Paul C. Broun

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great American, a great Georgian, patriot, and personal friend--Rick Richardson, who passed away on November 14th from a sudden stroke.

Rick served the Georgia GOP for 25 years as the president and a national board member of the State Young Republicans, and 4th District chairman.

He had a tremendous impact on his fellow staff, the chairmen of the State Party, and all 159 counties in Georgia through his humble and hard-working attitude.

Rick was not only the party's ``go-to guy'' for history on any level but a great friend to all who knew him.

Rick's father and mother should take great pride in raising a son who touched many lives and will continue to do so in the days ahead.

In return, Rick, who lost his father at a young age, stayed by his surviving mother of 92, whom he cared for and loved.

Today, may we reflect on Rick's singular character and the tremendous work he did for Georgia, his family, and country.

Let us not forget him--a proud son, faithful servant, and example of what it means to be a selfless leader.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great American, a great Georgian, a patriot, and a great personal friend, and that is Rick Richardson, who passed away on November 14 from a sudden stroke.

Rick served the Georgia GOP for 25 years as the president and a national board member of the Georgia State Young Republicans and the Fourth District Republican Party chairman. He had a tremendous impact on his fellow staff members and the chairman of the State party and all 159 counties of Georgia through his humble and hardworking attitude.

Rick was not only the party's go-to guy for history on any level, but a great friend to all who knew him. Rick's father and mother should take great pride in raising a son who touched so many lives and will continue to do so in the days ahead.

In return, Rick, who lost his father at a young age, stayed by his surviving mother, who is 92 years of age, whom he cared for and loved.

Today, may we reflect on Rick's singular character and the tremendous work he did for the State of Georgia, the Republican Party, his family, and for the country. Let us not forget him, a proud son, faithful servant, an example of what it means to be a selfless leader.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5544) to increase the understanding of the health effects of low doses of ionizing radiation, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5544, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise here today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5544, the Low-Dose Radiation Research Act of 2014.

Humans are exposed on a daily basis to much natural background radiation, and some get additional low-dose exposure from medical procedures or from industrial radiation sources; yet sufficient data is not available for experts to definitively conclude whether there are health risks associated with low-dose radiation.

This lack of understanding prevents regulatory agencies from setting more precise radiation dose limits, as well as it impairs authorities' decisionmaking capabilities to address potential radiological events and advise patients for medically-based radiation exposures, all of which pose an unnecessary burden on society.

As a medical doctor, as a family doctor, and a true fiscal conservative, I recognize that this major gap in understanding is detrimental to the health and well-being of Americans and will additionally contribute to unnecessary economic burdens if we do not deal with it immediately.

This legislation seeks to address the limited understanding of potential health risks associated with low-dose radiation by leveraging the Nation's current expertise in low-dose radiation while proposing a long-term strategy to address the current gaps of knowledge in this area.

This legislation will be carried out using funds otherwise already appropriated by law and ensure that the Department of Energy is following congressional direction to focus its work on issues of long- term importance.

Passage of this legislation will help resolve what we do not know in the field of low-dose radiation for the betterment of medicine, for emergency response planning, and for industrial safety, not to speak about helping patients and Americans know what this all entails. This will show that we do not take for granted the livelihood of our fellow Americans.

This bill is a commonsense win, and I hope that all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in supporting this legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my good friend from Maryland (Ms. Edwards). I heard her comments, and they are very nice comments. She and I have been friends and sometimes on the opposite sides of issues, but she is a very dear friend and a great lady, and I appreciate her well wishes. I thank you very much. I appreciate that.

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