Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment, although I do not oppose it.

Mr. Chair, this amendment will invest $5 million into those much-needed beds at long-term care VA facilities. It is offset by a reduction for that same amount from the VA IT systems account budget.

Most of Idaho's veterans served in Vietnam, and they are between 65 and 74 years old. While people are living longer today, they also need more care. And in this case, there are mental healthcare concerns.

Passage of this amendment helps in that regard, giving more bed space to veterans in need of long-term healthcare. These funds will also provide options to help Idaho's heroes to remain closer to their communities. Many studies have found that people tend to respond better to treatment when they can be closer to their families.

Please note that this does not add to our growing deficit.

I thank my colleague from Maine, Congressman Jared Golden, for working with me on this bipartisan amendment and for his service to our country in the United States Marine Corps.

Improving care for our veterans should always be an issue that we can agree on. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 987, as well, for a number of reasons; but one in particular that has been raised already is the provision that it terminates the short-term limited duration insurance provision.

Now, these are a good thing, and they have been good for Idaho. Idaho has been one of the States that has been leading on this front.

Mr. Chairman, before the Affordable Care Act, the average premium in our State was $1,915. After the Affordable Care Act, that premium average went to $5,267. And that is, from what I understand, not unlike what has happened in other States, because the young and the healthy left the plans. That left the older, less healthy who were remaining in those plans, and it has driven those costs up.

The younger and the more healthy have gone out of the plan altogether or they have joined a Medi-Share. But the point is that it has driven those numbers up significantly.

In my State, the legislature passed a 3-year provision for short-term plans, and it is good for everyone. If you are in between those jobs or if you are in between coverage for some reason or you need to maintain continuity among the plans, it allows for that.

Mr. Chairman, I have heard a couple of times these referred to as junk. If they were junk, there wouldn't be such demand for it. I would reframe that argument to say that junk would be better described to the system that has driven those prices up from $1,915 to $5,267. We want to draw that younger constituency into those plans. Everyone wins. We all win when that is the case.

Mr. Chairman, again, H.R. 987 strikes that provision, and for that reason, I will oppose it, and I ask my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, usually it is easy to identify the endgame for bad policy.

Those who want open borders are looking for more votes. Those who support things like the Green New Deal want to eliminate fossil fuels and American energy strength along with it.

But here is the endgame for the Equality Act, or H.R. 5. It would flip our moral, social, legal, and religious fabric of this Nation upside down.

By erasing the recognition of gender from Federal law, the traditional family, laws, religious beliefs, morality and/or identity gets erased with it.

Madam Speaker, every man and woman in this body are special, and they should vote ``no'' on H.R. 5.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join the members of the Western Caucus for this important Special Order.

Let me start by saying that my home State of Idaho has been a good example of how to utilize renewable energy resources.

According to the Energy Information Administration, in 2017, 82 percent of Idaho's net electricity generation came from renewable energy sources, and 60 percent was supplied by hydroelectric power.

Idaho's use of renewable energy technology came about because we are blessed with bountiful natural resources in our State. But, Mr. Speaker, not every State is blessed with those renewable natural resources and many have to rely on nonrenewable sources of energy.

However, because the Federal Government controls 63 percent of the land in Idaho, many of those resources are not accessible and, all too often, literally go up in smoke.

Sole Federal control of resources inhibits economic growth, harms the environment, and has created numerous obstacles for our citizens due to inadequate management.

H.R. 9 and the Paris Agreement represent a similar obstacle to every State and every district my colleagues represent.

H.R. 9 would reinstate the one-size-fits-all mandates of the Paris Agreement and require the U.S. to drastically change the only ways that we generate electricity.

What has enabled the United States to lead the world in reducing carbon emissions is locally-driven solutions that fit the need of our local citizens, whether it be clean, liquid natural gas in Texas, hydropower in Idaho, or solar facilities in Arizona.

The Paris Agreement is an attack on our national sovereignty and received no congressional input when it was enacted in 2015. In fact, we are one of only 12 countries that signed the agreement that did not include their legislative branch in that adoption process. Mr. Speaker, even China's legislature was consulted in the adoption of the agreement.

The flawed Paris Agreement has committed the United States to getting billions of dollars to the Green Climate Fund while many countries don't contribute at all. All too often, that money ends up in the hands of governments who have no intention of using it to reduce their carbon emissions.

This agreement forces jobs to relocate to areas with the poorest environmental records, like China, which only makes matters worse. Instead of focusing on spending money paying for projects to reduce carbon emissions in other countries, the Democrat majority in this House should focus on the immediate pressures facing this country, like border security and healthcare reform.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this terrible proposal.

Mr. Speaker, most Americans watching these proceedings right now are watching them on C-SPAN.

C-SPAN is a public service funded by the cable industry which receives no taxpayer dollars. Every year C-SPAN holds a documentary contest for middle and high school students called StudentCam. This year students addressed the theme: What does it mean to be an American?

Today I am proud to announce that some of my young constituents, Caitlin Lanterman and Madison Collins from Mountain View High School, were chosen as winners. The winning videos can be viewed at studentcam.org.

On behalf of the people of Idaho, congratulations on winning this prize out of nearly 3,000 entries.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and service of Wayne Lloyd Van Riper to this great country.

Wayne Van Riper is a veteran of World War II and is celebrating his 95th birthday on April 16. During his service in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945, his efforts were instrumental in providing support to the 293rd Combat Engineer Battalion, A Company.

Wayne was born in the State of Washington in 1924. After enlisting after high school, Wayne served in George S. Patton's Third Army. Entering Active Duty in 1943, Wayne served valiantly in England, France, Germany, and was on his way to Japan, but Japan surrendered before he arrived there in 1945.

After the war, Wayne attended Oregon State University, and purchased a pear and apple orchard in Oregon. There he met the love of his life, Wanda Johnson, and married her in August of 1948. They have a daughter, Teresa Rae Lash, and a son, Kevin Wayne Van Riper. Later he retired and moved to McCall, Idaho.

On behalf of the people of Idaho and America, I thank Wayne for his military service and wish him all the best on his 95th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 962, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and I ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, if this unanimous consent request cannot be entertained, I urge that the Speaker and the majority leader immediately schedule the born-alive bill so that we can stand up for the sanctity of human life.

Mr. Speaker, my Democratic colleagues have made public the details of the so-called Green New Deal. Among other things, if implemented over the next 10 years, it would eliminate the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power. That means our gasoline-powered vehicles and implements would be useless, and there would be no air travel.

It would also require that virtually all building structures would be rebuilt or need to be remodeled. Every facet of life would be forced to change.

The most frightening thing about this is that my colleagues sponsoring it are actually serious.

Furthermore, the architects failed to explain how they are going to rebuild the economy they would decimate.

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest the architects of this legislation change the color of the Green New Deal and call it the Red--as in stop sign red--New Disaster.

Madam Speaker, I am often asked why I came to Congress, and I have asked myself that very same question. It is certainly not for the money, and it is not for the notoriety or the scrutiny that comes with that.

Ultimately, for me, it comes down to the honorable purpose of supporting the divinely inspired principles behind our Nation's founding, being a voice for those unavailable or unable to speak.

There is none more vulnerable or unable to speak than the unborn, and there is no more noble cause than protecting or promoting life.

Madam Speaker, I stand today, during this week honoring the sanctity of life, to ask every Member of this body to use any and all influence to return to our Nation's legal environment that promotes life and to return to a cultural environment that promotes life as well. Our unborn would ask the same, if they could.