Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 94 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 95.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 77 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 78.

Mr. Speaker, during my medical recovery, I missed the following roll call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted:

January 9, 2018

Yea on Roll Call No. 2

Yea on Roll Call No. 3

Yea on Roll Call No. 4

January 10, 2018

Nay on Roll Call No. 5

Nay on Roll Call No. 6

Nay on Roll Call No. 7

Yea on Roll Call No. 8

Yea on Roll Call No. 9

Yea on Roll Call No. 10

Yea on Roll Call No. 11

Yea on Roll Call No. 12

Yea on Roll Call No. 13

January 11, 2018

Nay on Roll Call No. 14

Nay on Roll Call No. 15

Yea on Roll Call No. 16

Yea on Roll Call No. 17

January 16, 2018

Yea on Roll Call No. 18

Yea on Roll Call No. 19

January 17, 2018

Yea on Roll Call No. 20

Yea on Roll Call No. 21

Yea on Roll Call No. 22

Yea on Roll Call No. 23

Yea on Roll Call No. 24

Yea on Roll Call No. 25

Yea on Roll Call No. 26

January 18, 2018

Yea on Roll Call No. 27

Yea on Roll Call No. 28

Yea on Roll Call No. 29

Yea on Roll Call No. 30

Nay on Roll Call No. 31

Yea on Roll Call No. 32

Yea on Roll Call No. 33

Yea on Roll Call No. 34

January 19, 2018

Yea on Roll Call No. 35

Yea on Roll Call No. 36

Nay on Roll Call No. 37

January 20, 2018

Yea on Roll Call No. 38

Present on Roll Call No. 39

Yea on Roll Call No. 40

Yea on Roll Call No. 41

Yea on Roll Call No. 42

Yea on Roll Call No. 43.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank somebody who has been a key part of my team since I got elected into House leadership. He is the floor director right now for the whip's office, Mr. Matt Bravo.

Matt Bravo has been with my team and has helped us through some critical key legislative victories, not the least of which is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act today, helping pass the bills through the floor and helping us get our work done as we whip the bills to make sure we can move the majority's agenda.

Matt has worked for years, Mr. Speaker, not just in the whip's office for me, he has also worked for former whip and majority leader Eric Cantor. He has worked for the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Matt Bravo has dedicated more than 10 years of his life to public service in this institution with honor and integrity.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Matt Bravo is somebody who has the full respect of not only our Members on the House Republican side, he is respected by the Democratic leadership as well and is a key part of our staff and, again, has helped us pass critical legislation. I would call him the best floor director ever.

We are going to miss him here. Jennifer and I wish him and his wife, Summer, and their soon-to-be growing family all the best in their future life.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank him for the time and the public service he has given to this House of Representatives.

Again, thank you, Mr. Matt Bravo, for the service you have given to all of us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. Speaker, we can maybe disagree on that like we disagree on who has the best crabs, but we will enjoy that disagreement.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Democratic whip for his kind words and for the way that our offices do work together on those occasions. Frankly, it is most occasions where we are working together on things. Obviously, there are times when we are not; but even in those times, our staffs have a great working relationship and a trust level that is really important to the House getting its business done.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Democratic leader.

Mr. Speaker, I would be honored to yield to the chief deputy whip, Mr. McHenry.

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn't recognize that Matt's lovely wife, Summer, is in the balcony, too, and I thank her for the time that she lent him to us and to this great institution. The best of luck to her family and her future with Matt.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 687.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Brady for yielding time and for his leadership in the entire group of conferees on bringing this tax cuts and jobs bill to the floor.

I thank President Trump for working with us every step of the way to bring us to a historic moment where we are actually going to provide tax relief to hardworking families.

There are those on the other side who would say: Keep all the money in Washington, stunt economic growth, continue to let America be noncompetitive where we see jobs go overseas over and over again--large companies, thousands of jobs at a time moving to foreign countries-- because we have the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world.

Well, Mr. Speaker, it is time for that to end, and we do end that in this bill. We finally make our country competitive again so we can bring those jobs back.

Why deny opportunity for so many people who want a chance at the American Dream?

In our bill, Mr. Speaker, we cut every single tax rate and make it lower. That is more money in the pockets of hardworking families. On average, families are going to see over $2,000 more back in their paychecks every year. That is real money, when you look at, right now, the average savings for families is $400 in their checking account. This is real money to help people have better opportunities to go put more money in their kids' college tuition accounts.

When you look at what this means, it is not only good for economic growth, creating jobs, and rebuilding our middle class, but it is historic in the simplification where over 90 percent of

American families will actually be able to do their taxes on a postcard. Just think of how simplified that makes the Code.

The last time this was done was in 1986. And when Ronald Reagan was signing that bill, he talked about how hard it was and how many times people said it couldn't happen. In fact, Ronald Reagan read a quote from a headline, and he said: ``The impossible became the inevitable.''

Today, Mr. Speaker, we make that impossible the inevitable again and restore that hope and opportunity for so many families who just want a chance at the American Dream. We give them that.

Let's pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act today. Get it on President Trump's desk so we can finally see this economy going again. What a great Christmas present this is going to be to the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge everybody to vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Yea'' on rollcall No. 694, ``Yea'' on rollcall No. 695, and ``Yea'' on rollcall No. 696.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Nay'' on Rollcall No. 674 and ``Yea'' on Rollcall No. 675.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 653.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would

have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 644; YEA on Roll Call No. 645; NAY on Roll Call No. 646; NAY on Roll Call No. 647; YEA on Roll Call No. 648; and YEA on Roll Call No. 649.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 653.

Motion to Instruct

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Texas. Chairman Brady has done an incredible job at bringing this Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas, Chairman Hensarling, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill that, really, if you look at what we are trying to achieve here, it is a few things, but the main two things are to give further reforms and protections to the taxpayers of this country while also making sure that we are protecting and giving certainty to the policyholders of the National Flood Insurance Program; the fact that this is a 5-year reauthorization; the fact that we were able to protect the grandfathering provisions that are so important to families who have played by the rules, and if the rules are going to change, it is not fair that you would hold something against somebody that was legal in the past; the fact that this bill has important reforms, like Ross-Castor.

We all talk about the fact that NFIP is the only place for most families to go that want to buy flood insurance. We need to develop a private marketplace, Mr. Speaker, and, frankly, for most families, it just doesn't exist. Those Ross-Castor provisions are so important to finally help jump start that process.

This program has had its own financial difficulties, and this bill helps strengthen the program, helps give some certainty, and, frankly, it gives some provisions in the bill that are going to make it better for families who rely on this program, and the taxpayers of this country, who help make sure that we have a stable economy.

It is important for homeownership, it is important that we maintain those provisions on grandfathering that were so important to our communities, and it is important that we pass this bill.

I am glad that the House is taking this action today.

Mr. Speaker, again, I commend Chairman Hensarling and Congressman Duffy for their hard work, and all the other Members who played such an important role in getting us to this point.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 619, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 620, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 621.