Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor to rise in remembrance of Mr. Phil Pearce, for his service in the Air Force, as well as in the National Guard. Mr. Pearce was a true patriot and a man of tremendous character.

Born in Wilson, North Carolina in 1953, Mr. Pearce received his commission as a Second Lieutenant through the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1975, and he later received his Masters degree from UCLA.

During his military career, Mr. Pearce flied B52's at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and served with the Louisiana National Guard. He also built artillery shells, missiles, jets, and infrared technologies for the U.S. military and our allies. Mr. Pearce was also a great businessman who constructed the largest pharmacy distribution systems in the world.

Mr. Pearce and his wife Christine Pearce have three children, Sean, Shannon, and Brandon.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Phil Pearce is an ideal embodiment of service and passion for his country. He will be fondly remembered.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Rick Cables for both his established career with the United States Forest Service, and for being named director of the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife.

Mr. Cables is a native Coloradan, and he grew up in Pueblo. In the early 1970s, Mr. Cables left Pueblo to attend Northern Arizona University, and in 1976 he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry, leading him to his first job in Arizona's Kaibab National Forest as a forestry technician.

Mr. Cables' work ethic led him throughout Arizona and New Mexico before he was promoted to be district ranger of Arizona's Apache- Sitgraves National Forest. As the district ranger, he oversaw the management of the campgrounds and trails, protected the local vegetation and wildlife, and served as the first point of contact for the forest service. Fourteen years later, Mr. Cables moved to Juneau, Alaska, to be the regional forester for

the Alaskan region, overseeing the two largest national forest systems in the U.S.

In 2000, Mr. Cables moved back to Colorado to serve as the regional forester for the Rocky Mountain region. Throughout the past 11 years, Mr. Cables served the Rocky Mountain region, working with both local and federal officials to enhance the productivity of the Rocky Mountains. In June of 2011, Mr. Cables was named to be the director of the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, a position he called a ``dream job.''

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Rick Cables and his outstanding career in conservation and forestry. I look forward to witnessing him continue to bring the same success he has brought to the communities he served throughout the U.S. to the state of Colorado.

Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to rise in recognition of Deputy Chief John P. Ercul, for his 42 years of service in the Pueblo Police Department, and for his service in the United States Army.

Mr. Ercul graduated from the Southern Colorado State College with a degree in English and Mass Communications, later attending many specialized law enforcement schools as he built his distinguished career of service to the people of Pueblo. Mr. Ercul's passionate dedication to his work over four decades has left an indelible mark on the community and on the legacy of the Pueblo Police Department.

Mr. Speaker, throughout the duration of his service in the Pueblo Police Department, Mr. Ercul has been devoted to his community. His years of service and commitment to the people of Pueblo deserve great recognition and admiration.

Thank you, Mr. Dreier.

When we hear our colleague from Texas say ``this is the least worst alternative,'' and that's our best choice? I think the American people demand and deserve better. It is time that we put people before politics and partisanship aside so that we can have progress for the American people.

Thank you, Congressman West.

Tonight we're talking about small business in America, the number one job creator in America. I'm a small businessman. I'm not a career politician. It seems to me that once you come to this place and you're surrounded by pillars of marble, vast expanses of grass, and glorious monuments, that it seems to kind of cloud your vision from what's really going on back at home. We're seeing businesses right now--they aren't the megacorporations that are often talked about by our colleagues; they are small businesses trying to provide jobs, trying to be able to build a future.

I live in western Colorado. My district encompasses a good portion of the entire State of Colorado, the eighth-largest congressional district in the United States, 54,000 square miles. The number one employer there, small business. Traveling through that district, I found it remarkable. As I have stopped into those small businesses, visited with the owners, sole proprietorships, Sub S corporations, LLCs, people just trying to make a living, as I visited in those communities with county commissioners, with city council members, one message comes through loud and clear: Government is overregulating America. It is hurting our ability to truly be able to get Americans back to work.

Congressman West just mentioned a very important figure. In this country, we are paying $1.75 trillion a year in terms of regulatory cost. That is impeding America's ability to be able to get back to work. Now some of our friends always want to take that to the extreme, saying that we want to eliminate all regulations. It's not the case.

When we go back to the beginning of the 20th century, when we were starting to build cars in this country, in New York City, there were two automobiles, two cars. They ran into each other. So stoplights are not a bad idea. But the government has overreached. It is hurting small business and our opportunity to truly be able to grow America.

Let me tell you a story about a constituent of mine. He started out with nothing. He and his wife invested and they scraped together dollars and worked hard. And over the course of the years, they've been able to build a small car dealership in western Colorado. He called me up the last few days, and he said, Washington simply doesn't get it. They seem to believe that they need money more than we do here at home. And that brings us back to a lot of the conversations which we have been having over these last few days in terms of the debt and the deficit in this country. We currently have a debt in this Nation of $14.3 trillion. Come the end of September, we're going to be adding on another $1.4 trillion on top of that national debt, a crushing burden on the promise of America.

His granddaughter, she isn't old enough really to know how much she owes. But her portion of that national debt is now well in excess of $45,000. If our grandchildren are going to inherit the promise of America, we have to restrain, we have to slow down, we have to reduce the spending in Washington, D.C. We simply can't afford it. The numbers are too high. Our colleagues will tell us that taxes are the answer. They like to call it a balanced approach. We need more of your money because Washington needs it more. They failed to point out that through the bills that they have passed through this Chamber--Congressman West and I, we weren't here. We didn't help create the problem, but we are certainly here to try to help solve the problem.

They increased the debt on the backs of the American people when they passed ObamaCare, the government-run health care. I'm concerned about that because it is hurting jobs in America. That small businessman who started that business from nothing and was able to grow that car dealership is afraid to hire because he doesn't know what the costs are going to be from the government-run health care. Well, we've got a pretty good idea--at least the upfront costs. It's costing us better than $1 trillion. Our senior citizens, indeed, are worried about that. Through the actions of our counterparts, we saw that $562 billion was cut out of Medicare to be able to fund that program. And starting in January this coming year, the President will appoint his 15-member commission to start rationing

health care for senior citizens. We're fighting to stop that.

Connectivity which we see in our economy. Between government regulations, excessive taxation, and having too many people in Washington who have never gotten dirt under their fingernails, they've never met a payroll, they've never created a job, they've never worked in the private sector. That's the disconnect between here and at home. We have people right now that are gathering around their kitchen tables. They are looking at the resources that they have coming in and know that they can't spend more than they take in. Tomorrow morning those small businesses are going to unlock the doors. They know that they have to spend within the limitations of the income that they have.

Forty-nine of our States live under a balanced budget requirement, just like the men and women who live in the communities of those States. Isn't it about time, isn't it about time that Washington applied the same principles that they expect out of every American, every American family, to apply to Washington, D.C.? Some will say ``no.'' But that's a challenge--more importantly, that is the opportunity that we truly face right now in this country. We have an opportunity to change the course of American history for the better, to embrace, once again, the values that truly made this country the freest, the richest, and the greatest nation on the face of the Earth, and that the Earth will truly ever see. American entrepreneurship, American know-how, but we have to have the freedom, the resources, and the opportunity to do that. The government is no longer the steppingstone to success in this country but has, indeed, become a stumbling block.

This is our chance. This is our opportunity. We have many votes here, had a vote today.

This is not the end of the debate, but it is the beginning of a solution. If we embrace that opportunity, that special and unique thing that it is to truly be an American, American exceptionalism, and allow Americans to do what they do best, to innovate, to create and to build, we will be able to get this country back on the right course, but it will not come as long as we continue to build government, protect programs, and forget about the people who sent us to Washington.

Let's stand up once again for the American people, for the small business people who truly make America work and are the number one job creators in our country.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk, and I ask unanimous consent to waive the reading.

My amendment is going to apply funds directed towards much needed conservation programs which are used to be able to provide access for the American people to our public lands and to help support jobs in the recreational and sportsmen industry.

Our public lands are a treasured resource for all Americans to be able to use and enjoy responsibly. I support a balanced approach to public lands use, respecting the environment that we all deeply value while making the best use of our natural resources on public lands. Recreation, preservation, access,

and job creation are all important aspects of the multiple-use management for which these lands are truly intended.

This funding would be used for projects that clearly and specifically improve access for hunting, fishing and other forms of outdoor recreation on these Federal public lands. Of the directed funds, $5 million would be redirected to make public lands public and provide much needed support for recreational access.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an American hero. Not a hero in our typical sense of the word but in a context of heroism that we have seen replicated across the face of this great Nation. Today, Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to Terry R. Gorsuch.

He was a man who embodied the characteristics that we rightly honor in our country. He worked hard, overcame adversity, and in business he innovated. He risked all and, by the grace of God and through perseverance, was rewarded with his successful company, Triad Western Constructors.

The story could stop there, but he believed his greatest accomplishment and blessing in life was his family--married to his loving wife, Rita, for 45 years, raising their two children, Traci and Terry D., and then seeing their children grow to adulthood, marry, and blessed the family with two grandchildren, Gracine and Jaydine.

Terry R. Gorsuch lived the American Dream. He worked hard, played by the rules, loved his family, and always extended a helping hand to others. He could not win his final battle as he succumbed to Lou Gehrig's disease, but his admirable moral fiber held firm even as the final sands of his time slipped from beneath his feet.

We don't often reflect on the heroes who make this country work and help make this country what it is, but today, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor an American hero, Terry R. Gorsuch.

Mr. Speaker, as Americans, we face a challenge. The question yet to be answered is: Will we rise to be able to meet that challenge?

We can often hear in the debate on this floor something that happens at every Super Bowl at half time. It's called ``kick, pass, and punt.'' We can kick each other around, we can pass on this problem in addressing it today, and we can punt to the next generation. But I think far more is expected of us.

The people who elected us, the people who sent us to this office, are seeking solutions and leadership to be able to deal with the true challenges that we all face at home.

Last night around dinner tables across our country, moms and dads were going over the family budget looking at how much it cost to fill up that gas tank, how they're going to meet that family budget to be able to put food on the table, to be able to keep a roof over their heads. They're spending within their means.

Forty-nine of our 50 States have one form or another of a balanced budget requirement meaning that, as States, they have to be able to live within their means. Surprisingly, only here in Washington, D.C., in our Nation's capital, do we think there is this inexhaustible resource called the American taxpayers' hip pocket to be able to draw from so that government can grow. The constant argument, my friends, is government needs it more than the people at home. I don't think so. Come and walk my district. Look in the eyes of the people right now that are struggling to be able to keep that roof over the top of their heads.

We have that economic challenge. We face a debt in this country of $14.4 trillion. Now, I don't know about you. I'm a small businessman. It's hard really to get your arms around just what is a million dollars, let alone a trillion dollars.

Well, if you're a basketball fan, you may have paid a little attention to this last season. LeBron James, arguably one of the best basketball players in the entire country, being paid $40 million a year to be able to play basketball, well, if he wants to earn just $1 trillion, we have to wish him very good health. He'll have to play basketball for 25,000 years to earn just $1 trillion.

We've stacked up over $14.4 trillion. The President has asked for a blank check to increase the debt of this country an additional 2 trillion-plus dollars.

Is the time now for fiscal responsibility in Washington? It is. We have to rise to be able to meet that challenge. Cut, cap, and balance, is that unreasonable? We can demonize it. We can say that Washington is above the rules of every American and the rules they have to be able to live with, or we can look to the people who we sent to Washington to stand up for us to live under the same constraints that we do in our individual lives.

If we've spent more than we've taken in, we have to be able to find ways to be able to cut back. We then also have to have that alternative to be able to restrain that spending and then to be able to balance the budget.

Unfortunately, yesterday the President said that it was going to be dead on arrival. I hope that our American citizenry will rise to this challenge. I have great hope that this Chamber will pass Cut, Cap, and Balance. But we need to let the Senate of the United States and the President of the United States know that we're going to be holding them accountable. Our future truly depends on it.

This is our time. This is our challenge. This is truly our opportunity. Let's put aside what is often referred to as just politics as usual. This is not a Democratic issue. This is not a Republican issue. This is an American issue.

I hope that our Members will join with me in seeking real solutions to real problems to deal with it so that the American people can look to a brighter future.

Mr. Speaker, I just got off the phone with a constituent of mine, Tom Abbot, a small businessman who cares about his family, cares about his business, the people that he works with. He asked a very simple question: I have to live within my budget; why doesn't Washington?

The plan that we have put forward would take over a 10-year period, capping the spending at 18 percent. As Americans, I think we need to ask the question: Have we had an 18 percent increase in our family budgets year over year? I think the answer is no.

I'd like to quote for you some of the President's plan to deal with the economic challenges that we face. There is not one. The silence is deafening.

My friends, the American people expect more. The American people deserve better. Washington does not have an income problem; it has a spending problem. And the time for us to speak on behalf of the American people is now.

Madam Speaker, we have a President who likes to talk about polling numbers, while the President seems to completely ignore one of the most important polling numbers that the American people have spoken to, and, that is, asking the Congress of the United States to do exactly what Americans around their kitchen tables are doing this evening: figuring out a way to be able to balance that budget, to be able to fill up that gas tank, to be able to put food on the table. The very thing that 49 of our States are doing on a regular basis, balancing their budget.

Today, we have the President of the United States come out and say a balanced budget amendment is unrealistic. No, Mr. President, your approach is unrealistic. We are on an unsustainable glide path, destroying the future for our children and our grandchildren, if we fail to get our fiscal house in order. Now is the time. This is our opportunity. Cut, caps, and balance. Not cut and run, Mr. President.

This is our opportunity to set America straight, to be able to get our people back to work, and to get America moving again.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Bruce Ward for his promotion of outdoor recreation, and his devotion to the Colorado public lands. Throughout Mr. Ward's life, he has contributed greatly to the outdoors, establishing various programs to help people live active lifestyles and learn about the environment.

Mr. Ward started his career as a tour guide for TrekInternational, acquainting hundreds of young adults to America's National Parks and public lands. His time with TrekInternational cemented his passion for the outdoors, and it opened the opportunity for him to serve as an outreach coordinator for REI, where he organized volunteers and spearheaded programs to build outdoor outreach programs throughout the

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dennis Puffer, a beer connoisseur who has served in the beer industry for 36 years, and a man who has spent his entire life striving for quality.

Before Mr. Puffer began his remarkable career, he graduated from Iowa State University where he was active in the university's ROTC program. After college, he went on to serve in the United States Air Force, earning the rank of Captain and working in the supply division.

In 1975, Mr. Puffer began working for Miller Brewing Company. He served at several Miller breweries around the U.S. before he served as Plant manager for Miller's Irwindale and Trenton breweries. During his time as Plant manager, Mr. Puffer established a working environment that placed safety and the workers first, which made Trenton Miller's highest production facility.

Mr. Puffer relocated to Coors' Golden, Colorado brewery in 1997 where he served as Plant Manager. Only four short years after Mr. Puffer moved to the Coors facility, he became the Group Vice President of Brewery Operations, which allowed him to focus on customer service, cost reduction and overall effectiveness. His efforts as Group Vice President led him to become the Chief Brewery Operations Officer of Molson Coors Brewing Company in 2005. Currently, Mr. Puffer serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief integrated Supply Chain Officer for Miller Coors, a position he has held since 2008.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Dennis Puffer, for his commitment to the people who work for him and the company he works for is an encouragement.

I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chair, you know, it's remarkable, the theater that we see. Looking throughout America, throughout my Third Congressional District--at least in Colorado--I see people who care about their families, who care about our children. What are they asking for? Jobs. They want to be able to go back to work. And we're seeing far too often, from the opposition, people that are willing not to be a steppingstone to American success but to become a stumbling block, to have us rely on another government program.

The proposed cuts, these are minor. These are minor in the sense of the real life that real Americans are living today. Come with me. Come with me and walk through my district. I have communities that are not in a recession; they are in a depression. They need to be able to get back to work. What do I hear as I walk through those communities? City councils, county commissioners, small businesspeople are saying that they are being inhibited from being able to get people back to work so that they can take care of their children, Mr. Chair, so that they can take care of their children by oppressive government regulations, by people who are not willing to allow us that opportunity to live that American Dream.

I see, Mr. Chair, an America that can rise again and become the economic power that we all know that it can be; but this will not happen as long as we try to build reliance on government rather than the rugged individualism that has made this country great.

In just a moment, ma'am.

We have an opportunity. We have a challenge. The question is, Will we rise to meet that challenge?

We have a $14.4 trillion debt in this country. Let's put that in a little bit of context. Sunday night, we saw the NBA finals. You had LeBron James, maybe one of the best basketball players the world has ever seen. He signed for $40 million a year to play basketball. Well, if he wants to earn just $1 trillion, he's going to have to play basketball for 25,000 years.

This is the burden that we have put on the backs of our children and our grandchildren that they can no longer afford. The recipe is not the Keynesian economics that my colleague has

brought up. The answer is going to be found in the very solutions that made us the richest, the freest, and the most powerful Nation on the face of the Earth. That is going to be the free enterprise system. Let's encourage it. Let's get our people back to work. Let's create those opportunities once again.

I yield to the gentlelady from Connecticut.

I reclaim my time, and I thank the lady for bringing up that very point, Mr. Chair. This is the real challenge that we face, and she points to it directly. We have an oppressive, convoluted Tax Code that is stripping American business of that opportunity to be able to create wealth in this country. Let's simplify that Tax Code. Let's not punish success in this Nation, but let us reward success in this Nation to be able to get our people back to work.

Mr. Chair, these are the challenges, and we have very distinct choices to be able to make. Will we continue to follow the pathway to poverty of government programs, government taxation, government solutions? Or will we follow that expressway to real enrichment in this country by getting the American people back to work?

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Bob Henley for his outstanding service as a founding member of the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association in the San Juan National Forest.

In 1996, Mr. Henley began working as a tour guide for Chimney Rock, which helped to foster his appreciation of the archeological area, and urged him to seek that tours of the ruins be independently operated in order to ensure the area receive proper attention and upkeep. In 2003, Mr. Henley's work helped to make Chimney Rock an independent organization.

Because of his efforts and the efforts of many volunteers, the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association hosts nearly 11,000 visitors in total each year, allowing it to be independently funded and operated. In addition, the Association is able to give elementary schools free tours, educating between 300 and 500 students about the history of the Chimney Rock Archeological site every year.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to recognize Bob Henley today. His service has provided many assets to the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association and the San Juan National Forest.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Brian Cooper for earning the Alamosa Police Department's Lifesaver Award. His quick thinking and decisive action during his regular patrol of the small Colorado town saved the life of another resident.

Detective Cooper, a patrol officer at the time, saw one of the town's elderly residents choking. After calling an ambulance, he cleared the man's airway of the food he was choking on and successfully administered CPR. Paramedics credit Officer Cooper for saving the life of a man who would have otherwise died had he not intervened.

Detective Cooper is one of only a handful of recipients of the Lifesaver Award. It is not given lightly, but there was little argument against the Detective's merit. A father of two and loving husband to his high school sweetheart, Brian Cooper is an exemplary member of Colorado's police force.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Brian Cooper today. Alamosa is deservedly proud of him and I have no doubt that he will continue to expand on his already excellent record.