Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it turns out that the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS was just the beginning of a much bigger problem.

Every week since, we learn something new about how the IRS has abused its power, and this week is no different. Wine, diet pills, romance novels, and even X-rated movies were purchased with government credit cards. Lavish spending isn't the only problem. New reports tell us that the IRS sent nearly $50 million of taxpayer money to ``unauthorized aliens.''

Mr. Speaker, folks in my district have had enough, and so have I. They work hard for their money, only to have a Federal agency like the IRS run wild with it and offer no apologies. Every person at the IRS should be held accountable for their actions, and we need to put reforms in place to make sure that taxpayer money isn't misused in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my friend, Representative John Dingell, who, this month became the longest-serving Member of Congress in our Nation's history.

Representative Dingell has taught literally thousands of Members of Congress how to do good things for the people we represent, a legacy he continues to build in his 30th term in the people's House.

I've had the honor to serve with Mr. Dingell on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. As we all know, oftentimes our schedules don't allow us to stick around for an entire committee meeting, but I always make it a point to stay until Mr. Dingell is finished. He is such a skilled cross-examiner that, by the time he's finished, we've heard the only questions that are worth asking, and we've got the only answers we're ever likely to get.

John Dingell's ability to reach across the aisle and find compromise is the cure for what ails this place, and I only hope that thousands more will get the opportunity to learn from the master.

I congratulate Mr. Dingell on this historic milestone and for his over 57 years of service to our country.

At this time, Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin).

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green).

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey).

I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts and congratulate him on the beatification he's received by the voters of his State as he's about to join the other body. I wish him every success in the Senate, to which I can add that the next most feared seven words uttered to any witness is, ``Please answer the question 'yes' or `no.' ''

At this time, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).

I thank the gentleman for participating in this evening's Special Order.

At this time, Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased to yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee).

I thank the gentleman for his participation. I would note that he, like our honoree, exemplifies the truth that is written in Proverbs: A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver or gold.

At this time, I am pleased to recognize the gentlelady from Maryland (Ms. Edwards).

I thank the gentlelady.

At this time, I am pleased to recognize the gentlelady from New Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter).

I thank the gentlelady.

Mr. Speaker, I recall the words of Thomas Carlyle. He was an advocate of the Great Man theory of history.

Carlyle wrote: ``History is but the biography of great men.'' If that's true, then the legislative history of this country for over half a century has been but the biography of John Dingell.

With gratitude for the service, for the example, and for the friendship of our honoree and with the greatest of affection for our honoree, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), who would like an opportunity at rebuttal.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my disappointment in the Supreme Court's decision striking down the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

Mr. Speaker, making sure that our election laws are fair is the most important job in a democracy because the right to vote is the right on which everything else depends. Countless Americans have marched for it, suffered for it, and shed their blood for it.

In Georgia, one of the greatest proponents of the Voting Rights Act, our colleague, Congressman John Lewis, knows all too well the price that's been paid to make sure that election laws are not only open but fair to all concerned.

We can't go back to the days when majorities can pass laws that limit or diminish the voting strength of minorities. I'm calling on my colleagues in Congress, Republicans and Democrats, not to let this issue die. We need to do what is right and ensure, once and for all, that folks aren't discriminated against at the ballot box.

Madam Speaker, very soon thousands of folks in my district in Georgia, and even more across the State, will be furloughed as a result of the budget sequester. Studies have shown that the sequester will cost the Georgia economy approximately $107 million. Meanwhile, reports circulated this week that President Obama's upcoming trip

to Africa will cost the taxpayers nearly $100 million.

Madam Speaker, no one here questions the need for security for our Commander in Chief, but we do question the need for such expensive trips when so many folks across the country are being forced to cut back because Congress can't get its act together. A trip of this magnitude isn't unusual, but these are hard times. $100 million could be better used to keep folks on the job.

I urge the President and everyone at the Federal level to lead by example and not take the fact that Congress can't get its act together and rub that in the faces of hardworking Americans.

I thank the gentleman for the time. I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Farming in 2013 can be a very complicated, high-tech and high-risk business. For example, there are many farmers in my district who farm thousands of acres that they don't own. They might grow cotton, peanuts, grains and specialty crops. They need a whole fleet of different equipment for each one of these crops. They're probably irrigating a whole lot of their crops. They likely employ dozens of people. These might be multimillion-dollar enterprises, and yet they still fit in the definition of a family farm. For these kinds of crops, it simply takes that kind of scale to be sustainable. Many farmers simply cannot afford to farm on that scale unless they have a safety net that can cover their risk.

This bill includes sustainable reforms of our farm safety net to make sure it's available to the people who need it most. It's not fair, nor in our best interest, to limit the participation of these larger family farms by undercutting their safety net, as this amendment would do. We need these farmers and they need us.

I, therefore, urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I represent one of the most diverse agricultural areas of the country. Farmers in the 12th District of Georgia grow almost everything you can imagine, fruits and vegetables, including one of the largest blueberry crops in the Nation and the world-famous Vidalia onion, commodities like cotton and corn, pecans and peanuts, chickens and cows.

Georgia is also home to one of the largest container ports in the country. One of the real bright spots of the American economy is that, thanks in large part to the Market Access Program, farmers have been able to expand their exports to foreign markets and ship their crops through the Port of Savannah to thriving markets overseas. These are opportunities that these small businesses probably would not have if it were not for the MAP connections they had.

The people I represent, farmers and nonfarmers alike, understand that growing markets add tremendous value to what farmers grow. The Market Access Program expands our access into larger world markets, and access to these markets is what helps our farmers compete in the global economy. I think that's worth preserving, so I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

I rise in opposition to the amendment. The people I represent value American agriculture and understand that food doesn't grow on grocery store shelves. It takes the hard work and high risk of farmers to get that food to market. I believe all of those farmers are worth supporting.

This amendment will undermine the safety net for many of those farmers, large and small. Many people don't realize it, but farm operations are made up of as many different kinds of farms as people. Different farms have different sizes, different ownership structures, different crop mixes and different equipment, and that diversity makes our domestic farming portfolio strong.

It's often the big guys who act as the hub of a farm community and offer the smaller farmers in the area access to expensive equipment that they could never afford on their own. These are all family farms in the best sense of the word, and they depend on each other for their livelihood.

This amendment effectively ends the safety net for the large family farmer, without whom many of our small family farms couldn't produce. I, therefore, urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Silas Edenfield, a 4-year-old boy from my district in Georgia who passed away on May 25 of cancer, just shy of his fifth birthday on June 4.

During his illness, more than 50,000 people from as far away as Australia paid tribute to Silas on social media, joining in his efforts to raise awareness of his deadly disease.

Silas loved Jesus and sea turtles and never let his illness get him down. At his young age, he inspired everyone he met with his bright smile and positive attitude. As one person said, ``He brought our community together.''

I extend my heartfelt condolences to Silas' family and the community that supported him. His memory will live on with the people whose lives he touched, including this proud Congressman.

Mr. Speaker, this is the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, and I rise to urge my colleagues to strengthen that law by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.

I'm a proud cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act because, even today, working women in my district in Georgia and across the country earn, on average, 77 cents for every dollar that men earn for the same work. That's because the penalties under the current law aren't strong enough to deter employers from breaking the law. And the current law doesn't protect employees from retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers. The Paycheck Fairness Act will plug these loopholes in the law.

Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to stand here today with so many of my colleagues to call for the passage of these long-overdue improvements in this landmark law. Every day we ignore the shortcomings of the law is another day we deny women their rights under the law, and that should end right now.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I'm a proud cosponsor of this bill with my colleague from Nebraska (Mr. Terry). These are the main reasons why:

First, this pipeline will move an estimated 840,000 barrels of oil per day. That's about how much we import every day from Venezuela. Any policy that allows us to bid good riddance to countries like Venezuela is a good policy in my book.

Critics say that it will increase our dependence on oil as our primary source of transportation energy, but we're already totally dependent on oil for our transportation energy. This pipeline will only make us less dependent on hostile rivals and more reliant upon friendly allies for the transportation energy that we need.

Critics say it will increase CO2 emissions, but this oil is going to be produced and refined and consumed by somebody. The only question is whether we get first dibs on it or whether or not we move to the back of the line behind countries like India and China for our own North American oil.

For all these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation today and once and for all make the Keystone XL pipeline a reality.

I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for the time, but more importantly I thank him for the leadership he is showing in this common endeavor.

I want to echo what my good friend, Congressman Dent, just said, but I want to make an additional point. The folks in Georgia sent me to Washington to help get things done, not get caught up in scoring political points. They are fed up with the hyperpartisanship in Congress, and that's why I've joined this group.

The scandals at the IRS and the Justice Department contribute to one of the biggest problems in our country right now. Americans don't trust their government to do the right thing. The goal of this group is to strengthen the faith that folks have in government.

The Problem Solvers coalition offers a chance to break the gridlock by getting Democrats and Republicans focused on actually getting things done in Congress. Unlike some folks, we don't think ``compromise'' is a dirty word.

Washington's refusal to respect and work with one another means we are failing this generation and the next generation. No Labels offers a common ground for lawmakers to make government work better and negotiate solutions without the blinders of partisan talking points.

We have real problems that are crying out for compromise right now, and we all just can't sit here arguing just to get us through the next election. If we continue with that approach, we won't be doing this country and the folks we represent any good down the road.

Mr. Speaker, my Bible says:

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and

loving favor more than silver or gold.

I believe that both parties have a great deal to contribute to this country's past, have a great deal to be proud of in their path, and they have a lot to contribute to our country's future. But the label, the name, the good name that folks are looking for is ``problem solver.'' That is the name that brings us together. That is the name that describes our function. That is why I'm proud to support this group and its work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the folks in my district in Georgia who are witnessing a series of serious missteps in the Federal Government, giving rise to an unprecedented level of distrust in government.

This week, we learned that the Internal Revenue Service used inappropriate criteria to delay or stall conservative organizations applying for tax-exempt status. This is a totally unacceptable abuse of the power the IRS has in our government, and calls into question any future decisions made by that agency.

Trust in the Federal Government is already at an all-time low. To help regain any of that trust, it is essential that all personnel involved in this misuse of power be held accountable. We've got serious work to do in Congress, but this sort of trouble only takes time and attention away from the work we need to do.

I urge my colleagues to investigate this matter swiftly and get on with the work we've been sent here to do.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the budget proposals on both sides of the aisle that are before the House this week.

Folks in Washington are good at giving the American people false choices. Today, we're forced to choose between budgets that cut Medicare benefits and budgets that unnecessarily raise taxes.

Folks in my district in Georgia have had enough of these false choices. We need to cut spending on things we don't need and can't afford, balance the budget, and lower taxes on all families; but there are no proposals to do that.

Each time we come to the House floor to deal with a budget, both sides are focused on messaging, not solutions. The people in my district deserve better. It's time for Congress to develop a responsible budget that cuts the deficit, protects Medicare and Social Security, and lowers taxes by fully reforming our outdated Tax Code.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.J. Res. 33,

which would reshape the way Washington operates.

Because Congress has failed to do its job to find the spending cuts we need to replace the sequester, folks all across this country, including folks in my district in Georgia, will pay the price.

Unfortunately, in Washington there are rules that prevent Members of Congress from being penalized for not doing their jobs. The Constitution doesn't protect the pay of folks back home, so why should it protect the pay of Members of Congress?

The 27th Amendment of the Constitution was written to prevent Members of Congress from giving themselves pay increases, but lately it has been used as a shield to prevent a congressional pay cut. My proposal, H.J. Res. 33, would return the 27th Amendment to its original intent and hold Members of Congress to the same standard as folks back home.

I urge my colleagues to support this proposal.

Madam Speaker, it's with great sadness that I rise to honor the life of Jack Connell, who passed away last month at the age of 93.

For 34 years, Jack Connell represented Augusta, Georgia, as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. For 26 of those years, Jack had the distinction of serving as the speaker pro tempore of the Georgia House. A representative of the Greatest Generation, Jack served in the Army Air Force as a bombardier navigator during World War II. He then worked as a traveling salesman, went on to own several businesses, and began a long career of public service.

Someone once said that it's easier to fight for your country than it is to live for your country. Jack Connell did both, for which we can all be grateful.

Madam Speaker, in a few hours, the so-called ``sequester'' will begin to take effect, and the things we cannot do without will be cut just the same as the things we don't need and can't afford.

What got us to this point was the failure to compromise, and what's kept us from solving this problem is that same failure to compromise. Only in Washington can so many folks agree on what the problem is, yet no solution is brought to the table.

My home State of Georgia is home to some of this country's vital military installations, including Fort Gordon in my district, the central nervous system of our national defense. Nearly $1 billion in cuts will spread across these installations and will have devastating impacts on surrounding communities.

I urge my colleagues to come back to the table, find the spending cuts we need to avoid this disaster, and begin the process of putting these partisan games behind us.