents back home in northeast Indiana see this reckless spending and ever-growing national debt and they ask me every time I go home, Are you serious?

It is a valid question, Mr. Chairman, and I honestly don't know what to tell them, when we have spending bills like the one before us that spends more than ever before on this particular division, just like the other seven divisions that we voted on previously.

I have offered this amendment now seven other times in addition to today in an attempt to prevent sequestration and the devastating effects it will have on our Nation's military. Our national security is dependent upon the state of our fiscal house, and unfortunately, these spending bills do nothing to protect the security and prosperity of our Nation.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to cut 14 percent of nondefense spending in this bill, to rein in out-of-control spending.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Columbia City Rotary Club on their 100th anniversary and express my appreciation for their hard work in making Columbia City a better place to live, work and raise a family. As an organization heavily involved in many civic activities, the Columbia City Rotary Club has established itself as one of the finest service organizations in northeast Indiana.

As a native of Columbia City and fellow Columbia City Rotarian who once had the honor of serving as club president, this is an organization that will always occupy a special place in my heart. To this day, I still apply the Four-Way Test when making decisions as a lawmaker on Capitol Hill and do my best to live by the Rotarian motto of ``Service Above Self.'' I also am constantly reminded of the unbreakable friendships and shared civic duty of Rotarians I have met along the way.

Organizations like the Columbia City Rotary Club provide the backbone for towns and cities across the country, selflessly taking it upon themselves to improve their surroundings and the lives of those around them. I could not be prouder to recognize this anniversary and wish them only the best in their next century.

Madam Speaker, I rise to applaud the Turnstone Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for hosting the International Blind Sports Federation Goalball &Judo Paralympic Qualifying Competition. Later this summer, thousands from across the country will be in the Summit City as first-class athletes with visual impairments compete for a chance to represent their country on the world stage at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Since 1943, Turnstone has worked with disabled individuals from all walks of life in helping them excel with athletic programs, as well

as by offering health and learning opportunities. As one of only four Olympic and Paralympic Training Sights in the country, their work is of the utmost importance for those they serve, including the athletes who have worked so hard to compete this summer.

I salute the hard-working men and women of the Turnstone Center staff, as well as the athletes with whom they will be working during this exciting event. These individuals have made great strides to reach this level, just as this organization makes great strides every day to serve them, and Hoosiers from across the region. Our community is continuously enhanced by Turnstone's fine work, and I wish their staff the very best and the athletes the best of luck as the Qualifying Competition gets underway.

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

Mr. Chairman, here we go again. Another bloated spending deal that doesn't just bust the spending caps but spends more than ever before on this division. With a $22 trillion national debt, you would think my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would show a little restraint.

My friends on the other side of the aisle, who I have enormous respect for, including the chairman, are proposing to spend $137.1 billion in this division alone, which is $6 billion more than last year's enacted level.

Mr. Chairman, we simply can't continue to go down this path. While both parties have contributed to Washington's $22 trillion national debt, my colleagues are recklessly proposing to bust the budget caps, trigger sequestration, and continue to mortgage our children's future. At some point, we have got to do something to confront this town's spending addiction.

I acknowledge that reducing our national debt is a daunting challenge, and I am prepared to debate today how to best accomplish the goal of a balanced budget. But my friends on the other side of the aisle do not even want to have that discussion.

Hoosier families in my district have these tough talks every day around their kitchen table. Why can't Washington, D.C., do the same?

With these spending packages threatening to bust the budget caps and initiate sequestration, there appears to be an indifference from my Democrat colleagues as to the severe harm that this poses to our national security.

I will not be silent about this, Mr. Chairman. This is my seventh time coming to this microphone offering the same amendment in the last couple of weeks alone. I am looking forward to having a substantive debate today about this particular amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, a very wise former Governor of Indiana once said that you will never know how much government you will never miss. And these days, as we roll out spending package after spending package that spends more and more than ever spent before, I look back to those wise words of that former governor, because that former Governor, knew, just as I do, as a former State Legislator, that the States can always run these programs and do better with running government, administering programs like these than the Federal Government ever can.

And while there is a difference of opinion between my colleague, again, who I respect and admire so much, it is clear that there is a difference of opinion between those who believe that Washington, D.C., should tax more hard-earned tax dollars out of the pockets of hardworking Hoosier families, just so that Washington, D.C., can spend more and more on spending packages just like these.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, President Ronald Reagan once said: ``We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.''

Since then, we have added roughly $21 trillion to our Nation's debt. This simply cannot go on. If we do not begin to tackle this challenge now, it will be tackled for us by our creditors.

We need to learn from the commonsense words of President Reagan and start to live within our means today. If we don't, we will be putting our troops at a disadvantage and our national security at risk because of sequestration and leave for our children a country with less freedom and less opportunity than the one that we inherited. That is unacceptable to me, and I plan to fight to prevent that future from becoming a reality. I urge my colleagues' support for this amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.