Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I come before you today to honor my friend, lifetime Fayetteville resident and entrepreneur, Robert Jordan, who passed away on December 16, 2014.

In 1952, Robert got his first job in retail at the age of 17 at the old Travis Hardware store in downtown Fayetteville. During his visits to various warehouses around town, Robert noticed items seemingly not for sale and placed off to the side. Eventually, he realized he could cheaply buy some of those discarded items, take them back to downtown Fayetteville, and sell them for a profit, while still offering his customers a good deal.

By the early 1970s, Robert was giving full-time attention to buying and selling salvage merchandise and became well-known for his wheeling and dealing. If you wanted to know anything about the community in Fayette County or if you wanted to win an election, you went to see Robert Jordan. Robert was the guy to go to.

Jordan Sales and Salvage became popular and profitable, and it is a fine example of what American entrepreneurship is all about. The way Robert ran his business and treated customers as his friends is a true statement of the compassion and faith involved in all the aspects of his daily life, especially the big love he had for his family.

Joan and I send our condolences and prayers to the Jordan family, especially his wife of 60 years, Nellie, during this difficult time, and I am thankful to have met Robert and to have visited his store from time to time, but I am especially lucky to call him my friend.

Robert, until we meet again, we miss you.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize Phil Hogan, Josh Allen, James Weston Abbott, and Shea Lasseter for their work for Coweta-Fayette electric cooperative, located in my district, and Habersham electric cooperative.

Coweta-Fayette initiated a partnership with Habersham for these gentlemen to travel to Costa Rica as volunteers for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International Foundation. They helped construct an electric distribution system and worked alongside employees at Coopeguanacaste, the electric co-op in the town of Guanacaste.

Their volunteer efforts included extending access to electricity for families in this community. Electricity is a critical element in improving the quality of life. It enables better health care, education, clean water, and other vital services. These men also shared safety and best construction practices with the Costa Rican cooperative employees.

NRECA International has been active in rural electrification development in Costa Rica since 1963. The four electric cooperatives in Costa Rica serve approximately 750,000 folks. Thanks to these volunteers, more families in the world now have a chance for a better life.

Thank you, Phil Hogan, Josh Allen, James Weston Abbott, and Shea Lasseter for your hard work and dedication.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5810.

This bill would meet the cotton industry's growing need for a rural contract for cotton on the United States market.

H.R. 5810 offers a simple technical fix that is needed due to the outdated 1916 Cotton Futures Act in terms of recognizing the global cotton trade.

Recent discussions with USDA revealed that the 1916 Cotton Futures Act requires all cotton tendered on a cotton futures contract that is listed for trading on a U.S. exchange to be classified by the USDA. This is unrealistic, both logistically and financially, for non-U.S. cotton stored in warehouses outside the U.S.

The industry's desire to trade and hedge a more modern contract requires a legislative tweak to the 1916 Cotton Futures Act to allow for any non-U.S. cotton tendered toward this U.S. contract to be inspected and classed by non-USDA personnel.

Our proposal would not change the regulation of the contract, nor the current USDA classing requirement that U.S. cotton must be classified by the USDA personnel.

Additionally, this bill also would not impact fees being generated by the USDA in the classing of U.S. cotton, tendered toward the existing cotton futures.

Here is the bottom line. For the industry to be able to hedge the 2015 cotton crop, they will need a tweak to this futures act that they may petition the CFTC for the new world contract to be listed. If H.R. 5810 is not passed, a new contract would likely be listed at other exchanges in Europe or Singapore.

With such unanimous support for this contract and solution, we hope this effort will be considered technical in nature and adopted quickly.

I urge my colleagues to support the measure.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to honor one of Columbus, Georgia's finest leaders: Colonel Roy Plummer. Colonel Roy Plummer is retiring as a Director of Army Instruction for the Muscogee County School District JROTC where he is responsible for eight high school JROTC programs and four other county JROTC programs. From 1998 to the present he has dedicated his efforts toward creating a formidable district-level JROTC program which has grown from 400 cadets early in his tenure to a current operating enrollment of 1200 cadets. His partnership with the high school principals in moving JROTC forward in terms of relevancy and as an enhancer to each high school's vision has been extremely successful. Under Colonel Plummer's mentorship, the Muscogee County School District JROTC has earned GHSA State Rifle Championships, State-level awards in drill team and raider competitions, and honorable recognition in the annual JROTC Academic Bowl.

Colonel Plummer is the Senior Pastor, Founder and CEO of Faith Tabernacle Community Church in Columbus since its inception in October 1994. He had finished his Active Duty Army career as the Chief of Chaplains of Fort Benning, Georgia prior to his retirement. He also currently serves as the Chaplain for Rotary International District 6900, Columbus, Georgia. He has served on numerous Boards as both a chairman and as a member: St. Francis Hospital Foundation, Columbus Hospice, United Way, Boy Scouts of America and the Columbus Chamber of Commerce are but a few.

Colonel Plummer served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling Graduate Studies at Columbus State University. He has earned a baccalaureate in Biblical Literature, Masters of Arts in Human Relations & Group Process and Guidance & Counseling, a Masters of Divinity in Pastoral Care, and a Doctorate in Divinity. This solid educational background and his benevolence inspired Colonel Plummer to create the Plummer Home for homeless and disenfranchised military veterans.

A native of May Penn, Clarendon Parrish, Jamaica, Colonel Roy Plummer is a leader, pastor and friend to many; and the father to four daughters and seven grandchildren. He will share with you that ``The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?'' To Roy Plummer and the endless contributions he has made to JROTC, the Muscogee County School District, and the Columbus community, we say ``Thanks a Million!''

Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to recognize Georgia Industries for the Blind as they celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Since the opening of its first manufacturing plant in 1949, Georgia Industries for the Blind has been creating, sustaining and improving employment opportunities for people who are blind. Georgia Industries for the Blind is part of the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency and operates from its corporate headquarters in Bainbridge, Georgia. They have operations in three other facilities in Georgia that collectively employ over 100 blind individuals. They are proof that a workplace should be welcoming to the talents of all people and should be a critical part of everyone's efforts to build an inclusive community and a strong economy.

Georgia Industries for the Blind has demonstrated the importance of raising awareness throughout the year about disability employment issues and to acknowledge the many and varied contributions of people with disabilities.

It is with great pride that I recognize the contributions of Georgia Industries for the Blind to the personal and economic independence of blind individuals not only during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, but throughout the entire year.

Mr. Speaker, I come before you today to honor one of Georgia's greatest: Mr. S. Truett Cathy.

Truett Cathy was known across the globe as a successful businessman, author, and the ``inventor of the chicken sandwich.'' Mr. Cathy would also say, ``God created chicken; we created the chicken sandwich.'' But most importantly, he was a beloved great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and husband, above all else. His strong Christian faith could be seen in everything he did. It didn't matter if it was his company, his employees, or his generosity. It was all embodied in the love and good news of Jesus Christ.

Truett's whole life was about giving hope and opportunity to those who had none. His dedication to helping children who have been abused and lost in the foster system reflected how important family values were to him and are only a fraction of what Truett, a man of such great integrity, was able to accomplish.

Having come from nothing himself, he wanted every child to have the same chance at success and happiness as he did. Truett established the WinShape Foundation, which includes 11 long-term foster homes for 95 children. The WinShape Foundation helped not only children in bad circumstances, but for all periods of an individual's life.

Truett also used his foundation as an opportunity to show you that faith in God can help you through your journey by providing opportunities for young adults to reconnect with their faith in the college program, offering retreats for married couples to renew their love in each other and in God, and creating our next generation's leaders through Christian wilderness camps to learn how to be a better leader and a part of a team.

Truett believed building Christian leaders shouldn't be limited to our country's borders and took WinShape International through missionary trips and projects in over 43 countries.

The generous work and humble spirit of Truett Cathy has touched more lives

than we could ever imagine, and many successful individuals today have him to thank.

Even in business, Truett Cathy treated his Chick-fil-A employees like family, endowing a scholarship foundation to help send them to college. Chick-fil-A has actually awarded more than $25 million in the last 35 years, done through $1,000 scholarships to 20 or 30 hardworking and deserving employees every year.

Through all his work, Truett gave the most important gift of all to many underprivileged children and teens, and that is hope.

You can never put a price on having someone believe in you and give you a chance at success by giving you your first job and teaching you the value of respect and hard work, and what the ethics of being employed was all about.

Truett sums up his life mission and his work best himself:

Nearly every moment of every day, we have the opportunity

to give something to someone else, our time, our love, our

resources, and I have always found more joy in giving when I

did not expect anything in return.

Having the opportunity to know Truett and his wonderful family has been a privilege, and I thank him for all he has done for the people of Georgia and across this Nation, for the hope and confidence that he has given so many young people to continue on and to fight for what they believe.

Joan and I want to send our condolences and prayers to the Cathy family during this time of great sorrow for us all.

I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for doing this Special Order and for giving me an opportunity to come down and not only listen to him, but to share a little bit.

Mr. Speaker, I think that we could have learned a lesson from Libya in the fact that we gave air support to the rebel groups that were overthrowing Qadhafi, who wanted Qadhafi gone.

Was Qadhafi a good man? No, but his enemies were the same as our enemies, and he had really turned over his nuclear arms, his chemical weapons. I mean, he had stopped with his nuclear enhancement and had turned over his chemical weapons.

Yet we saw fit that we would help the rebels because of humanitarian reasons and what was going on.

You know, sometimes different sides get blamed for different things by just saying, ``Oh, we didn't do that. Somebody else did that.''

It was interesting that after Qadhafi was gone, all of a sudden, it becomes a wild west in Libya, and as a result of that, we had four brave Americans lose their lives in Benghazi because we were trying to play nice and be friends. Some people don't want to be our friend.

In fact, as the gentleman from Texas was talking about, the real ambition of these jihadists, these radical Islamic groups, is to really have shari'a law control the world.

They want all of us to be under the shari'a law, and that is what their goal is. In fact, if you look at ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, they want to go back in history and put together this caliphate that would include Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, and others. I mean, that is their goal.

For people who might get confused with ISIS, ISIL, Daesh--there are a lot of different names that this group is called. I think ISIL is the best because I think that describes their intent of gaining this area that was once held.

So I think we have to really think about this, as far as who we are going to train and arm. Do we know who these groups really are, as the gentleman from Texas read about the article that Patrick Poole had.

We have had fighters that went to Syria. In fact, we just had our first American fighter that was fighting for ISIL. I believe his name was Mr. McCain. He lived in Minneapolis. He went back to San Diego and finally ended up in Syria. I think Josh Earnest used in one of these press briefings that these moderate forces had killed Mr. McCain and that they were fighting both ISIL and Assad.

Now, the interesting thing about this moderate opposition group that killed Mr. McCain is that they killed other ISIL fighters too. They beheaded six of them. Now, I don't know how moderate that is, but according to American standards, that is not moderate.

So I think we really have to give some close scrutiny to these folks that we are going to arm, that we are going to give different weapons. We really don't have a list of what those weapons would be yet. We are going to let the military train them.

We trained the Iraqi military, their police, their defense force for, what, 7 years, I guess, or longer; and then at the first sight of combat, they left the American equipment that they had been given and fled. So I don't know what kind of training we are going to give these moderate groups, but I know we haven't got 7 years to stop ISIL.

So I agree with my friend from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), that I wish the President had used some different words rather than ``degrade.'' Maybe ``destroy''--maybe ``defeat'' would have been a great word to use, that we want to defeat them.

If you read open source reports, there are 10,000, and then you hear, ``Well, now there are 15,000.'' Then we have got people in the government saying, ``Well, they could be up to 30,000. We don't know how many there are.''

I promise you, whether it was 30,000 or 50,000, we have got the greatest military in the world, and we could have controlled that situation if we just had the fortitude and the guts to do it, but because of the indecisiveness of this President, this thing has festered.

If we had gone into Syria originally--or at least armed the opposition forces then--we actually knew who they were because they were a small group. There is probably over 100 different opposition forces, and as the gentleman said, they are fighting both Assad and

Well, and you should. People claim it is all Bush's fault or that it was all the prior administration's fault that this happened.

By the withdrawal of our troops--because I am telling you, I think President Bush laid it out pretty clear in 2007, when he made that speech about how a lot of people in Washington were clamoring about getting our troops out, and he said, ``We are not going to get our troops out until our ground commanders in Iraq tell us that we are ready to get our troops out.''

He points out the dangers of that, and that is exactly what happened. I think if this administration had understood that and had actually listened to the former President, who had been involved in all the things that had gone on recently in the Middle East, then they would have been persistent enough to persuade Maliki to allow for some agreement.

Now, you know, I don't understand all the politics that have gone into this, but I think last night he authorized another 475 sneakers on the ground, and I think there was already roughly, what, 900-and- something over there.

So we have a lot of guys over there, but we don't know what they are doing, and I don't know that they know what they are doing.

What are the rules of engagement? Are they carrying weapons? Are they carrying notebooks, iPads? What are they doing? I mean, these are some of the most well-trained people that we have in our military. These are valuable assets to us that are over there, and just from the reports I read, I don't see that they really have any operational plan that they are going with.

So that has got to be really confusing, I would think, if I was over there, as to what the rules of engagement were and, you know, if I was going to be sent out as an adviser or as protection, security forces for the Americans that are there, Erbil or Baghdad or wherever they are, so I think it is confusing to them too.

I think that that is the reason, as you mentioned in one of your speeches today that I heard, about the resolution, so we can actually define what we think and what our committees think would be a good military plan for going in and what the expectation was of any forces that we have over there, whether it is air or some of these boots on the ground.

Let's clarify that and make that a separate vote.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say, when the five of us went in that 12-by-12 room----

Well, there was one more Member, I know, Trent.

So there were four of us in a 12-by-12 and two FBI agents and several boxes of paperwork, and they were nice enough to bring one copy so we could share.

The FBI is the greatest. I mean, they are great crime fighters. They do great investigative work. I think it was probably under great political pressure that they purged these documents to take those words out of it. Like you said, even the 9/11 Commission did that.

I want to go back to what you said about our allies and indecisiveness, if I could.

Louie, we look at what is going on in the country and we all talk to small business people every day, and they go: You know what? We are not going to expand our business. We are not going to grow because we don't know what our health insurance is going to be; we don't know what our energy cost is going to be; we don't know what the regulations are going to be. So it is kind of a stalemate. I think that is the way our allies look at us. They don't know what our next move is. So, with all this uncertainty, there are different elements that are coming in and filling that void in us being the world leader--Russia being one of them, coming in to fill that void.

People like to know that there is a leader somewhere that they can follow. I just don't think our allies in this world have seen that. Now we have actually got Germany and France and others leading different parts of these charges where America should have been out in front of it.

I know our time is just about up. I want to thank my friend from Texas for allowing me to share with him. I look forward to doing some more of the Special Orders with him and making sure we can get the truth out.

Mr. Speaker, some of our military have been sent emails telling them not to eat or drink in front of their Muslim brothers who are with them during Ramadan. I have never heard the military come out and say don't eat leavened food in front of your Jewish colleagues during Yom Kippur or Passover. I have never heard the military put out something such as be careful what you are eating in front of your Christian brothers during Lent because they may have chosen to do without.

Last Christmas, soldiers at Camp Shelby in Mississippi were told during a diversity briefing that they could not use the word ``Christmas.'' A VA hospital in Texas refused to accept holiday cards from boys and girls because the cards mentioned ``Christmas'' or ``God bless you,'' and a nativity scene near a lake on Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina was removed after someone complained.

So you might understand why Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, is a bit surprised by the Pentagon's recent behavior.

There is a good Biblical word for this: hypocrisy.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome today Pastor George Dillard to the U.S. House floor. I am proud that he hails from Georgia's Third Congressional District.

I have known Pastor Dillard; his wife, Renee; and their three children, Tiffany, Alexis, and Stewart, for many years. They are very good friends. He is a godly man, serving as senior minister at the Peachtree City Christian Church, and has touched many souls and hearts through his ministry and his book, ``Seven Things that God Desires for Us.''

This morning, I had a chance to visit with George and his son. I am thankful that they traveled all the way from the Third District of Georgia to share God's message with us today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

I hope the faithful message that he gave today will remind us of our true purpose here in Washington and that it helps carry our Nation through the week because Lord only knows that we need it.

Thank you again, Pastor Dillard. We appreciate your friendship and your sermon this morning.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to recognize Delta Air Lines as they celebrate the 85th anniversary of commercial service and the grand reopening of the Delta Flight Museum at its world headquarters:

Delta began its first service from Atlanta on June 12, 1930, just one year after its first passenger flight on June 17th, 1929,

Delta, Atlanta's hometown airline, operates service to more than 200 destinations in the world,

Delta is the world's largest hub at the world's busiest airport, employing more than 30,000 employees in Georgia,

Delta is the largest private employer in both the City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia, a historic cornerstone of economic development and job creation,

Delta has set the standard in Georgia for community contribution as a company with a rich history of employees putting countless hours of volunteerism back into community and local organizations,

It is with great pride that I congratulate Delta on 85 years of service to Georgia and others worldwide.

Mr. Speaker, I come before you today to recognize addition of the 2015 Viking VI Side-By-Side production at Yamaha Motors Manufacturing plant in Newnan, Georgia. This is a momentous occasion for Yamaha Motors and for Georgia, as Newnan is home to the Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation facility.

Since 1986, Yamaha Motors has helped to grow Georgia's economy with quality manufacturing, more jobs, and a deep commitment to improving our community. Their production keeps over 1,350 Georgians employed and are expected to add over 300 additional jobs over the next few years. Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation's continued success led to a $250 million investment over the last thirteen years, making Newnan, Georgia Yamaha's worldwide hub for ATV/SxS production and distribution.

Yamaha's achievements showcase how great Georgia is for manufacturing and business, and I thank them for their commitment to improving our district and state's economy. I am honored that the Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation calls Georgia's Third District home and look forward to sharing many more milestones with them in the future.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chair, a subsidiary of the Norway-based Norwegian Air Shuttle, NAS, Norwegian Air International, is seeking to operate as an Irish airline and plans to conduct overseas flights from Europe to the U.S. NAI has been granted an Irish Air Operator's Certificate, but still has an application for a foreign air carrier permit pending with the U.S.

Madam Chair, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding.

As the gentleman stated, we have no problem with the services that the Legal Services Corporation offers to the poor and to our veterans. What we do have a problem with is the fact that they are targeting our farmers, especially in Georgia.

We have brought this to the attention of Legal Services Corporation more than one time. We feel like some of the tactics that are being used on our farmers are not the right way and not the intent of what the Legal Services Corporation is trying to do.

If we look at the indigent here, both civil and criminal, for this country, including State funds, local funds, from lawyers' interest trust funds, and other funds, we spend $5.7 billion a year in indigent defense.

And so the point is, we believe in giving the poor representation. We just don't agree in the manner that it is being done.

We hope that, through this amendment, attention will be brought to that and there can be work on all sides to make sure that the intent of the Legal Services Corporation is to do what it was intended to do--to not go out and solicit clients, but to help the poor.

I admire them for the help that they have given all the veterans across this great country, but at some point you have to draw a line. I think this amendment sends a clear message to Legal Services that we want to get their attention and we want them to act appropriately, especially as far as our agriculture goes. These people

work very hard every day to produce our food, and we do not need to take advantage of them in the situation that we have now.

Offered By: Mr. Westmoreland

Amendment No. 4: Page 74, line 13 after the each dollar

amount, insert ``(reduced by $150,000,000)''.

Page 100, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert

``(increased by $150,000,000)''.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer my amendment to ensure that the C-17 aircraft stays in flight and provides our troops with the same reliability it has provided for the last 20 years.

Tonight, I join my friend, Mr. Courtney from Connecticut, in offering this amendment. We want to ensure that this program is sustained and will continue in the best possible way, and right now, I seek a colloquy with the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, the gentleman from California.

Mr. Chairman, the F-117 engine has a history of successful performance through a performance-based contract, and I believe that it is important that we keep these successful tenets available as we move forward in the next phase of a sustainment contract.

While I support cost visibility in this performance-based contract, I believe it is important that we do no harm to the success of the program.

I yield to the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

I thank the chairman for that.

Mr. Chair, I now ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. Chairman, the differing House and Senate language in section 1051 should not be interpreted by the Army or any court as indicating that Georgia's request should be denied or delayed until States reach an agreement.

While the conference report specifically references the ACF and the ACT basins, the House-passed language does not. Certainly other regions of the country with water concerns should pay close attention to what has happened with this section.

What is your position regarding working out these disputes in future WRRDA legislation?