Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on October 23, 2013, I was unavoidably absent and missed

the following rollcall votes: No. 556, the DeFazio Amendment No. 2; No. 557, the Flores Amendment No. 3; No. 558, the Hastings Amendment No. 6; No. 559, the Richmond Amendment No. 16; and No. 560 on final passage of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act. Had I voted, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall vote No. 556, ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 557, ``nay'' on rollcall vote No. 558, ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 559, and ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 560.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss my bill, the IRS Abuse Protection Act of 2013, which requires the IRS to notify taxpayers when their records are accessed. Taxpayer information is the private information of the taxpayer and they have a right to know when, who, why, and what that information is used for.

Mr. Speaker, by introducing this bill we hope to ensure people will not be threatened or intimidated by the federal government. This bill presses forth transparency and accountability. Despite what the President has said, the targeting of conservative organizations for extra scrutiny is a real scandal and is simply reprehensible. The thin line of trust between the individual and their government has been broken and we must work to rebuild it. I am strongly urging Congress to continue its investigation into the IRS and to make sure those responsibly are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. I am also joining other Members of Congress calling on Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to investigate the actions of the IRS.

I am committed to making sure the IRS is never again used as a political weapon against any group, conservative or otherwise and my bill will ensure that those responsible for using private information to quiet individuals and organizations that disagree with the President can no longer hide behind the wall of Washington secrecy and are held accountable for their actions.

Simply put, I believe when personal information is accessed; taxpayers have a right to know who accessed the information, why it was accessed, and what the information is used for as well as having access to the information and any reports generated from it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House (and Senate) to support me in passing the IRS Abuse Protection Act of 2013 in order to ensure American families and taxpayers have trust in their government.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor in support of H.R. 1155, the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act of 2013.

As mentioned, this important legislation strikes the appropriate balance between easing the licensing requirements for insurance agents and preserving State authority to supervise and discipline insurance producers for their actions.

Through this legislation, I hope all consumers, especially the citizens of Tennessee, will benefit from a more competitive insurance market. NARAB is supported by all insurance industry stakeholders, including State insurance regulators, regional and national insurance companies, and trade associations.

H.R. 1155 is seen as the most effective, efficient way to enable insurance agents and brokers to be licensed on a multistate basis while retaining State regulatory authority.

While today's legislation speaks to insurance agents and brokers, similar issues exist for claims adjusters. To address these issues when consumers present a claim, I have introduced the CLAIM Act, H.R. 2156, to streamline the licensing requirements for insurance adjusters operating outside their home States.

My bill would preserve State authority to supervise and discipline adjusters for their actions, while streamlining State licensing regulations.

As we join together today to support H.R. 1155, I call upon my colleagues to similarly support and enact the CLAIM Act to ensure consumers receive the same excellent service when they need their insurance.

I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer) for his hard work on this very well-thought-out legislation. I hope it will help the citizens of this country receive excellent insurance products and services.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss my bill, the IRS Employee Responsibility Act of 2013, which requires IRS employees who violate the law to be personally responsible for their own legal fees and personally responsible for any legal judgment awarded. The hard- working American taxpayer should not be responsible for the cost of defending IRS employees who break the law and are shouldn't be responsible for any legal judgment awarded in a civil suit.

My legislation simply requires IRS employees to take responsibility for their actions in the same manner any private employee has to when they are sued in civil court.

Mr. Speaker, despite what the President has said, the targeting of conservative organizations for extra scrutiny is a real scandal and is simply reprehensible. The thin line of trust between the individual and their government has been broken and we must work to rebuild it. I am strongly urging Congress to continue its investigation into the IRS and to make sure those responsibly are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. I am also joining other Members of Congress calling on Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to investigate the actions of the IRS. I am committed to making sure the IRS is never again used as a political weapon against any group, conservative or otherwise and my bill will ensure that if any employees violate the law they are personally responsible for their own legal fees and any judgment.

It is unfortunate that we have seen very little action from the Administration to punish these employees with at least one on paid leave. This body must Act to ensure this never happens again.

Simply put, I believe when IRS employees are on the hook for their actions and know there are real consequences, they make better decisions. As a farmer and owner of a business, I am responsible for my own actions and work to ensure I am following the law. It's time the IRS does the same.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House (and Senate) to support me in passing the IRS Employee Responsibility Act of 2013 in order to ensure American families and taxpayers have trust in their government.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Daniel Weickenand on his recent election to the Board of Directors at the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU).

Mr. Weickenand is the President and CEO of Orion Federal Credit Union in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his BA in accounting

and MBA from the University of Texas in San Antonio. He practiced public accounting before devoting more than 20 years to the credit union industry. Prior to his service at Orion Federal Credit Union, where he oversaw a complete brand overhaul from Memphis Area Teacher's Credit Union, Mr. Weickenand served as the Chief Financial Officer at FedEx Employees Credit Association.

In addition to his expertise in financial services, Mr. Weickenand is actively involved in the Memphis community in various charitable capacities and is currently serving as treasurer for the Memphis in May International Festival Board of Directors.

Undoubtedly, Mr. Weickenand will bring a tremendous amount of expertise to the NAFCU Board. I wish Mr. Weickenand the best of luck in his new role on the NAFCU Board. I ask that my colleagues join me today in congratulating him on this achievement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the retirement of Henry Posey from the Memphis Fire Department.

Mr. Posey has devoted his life to a career of public service. As a fire fighter and the retiring Division Chief for the Memphis Fire Department, he worked to keep communities in the Eighth District of Tennessee safe for over 36 years. In this time, he has truly made a difference in people's lives, and in some cases his efforts have meant the difference between life and death.

I am proud to join Mr. Posey's family, friends, and colleagues in congratulating him for his many years of service. He deserves our deepest thanks and appreciation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Paris Police Patrolman Derrek Colley for his bravery in the line of duty. Because of Officer Colley's courage in the face of danger, the city of Paris, Tennessee narrowly avoided a tragedy.

On January 24, 2013, Officer Colley responded to a call at Pine Ridge Apartments, a local apartment complex. After hearing calls for help, he located a man standing in the doorway of Apartment 710. The man was engulfed in smoke, and he was unable to move himself to safety. Additionally, there were several oxygen tanks in the apartment, and the man feared a catastrophic explosion as the flames slowly spread toward them.

In spite of the chaos and confusion, Officer Colley remained calm and professional. Disregarding his own safety, Officer Colley rescued the immobilized man and pulled him to safety. Then, he called for additional backup

of emergency services to fight the fire, and began evacuating the other apartments.

Mr. Speaker, the citizens of Paris, Tennessee are safer because of the selfless acts of bravery from public servants like Officer Colley. We are lucky to have such professional and well-trained personnel to protect our community. I am honored to join his colleagues and neighbors in applauding him for his courage.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1341) to require the Financial Stability Oversight Council to conduct a study of the likely effects of the differences between the United States and other jurisdictions in implementing the derivatives credit valuation adjustment capital requirement, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials for the Record on H.R. 1341, as amended, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to thank Chairman Jeb Hensarling, Chairman Frank Lucas, and Chairman Scott Garrett for working with both Congressman David Scott and me to bring H.R. 1341 to the floor for consideration today.

I am pleased that we are considering H.R. 1341, the Financial Competitive Act of 2013. Mr. Scott and I have worked in a bipartisan manner to move this measure forward to ensure America remains competitive in the global marketplace. We need folks around the world to know America is open for opportunity, advancement, and upward mobility. In this country, we promote opportunity, not unfair regulations that punish business and kill jobs here. I introduced the Financial Competitive Act with my friend Mr. Scott for one reason--to ensure the law of unintended consequences does not place America at a disadvantage globally.

Our bill simply requires the Financial Stability Oversight Council to conduct a study of the impacts implementing the credit valuation adjustment capital requirement, or CVA, will have on the U.S. consumers, end users, and U.S. financial institutions. This study is in response to the recent Basel 3 Accord, which is a global regulatory standard for capital requirements for banks.

Unfortunately, European Union Basel 3 regulators decided to exempt their own European banks from complying with certain provisions of Basel 3. Specifically, European regulators have decided to exempt transactions with sovereign pension funds and corporate counterparties, which are also exempt from clearing obligations from CVA-risk-weighted assets. This means European banks will not have to put up capital like American banks.

I have some serious questions about the impact the European exemption will have on U.S. financial institutions, consumers, and the larger U.S. economy. To me, this exemption will provide a significant financial and business advantage to European banks, European customers, and European end

users at the expense of American business, banks, and end users.

Mr. Scott and I are not alone. Canada recently announced it will delay its CVA capital requirement for 1 year even though it implemented the rest of the Basel 3 package on schedule. Canada's decision to delay the implementation of the CVA requirement was simple. It was driven by concerns that Canadian banks would be at a competitive disadvantage because of the European CVA exemption. U.S. financial institutions and consumers share those same concerns and will be competitively disadvantaged, which will affect how these institutions serve consumers and the derivatives business as well as the commercial loan business.

Our bill will clarify the impact the CVA exemption for European financial institutions will have on the U.S. economy. The U.S. economy can't afford to wait while Europe takes valuable market share away from U.S. companies. If the U.S. doesn't act, this disadvantage could potentially cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars and lead to jobs moving overseas.

It's simple: this bill is about America versus Europe. I urge you to support me in passing the Financial Competitive Act in order to ensure the law of unintended consequences doesn't place U.S. consumers, end users, and financial institutions at a disadvantage.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 1341, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

This amendment favors our foreign competitors over American-grown products, American-grown industries, and jobs filled by Americans.

Unlike foreign aid programs, the Food for Peace program is American- made through and through, and it's tied to approximately 44,000 American jobs in the agriculture, transportation, and maritime industries.

An American is employed at every step in this process of the Food for Peace program. Americans grow the crops. The commodities are processed and packaged in the United States. Those packages are carried by our railroads and barges to American seaports and finally delivered to the receiving nations by U.S.-flagged vessels.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment and support American farmers, American workers, and American taxpayers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Shirley Raines on all of her achievements. A longtime resident of West Tennessee and originally from my home county of Crockett, I am especially proud to celebrate with her today.

A driving force bringing notoriety to Memphis for not only her work in education, but also her achievements in research, work-force and economic development. She is to be commended for her vision of bringing an urban institute that reaches all parts of West Tennessee that provides an educational opportunity for all.

Dr. Raines has served as the President of the University of Memphis for the past 11 years. Originally from Bells, TN, Dr. Raines holds a doctorate in education from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a Master of Science from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Before joining the University of Memphis, Dr. Raines was the Vice Chancellor for Academic Services and the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Raines is also an accomplished author, with fourteen books and several articles published.

Dr. Raines's accomplishments as the President of the University of Memphis are numerous and far-reaching. She has increased total enrollment to 22,000 and extended the campus by acquiring the Lambuth campus in Jackson, TN. Dr. Raines has also been crucial in the relocation of the Cecil C. Humphreys Law School and the construction of the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management, the FedEx Institute of Technology and several other campus developments. Dr. Raines has spearheaded the Empowering the Dream capital campaign, which aims to raise $250 million by June 30th.

Dr. Shirley Raines's contributions to education and West Tennessee are undeniable and inspiring. I congratulate Dr. Raines on her many accomplishments and wish her well.

Madam Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Claims Licensing Advancement for Interstate Matters Act, known as the CLAIM Act to help consumers save mil1ions of dollars in insurance costs and create more jobs.

Under current law, independent claims adjusters face a hodgepodge of inconsistent state regulations that only serve to delay the prompt adjustment of claims for natural disasters, car accident victims, and other tragedies in life. Independent claims adjusters must take a license examination in each state in which they work. This requires adjusters to take time off from their job and travel to each state in which they seek a license. This is a costly burden on the claims adjusters, the companies that employ them, and ultimately, the consumer. Sadly, it is the consumer who currently pays for these costs in higher premiums.

Today, it is my pleasure to re-introduce a bill that would end this costly burden. The CLAIM Act would lead to a process that would provide independent claims adjusters licensing reciprocity so their home-state license is valid in any other state.

The CLAIM Act would also provide specific relief during a natural disaster. In areas designated by the President of the United States as a ``Disaster Area,'' independent claims adjusters who meet certain criteria would be eligible to adjust claims for losses notwithstanding the state where the adjuster is licensed.

To be clear, the CLAIM Act does not create a new federal law and does not ``federalize'' the insurance industry. The CLAIM Act respects states' rights to continue to regulate insurance. Rather, the CLAIM Act would urge the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to adopt a model licensing standard for state regulation for independent claims adjusters that each individual state would adopt. The CLAIM Act would make sure that

each state keeps its independence to adopt rules as they see fit and recognizes that state insurance regulators are best situated to address insurance licensing standards.

In the 112th Congress, I sponsored H.R. 6415, the CLAIM Act, a bill very similar to what I am introducing today. After working with stakeholders, I added a new Section 4 that clarifies the CLAIM Act will not interfere with State insurance regulation. I made this change at the request of State insurance regulators who felt the previous bill did not go far enough to protect State insurance regulation. Mr. Speaker, I am confident the CLAIM Act will further protect the State insurance industry and regulation.

The goal of this bill is to streamline the claims adjustment process so that individual claims adjusters can respond in the fastest possible and most cost-effective manner possible. I look forward to further discussing the issues of uniformity and reciprocity and the CLAIM Act as we move forward in the Committee process.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding.

I have had the privilege of fishing actually on the Cumberland River at Barkley Dam. My grandfather took me many times to fish there. And how this would work, and why it's such a good fishing spot is, when they would release the water from the top of the dam and when it would come under and come in the back of the dam, the waters would roll up, and the big fish that we talk about would roll up off the bottom, and that's why the fishing is so good.

And it's like we don't have enough things to do in Washington that we're dealing with this issue today. I want to thank Mr. Whitfield for bringing this up, but commonsense solutions to problems are what we should be talking about. And the Corps, in many respects, they do good work, but bringing this up, stopping the fishing from occurring at the dams and on the rivers, the Cumberland River in specific, is ridiculous.

We need to get down to the business of America--let's let people fish where they've always fished, like my grandfather took me to Barkley Dam over and over and over, time and time again--and get to the real issues.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation today, and let's give the power back to the people--commonsense solutions for real problems.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act.

Title I of the JOBS Act was so important for smaller companies in trying to go public, because a lot of regulations come with the IPO process. If more and more of a company's resources have to be dedicated to government regulations, the company can't expand and create jobs. That's why we need a balanced approach to regulations.

Before I make any major decision, like every hardworking taxpayer, I use common sense. I evaluate the effect that decision will have on me, on my bank account, on my family, and so on. Why shouldn't the Federal Government ask itself those same questions? Shouldn't the SEC question if a regulation is good for business? Does it help capital formation? Will it do more harm than good or vice versa?

All we are asking the SEC to do is a simple economic analysis before issuing a potentially expensive regulatory action. I encourage my colleagues to join with me in supporting the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act.

Mr. Speaker, I'm heartbroken as I've heard more and more about Dr. Kermit Gosnell's Philadelphia medical practice during the past few weeks. The brutal method Dr. Gosnell used to ensure death from a botched abortion, severing the spinal cord of a baby born alive, is disgusting. I pray we are all shocked and disturbed by what has been revealed about abortion during this trial.

While Dr. Gosnell stands trial, there are still over a million babies who die from abortion each year in the United States. That's almost 2 times more deaths than caused by cancer in the U.S. every year and 2 times more than heart disease. Abortion is taking an innocent life and we have to stand against it.

That's why I am introducing this House resolution to review public policies that led to the

illegal abortion practices of Dr. Kermit Gosnell and others. The resolution resolves that Congress and States should gather information about and correct abusive, unsanitary, and illegal abortion practices and the interstate referral of women and girls to facilities engaged in dangerous or illegal second- and third-trimester procedures.

The resolution also recognizes that there is substantial medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain at 20 weeks after fertilization, or earlier, and resolves that there is a compelling governmental interest in protecting the lives of unborn children beginning at least from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain.

Life is precious, children are precious. People talk about choice when we talk about abortion, and we should encourage more Americans to choose life and protect the most innocent in our nation.