Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding. Chris Smith is one of the leaders in the pro-life movement that we have had not just here in the House, but in our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I want to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Every year in January, families, religious leaders, and students come to Washington, D.C., and march from the National Mall to the Supreme Court. To me, the March for Life means having renewed hope and faith in our Nation's young people, as I see hundreds, many from perishes just like mine, come to our Nation's Capital to stand for human life.

I want to recognize all of the groups from Illinois, who are traveling to participate in this week's March for Life event, including the 250 young people and chaperones from my Diocese in Springfield, Illinois. As a father of a daughter and twin boys, I want to thank our youth for their commitment to life.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lynn Raney, who passed away on December 28th. He was a talented artist, a dedicated state worker, an admired teacher, and a respected member of our Central Illinois community.

Lynn found great joy in serving others. I got to know him during his time working in public service for the State of Illinois. There was never a day Lynn did not have a smile on his face, even in the midst of difficult family health tragedies.

As a boy, Lynn was active in the Boy Scouts, achieving honors such as the Eagle Scout, the Silver Beaver, and the Wood Badge. Later in life he was proud to serve as a volunteer, teaching the values of the Boy Scouts to younger generations.

I have no doubt that Lynn will be remembered well for his talent as an artist. Not only did he teach art to high school students, but he was known for the care and creativity he put into his annual Christmas cards. Just before Christmas, I received one of his cards and I will cherish it even more after his passing.

I am proud to honor Lynn today. He left a lasting impact on everyone who knew him. He was a good friend, a devoted husband, and a loving father who will be missed by many. My thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lynn Raney, who passed away on December 28. He was a talented artist, a dedicated State worker, an admired teacher, and a respected member of our central Illinois community.

Lynn found great joy in serving others. I got to know him during his time working in public service for the State of Illinois.

There was never a day that Lynn did not have a smile on his face, even in the midst of difficult family health tragedies. As a matter of fact, Lynn Raney helped set up a press conference where he found out he was being laid off from the State of Illinois by a new Governor.

I have no doubt that Lynn will be remembered well for his talent as an artist. Not only did he teach art to high school students, but he was known for the care and creativity he put into his annual Christmas cards. Just before this Christmas, I received one of his cards, and I will cherish it even more after his passing.

I am proud to honor Lynn today. He left a lasting impact on everyone who knew him. He was a good friend, a devoted husband, and a loving father, who will be missed by many. My thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.

Mr. Speaker, my congratulations go out to Chairman Frelinghuysen and to Chairman Shuster for putting these FEMA reforms into law that were long overdue. I thank the gentlemen for their support.

I rise in support of H.R. 4667, the critical disaster assistance legislation to help those affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria this year.

I have said on the floor of this House numerous times that I believe it is important for Congress to come together when disaster strikes to help those impacted. Helping our fellow Americans after a disaster is the right thing to do.

And, don't forget, you never know when a disaster may hit your State. That is why I am thankful to Chairman Frelinghuysen and Chairman Shuster for including language important to my home State of Illinois in this bill. My bill, the Disaster Declaration Improvement Act, requires FEMA to place greater weight and consideration on the severe, localized impact of the damage following a disaster.

I want to thank my colleague, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, for working with me on this bipartisan bill.

FEMA currently takes into account several factors when determining the need for public and individual assistance. However, there is no standard to determine which factor is more important than another, which leads to a highly subjective process, and one that has left rural counties in very populated States, like Illinois, left without help from the Federal Government.

It is because one major factor used by FEMA is a State's population. Currently, FEMA multiplies a State's population by $1.39 to use it for the threshold to determine need, meaning, for Illinois to receive assistance, damages would have to be $18 million or more.

As you can see by this chart, that is more than or nearly double that of all

of our neighboring States. There have been multiple times where a storm hits both Illinois and our neighbors, but Illinois is the only one denied assistance.

One of the most recent examples is, 2 years ago this Christmas, flood damage throughout 16 counties cost $15 million in damages. Missouri, who was also impacted by this same storm, received assistance, but Illinois did not.

This is wrong. My constituents pay into the Disaster Relief Fund to help other States. It should be there when they need it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Sessions for his leadership and for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, we are about to make history this week by delivering a tax cut to families at every income level.

The math clearly shows that the average family of four, making the country's median income of $73,000, will receive a $2,000 tax cut.

Yet many of my friends on the other side of the aisle continue to say this bill is going to raise taxes on millions of middle class families. That is just not true, unless you are referring to 2025, when these tax cuts expire and we go back to the status quo.

Why is there an expiration date?

Because many of the very same people, using this as a talking point against this bill, are the reason they sunset. If we could get 60 votes in the Senate, requiring just a few of my friends on the other side of the aisle to work with us, we could make this tax cut for middle class families permanent right now. They have chosen not to work with us.

I will be giving my friends on the other side of the aisle another chance to support tax cuts for hardworking families in their district. I will be introducing a bill to make the individual tax cuts permanent.

I am not sure there is anyone who truly believes that a future Congress would let them expire, given the fact that we have extended the Bush tax cuts in the past.

Nonetheless, I am introducing this bill to ensure these tax cuts will be in place for middle class families this year, and to make sure they are here to stay.

Mr. Speaker, I hope each and every one of my colleagues will sign on as a cosponsor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my friend Laura Weis, who was honored with the Distinguished Illinois Chamber of Commerce Executive Award last month.

As CEO of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce, Laura is a tireless advocate for the citizens, businesses and organizations throughout a community with nationally-recognized educational institutions, technological and innovative start-ups, manufacturing companies, and agricultural industries.

Under Laura's leadership, the Chamber has increased its membership and influence throughout the region. The Chamber and its staff continually engage with elected officials at every level of government to ensure commonsense, business-friendly policies are in place for the community. Through the Chamber's efforts, delegations of community and business leaders from the county have become more engaged in public affairs through regular trips to Springfield and Washington, D.C.

Outside of political advocacy, the Chamber has adopted numerous policies that support the local community, including the creation of an energy coop that has saved local businesses thousands of dollars, the development of a procurement center to assist businesses with government contracts, the institution of local disaster recovery plans, and oversight of countless online tools to help area businesses.

Laura is a tremendous leader within my congressional district, and it is not hard to see her impact throughout Champaign County. I Congratulate Laura on this award, and I look forward to continuing to work with her throughout the future.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Congressman LaHood, and all my good friends from the Illinois delegation who are here today.

This is really a privilege for me to be able to be here to talk about Illinois' 200th anniversary. It is my home State. It wasn't always my home State. As a matter of fact, my family moved us from our hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, to Taylorville, Illinois, when I was 7 years old, in 1977.

Taylorville was a new experience for me, but it was a home that we established. My parents were able to achieve their dream of owning their own business, which gave my family the chance to achieve the American Dream, and it was right here in Illinois. It was in our home State that celebrates our 200th anniversary.

Taylorville is the place where my wife grew up, and it is where we choose to raise our three children. But it is also my proud hometown, and I love to talk about it because it is where I grew up, but it is also where so many things have happened. Because I have taken this job as a Member of Congress, this opportunity, I have learned a lot more about my hometown.

A couple of highlights that I want to bring out: one, of course, was Taylorville's basketball team from the 1940s still holds the IHSA record. I believe they were 45-0, with big-name players like Johnny Orr and Ron Bontemps.

Edward Mills Purcell was born in Taylorville and raised in Taylorville. He actually was the Nobel Peace Prize winner in physics. He actually created nuclear magnetic resonance, which is the backbone of what we know today as an MRI. It came out of my hometown in Taylorville, Illinois.

I am so honored that, since 2013, I have been blessed to be able to walk this floor and serve the 13th Congressional District with these great colleagues from our home State. The 13th Congressional District goes way beyond my hometown of Taylorville. It stretches in 14 counties, and one area that I know that has been talked about tonight is Springfield, the State capital, Lincoln's hometown.

I have got to give it to my colleague, Mr. LaHood. Yes, he represents more geography that Lincoln represented in his one term here in Congress, and Mrs. Bustos represents part of Lincoln's old district. I understand that. But as somebody who represents Lincoln himself in Lincoln's tomb, I think I represent Lincoln the most.

What this tells you, this friendly rivalry that we three have, it goes to show you that, in one term in Congress and then his time as the President of our great Nation, Abraham Lincoln took three Members of Congress to follow in his footsteps in his one district. There is no way any of us in this institution can follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln, but it is such a privilege to know that we three share such history. And that is exactly why we are here today, to talk about the 200th anniversary of our home State, and we would not be talking about Illinois without Abraham Lincoln.

There is a story and a statue in my hometown that has Lincoln and a pig. The old stories are that Lincoln came to practice when he was a lawyer and complained about the pig squealing under the steps of our local courthouse. So we in Taylorville honor Abe and his comments on the pig. Come visit, see the statue, and come celebrate Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln was a leader that, obviously, our Nation needed at that time. We stand here in the House of Representatives and we debate issues that may seem important today, but, compared to what our great President Abraham Lincoln and the Members of Congress at the time leading up to our Civil War, the issues that they had to discuss and they had to debate, I believe history has shown us that we will never-- and, hopefully, never ever--experience what those elected officials did in Lincoln's time.

But it took the courage of Abraham Lincoln to actually keep our Nation together and keep the stability and the growth of the great State of Illinois as part of this United States of America for 200 years. His leadership and ability to unite people is something I strive to do in Congress every day.

We certainly have a diverse State, and I want to highlight some of the things that Abraham Lincoln is probably not known for.

Abe Lincoln actually was the inspiration for landmark legislation that he signed that created the Morrill Land-Grant Acts that gave us land-grant universities, including the greatest land-grant university that I joke with my colleagues about from throughout this great Nation. The greatest land-grant is the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, which I am proud to have in my district.

As we move on to talk about important issues, I cannot leave this floor tonight without talking about the importance of agriculture in our home State of Illinois. This past August, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue; chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Mike Conaway; and so many Members, including Congressman LaHood, Congresswoman Bustos, and others, joined me and other members of the House Agriculture Committee for a farm bill listening session at the largest outdoor farm event in the country, the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. Just the fact that this show is in Illinois every other year truly highlights the importance of Illinois agriculture to the rest of the world.

I am proud to be able to serve on the House Agriculture Committee and serve as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research. And when we talk about agriculture and our ability to feed the world, it stems right from our home State of Illinois.

With 72,000 farms and over 2,600 food manufacturers, Illinois is a national leader. We are the leading producer of soybeans, corn, swine, and one of the largest producers of ethanol. As we move ahead into the next farm bill debate, I am proud to be able to take Illinois' voice to the House Agriculture Committee with my colleague Congressman Bost and my other colleague Congresswoman Bustos.

I am proud to represent central Illinois and the 13th District here in Washington, and I hope that those who follow us for the next 200 years enjoy legislating in a bipartisan way as much as we do together in the Illinois delegation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of James William Lawyer, a friend to many in Taylorville and Christian County, who passed away on December 6, 2017. Jim Lawyer is another tragic victim of Alzheimer's disease.

A beloved member of the Taylorville community, Jim was a valued volunteer in many local organizations, which included serving as coach of the original Taylorville Junior Football League team, the Bears.

Jim served as one of my football coaches during my freshman and sophomore years at Taylorville High School, and was an invaluable mentor and teacher. Years later, I was blessed with the opportunity to coach his grandsons in the local JFL league and pass on many of the lessons and guidance that Jim gave to me.

Throughout his life, Jim impacted a countless number of lives, mine included. Please keep his wife, Janet, and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to help raise awareness for the Stop the Bleed training course.

Recently, I had the opportunity to take this course, offered by the American College of Surgeons. This simple training teaches you how to treat bleeding injuries and help save a life. The most common preventable cause of death after an accident is losing too much blood after trained responders arrive.

This past June, I saw the difference having these lifesaving skills can make when several of my colleagues and friends were shot while we were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game.

We were fortunate to have the skills of former Army medic, my colleague, Congressman Brad Wenstrup, who was able to apply a tourniquet to Majority Whip Steve Scalise and help save Steve's life.

Each year, more than 180,000 people die from injuries sustained from car crashes, falls, industrial and farm accidents, shootings, and natural disasters. Every American could potentially save a life by learning these very simple skills.

I commend this campaign and I hope by raising awareness we will equip more Americans to do just that.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of this resolution requiring all Members and staff to complete antiharassment and antidiscrimination training during each session of Congress.

I would like to thank Chairman Harper. I would like to thank Speaker Ryan for announcing this policy change in the House. I would like to thank my friend and colleague on the House Administration Committee, Barbara Comstock, for introducing this important bill.

No one should have to worry about sexual harassment when they come to work. As a former staffer and someone with a female-led office, I believe this resolution is an important first step in addressing this problem as we work to increase professionalism in the House and establish a workplace that is grounded in respect.

In Congress, we have got to lead by example.

As a member of the House Administration Committee, we worked hard to pass reforms last Congress to make House office spending more transparent and accountable than any other area of the Federal Government, and I am confident in this committee's ability to address, in a bipartisan way, this important issue as well.

I look forward to the continued hearings the committee will have on this issue as we work to institute policies that protect staffers against sexual harassment and ensure female staffers are provided leadership opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this resolution.

Will the gentleman yield?

It is a privilege to be able to work with the gentleman on this issue, and, Mr. Chairman, it is a privilege to work with you.

With eight colleges and universities in my district, I cannot ignore the impact that eliminating this section that Mr. Turner eloquently explained--the impact it may have on the students and the employees in my district at all of those institutions.

The University of Illinois, the largest university in my district, provided $184 million in tuition waivers to 1,387 faculty and staff last year alone; 1,100 of those employees made less than $75,000.

I am worried, too, that that is going to have a tremendous impact on graduate students. I am worried it is going to have an impact on the custodians and the assistants in the Registrar's Office who are just working at these institutions to be able to send their son or daughter to college. So I look forward to working with Mr. Turner and Mr. Chairman and working toward a solution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of my friend, Lou Mervis, a business, education, and philanthropic leader, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 83.

Lou came from a humble background and turned his father's local scrap business into one of the largest family-owned scrap processing companies in the country, with locations in multiple states. However, Lou's legacy in Illinois goes beyond his business success.

Education was one of Lou's passions. He was elected to the Danville school board at age 29, and served two terms on the board, including as president. He also served on the Illinois State Board of Election for 17 years, including seven years as chairman.

Lou and his wife, Sybil, provided scholarships and support to programs at several colleges and universities, including the University of Illinois, Indiana University, and Danville Area Community College. His family has funded 92 scholarships to DACC students, and four scholarships at Indiana University.

These are just a few of the invaluable contributions that Lou and Sybil have made to the region and state as a whole. His impact on the countless lives and organizations will not be forgotten.

I'm proud to have known Lou, Sybil, and his five children, Adam, Phillip, Michael, Joshua, and Ellen. Please keep his wife Sybil, and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember Rex Brown, a friend and beloved member of the Decatur community, who passed away earlier this month.

After finishing law school in 1957, Rex moved his family to Decatur where he built his career as the Senior Partner at his firm Brown, Hawkins, & Basola. He was a recipient of the Board of Governor's Award from the Illinois State Bar Association and enjoyed teaching Business and Real Estate Law at Richland Community College.

Not only was Rex well-respected as a lawyer in Decatur, but also as a prominent community member with a passion for serving his neighbors. He served as Chairman of the

Macon County Board from 1971 to 72. As Chairman, he commissioned and created the Macon County flag and seal and instituted their display in the county's courtrooms. He was a part of over twenty community organizations and committees, including the Lincoln Trails Council for Boy Scouts, Optimist Club, Elks Club, the Metro Decatur Chamber of Commerce, and the YMCA.

I am thankful for the many contributions Rex made to the Central Illinois community during his lifetime. He has made an impact on many people and will be truly missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Marilyn, and their family during this time.

Mr. Speaker, since I spoke on this floor last September in honor of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, more than 10,000 children have been diagnosed with cancer and approximately 1,200 have died due to this deadly disease.

Pediatric cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related deaths for children in the United States. In our country alone, nearly 1 out of every 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer. For those who survive the disease, the vast majority experience health complications related to the cancer diagnosis for the rest of their lives.

Despite these startling statistics, progress has been made. The 21st Century Cures Act and the RACE for Children Act have been signed into law. These bills incentivize innovation and will help us move closer to cures.

Even with these advances, the fact remains that only 4 percent of the National Cancer Institute's budget supports childhood cancer research. Before he lost his battle with cancer, 7-year-old Jonny Wade from Jerseyville told me that 4 percent is not enough. I agree with my friend Jonny; 4 percent is not enough.

We must continue to fund research and support innovation to ensure a future where no child--no child--ever has cancer.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor school nutrition professionals across the country and in my congressional district located in central and southwestern Illinois. From Monticello's Washington Elementary School, to Edwardsville's St. Boniface Catholic School, I have seen firsthand the great work they do in schools across my district.

Now, as summer comes to an end and children head back to school, these professionals will be working hard to ensure students receive healthy and appealing meals, which is not an easy task. Each schoolday, nearly 100,000 schools serve lunch to 30.4 million students. Nutritious meals at school are an essential part of the day and help to nourish children and enable them to learn.

This could never be possible without dedicated school nutrition professionals. School nutrition professionals are passionate about ensuring that students have access to the nutrition they need to succeed. I would like to take this opportunity to honor school nutrition professionals who should take pride in the work they do every single day.

Thank you, and keep up the great work.