Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, in Montana, transportation services like Amtrak and Essential Air Service are critical for the strength of our economy. Montanans rely on rural air service every day, and thousands of tourists ride Amtrak every year to visit Glacier National Park, an important economic driver in northwestern Montana. But proposed changes to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill place these programs in danger.

We need to get our fiscal house in order, but we must do it responsibly, ensuring our rural communities aren't forced to bear the brunt of cuts that will harm their local economies.

I will remain a strong advocate for these programs and encourage my colleagues to support and protect the critical services on which rural Americans rely.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4228, the DHS Acquisition Accountability and Efficiency Act.

As the vice chairman of the Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee, I am proud to join Chairman Duncan in sponsoring this most important legislation, which works to improve efficiency at DHS and improve accountability to hardworking American taxpayers.

The DHS acquisition process has long faced problems resulting in waste, delays, and mismanaged taxpayer dollars. This is simply unacceptable. American taxpayers deserve better from their government. Through increased accountability, transparency, and improved collaboration with the private sector, this bill works to address these problems and bring accountability to DHS.

This legislation adopts commonsense, private sector principles, like developing incentives for program managers and senior Department acquisition officials to prevent cost overruns, avoid scheduled delays, and achieve cost savings in major acquisition programs.

It is long past time we move away from the government agency ``spend it or lose it'' budgeting tactic. This legislation could serve as a pilot program for adopting this principle across other agencies.

I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, this April, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it would be moving forward with a rulemaking that would increase the amount of required liability coverage for truck and bus companies.

This comes despite findings by the Department of Transportation that less than 0.2 percent of truck-involved accidents have property and injury damages that exceed the current minimum liability coverage requirements, which is $750,000.

Current proposals regarding the insurance increase call for minimum levels to go up by more than 500 percent, and this would lead to a significant reduction in insurance availability for motor carriers, especially small businesses. The bottom line is this: the trial lawyers win, the small businesses lose.

It is estimated that premiums could increase by more than four times the current levels, up to $20,000 per truck and even more per bus. Further, more than 40 percent of currently operating motor carriers could go out of business due to these new requirements.

There is no evidence supporting higher insurance requirements or that coverage levels result in the improved safety performance of a motor carrier. DOT's own report argued that increasing minimum insurance levels is not the best way to meet the needs of catastrophic accident victims.

My amendment would prohibit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from moving forward with a rulemaking action that would increase the minimum financial liability insurance requirements for truck and bus companies during the 2015 fiscal year.

Please join me in support of this effort to keep safe small business truck and bus companies on the road.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, just a reminder that the DOT's own study says that less than 0.2 percent of truck-involved accidents have property and injury damages that exceed the current requirements.

The bottom line is this: let the small business owner decide what they want to insure above the already required $750,000. This is one more regulation that is going to benefit the trial lawyers at the expense of small businesses.

Remember, again, what the DOT said. Raising the minimum insurance levels is not the best way to meet the needs of catastrophic accident victims.

Mr. Speaker, coal is vital to our way of life in Montana. It provides thousands of jobs, affordable electricity for families, and millions of dollars that fund our schools and our parks. So when Montanans hear about new coal regulations from the EPA, we get a bit nervous.

A new study predicts that President Obama's rules will effectively ban new coal generation--killing jobs and causing energy prices to skyrocket.

The House passed the Electricity Security and Affordability Act, a bill I cosponsored, to halt these job-killing regulations. I urge the Senate to also take action to stop President Obama and protect Montana families who rely on coal for affordable energy and whose livelihoods are supported by Montana's coal industry.

Mr. Speaker, like many Montanans, I am outraged by reports that a number of VA clinics have failed to give our veterans the care and honor they deserve. These clinics deliberately covered up delays that may have led to the preventable deaths of at least 40 veterans, yet the VA executives at these troubled facilities are more likely to be given a bonus than face any sort of accountability. This is disgraceful, and I stand with the millions of Americans who are demanding accountability from the VA.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act will ensure the VA is able to remove career appointees who are failing to do their jobs. And this is common sense. If you fail to do your job and fail the men and women you serve, you shouldn't be getting bonuses. You should be held accountable. Our veterans deserve nothing less.

Mr. Chairman, ``If America is going to approach adversaries with a dove of peace in one hand, we must have a sword in the other.''

That is what President Reagan wrote when he used U.S. military strength to hasten the demise of the Soviet Union.

The nuclear triad is our country's most lethal sword. It makes the world safer by deterring our rivals and reassuring our allies.

The commander coin of Montana's Malmstrom Air Force Base expresses why nuclear deterrence works. It says:

Scaring the hell out of America's enemies since 1962.

My amendment reaffirms support for the nuclear triad, the airmen, and the sailors who work this mission because there is no greater asset for peace than an unrivaled U.S. military.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Jesse Zhang, an eighth grader from Missoula, Montana, on winning the Montana State Geography Bee last month. This week, Jesse was one of 54 students from across the Nation to travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Geographic Bee.

Jesse is a true example of the Montana work ethic. He studies geography for several hours each week and has a passion and commitment for learning that will continue to take him far in life.

Jesse, congratulations on this incredible achievement, and best of luck as you continue to pursue your goals. We appreciate your hard work. You make Montana proud.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Chairman, our country's intercontinental ballistic missiles make the world safer. They are an integral part of the nuclear triad that advances the cause of peace and promotes our national security interests around the world.

The Defense Department recently put forward a nuclear force structure plan under the New START Treaty. It is committed to maintaining 450 nuclear launchers in at least a warm status. In doing so, the Pentagon recognized the strategic value of preserving our robust nuclear deterrent capability.

The base bill would sunset the warm status requirement in 2021. I believe this is unwise and it is premature.

First and foremost, we don't know what the future holds and whether it will be in our strategic and security interests to shut down some of our silos 7 years from now.

On the other hand, what we do know is that maintaining our nuclear launchers provides our commanders with maximum flexibility to respond to potential nuclear threats against the American people and our allies. And we know that preserving this capability complicates our adversaries' ability to target our nuclear assets.

Further, we know that maintaining our current silos is in the best interest of taxpayers because rebuilding them would be very expensive.

In short, there is simply no justification for deciding today how many silos will be needed to safeguard our security interests in 2021.

I urge House passage of my amendment to strike the ill-advised sunset provision in the underlying.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, while the President is the Commander in Chief--this is the issue of micromanaging--the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise and support armies and to provide and maintain a Navy. It is our duty and responsibility to help shape our Nation's defense policy.

Regarding the ICBMs, they are deployed in hardened silos. That would tend to force an opponent to exhaust his own nuclear forces to disarm U.S. ICBMs, leaving the opponent vulnerable to a U.S. retaliatory strike. Without ICBMs, as few as five nuclear warheads could successfully disarm the U.S.

Now I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Dakota, Kevin Cramer, my friend.

Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close.

Again, I urge support for my amendment, which is to protect our country's nuclear deterrent capability by striking this unwise and premature sunset language in the underlying bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today the Crow tribe will break ground on the Apsaalooke Warriors Apartment Complex, a 15-room complex that will serve the homeless veterans of the Crow Reservation.

The Crow Reservation is home to more than 400 veterans, and far too many are without a home to call their own. Unfortunately, this struggle goes largely unseen. As Crow Vice Chairman Dana Wilson has said:

Homelessness is invisible because the Crow always take care

of each other. It is not uncommon to see 10 to 20 people

living in a home.

I am grateful to see the Crow Tribe's commitment to addressing this problem and giving our warriors a home of their own.

I also want to thank Vice Secretary Shawn Backbone, Vice Chairman Dana Wilson, Secretary AJ Not Afraid, and the director of Crow Veterans Affairs, Paul Little Light, for their efforts to make this project a reality and to serve Crow veterans. Your work is deeply appreciated.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis), as well as the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for their bipartisan support in this most important bill.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 2919, the Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act, which increases transparency and works to ensure that the Equal Access to Justice Act, or EAJA, does what it was always intended to do: protect citizens and small businesses against the limited resources of the Federal Government when they have to go to court.

This law was written to give individuals like our veterans, seniors, and small businesses a way to dispute unfair treatment by the government. However, the original intent of EAJA has been lost in a sea of habitual litigation, especially when it involves the management of our natural resources and our public lands and projects that bring much-needed jobs and tax revenues to local communities. Much of this litigation is awarded with millions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars. That is unacceptable.

In Montana, we have seen firsthand the consequences of some of this litigation. Montanans rely on healthy forests and rangelands for their livelihoods. Loggers, ranchers, miners, outfitters and guides, and others, rely on healthy land management to feed their families.

In recent decades, inflexible Federal policies and unrelenting appeals and lawsuits have imposed a huge administrative burden on our Federal agencies, limited our mills' access to timber, and ultimately resulted in the mismanagement of our forests, leaving our homes and businesses at risk for wildfire and crippling job growth in the timber industry.

In Montana, we used to have 30 sawmills. Today, we have just nine. Collaborative projects that the Montana

timber industry and conservation leaders have spent countless hours negotiating are sometimes stopped in court. True conservation is on- the-ground stewardship by hardworking individuals directly reliant on the land. It is not done in the courtroom.

At the very least, the American people ought to know how much of their hard-earned tax dollars are going towards these litigants and the information that led to their claims against the Federal agency. The Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act will provide that much-needed transparency which, hopefully, can limit these lawsuits and help save hundreds of American jobs.

I urge support for H.R. 2919.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor Donald Buska, a Montana World War II veteran who passed away earlier this week.

I had the honor to meet Donald on Monday, just a day before he passed away. Donald was in Washington, D.C., as part of the Big Sky Honor Flight, an incredible program that allows Montana veterans to travel to D.C. and see their memorials.

One of the best parts of my job is meeting with these Montana veterans and honoring their service and their sacrifice. It is an honor to hear their stories, to stand with them before the memorials honoring their service, and to shake their hands.

I am glad Donald was able to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime trip to accomplish his lifetime dream.

Thank you, Donald, for your service. Cindy and I join all Montanans in saying ``thank you'' and keeping your family in our thoughts and prayers.

Mr. Speaker, our friends in the Senate are once again playing games with the future of our country.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has kindly offered to allow Senators to vote on a nonbinding resolution expressing support for building the Keystone XL pipeline. That is right, a nonbinding expression that requires no action and no real solutions.

Well, grand gestures and words alone don't create jobs. The American people deserve real action. Senate Democrats who claim to support approving the Keystone XL pipeline need to stand up and demand that Harry Reid allow a real vote to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, a vote that actually puts words into action and rhetoric into results.

The American people have waited long enough. Montanans are tired of the political games, the endless delays, and politicians who refuse to put job creation ahead of partisanship. The House has acted. It is time for the Senate to step up and do the same.

Mr. Speaker, today I am very proud to congratulate students from Will James Middle School in Billings, Montana, the town where Mom and Dad grew up and my grandma still lives today, for winning the best car design at the National Science Bowl Middle School Electric Car Competition.

This weekend, five young Montana students traveled to the National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., to compete against 47 other teams from around the Nation. I speak for all Montanans when I say that we are incredibly proud of their success.

Under the guidance of science teacher Patrick Kenney, this team of five middle school students gained hands-on science and engineering experience in designing, building, and racing their model car.

As Montana's Representative and a chemical engineer from Montana State University, I am incredibly proud Montana students like Madi, Sam, Tyler, Julianne, and Alex are leading the way in science and technology.

Congratulations again to the Will James Middle School Science Bowl team.

Mr. Chairman, to create jobs and grow our economy, we must work toward lasting solutions that put our Nation back on solid fiscal ground, stop wasteful Washington spending, and balance our budget.

The American people deserve more accountability from Washington, and Washington has a responsibility to the American people to produce, number one, a budget, and, number two, a budget that balances. Anything less than that is a failure to lead.

That is why I introduced the Balanced Budget Accountability Act, which requires Congress to pass a balanced budget or Members won't get paid. The principles found in my Balanced Budget Accountability Act reflect Montana commonsense, and they stand in stark contrast with the President's budget, which never achieves

balance, and the Senate, where Democrat leaders have decided the American people don't deserve a budget at all. That is irresponsible and will only lead to never-ending deficits and a debt that will take generations to pay off. That is not the Montana way, that is not the American way.

I don't agree with everything in this budget, but I know that the people of Montana want and deserve a solution to our debt crisis, a balanced budget, and a Congress with the courage to lead.

Mr. Speaker, for generations, Montanans have been dedicated to stewardship of our lands. Montanans know how to best preserve and protect these lands, so that future generations can enjoy them.

That is why so many Montanans were upset by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell's recent comments inferring that the President would take action and unilaterally designate new lands as national monuments under the Antiquities Act.

Comments like these concern Montanans, who recall recent efforts by the Department of the Interior to designate millions of acres along the Hi-Line as a national monument without local involvement. This unilateral action is unacceptable to the people of my State.

That is why I am proud to support the Ensuring Public Involvement in the Creation of National Monuments Act, which requires public participation and local support before the President can make any new monument designations.

The American people deserve a voice in the monument designation process, and I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense bill.