John Barrow

Madam Speaker, I don't know if this will be the last time I address this House, but I can think of no more appropriate subject for such an occasion than to honor those who have worked with me over the last 10 years serving the people of Georgia's 12th Congressional District.

Representing Georgia in the House of Representatives has been the honor of my life. I have met thousands of people, both in Georgia and Washington, I will count as friends and colleagues for the rest of my life.

But any Member of Congress can tell you that the key to a successful congressional office is to gather the best and brightest people to serve the people we represent. I am honored to have served with a staff who are known on Capitol Hill as among the hardest working and most effective.

My staff has worked under some very difficult circumstances, facing what many called insurmountable odds, and put in long hours to make sure the people of Georgia's 12th District had representation like they had never seen before. Thanks from this Congressman will never be enough, but my success in this position is because of their dedication to this office.

I would like to recognize the staff, some of whom have left, but many of whom are here until the end, who have made all this possible.

My chief of staff, Ashley Jones, has been the foundation of this operation. Ashley has been my most trusted adviser and assembled a team that has delivered such outstanding results over the last 10 years. Her loyalty, counsel, and friendship have meant the world to me, and she has been an invaluable asset to the 12th District.

Lynthia Ross Owens has served as my district director. Lynthia has been the most respected member of my staff in the district. For years, she has been my eyes and ears in Georgia when the congressional schedule has taken me away from the district.

Hill Thomas is by far the most knowledgeable legislative director on Capitol Hill. He has counseled me through numerous legislative wins and milestones in our time together, and folks in the 12th District know Hill as a tireless advocate on their behalf, and his service to them will never be forgotten.

These three are the foundation of one of the best staffs on Capitol Hill, but the rest of the 12th District staff deserves recognition, too.

My communications director for the last 3 years, Richard Carbo; Jonathan Arogeti, my senior legislative assistant; Jessie Andrews, our senior legislative correspondent and scheduler; Vanna Cure, who has served in the district and in Washington on a number of initiatives in our office; Asa Porter, our legislative correspondent; Francesca Amodeo, our staff assistant and intern; Demetrius McCoy, a dedicated advocate in the district on behalf of our veterans; Beverly Kay Herrington, who is dedicated to helping folks in the district get the benefits they are owed from the Federal Government; Troy Windham, who helped introduce us to many folks in the newest portions of the district and helped deal with the VA during a difficult time; Matthew Kleinsorge, a veteran himself and a loyal staffer to this district who has been my eyes and ears on all issues for veterans.

I would also like to thank those former staffers who have served over the years. They may have left the Barrow team, but they never went very far: Roman Levit, Brandon Webb, Peyton Bell, Jane Brodsky, Kristin Fulford, Luke Moses, Wes Devetger, Lauren Perry, Harper Lawson, Will Rooks, Aaron Schmidt, Mike Goodman, Chris Schepis, Chris Cashman, Doug Moore, Bennett Golder, Meredith Wise, Anne Scheer, Tharon Johnson, Vernisha Davis, Brandi Hebron, Kristie Gregory, Najhee Jackson, Kathryn Hyler, Anne Watson, Reggie Castleberry, Mike Little, Charles Renwick, David Bell, Adam Toledano, and Yvonne Davis.

Madam Speaker, it has been the honor of my life to have served alongside this team, and for all their hard work and dedication to me and to the people of Georgia's 12th District, I say thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a supporter and a sponsor of this resolution, and I appreciate my friend from Virginia (Mr. Rigell) for working with me on this bipartisan effort to hold the administration accountable. Under current law, the President is required to notify Congress prior to releasing any prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. Unfortunately, he failed to do that this summer when he transferred five high-priority detainees in exchange for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

Although I am grateful that Sergeant Bergdahl has been reunited with his family, I strongly disagree with the President's decision to negotiate with terrorists, and I certainly don't agree with the President's decision to make this prisoner exchange without first consulting with Congress in the manner required by federal law.

The freeing of terrorists poses a national security threat to Americans and our Armed Forces, and it complicates our current efforts to combat terrorism worldwide. Negotiating with terrorists will only weaken this Nation in the future and encourage other terrorists to kidnap Americans in an attempt to extort future prisoner exchanges.

Checks and balances aren't negotiable. It is unacceptable for this or any other administration to treat Congress as an afterthought or adversary, particularly with decisions impacting our national security and especially since, in this case, Congress could have helped the President get this decision right.

For all these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of our work to rebuild the Department of Veterans Affairs. Last week, the VA released the first-ever nationwide comprehensive audit of the VA health care system, and the findings were eye opening, though not surprising. More than 100,000 veterans have either waited more than 90 days to get an appointment, or they never received an appointment at all.

This week, Congressman Bill Cassidy and I introduced a bipartisan resolution calling on the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel to investigate the evidence disclosed in the course of the internal audit.

If, as the report states, managers at the VA told their subordinates to doctor the books to make wait times appear shorter, then any employees who falsified these Federal records should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The House has already voted to hold the guilty parties responsible and to give VA patients the right to go outside the VA to get the care they need, when they can't get it inside the VA, but these are just the first few steps in a long march to get them the care they have earned.

I urge my colleagues to support our resolution because we owe it to all those who gave us the best years of their lives.