Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the leadership of Chairman Frelinghuysen at the full committee and Chairwoman Granger at the Defense Subcommittee on this bill.

Providing for the common defense of our Nation is one of the most fundamental duties of Congress under the Constitution.

Last week I appreciated the message that President Trump delivered in his joint session address, and I was particularly encouraged by his call to properly fund our military. For the last 6 years, we have been in almost constant tension with an administration whose sequestration policy threatened to hollow out our military.

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I stand ready to work with the President and Secretary Mattis to make sure our military is properly funded, well equipped, and ready for the fight. That is why I am so proud to support this Defense Appropriations bill.

Our bill rejects the Obama administration's proposed troop level reductions that would have amounted to as many as 36,000 servicemen and -women cut from the ranks. Instead, our bill provides funding for an additional 1,000 Active-Duty Army soldiers, 1,000 Army National Guard soldiers, 1,000 Army Reserve soldiers, and 1,000 Active-Duty marines. The bill also fully funds a much-deserved 2.1 percent pay raise for military personnel.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent a district that is home to both Fort Rucker, the home of Army aviation, and Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, the intellectual center of the Air Force.

I am pleased to report that this bill contains a strong budget for Army aviation, including $187 million for the 28 Lakota helicopters, which are the primary aircraft used for training at Fort Rucker.

It also contains an increase of almost $450 million for the Air Force's cybersecurity efforts. Maxwell's Air Force Cyber College at Air University plays a key part in cybersecurity, serving as an intellectual hub for the Air Force in the emerging battlefield for cyber warfare.

This appropriations bill also contains funding for the procurement of 74 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The Montgomery-based 187th Fighter Wing is on the short list for being assigned this next generation fighter jet, and our Alabama congressional delegation is working together to make the case to the Air Force why this special unit is an ideal fit.

Mr. Speaker, I take our responsibility to craft sound military spending plans very seriously. I am pleased the House is moving the fiscal year 2017 Defense Appropriations bill this week, and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 43. Congress must use its authority to strike this rule and stop the Federal Government from forcing States to funnel taxpayer money to abortion providers.

This rule is wrong on process and it is wrong on policy. First of all, States have every right to put in place reasonable guidelines for how their Federal dollars are spent. For Washington to attempt to coerce States in this way would be bad enough, but for unelected bureaucrats in the Department of Health and Human Services to go around Congress at the eleventh hour of the Obama administration is just outrageous.

Madam Speaker, I think we all agree that low-income women should have access to essential title X services, but why is it necessary for those services to be funded at the Nation's largest provider of abortion? It isn't, of course, but the abortion industry and its supporters want us to believe that it is.

When it comes to funding, they like to pretend that abortion doesn't exist and that Planned Parenthood is the only place where women can get health care, but that is not true. The truth is that there are more than 13,000 federally qualified and rural health centers that offer low-cost health care to women. These centers outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics 20 to 1; they just don't preform abortions.

Understanding this, some States have rightly enacted laws and policies redirecting title X dollars away from abortion providers and toward these noncontroversial clinics. If the true goal here were to ensure women's health care, no one should have a problem with that. But that wasn't the goal, and everybody knows it.

There is a reason people call this rule President Obama's parting gift to Planned Parenthood. It was a blatant, transparent attempt to preserve the

pipeline of funding to the Nation's largest abortion business. It was wrong, and I urge my colleagues to vote to nullify it today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP) High School in Montgomery, Alabama upon its being named a National Blue Ribbon School in November of the year 2016.

LAMP Magnet High School is more than deserving of this recognition. The school is currently ranked as the best high school in the State of Alabama and the 34th best high school in the country according to U.S. News and World Report.

The school consistently maintains a 95 percent graduation rate though it is currently ranked by The Washington Post as one of the most challenging high schools in America.

LAMP is also to be commended for the strong emphasis it places on extracurricular activities, community involvement and service, and parent engagement.

The City of Montgomery is fortunate to have the exceptional educational opportunities that LAMP Magnet High School offers. The school truly makes Montgomery and the State of Alabama proud.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to congratulate Loveless Academic Magnet High School on being named a National Blue Ribbon School and celebrate this outstanding accomplishment with its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and all who cherish this remarkable school.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee for yielding me this time. Opponents of this bill are suggesting that we are against women's health care. What we are vehemently opposed to is the killing of innocent lives, innocent babies.

So let's call abortion abortion and be reminded that the one voice, Madam Speaker, not heard today is that of the baby. So it is my privilege, alongside my colleagues, to speak on behalf of those who are not here today to speak for themselves. No taxpayer dollars should ever go to fund abortions. This is a commonsense truth that even the most ardent pro-abortion activists have a hard time arguing.

I am unapologetically pro-life, and it is no secret that I believe in stronger protections for unborn children under the law, but I also believe that we must assign greater respect for life within our society. That is why it is so important for Congress to make a statement, once and for all, that there is no place in the Federal budget for abortion funding.

As an appropriator, I can tell you that the Hyde amendment has been indispensable to stopping funding for abortion throughout our government healthcare agencies. Now it is time to apply the same longstanding provision across the entire Federal Government.

Madam Speaker, for my pro-life colleagues and me, fighting on behalf of the unborn has been an uphill battle these last several years. The abortion industry's fierce allies in the Senate and the Obama administration have made sure that many worthy pro-life measures were defeated. However, with a unified Republican government, our hope is that our prospects have changed for the better. On just the second day of his Presidency, President Trump issued an executive order blocking Federal funding for international groups to provide or promote abortions. For the pro-life community, this long-overdue action was a welcome sign that the Trump administration will be a powerful ally in the fight for life.

Madam Speaker, there are many policy improvements to pursue: reasonable limits on abortions after 5 months of pregnancy, stopping the shell game of title X funding at Planned Parenthood, improving access to adoption services, and more. But a great place to start is passing H.R. 7. It is our enduring responsibility to defend the unborn, and it is imperative we get this right.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

I, too, want to echo the sentiments of my colleague from Alabama (Ms. Sewell) in thanking leadership and all the Members on both sides of the aisle for their willingness to jump right on this so that we could achieve passage both here in the House and in the Senate in time for this most important anniversary, the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

I am so proud just standing here listening to my colleague. I am so proud to have the privilege and the opportunity to cosponsor this bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the brave men and women who not only changed Alabama and America, but they changed the world.

So as we look toward the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, it is certainly fitting to honor the brave individuals who, against brutality and oppression, took a stand for their God-given rights. So thank you to my colleague, Terry Sewell, for all your hard work on this very important, worthy legislation.

I have also been honored, Mr. Speaker, to serve alongside my colleague

from Alabama (Ms. Sewell) in recruiting Members of this body and the Senate to join us in the pilgrimage led by John Lewis to Alabama for the anniversary on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of next month. I am proud to say we have a record number of colleagues that are willing to participate because of the obvious significance of this important day.

I look forward to, alongside all of my colleagues in the Alabama delegation--who again I thank as well as Ms. Sewell for their willingness to host our colleagues from all over the country in Birmingham, in Montgomery, and Selma, and other very important places to the civil rights movement--hearing from those who lived it.

One of the things that we did alongside this Congressional Gold Medal, Mr. Speaker, was to invite our colleagues to come to a screening of the movie ``Selma.'' I have to say, as a girl growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, that did not live through this very important time in our history, it was honestly one of the more moving moments in my time in Congress, to sit in the room with our colleague, Mr. Lewis, and experience through that visual on the screen what he lived in his life. It was a unique and special moment and one that I will personally treasure for a very long time.

So, Mr. Speaker, it is Mr. Lewis and all those that joined him in standing up for justice that we seek to honor with this Congressional Gold Medal. There is no higher honor that we as Members of Congress can bestow, yet it seems such a small token of gratitude compared to the magnitude of the endeavors of those who lived through those days.

My daughter, Margaret, Mr. Speaker, whom you often hear me talk about--I have Margaret and George, but Margaret is in fourth grade, and like in a lot of States, in fourth grade in Alabama you learn about Alabama history. This is such an important time in her life as she learns about our State and its history, and the civil rights movement is certainly an integral part, a very important part of our history. So she is coming with me on the pilgrimage next month. She will be able to meet and know firsthand the people that fought to change the world.

It is difficult for those of us who weren't alive during the civil rights movement sometimes to wrap our minds around it, but I, alongside my daughter, am very much looking forward to this special time as Members of Congress that we have to reflect on the importance of this history.

I am, again, honored, Mr. Speaker, to be a part of this bill, and I just thank, again, all of my colleagues who very quickly joined with us so that we could get this done to honor those brave foot soldiers that changed not just our country, but the world. I, too, ask that all my colleagues join me in voting in favor of H.R. 431.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 2 p.m. on Friday, January 30, 2015; and further, when the House adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet on Monday, February 2, 2015, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 240, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act, and to offer this amendment alongside my colleague, Mr. DeSantis of Florida.

If we are going to fix a broken immigration law, the way to do it is to uphold the rule of law, not undermine it. President Obama has offered amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. That not only undermines the rule of law, it threatens American jobs. It is dangerous and irresponsible.

I am proud to have worked alongside my colleagues, including Mr. Aderholt from Alabama, to get this bill to the floor today so that we can responsibly fund the Department of Homeland Security but also defund the President's unlawful executive amnesty.

Madam Chair, do you want a great example of why the President acting unilaterally to circumvent Congress is a bad idea? Well, this amendment that we offer today demonstrates that.

Right now, illegal immigrants convicted of child abuse, sexual offenders, and domestic abusers, are not a top priority for deportation in this country. This amendment simply makes them a priority for deportation. This is an example as to why the President circumventing Congress is not only a bad idea, but it undermines the law.

I ask my colleagues to not only support this very important amendment, but also to support the underlying bill that uses the power of the purse. It is Congress' responsibility to defund the unlawful, unconstitutional acts of this President and his executive amnesty.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Larry Blakeney, an exceptional Alabamian who has made an enormous contribution to athletics and the development of young people in my state.

Coach Blakeney is best known as the head coach of the Troy University Trojan football team, a position he held for 24 years, retiring this past December. During that time, Coach Blakeney built a little-known Southeast Alabama team into a conference powerhouse and a nationally-competitive program. His remarkable career at Troy has included six 10-win seasons, five Sunbelt Conference championships, and 178 wins--a total that places him among the top three Alabama college coaches, behind the legendary Paul ``Bear'' Bryant and just ahead of his mentor and winningest Auburn coach Ralph ``Shug'' Jordan.

Among the defining characteristics of Larry Blakeney-coached teams was the fearless attitude they took into competition. ``Any team, anytime, anywhere'' was Troy's motto, never phased or intimidated by traditional college football powers. And the Trojans would not just compete against the best, they would win. Simply put, Larry Blakeney has personified Troy Football, so much so that the field on which the Trojans play bears his name.

Larry Blakeney's impact on the game of football in Alabama started as a player in high school, when he led the Gordo Green Wave to a record of 24-2-2 and three-straight Warrior Conference championships. He enrolled at Auburn University, where he became the first sophomore to start at quarterback under Coach Ralph ``Shug'' Jordan, a distinction that shows the extraordinary trust the legendary coach placed in him.

Blakeney began his coaching career in the high school ranks, first at Southern Academy, then Walker High School and Vestavia Hills High School. He was then hired at his beloved alma mater, Auburn, where he served as an assistant coach for 14 seasons. Auburn would experience one of its most successful runs ever with Coach Blakeney calling plays, including three-straight SEC championships in 1987, 1988 and 1989. Coach Blakeney's success and championship drive made him the perfect choice to lead Troy's burgeoning football program beginning in 1991.

His success on the gridiron has led to many accolades, including multiple ``Coach of the Year'' honors and placement in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. However, Coach Blakeney's impact goes far beyond the playing field.

From Gordo to Auburn to Troy, he has maintained close, warm relationships with his teammates, fellow coaches, and players. The Auburn Creed, which outlines how Auburn men and women are supposed to live, emphasizes ``the human touch,'' which cultivates love, understanding and sympathy with your fellow man. Larry Blakeney personifies and embodies that ``human touch'' to a great and rare degree.

Hundreds and perhaps thousands of once-young men are, today, better husbands, fathers, and citizens because of the positive influence of Coach Blakeney; a good man who used the game of football to teach integrity, character, and perseverance throughout his entire career.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to acknowledge Coach Blakeney's positive impact on young people in Alabama, to celebrate his remarkable career, and to honor his place among the greatest college football coaches to walk the sidelines in my state.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Larry Blakeney, an exceptional Alabamian who has made an enormous contribution to athletics and the development of young people in my state.

Coach Blakeney is best known as the head coach of the Troy University Trojan football

team, a position he held for 24 years, retiring this past December. During that time, Coach Blakeney built a little-known Southeast Alabama team into a conference powerhouse and a nationally-competitive program. His remarkable career at Troy has included six 10-win seasons, five Sunbelt Conference championships, and 178 wins--a total that places him among the top three Alabama college coaches, behind the legendary Paul ``Bear'' Bryant and just ahead of his mentor and winningest Auburn coach Ralph ``Shug'' Jordan.

Among the defining characteristics of Larry Blakeney-coached teams was the fearless attitude they took into competition. ``Any team, anytime, anywhere'' was Troy's motto, never phased or intimidated by traditional college football powers. And the Trojans would not just compete against the best, they would win. Simply put, Larry Blakeney has personified Troy Football, so much so that the field on which the Trojans play bears his name.

Larry Blakeney's impact on the game of football in Alabama started as a player in high school, when he led the Gordo Green Wave to a record of 24-2-2 and three-straight Warrior Conference championships. He enrolled at Auburn University, where he became the first sophomore to start at quarterback under Coach Ralph ``Shug'' Jordan, a distinction that even Auburn Heisman winner Pat Sullivan does not share.

Blakeney began his coaching career in the high school ranks, first at Southern Academy, then Walker High School and Vestavia Hills High School. He was then hired at his beloved alma mater, Auburn, where he served as an assistant coach for 14 seasons. Auburn would experience one of its most successful runs ever with Coach Blakeney calling plays, including three-straight SEC championships in 1987, 1988 and 1989. Coach Blakeney's success and championship drive made him the perfect choice to lead Troy's burgeoning football program beginning in 1991.

His success on the gridiron has led to many accolades, including multiple ``Coach of the Year'' honors and placement in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. However, Coach Blakeney's impact goes far beyond the playing field.

From Gordo to Auburn to Troy, he has maintained close, warm relationships with his teammates, fellow coaches, and players. The Auburn Creed, which outlines how Auburn men and women are supposed to live, emphasizes ``the human touch,'' which cultivates love, understanding and sympathy with your fellow man. Larry Blakeney personifies and embodies that ``human touch'' to a great and rare degree.

Hundreds and perhaps thousands of once-young men are, today, better husbands, fathers, and citizens because of the positive influence of Coach Blakeney; a good man who used the game of football to teach integrity, character, and perseverance throughout his entire career.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to acknowledge Coach Blakeney's positive impact on young people in Alabama, to celebrate his remarkable career, and to honor his place among the greatest college football coaches to walk the sidelines in my state.

Mr. Speaker, President Obama's attempt to bypass Congress and grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants is wrong and dangerous. It undermines the rule of law and threatens American jobs.

That is why right now several of my colleagues and I, including fellow appropriators, are putting the finishing touches on a plan that will wield the power of the purse to block executive amnesty.

I believe we have a solid strategy. We wanted to put forward the simplest, most straightforward bill language that could defund the President's immigration actions. Thankfully my own Alabama Senator, Jeff Sessions, had already generated some great model language doing just that, so we crafted that into the House bill.

We are still working on it, but I am confident that strong defund language will be presented to this House for inclusion in the Homeland appropriations title.

I believe the will of Congress must be to fund Homeland Security and its important functions, but to specifically block implementation of President Obama's unconstitutional immigration orders.

New Jersey: William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton.

Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss mental health services for veterans.

As you know, physical injuries are not the only ones endured in war. Many soldiers return home with wounds that we cannot see. For some veterans, the psychological trauma endured on the battlefield affects them and their families long after the shots stop firing.

Of the 2 million Americans who served in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, as many as 300,000 meet criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. Another 300,000 may have suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Mr. Speaker, for these servicemen and servicewomen, access to quality mental health care is crucial, so imagine being one of these soldiers who recently returned home with the lasting psychological effects that so commonly result from war.

Now, imagine that in seeking treatment from the VA, you are forced to go 67 days without an appointment. Sixty-seven days is the new average wait time for new mental health patients at the central Alabama VA; and, Mr. Speaker, that number has gotten worse. In May, the wait time for new mental health patients was 57 days.

Mr. Speaker, administrators claim that scheduling and labeling errors have contributed to making the problem appear worse on paper than it actually is, but if after all of this time we haven't figured out how to properly schedule patients at the VA, we have worse problems than I thought. I don't expect it to magically improve overnight, but we shouldn't be moving in the wrong direction.

My primary focus is improving care for veterans in Alabama, and there are ways that we can do it. I am eager to see greater utilization of the Patient-Centered Community Care program, otherwise known as PC3, which connects veteran patients with local doctors or specialists.

It makes no sense to make a veteran wait 2 months for an appointment when we can refer them to an outside provider right away. I believe PC3 is a difference-maker, and I will continue to insist the VA leadership utilize it on the mental health side.

Mr. Speaker, a 2-month wait for mental health patients at the VA is obviously a disservice to our veterans, but it is also a major safety concern for veterans, their families, and the public. It might be uncomfortable to talk about, but the fact is we have a very high suicide rate among veterans.

Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day. The tendency is even higher for young, male veterans, the very type that are returning home right now from war. The last thing that we should do is make it harder for veterans to get the treatment that they need.

That is why I rise today in support of H.R. 5059, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act. This bipartisan bill aims to, number one, increase access to mental health care for veterans; number two, better meet the demand for mental health professionals; and number three, improve accountability of suicide prevention efforts through the Department of Defense and the VA.

The bill is named for Clay Hunt, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning the Purple Heart. He was diagnosed with PTSD and actually worked to raise awareness about problems facing people like him returning home from combat.

Like many veterans, Clay ran into roadblocks in his efforts to access care for his PTSD. I encourage everyone to look up Clay Hunt's full story and read about the difficulty he faced getting needed care from the VA. For some veterans, it might sound all too familiar. On March 31, 2011, at the age of 28, Clay took his own life. Clay's story is sad, it is disheartening, and it is infuriating. But what Clay's story is not? It is not uncommon enough, 22 veterans a day.

Mr. Speaker, we have a long way to go as a Nation in making sure veterans in need of mental health care aren't left behind, but let's start this week by passing the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, November, 17 2014, I was absent because of travel delays due to weather related activities.

If I had been present, I would have voted the following on November 17, 2014:

Rollcall 520 on the motion to suspend the rules and pass, H.R. 5162, An Act to allow a certain parcel of land in Rockingham County, Virginia, to be used for a child care center, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with this Congress and with this Nation a story of mismanagement, malfeasance, negligence, and coverup at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, or CAVHCS.

I know most of my colleagues can point to at least some problems at the VA systems in their State. But what has transpired in my hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, and central Alabama rises to a level of misconduct and mistrust I am not sure many other systems can match. And I do this not simply just to disparage the system for no reason. I do this to shine a light on some truly disturbing practices so we can finally clean up the mess. I do this so that the 50,000-plus veterans that depend on the Central Alabama VA can one day have confidence in the health care system we promised them.

After Phoenix, when the scheduling scheme began to unravel, it was revealed in early June that the Central Alabama VA had one of the worst wait times in the country. It was particularly bad for mental health patients.

I actually met with our local VA director, who acknowledged the discrepancies and tried to reassure me by leading me to believe that action had been taken to remove those responsible. It turns out that wasn't true. No one was fired. Mr. Speaker, if a Member of Congress can't get a straight answer from the VA, imagine what our veterans go through every single day.

In the wake of this clear breach of trust, we began digging deeper to find out what was really going on at the Central Alabama VA. The information that we received from sources who came forward was alarming. It is also consistent with reports gathered by independent inspectors and some great investigative reporters.

Here is what is being uncovered:

A Montgomery VA pulmonologist manipulated more than 1,200 patient records to show tests that never occurred. After being caught, the doctor was never fired or suspended. He actually was caught manipulating records again but somehow went on to receive a ``satisfactory'' performance review;

At least 900 unread patient X-ray tests, many showing malignancies, were lost over a 5-year period. When the tests were discovered recently, top hospital administrators tried to cover up the problem;

Email records show the Central Alabama VA director was alerted to the concerns over patient scheduling practices more than 8 months before taking action;

And finally, Mr. Speaker, perhaps the strongest evidence yet has emerged that the rampant scheduling manipulation at Central Alabama wasn't a misunderstanding at all but, rather, a facility-led standard operating procedure. More than 57 percent of staff surveyed at Central Alabama said they received ``instruction'' to manipulate patient wait times, 57 percent. Mr. Speaker, that is off the charts. The national average is 12.7 percent, and other systems near Montgomery aren't even close.

There is clearly a systematic problem in Montgomery, and it needs to be corrected. That is why I have joined with Senator Richard Shelby to write the new Secretary of Veterans Administration, Robert McDonald, to call his attention to the Central Alabama VA. Specifically, Senator Shelby and I are asking Secretary McDonald to review these instances of mismanagement, visit CAVHCS with us, and develop a plan of action to reform the Central Alabama system.

It is so important to remember that thousands of doctors, nurses, and public servants at the VA work very hard every day to give veteran patients the best health care that we can offer. Their service is honorable, and it is a shame that it is overshadowed now by a system that too often fails those it was created to help.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow the American people to forget about this. We cannot allow the news media to move on to the next story. I hear from veterans every day who are depending on us to make this right. This will be an uphill battle. I know that. But it is a fight we have to fight. We have to change this culture of complacency. That starts with new leadership, and I look forward to working with Secretary McDonald.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, June 23, 2014, I was absent because of travel delays due to weather related activities.

If I had been present, I would have voted the following on June 23, 2014:

Rollcall 339 on the motion to suspend the rules and pass, S. 1044, the World War II Memorial Prayer Act, I would have voted ``aye.''

Rollcall 340 on the motion to suspend the rules and concur to the Senate amendment, H.R. 316, the Collinsville Renewable Energy Production Act, I would have voted ``aye.''