Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, despite my strenuous objections, 2 years ago this week Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act. Two years have passed, and only one-third of nearly 400 rules are written today, and we have already added nearly 9,000 pages of new regulations and $7 billion in compliance costs.

By trying to solve a poorly understood financial crisis, Washington created a regulatory nightmare. New agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have slowed the credit lifeline that is vital to the creation and survival of American small businesses.

By impeding borrowing, experts predict Dodd-Frank will reduce annual job creation by 4.3 percent, hindering economic growth. Instead of using crises as excuses to expand our already overreaching government, we should target regulation at the root of the problem and work to protect both consumers and our innovating entrepreneurs.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, our current health care insurance system is badly broken, but the President's Affordable Care Act will only make it worse. It will lead to fewer jobs, more debt, and reduced access to quality care. Most importantly, it doesn't even deal with our primary problem--affordability.

How can a more affordable solution result in an $800 billion tax hike? Of the 21 new tax provisions in this law, 12 will target the middle class.

Instead of supporting the largest set of tax law changes in more than 20 years under the guise of health reform, we must repeal the law and take the time necessary to replace it with more patient-focused solutions. Pursuing consumer-driven reforms will allow Americans the flexibility to take ownership of their health care costs and will allow them the freedom to choose what plans work best for them and their families.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Energy Action Committee and a Representative from an energy State, I come to the floor today to support an all-of-the-above energy bill and an all-of-the-above jobs bill.

I know firsthand the tremendous economic growth and job creation that comes from unlocking American-made energy. My State of Kansas is undergoing an energy boom. Farmers are making money, tractor dealerships are selling new tractors, and families are paying off loans. Even church contributions have benefited.

Sadly, this American success story has been attacked by the current administration's repeated rejection of policies that would increase domestic energy production and create thousands of high-paying American jobs.

This important legislation strengthens our energy security, it removes the bureaucratic red tape hindering American energy production, and it creates American jobs.

Simply, we cannot afford to delay action that would create thousands of jobs. I urge passage of this legislation.

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership on this very important issue.

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, H.R. 5842, the Restoring Access to Medication Act, which I authored and introduced, passed out of the full Ways and

Means Committee markup with bipartisan support. It is now included in this bill that is being considered on the floor today.

We all know the President's health care law is full of pitfalls that make health care more expensive for average Americans. While we await the Supreme Court's ruling on constitutionality of the entire health care overhaul, there is bipartisan, bicameral agreement that requiring folks to have a doctor's prescription to buy medicine as simple as Advil or cough syrup with their health savings account or flexible savings account is simply wrong.

This provision would repeal the unnecessary and punitive ObamaCare limitation on reimbursement of over-the-counter medications from health FSAs, HRAs, and Archer MSAs that took effect back in 2011. Given the economic climate where jobs are hard to find, families are struggling to make ends meet; and when every dollar counts, this provision ensures that consumers have the flexibility to use these savings accounts as they see fit to purchase over-the-counter medications they need, exactly when they need them.

Republicans are committed to looking for commonsense solutions that address the chief concern facing both families and employers: costs. This bill and this provision is about lowering costs so both families and job creators have some of the relief that ObamaCare failed to achieve.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 436 today.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, after an exhaustive review, the Department of Homeland Security chose Manhattan, Kansas, as the site for the new BSL 4 National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. This will be the only such facility capable of researching large animals in the United States. The construction of this cutting-edge facility must move forward quickly so we can safely conduct critical research to develop vaccines and countermeasures in order to protect the public and our livestock from the threats of devastating diseases.

But not only will the NBAF accelerate America's ability to protect ourselves, our food supply, and the ag economy from biological threats; it will also be the world's premier animal health research facility and further solidify our Nation's place as the international leader in animal health.

The NBAF is needed to replace the obsolete and increasingly expensive Plum Island Animal Disease Center. This lab was built in the 1950s and has reached the end of its life. The facility does not contain the necessary biosafety level to meet the NBAF research requirements, and it never will. Any attempts to upgrade Plum Island would cost more than building the NBAF as planned. Currently, we do not have the ability to research the effects of these diseases on large animals at any facility in the United States, nor can we rely on international partners for our own security needs.

The NBAF project has a history of broad-based support. DHS, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, and the House Appropriations Committee under both Democrat and Republican leadership have made it clear time and time again that our country needs the NBAF, and the best place for the NBAF is in Manhattan, Kansas.

Congress has already appropriated $90 million, and the State of Kansas and the city of Manhattan have already committed more than $200 million towards this project.

In this age of uncertainty and global threats, conducting vital research to protect our Nation could not be more crucial. We cannot just wish away these threats or rely on others for our own security. And the truth of the matter is we are dangerously under-protected from the threat of a biological attack against our people and our food.

While the gentlelady's amendment to increase salaries for the Custom and Border Patrol has merit, it shouldn't be done by cutting 29 percent of the funding for construction of this important lab. The result of this amendment will be stopping or delaying construction of this nationally important NBAF facility, and our Nation's food supply cannot afford another delay.

We need to protect our food and our families from danger. We need to stay on the cutting edge of this research field. Our security is at risk, and delaying this project further should not be an option. We need NBAF.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this destructive amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

DHS, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, has made it clear that a BSL 4 lab is essential to our national security, and building a new structure to host the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is both responsible and cost effective. Manhattan, Kansas, was selected as the new site for the NBAF after an exhaustive study by the Bush administration's DHS, and then reconfirmed by the current administration's 2012 budget. We need NBAF, and Manhattan is the best place to build it, a fact that Secretary Napolitano confirmed earlier this year in a hearing with the Appropriations Committee.

While FEMA's State and local grants are important, increasing them by eliminating the funding for construction of this lab is simply irresponsible. Make no mistake about it; if we had a surplus, it might be nice to increase these grants. But the result of this amendment will be stopping or delaying construction of the nationally important NBAF facility and jeopardizing the security of our Nation's food supply.

I urge the body to reject this amendment.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

The first priority of the Federal Government is to protect the American people, and the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility has been declared necessary to provide that protection.

The Department of Homeland Security, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, and the House Appropriations Committee under both Democrat and Republican leadership, have made it quite clear time and time again that the country needs the NBAF, and the best place to do that research is in Manhattan, Kansas.

Congress has already appropriated $90 million, and the State of Kansas and the city of Manhattan have already committed more than $200 million towards the project. For the record, the calculations performed in this updated SSRA that were previously mentioned indicated that the estimated probability that an accident happening at this facility was less than 11 percent.

While again, this proposal might be nice if we had a surplus, the result of this amendment will be stopping or delaying construction of this vital NBAF facility, jeopardizing our security and our Nation's food supply. I urge the body to reject this amendment.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding.

The Violence Against Women Act is an important tool for preventing domestic violence and sexual assault and for supporting the victims of these crimes. There is broad bipartisan agreement that this essential legislation must be renewed.

While the House bill protects the victims of domestic violence and improves services and education to prevent and address these crimes on college campuses, our legislation also goes beyond the Senate bill by ensuring that taxpayer resources help victims--not Washington bureaucrats--by limiting administrative expenses, requiring annual audits and combating fraud.

While the House legislation takes enormous strides in protecting the victims of these truly horrific crimes, the legislation also takes great care to ensure the funds allocated by this bill are treated with the responsibility and care the victims and taxpayers deserve:

H.R. 4970 requires VAWA audits be performed by the Department of Justice and that the Attorney General improves the coordination between the grant-making offices to reduce duplication and overlap in funding. H.R. 4970 prohibits the award of grant funds to nonprofit organizations that hold money in offshore accounts in order to avoid paying their Federal taxes, and it limits the use of funds for salaries and administrative expenses to 5 percent of funds authorized under the act.

The Violence Against Women Act has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, and any attempt to exploit this important law as a partisan political issue is contemptible.

I encourage my colleagues in the House to vote in support of this legislation today to protect the victims of violent crime and support the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Speaker, as a Nation, we pride ourselves on the support we give our men and women in uniform.

So much so, that over the last ten years, ``Support the Troops'' has become a rallying cry that cuts through all social and political difference.

This month is Military Appreciation Month, and today I rise to thank the men and women serving in our military in Kansas and around the world.

This week, as the House attempts to block the gutting of our defense department, I think it is important to remember that the first priority of the Federal Government is to protect us and there are brave men and women across the globe who deserve our support.

So from Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth, Forbes Field, and other military installation across Kansas's Second District and indeed the world, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the men and women of our armed services. Your service makes my service possible.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

I thank the leader for yielding.

Job growth is my top priority, and no one can deny that small business is the engine that drives our economy and our job market. Since 1980, small businesses have accounted for 60 percent of job creation. Their success is vital to the strength of this economy and to the availability of jobs for all Americans.

As a CPA and a legislator, I've heard from small business owners throughout my career, and their message has been remarkably consistent: They need relief from the burdensome Tax Code, and they need capital to hire and expand, which is exactly what the Small Business Tax Cut Act provides.

While our colleagues in the Senate are devising new and creative ways to raise taxes, here in the House we have the opportunity to pass legislation that supports our small businesses, encourages growth and job creation, and lifts our economy out of the current economics of the day. We can and should do all of this by passing the Small Business Tax Cut Act today.

I thank the chairman for yielding.

The President's health care law is chock full of pitfalls, tax increases, government overreaches, and newly created bureaucracies. But perhaps the most outrageous and dangerous manifestation is the Independent Payment Advisory Board.

This board of 15 arbitrarily appointed bureaucrats is charged with slashing Medicare reimbursement rates, which will drastically impact the medicine and procedures available to our seniors.

The IPAB has no mandate to improve patient care. Its mandate is to meet a budget, and it may ultimately lead to the rationing of care for our senior citizens. The IPAB gives these bureaucrats unprecedented power with no accountability, no judicial review, and no requirement for transparency. The simple fact is that the American people don't want and certainly don't need bureaucrats coming between us and our doctors.

Today we ask for the repeal of the IPAB, but we will also make up for any amount of lost savings this absurd board would have been able to find by strengthening our health care system with honest and straightforward medical liability reform.

Frivolous lawsuits have caused malpractice insurance rates to skyrocket. As a result, the price of health care for patients has followed the same trajectory, and we've seen dramatic health care access issues for our rural communities.

If we repeal the IPAB and enact these commonsense medical liability reforms, this legislation will reduce the

deficit by over $45 billion, according to the CBO. These are commonsense, bipartisan, fiscally responsible reforms that strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and put the American people back in charge of their health care decisions.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this.

Madam Speaker, it has been 4 years since the height of the Great Recession and our economy is nowhere near where it should be. Unemployment continues to hover around 8 percent and thousands upon thousands of hardworking Americans have left the job market altogether.

After the President killed the Keystone pipeline, gas prices have skyrocketed, and, by some estimates, more than 20 percent of homeowners are underwater on their mortgages.

Madam Speaker, Americans need real jobs, real solutions, and real results, not the unprecedented, unacceptable, and unsustainable wasteful Washington spending some of our colleagues continue to promote. It's time Washington started protecting and respecting the hardworking American taxpayers. We need a system where their hard work is rewarded and every American has a chance to succeed.

I urge the Senate and the President to pass our jobs bills and work with us to get the American people back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name from H.R. 1964, the Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2011.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

There aren't many areas where the former Kansas Governor and current Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, and I agree, but one thing that we do agree on is that the CLASS Act portion of the President's health care package is completely unviable and needs to be stopped.

That's why I was glad to hear the Secretary backtrack on her prior support and pull the plug on the program, and it's why I support a statutory repeal of the CLASS Act today. This act was designed as a new national entitlement for purchasing community-living assistance services, and it was used by this administration as a pay for to substantiate their faulty claim that ObamaCare was going to reduce the deficit.

However, as I and many others pointed out at the time, the deficit reduction claim was bogus and based on budget gimmicks that proved false when HHS began implementation. You see, the CBO can only project the cost of bills in a 10-year budget window, so the Obama administration used a budget trick by setting up the CLASS Act to begin collecting premiums in 2012 but not paying out benefits until 2017. Great for years 1 through 10, but very bad for years 5 through 15 or later.

This gimmick led CBO to report that the program would reduce the deficit, but it certainly doesn't take a CPA to realize that these initial savings can't be sustained over time. While we anxiously await the Supreme Court's decision on the constitutionality of ObamaCare's individual mandate, I urge my colleagues to support the repeal of this failed portion of the bill today so we can get this budget gimmick off the government's books.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3801, an important piece of bi-partisan legislation that will strengthen our borders and strike an important blow against those who would try and smuggle drugs into this country.

But I also rise to honor H.R. 3801's sponsor, my long time friend Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

I have known Gabby a long time. In fact, our friendship goes back long before either one of us considered running for Congress to when we spent time together during our involvement with the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowship and traveled to Vietnam together with the American Council of Young Political Leaders.

I have truly missed seeing Gabby in the halls of the House and will continue to miss her in the years to come. While I am sad to hear she is moving on, I wish her well as she continues her remarkable recovery.

Though she is retiring from the House this week, I know that Gabby's impact on public policy, this Congress, and this country is far from over. I look forward to seeing the great things she will accomplish in the years to come.

Just as was the case with much of what she does Gabby's last legislative act before she resigns has strong bipartisan appeal. I support H.R. 380 and I support Gabby.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, folks are mad out there. They're mad because what Congress is doing--or not doing, in many cases--makes absolutely no sense.

As a CPA, I'll tell you that handling tax policy on a month-to-month basis isn't just irresponsible; it's downright crazy. According to the nonpartisan National Payroll Reporting Consortium, the cost of complying with the 2-month extension proposed by the Senate may actually harm many small businesses. In fact, implementing the cuts on this short timeline may not even be possible.

In addition to being a CPA, I'm also a mom, and I would do just about anything to be working out of our Topeka office at this time of year so that I could spend evenings with my kids. But agreeing to a tax policy that is so short-lived that it costs not just our government but also our small businesses big bucks is not one of them.

The American people are exhausted. They are sick and tired of Congress kicking the can down the road on hard decisions. So I ask our leaders in the Senate, Are your vacation plans more important than good policy? Why will it be easier to negotiate a deal in February than it is today? Come back. We still have time. Work with us to do the job we were elected to do. Let's make the hard decisions today. Let's extend the payroll tax cuts for the entire year, and let's not do it on the backs of a generation more focused on Santa right now than they are on tax policy.