Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise today to honor Sergeant First Class Rufus Lloyd Ketchum, an Army veteran of the Korean War killed in action at age 38 in the battle of Chosin.

Sergeant Ketchum honorably served in the Italian campaign of World War II and re-enlisted in the United States Army's 7th Infantry Division as a medic. On December 6, 1950, he was reported missing in action after an intense battle.

In 1952, Mrs. Dorothy Ketchum accepted on behalf of her husband the nation's second-highest military award, the Distinguished Service Cross. The citation honored Sergeant First Class R. Lloyd Ketchum's ``extraordinary heroism in action against an enemy army.'' For his leadership and valor, his partial list of awards include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, National Defense Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

Through DNA testing, Sergeant Ketchum's remains where accounted for on April 23, 2018. Sergeant First Class Ketchum was laid to rest at the Calvary Cemetery in Superior, Wisconsin on August 14, 2018 with full military honors.

On behalf of the residents of the 7th Congressional District of Wisconsin, I would like to thank the family of Sergeant Ketchum for his service to our grateful nation and his ultimate sacrifice during the Korean War. Welcome home, Sergeant First Class Ketchum.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. This is a rich conversation. I am hearing my colleagues saying: We are almost out of time. We have to reauthorize the program. We can't let it expire.

The truth is, we have known for months that this program was going to expire. We have known. And many of us have tried to go to those who have disagreed on any kind of flood reform to craft a deal, to craft a compromise, but, lo and behold, there was no willingness to come together and find a compromise on flood reform.

It was: No, no. We want to come to the very end and pretend like it is a crisis and we have to extend the program because we can't put people in harm's way.

By the way, this program puts people in harm's way. We know that people don't want to flood, just like people don't want to get in a car crash and they don't want their house to burn. But if 2 times, 4 times, 10 times someone's house burns, we might say: Hey, we have got a problem with that. Maybe we should look at where you are living.

If someone gets in a car crash 2 times, 5 times, 10 times, 15 times, we might say: Hey, you have got a problem, maybe, with your driving.

But with flood insurance, we say: Listen, you can flood 1 time, 5 times, 10 times--and guess what? You can flood 10 times, 15 times, and your premiums don't go up at all. You are grandfathered in.

When my daughter crashed our car twice, guess what happened to my premiums? They went through the roof. But with flood insurance, your premiums don't go up.

Let's fix this program. There are commonsense reforms that we can implement. We are not asking for the bill that I introduced last year. We have said: Hey, maybe we can look at the severe repetitive loss properties, the ones that are only 3 percent of those in the NFIP but account for 25 percent of the losses. Maybe we could address those properties.

Maybe we could find some little bit of reform that could make the program work better. It is $20.5 billion in debt, and we already forgave $16 billion in debt. It is under water, to use a pun.

Let's work on fixing it. Let's help people get out of harm's way. Reform does that, Mr. Speaker. Let's get it done.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise today to celebrate and commemorate the service of the seven Moyer brothers who fought in World War II. For a single family to send seven members to serve our nation in its time of need, they must have had a great love for America and what it stands for.

Franklin, Charles, Hile, James, Jay, Leonard, and Leslie, the children of Charles and Nina Moyer, were born and raised in Bass Lake Township, Washburn County. The brothers represented Wisconsin in almost every distinct branch of the military, serving in the Navy, Army, Merchant Marines, and Army Air Corps.

It is with great gratitude that I recognize these fine men who have made not only Wisconsin proud, but also the nation as a whole. Seven brothers. Seven stories. Seven immeasurable contributions to freedom, all from Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District.

On behalf of my family and Wisconsinites in every corner of our state, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the Moyer brothers for their service to our nation when we needed them the most.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, July 16, 2018 I missed the following vote due to travel delay and was not recorded. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 329.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for his great bipartisan work on this package in S. 488, as well as the ranking member, Ms. Waters, for her bipartisanship.

This is a package that takes the finer work, not just over the last 2 years, but work over the last 4 to 6 years of Chairman Hensarling's leadership, puts them together where we have had Democrat, Republican, House, and Senate agreement on into a package that can hopefully make our markets and our economy work better.

I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for including in this package our international insurance standards bill. This is a bill that was on the floor last week. It passed with a unanimous vote, which was fantastic. What we are trying to do is basically make sure that we maintain in international agreements our State-based model of insurance, that that doesn't get undermined. If we are going to undermine State-based insurance, it should come through this institution and not through an international agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan, who is also a very good friend of mine, for yielding.

I rise in support of H.R. 4537, the International Insurance Standards Act. I first want to start with thanking the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck) for the countless hours and effort that he put in, in a bipartisan effort, crafting this bill that would allow us to get an incredibly wonderful bipartisan vote.

On top of that, we had some jurisdictional issues, so we had two chairmen from Texas, of the Ways and Means and Rules Committees, Chairman Brady and Chairman Sessions, who also worked with us to navigate those jurisdictional issues.

I also want to thank the ranking member, Ms. Waters, for working with both Mr. Heck and me to navigate some of the issues that she had with this bill to allow us to craft a piece of legislation that could get bipartisan support. I know at a time when a lot of people don't think that bipartisanship necessarily happens in this Chamber or in this town, because it doesn't make great news, it happens. People work together; they compromise; and they find a pathway forward. I think this is a

great example of that, and I want to thank the ranking member for her help in this effort and for her support. Again, it passed out of committee 56-4.

In essence, what we are doing here is saying that we have had a State-based model in America that has served this country very well for 150 years. We have been focusing on policyholder protection and solvency protection. Our insurance industry has been pretty resilient, and we are proud of it.

But we also recognize that the world is changing. It has become a far smaller world. We have different standards in different countries, and we have to be able to navigate those differences. As Americans, we have to be able to engage with the rest of the world. That is a good thing. But as we engage, we also want to make sure that we don't sell our State-based American model for some other model in some other country.

If we want to change an insurance model of regulation in America, that is our job in this Chamber. We shouldn't have some executive appointee negotiate a trade deal that undermines our State-based model. So that was the vision of what we are trying to accomplish.

In essence, we provide parameters to U.S. negotiators to prevent Federal U.S. negotiators from entering into an international insurance agreement unless it is consistent and reflective of the existing U.S. system of insurance regulation. So, again, it has to be consistent and reflective of our model.

It creates more transparency in the international insurance negotiation process, as U.S. negotiators have to regularly inform Congress as to the state and content of the negotiations that are being undertaken. It also ensures that our State insurance regulators are closely consulted in a process of the international insurance standards setting.

So this is a well-crafted bill that took in concerns that both sides of the aisle had.

I would like to note, as a Member of this body, and I think both sides feel this way, and whether it was President Clinton or President Bush or President Obama or now President Trump, we have a role in this Chamber, and, oftentimes, we cede power to the executive. I think it is important for us to exert some authority here to say that, if we are going to change the rules, then you just can't do it without us and through international negotiations.

I think this is a look to that point that, again, we have a great model. If we are going to change it, we need to be a part of it. We need to be consulted.

So with that, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member, and I want to thank Mr. Heck and the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5793, the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act.

I want to thank Mr. Cleaver. We have worked together on a number of different pieces of legislation.

This is just another example of two like-minded people seeing a problem. This isn't earth-shattering, earthquakes and lightning aren't happening, but this is a small demonstration project that can modify a program that can have a true impact on people's lives.

The insight that Mr. Cleaver, the gentleman from Missouri, brings to this issue was incredibly helpful. I just want to thank him for his friendship and his help in working on this bill.

We should evaluate Federal programs and look at how successful they are. What are the results of the programs that we implement?

I strongly believe that, as we evaluate these programs, we should focus on supporting the programs and ideas that lead people away from dependency on the government and bring people toward self-sufficiency. Money is a component. How much we spend to help people is relevant.

But how much we spend on Federal Government programs isn't the end- all, be-all. It is the actual success of the program and the money that we spend and the leading people out of poverty and dependency into self-sufficiency and opportunities.

We have to give families the opportunity to pick themselves up so they can find a better job, they can live in a safer environment, and they can better provide for their children. H.R. 5793 moves toward those goals by authorizing the HUD Secretary to carry out a housing choice voucher demonstration program designed to help those receiving housing vouchers move to areas of lower poverty and to opportunity, helping them better their lives.

So, currently, the housing choice voucher program works with around 2,200 public housing authorities to administer 2.2 million vouchers across the Nation. While you would think that a lot of the PHAs would translate into more people being helped, it actually creates some complexity and inefficiency.

In some cases, not all cases, PHAs are fighting to keep as many vouchers and government resources as possible. They are trying to keep those resources to themselves when operating in the same general region.

When that happens, when someone might want to take that voucher and go somewhere else, there are roadblocks and barriers put it place that make it more challenging. So, instead of cooperating, the PHAs compete and put up barriers that prevent individuals from moving to a different area and actually bettering their lives.

This bill would allow HUD to implement a plan to regionalize various PHAs in one area to allow for portability and movement to higher opportunity areas.

The gentleman from Michigan mentioned this. We know that low-income children whose families move to areas of lower poverty have higher earnings as adults. We must eliminate the cycle of poverty that keeps generations of families living within the same area with a limited amount of opportunity. Helping people move to better opportunities will increase the chances for them to achieve academic success and reduce intergenerational poverty.

I think, as we look around the country, we have help wanted signs everywhere. Everyone is looking for help. Different regions have different starting wages. So, if you live in one area and you might not have as much opportunity or as great of wages, you don't have the money to go to a different part of town or a different area of your State and you can't take advantage of a better paying job.

What we are saying is let people go. Give them the voucher and let them move. Let them get that great job. That mobility that we give them helps them actually start climbing the economic ladder and, hopefully, get off dependence of the Federal Government. What that does is, again, launch them on their economic career, but it frees up resources to help somebody else out. This is a win-win deal.

So, again, it is a demonstration project. I think it is going to work. I know Mr. Cleaver and the ranking member do as well. Again, this is just another sign of parties working together to help people. We don't always agree on everything, but this was, again, a commonsense proposal that can make HUD work better and help more people out.

I want to thank both the ranking member and Mr. Cleaver for working so diligently on this effort and allowing this to go under suspension.

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 I missed the following votes and was not recorded. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 275, YEA on Roll Call No. 276, NAY on Roll Call No. 277, and YAY on Roll Call No. 278.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise today to honor Farm Service Agency Wisconsin District 1 Director Randy Cook.

Mr. Cook has spent over 30 years of his professional career serving his community and the great state of Wisconsin. Mr. Cook knew from the beginning the importance of carrying on the values and honor of farming by teaching agriculture from 1981 to 1987 at Cameron High School.

His willingness to help farms big and small achieve the American dream was shown through his work at the Farm Service Agency. Mr. Cook served 21 years as executive director in the counties of Pierce, Dunn, and his home community of Barron County. His care and love for farmers over those two decades made him a natural fit as District 1 Director of the Wisconsin Farm Service Agency where he served for the past 10 years.

On behalf of the residents of Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District, I wanted to say thank you to Mr. Cook for devoting his skills, passion, and knowledge to the greatest asset in the state of Wisconsin, our farmers. I am proud to call him a friend, leader, and a constituent of this Congressional District.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman of the full committee for his support of this fantastic bill that has been offered by Mr. Barr.

This is pretty simple stuff. There are 2.2 million vouchers. 2.2 million vouchers. And we are talking about a demonstration project of 10,000: 2.2 million total; 10,000 in a demonstration project. We are talking about a small sliver of vouchers that can go to help people who are addicted to opioids, or even other drugs to, say, use the vouchers to move people into transitional housing that are nonprofit. People are making money off this. It is community transitional housing.

Help them maintain sobriety. Teach them valuable job-training skills. Help them get employment. This is just simple common sense. And for people to say, I can't support it because I am taking vouchers away from others, that is bogus. There is 7 to 9 percent turnover in the voucher program of the 2.2 million, and we are talking about a small sliver to help people. This shouldn't be partisan. This is common sense.

So I would ask--and I know that Mr. Barr has worked with the ranking member, and she has been wonderful to work with on a lot of issues and I appreciate her bipartisanship. This is one that I would ask her to take a second look at, Mr. Chairman. If she did, I think she would say it is a small number.

If it works, we can expand it, we can grow it, and we can help more people get off of devastating drugs.

I just want to make one side comment on these drugs. In my communities, it is not just individuals, it is crushing families. We have little kids who are being taken out of homes in out-of-home placement, crushing the budgets of our counties.

Let's get this done. If we are going to address this crisis, it is the kind of thought process that Mr. Barr has put into this bill of creative thinking, using resources that we have available to us, to help people who are getting crushed by these devastating drugs.

I know the ranking member cares about those people deeply. And I know she has fought for those folks who have been inflicted with drug abuse. I just would ask her, in this one, to join us and say: Let's do a small demonstration project, just 10,000. Let's work together.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Hensarling for all of his work on Dodd-Frank reform.

I think it is important that we look back.

When Dodd-Frank passed, it was passed with a blindfold over our eyes, because the studies weren't even done about what the root cause of the crisis even was. Democrats opened up their files and poured every bill they had dreamed of for 20 years into Dodd-Frank.

And what did it do to my constituents, my small banks and credit unions? It made them shut their doors or made them consolidate with a bigger bank. So, now, Spooner, Wisconsin, the decisions of the bank might not be made in Spooner, but they might be made in Milwaukee or Chicago or Minneapolis.

I hear my friends talk about banks doing so well right now. Yes, because there are people who want to borrow money, and the economy is doing so well, that borrowers can pay back lenders so they make a little bit of money.

I think what is pretty evident in this conversation is some of my friends would prefer that we have socialized banking like socialized healthcare. Let the government, let the Democrats across the aisle run banking in America.

If you are confused about this debate and whether this is a good or bad bill, just do one thing: look at where the small community banks are, look at where the credit unions are. They are clamoring for this bill, they are begging for this bill, because they can't comply with Dodd-Frank, the rules and regulations. It is putting them out of business.

Small credit unions that care about their customers say ``yes'' to this bill. I hope, too, so do my Democratic friends.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, April 16, 2018 I missed the following votes due to weather delays and was not recorded. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 140, and YEA on Roll Call No. 141.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to recognize an American hero, U.S. Army Master Sergeant Jonathan Dunbar, son of Bad River resident, Linda Dunbar. Master Sergeant Dunbar recently died from wounds sustained in an explosion while serving our nation in Syria. Master Sergeant Dunbar was an exemplary soldier; of whom we are all proud. He received several commendations for his valor, including: three awards of the Bronze Star, four awards of the Army Commendation Medal, six awards of the Army Achievement Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars, the Iraq Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars, the Ranger Tab, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Pathfinder Badge, the Military Freefall Jumpmaster Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.

Master Sergeant Dunbar is survived by many who love him, including a wife, a son, two daughters, and another daughter who will be born in May. Our nation's flag will be presented to his loved ones as a symbol of his sacrifice for our freedom. We pray that in knowing of Master Sergeant Dunbar's heroism, his family and friends may find comfort and peace.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding time to me.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Mr. Hill on putting together such a great bill, the Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act, a bill that you might not know from this conversation has wide bipartisan support in our committee, which has a lot of different views, left and right. It passed 50-10--passed 50-10.

I want to talk about the Volcker rule in a second, but my good friend across the aisle--I call her a friend--is talking about big banks and all the bad things they are doing. Listen, when banks do well, our communities do well. When banks don't do well, we see crises spread across America, and people get hurt.

When we talk about some of the biggest banks and making sure they have strong and stiff regulation, I would agree with the ranking member; but when we talk about their stock prices going up, we have got to ask: Who owns J.P. Morgan? Who owns Wells Fargo? Who owns the biggest banks in America?

The people who President Trump had on his stage yesterday in the Rose Garden: It is truck drivers. It is the Wisconsin teachers. It is the people who work across this country who put money in their 401(k)s that own all of these stocks. And when those stock prices rise, so, too, do the values of the 401(k)s, because they own those American businesses.

When you look at the Volcker rule and this ham-handed way in which it was put together and you are starting to reduce marketmaking in an effort to get away from proprietary trading, what you find is more volatility. And what you see then is the price of mortgages actually go up.

Having markets that actually work is a way to get the most efficient pricing to homeowners, which is what we are trying to do here, which is why so many Democrats voted for a bill like this from Mr. Hill.

I know this is not a housing conversation, but it is true that there are a lot more homeless people in America. We were devastated by the Obama economy.

Mr. Speaker, I think we can't deny the fact that, when you want to buy a house, you have to have a salary. You have to have a job.

As the President likes to point out, the unemployment rate for the African-American and the Hispanic communities, of which my wife is one, is at all-time lows. They have jobs. And when you have a job, you have a salary. When you have a salary, you can buy a house.

What I don't want to do is what we did before the 2008 crisis, which is give mortgages to people who can't afford to pay them, and then they lose those homes in foreclosure and their lives are devastated. We want to make loans to people who can afford to pay the mortgage and keep their home. Now is the time under a Trump economy where people have jobs, income, and can now afford to buy a home.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable young man from Somerset, Wisconsin named Justin Rivard. Justin is a senior at Somerset High School and is finishing up his final semester. But rather than just spending that time preparing for his own graduation, Justin has gone out of his way to help others. He recently invented a device, aptly titled the ``JustinKase,'' that protects students and teachers inside their classrooms. The steel device slips underneath a classroom door and latches to the door's jam, locking the door in place. This prevents anyone with intent to commit violence against students or teachers from accessing the room.

A teacher at Somerset High recently described Justin as having `the special combination of motivation and brains and has a motor that just keeps going.'' Indeed, these skills will serve Justin well as he continues to use his gifts in the service of others as a soldier in the United States Army. Everyone in Wisconsin is proud of Justin's ingenuity. And we are grateful for his decision to enter the military and defend our nation.