Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, November is Prematurity Awareness Month, and as the number of preterm births continues to rise in the United States, it is important to acknowledge this serious issue.

In my own experience as an obstetrician having delivered over 5,000 babies, I have seen firsthand the seriousness of early birth. Premature birth is still the number one cause of infant mortality in the United States and around the world. Advancements in detection and care for infants born early have not made the same strides that other areas of the medical field have.

The premature birth rate in Kansas is right below the national average of 9.93, meaning that approximately 1 in every 10 babies is born premature. In the coming weeks, Congress has the opportunity to act and pass the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act of 2018 and help those who cannot yet help themselves.

Recognizing Kansas Guardsmen Overseas

Mr. Speaker, this past holiday weekend, I had the pleasure, the opportunity, to travel to the Middle East and to the Horn of Africa. Specifically, I got to visit with some 700 Kansas National Guardsmen from the 2nd 137th Combined Arms Battalion and Battery C, 161st Field Artillery. These guardsmen have been deployed since April in support of Operation Enduring Freedom Spartan Shield.

I am often asked what was the purpose of my trip. Why do Congressmen do these trips?

First of all, I think it is important that, as a Congressman, I bring these troops a message of hope and thanks and let them know personally that we do care and are grateful for their service and the sacrifices they are making for this country.

Next, my goal was to check on the mental and physical well-being of our troops. Despite talking to hundreds of our soldiers, I cannot get one of them to register one complaint. Specifically, I thought their mental health was outstanding, that they were all in good spirits and, indeed, had great hope. Physically, their nutrition appeared to be well attended to. Their medical and dental needs were well attended to as well.

My one concern, perhaps, would be the housing. And though no soldier complained about housing, when you are there for a year at a time, I do think we could supply our soldiers with better housing.

Today, we are reminded of the dangers of serving in our military as we lost three soldiers to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Certainly, my sympathy goes out to the families. I know the words that I can express will never be enough, but I would say this: Today we are also reminded once again that freedom is not free.

Mr. Speaker, every time I go home, the people of Kansas never cease to inspire me. This Veterans Day, it was my hometown of Great Bend and my home county of Barton County who inspired me.

On Veterans Day, not only did we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice ending World War I, but we also dedicated a new veterans memorial and veterans cemetery. I was so proud to be part of this dedication ceremony and join the 300 Kansans who braved snow and sleet in freezing cold to honor our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be part of such a community which holds veterans in such high esteem.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5509, Innovations in Mentoring, Training and Apprenticeships Act, sponsored by my friend, Leader Kevin McCarthy. With the creation of three competitive STEM grants under the National Science Foundation, this bipartisan bill will help meet the future workforce demands in STEM occupations and encourage innovative partnerships between academic institutions and local STEM employers.

In February, Dr. John Bardo, President of Wichita State University, testified at a Science, Space and Technology hearing on STEM education and careers. His testimony and examples of Wichita State's applied learning opportunities helped develop the grant program for undergraduate STEM students at 4-year universities. These opportunities provide students a chance to work for employers in their areas of interest and allow students to gain skills that better prepare them to make substantial contributions to their employers when they graduate.

We have an opportunity to pave a path to success and meet the needs of our growing technical workforce in order to stay globally competitive. This bill is a great step in that direction. I'm proud to support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6369, the Expanding Contracting Opportunities for Small Business Act of 2018.

Not only will this bill provide opportunities for women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, HUBZone, and socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, this legislation also helps Federal agencies achieve and exceed their small business goals.

Small business sole-source contracting can be a valuable tool for both Federal agencies and small businesses, but our current statute is outdated.

Federal procurement practices are rapidly changing, and the sole- source authority provided by the Small Business Act has not kept up with the changes of today's procurement landscape. By adjusting the statutory sole-source dollar thresholds, H.R. 6369 incentivizes contracting officers' use of small business sole-source contracting in order to help agencies swiftly meet their goals.

While it is critical that agencies maximize opportunities to small businesses, it is equally important that they have procedures in place to assure that awards are made only to eligible and qualified firms. This bill will apply a new oversight procedure that requires agencies to coordinate with the SBA prior to awarding a sole-source contract, ensuring that firms receiving awards are, in fact, qualified and eligible.

I am proud of H.R. 6369 and its mission to promote small business growth, strengthen oversight, and incentivize Federal agencies to work with small businesses. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 589, the Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act, sponsored by my friend and the chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Representative Smith.

This bipartisan bill advances basic research and sets explicit science priorities for the Department of Energy, which is critical for our future innovation.

H.R. 589 also authorizes the core program in my bill, the Low-Dose Radiation Research Act, which unanimously passed the House earlier this year.

The provision directs the Department of Energy to carry out a research program on low-dose radiation, which will increase our understanding of the health effects low doses have on biological systems.

Research has consistently shown us the adverse health effects associated with high doses of radiation, but we are a long way from accurately assessing the effects of low doses of radiation.

As a product of industrial activities, medical procedures, and naturally occurring systems, humans are exposed to low doses of radiation every day, and it is imperative we can accurately assess this risk.

There is broad consensus among the radiobiology community that more research is necessary for Federal agencies, physicians, and related experts to advance the use of radiation technologies. We have invaluable diagnostic tools today, such as CT scans, which emit low doses of radiation. It is vital physicians are able to inform patients of the health risks associated with these types of imaging processes.

As a physician in my home State of Kansas, I certainly have firsthand understanding of the crucial importance of verified research and ensuring the best medical outcomes for our patients.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Chair, I rise today to support my colleague, Bill Johnson's legislation, H.R. 4606, the Ensuring Small Scale LNG Certainty and Access Act. With its passage, there will no longer be unnecessary restrictions placed on small-scale liquefied natural gas exports, creating more open, transparent, and competitive markets for our natural gas industry.

H.R. 4606 includes a rule finalized by the Department of Energy that expedites approval for small-scale gas exports, ending the several- months wait in the review process.

These simple fixes are so commonsense that the bill itself is significantly bipartisan which, as you know, is a rarity here in Washington. But I am pleased to see that when the good clearly outweighs the bad, both sides really can come together, and that is what we see here today.

This legislation would also place small-scale exports on a level playing field with Canada and Mexico, and open new markets in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. As a result, this bill would create new jobs in the United States, boosting our local economies.

I spent most of the day yesterday with the Farm Bill Conference Committee, where the biggest theme we heard was the need to have certainty. That desire for policy certainty is something that transcends parties and, in this case, committees. This legislation would provide that assurance to our energy folks and protect jobs and investments in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for introducing this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support this resolution. This anti- carbon tax resolution expresses the sense of Congress that a carbon tax will be detrimental to the United States economy and certainly is not a waste of anyone's time.

As a physician, typically, what I like to do is examine the risk and benefit analysis of any treatment plan, and I apply that same standard to a situation like this.

I want to know the risk and benefit of any new tax that might be considered. A carbon tax would raise costs on everything Americans buy, from electricity and gasoline to food and everyday household products, with little or any benefit.

Mr. Speaker, when we introduce a new tax or consider a new tax, I want to know who it would impact the most. Who I think this would impact the most is that single mom I delivered about 10 years ago. She has 2 children at home. She is working 60 hours a week. This is going to impact her more than anybody else, because she is just trying to get by with the income she is making.

This is going to drive the cost up for her children's school lunches. It is going to drive the cost up for her gasoline to get to and from work. That single mom will be impacted by this carbon tax.

This resolution will put Congress on record against a carbon tax, which would result in massive job losses, lead to higher prices for American families and small businesses, and jeopardize America's energy security.

Mr. Speaker, this President and this Congress have been fighting for American energy dominance, and a carbon tax would undermine that goal. I am so proud of what my producers back home have done in the oil and gas industry to have a cleaner product. What the refineries are doing today compared to when I was growing up, a little boy in El Dorado, Kansas, living between two refineries, I am proud of how the electrical generation has improved ecologically as well.

This resolution will affirm the position of Congress that a carbon tax

would counter the goals of American energy dominance, economic growth, and national security.

Mr. Speaker, 6 years ago, farmers and ranchers across Kansas faced drought conditions that crippled crops, dried ponds, and forced livestock owners to abandon pastures. In the years since, rain has fallen and conditions returned to normal, but drought conditions have once again struck Kansas, leaving many counties across my district dry and worried.

Ranchers in the Flint Hills of Kansas are finding themselves short of water and grass for their cattle, while farmers in central Kansas watch corn and soybean plants shrivel under the unrelenting heat. Some counties are nearly 15 inches behind normal rainfall totals, with many under extreme drought declaration.

All of this on top of low commodity prices and market uncertainty strains operating budgets and pushes farmer suicide rates to more than double that of the general population. That is right, Mr. Speaker, our farmer suicide rates are more than double that of the general population.

Unfortunately, the impacts do not stop at the farm gate. When production agriculture suffers, so do the communities our producers call home and the

companies that support the agriculture industry. The drought really does impact us all.

Earlier this month, I visited Connie and Joe Mushrush's Red Angus Ranch in Chase County, Kansas. They showed me their vacant pastures and dry ponds, and admitted this drought was one of the worst their family has ever endured. They are not alone, as I hear stories of farmers and ranchers all across the district struggling to find solutions and options for their crops and cattle.

While I cannot deliver the rain many of us pray for, I can help to bring a level of certainty and support to my farmers and ranchers through final passage of the 2018 farm bill. I have worked hard, alongside my Agriculture Committee colleagues, to write and pass legislation that continues crop insurance and conservation programs that help producers operate their farms and ranches more efficiently.

Farmers never want a handout, but in trying times like these, it is essential that we support those who put food on our table with a safety net that we can all count on. I will continue to do all I can to support my farmers and ranchers, and I ask that my colleagues say a prayer for rain and for the men and women who feed us all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5905, the Department of Energy Science and Innovation Act, sponsored by my friend and colleague Representative Weber. His bill contains the text of my bill, the Low-Dose Radiation Research Act, which unanimously passed the House this past February.

The language directs the Department of Energy to utilize $20 million to carry out a research program on low-dose radiation within the Office of Science. This program will increase our understanding of the health effects that low doses of radiation have on biological systems.

Research has consistently shown us the adverse health effects associated with high doses of radiation, but we are a long way from accurately assessing the effects of low doses of radiation. As the product of industrial activities, medical procedures, and naturally occurring systems, humans are exposed to low doses of radiation every day, and it is imperative we can accurately assess this risk.

There is broad consensus among the radiobiology community that more research is necessary for Federal agencies, physicians, and related experts to advance the use of radiation technologies. We have invaluable diagnostic tools today, such as CT scans, which emit low doses of radiation. It is vital that physicians are able to inform patients of the health risks associated with these types of imaging processes. As a physician in my home State of Kansas, I have a firsthand understanding of the crucial importance of verified research and ensuring the best medical outcomes for my patients.

I am proud to support this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, this week we plan on voting on a very strong bill known as the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act.

To better assess our immigration system and the security of our border, I went to the United States-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, this weekend. I rise today to share some of the stories I heard from our Customs and Border Patrol officers and the compassion they had for these families and children they interact with.

These agents and officers had the highest on-the-job injury rate among all law enforcement groups across the country. Additionally, these officers see some of the worst conditions and are exposed to wide-ranging health risks like scabies, lice, tuberculosis, chicken pox, and many others.

Day to day, these officers are on the front lines protecting our Nation's borders. They are often stopping drug trafficking, human trafficking, and much more. They see the worst of the worst, and put their lives on the line to secure our Nation every day. In exchange for this, they are often portrayed on the national media as cruel and are compared to unthinkable, unimaginable groups from our world's history.

This is not the experience I had with them this weekend. These officers have huge hearts, and they are often given a tough task at the border. They told me story after story of how they bring personal items like teddy bears and toys from their homes to provide to children, and oftentimes run to McDonald's and other restaurants to get food for hungry kids who had a very long, dangerous journey.

No one is denying that the situation on our Nation's border is terrible, and our agents at the border see this tragedy daily. Seeing this for myself firsthand, I quickly realized, there is no perfect fix. But it is imperative that we recognize and honor our Border Patrol agents' hard work, and do our part in Congress to pass compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform that still secures our borders and helps alleviate the situation of crisis which now exists.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Dr. Dunn for leading this amendment.

I had an over three-decade experience and great working relationship with physician assistants, nurse practitioners, as well as nurse anesthetists. I believe one of the secrets to that great work that we did was the collaboration between us and how we worked together.

I firmly believe that whenever narcotics are involved, there needs to be a very close working relationship between the supervising physician and these other groups and societies. As narcotic and opioid abuse has become a national crisis, we need to be working even more closely together so as not to exacerbate the problem.

Mr. Speaker, it is great to see so many youth in the audience today, and I look forward to sharing what I think is perhaps the biggest problem that is facing Americans right now, and that is the cost of healthcare. Not the cost of healthcare insurance, but truly the cost of healthcare itself.

When I look at the problems facing this country, most of us are very concerned about our national debt of over $20 trillion. In fact, 28 percent of our Federal budget goes towards healthcare right now, and until we can start driving the true cost of healthcare down, we will never be able to fix this huge Federal debt.

When I talk to small businesses across my district, their number one concern is the cost of healthcare. A sixth of their budget is going towards healthcare.

Certainly, I believe that transparency, innovation, and consumerism are the basic principles to drive down the cost of healthcare, but I want to stop today and applaud what the President and the Secretary of Labor did yesterday by opening up association plans. This is one small piece that will help drive down the cost of healthcare for folks who purchase healthcare as individuals or in small groups.

This will start to break down the State walls which prevent competition and once again allow different groups--all my farmers could join together through their associations, or other small businesses would be able to group together and have better purchasing power. This is going to give 400,000 people more health insurance and quality health insurance with true access to healthcare.

Now, on the House side, we passed H.R. 1101, and that bill basically codifies what the Secretary of Labor did yesterday. But like some 6,000 other bills, it has been sitting over in the Senate and, in this case, has been sitting in the Senate for over a year. We need leadership on both sides of the House to help drive down the cost of healthcare.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the opioid crisis. Opioid addiction is sweeping the Nation. It is an epidemic that knows no race, gender, income, or marital status, and certainly no political party.

As we continue to work together here in Washington to combat that crisis, I met with the physicians in Hutchinson, Kansas, who have taken responsibility and ownership of this issue. They have developed their own scientific and compassionate approach to curb addiction in their community.

The Hutchinson Clinic has created an office-wide task force, working with nurses, pharmacists, physicians, and social workers, that outlines steps and procedures to reduce the number of narcotics prescribed in their medical practice.

When I met with the staff and physicians yesterday, they explained that these new steps will not only reduce the number of people unnecessarily exposed to narcotics, but identify patients at risk for addiction. They will use clinical-wide protocols and best practices, which will eliminate doctors shopping for narcotics and manage chronic pain and acute pain more uniformly.

I was heartened to hear the success stories of many of their patients being fully removed from narcotic prescriptions after years of narcotic use. They have carefully tried to sit down with all of their patients on chronic narcotics, and, in many cases, they uncovered some type of an underlying depression or psychosomatic issue that could be resolved with counseling and other medications. In some instances, they found out that the patient was not taking the narcotics but, rather, a family member was selling them.

In either case, they are trying to use a compassionate approach to deal with this growing problem. This is a great prevention and awareness approach. As a physician of 30 years, we must make sure that prescribers understand the risks involved with these highly addictive drugs and minimize addiction.

While we continue to look at solutions here in Washington, I am proud that physicians, nurses, and pharmacists in Kansas are also finding solutions by looking in the mirror and recognizing there are steps that communities, physicians, nurses, social workers, and pharmacists working together can take to prevent addiction before it ever starts.

This month, as the House continues approaching dozens of bills that work on this epidemic from every angle, I want to take time to applaud the Hutchinson Clinic--the physicians, the nurses, the pharmacists, the social workers, and their staff--for the action that they are taking in implementing solutions that are working, for those closest to the problem will have the best solutions.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the President's efforts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.

For almost seven decades, the United States and North Korea have been adversaries, but this week we witnessed a

groundbreaking first step for both nations and global security as a whole.

While much work remains to be done, the commitment to recover the remains of 7,802 American soldiers who were prisoners of war or missing in action during the Korean war deserves a special recognition. Bringing these fallen heroes home will give long overdue closure to the loved ones and families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

We must deal firmly with North Korea while taking steps to ensure a brutal war is not repeated.

Mr. Speaker, this Congress and this President made pro- growth policies a top priority since day one. My colleagues and I should be very proud that due in part to the policies of this Republican Congress, consumer confidence is at an all-time high, businesses are optimistic, and our economy is booming. Even The New York Times has run out of words to explain and describe how great this economy is.

As families across Kansas receive an average tax break of more than $2,000 a year, as well as seeing record wage growth and bonuses, I see the excitement growing firsthand throughout my district.

However, today in particular, I want to highlight one specific aspect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Federal Opportunity Zones, which are designed to promote economic development and job creation in communities throughout the country. This is where government meets private sector business in a very positive way.

The Treasury Department recently selected 22 opportunity zones in 17 different counties across the First District of Kansas.

When a tract is deemed an opportunity zone, it allows taxpayers to defer capital gains tax if they invest and prioritize local projects. This is a win-win scenario for both investors and communities that will spur growth and expansion.

My good friend, Ashley Hutchinson, in Cloud County, Kansas, said her community hopes to use these opportunity zones to recruit new businesses to areas in counties like hers that are in great need of investment incentives.

In Manhattan, Kansas, home of the Kansas State University Wildcats, the local Chamber is using these opportunity zone programs to revitalize and enhance Aggieville, a beloved and historic social district very near and dear to my heart.

In southwest Kansas, municipalities are using the program to spur job growth by updating existing buildings for new retail and commercial space, as well as attracting housing developments for the region's growing workforce.

In Emporia, Kansas, expansion of the growing pet industry is being allowed by these opportunity zones as well.

Across my district, community leaders and economic development departments are excited by the new opportunities these zones will deliver to their communities.

As the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act continues to help existing businesses grow and expand, opportunities are starting to rise across the country. In Kansas, we are excited about what is to come.

As a Congressman, I am often asked: What are you doing in Congress? What is this Congress doing to help save rural America? These Federal Opportunity Zones as well as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are one such example.