Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for introducing this legislation and sponsoring it. I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 37.

We all agree that bad actors who deny workers basic protections and violate the Fair Labor Standards Act should not be rewarded with government contracts funded by taxpayer dollars. However, the Department of Labor's rule effectively blacklists Federal contractors for alleged violations and would require contractors to defend themselves against these allegations without being entitled to a formal hearing.

The Federal District Court has already ruled that the Department of Labor rule violates contractors' due process rights. Additionally, this rule is unnecessary because the Department of Labor already has significant oversight and investigation capabilities to assess contractor compliance with Federal labor laws.

This rule supersedes agencies' existing authority to hold contractors accountable under the current suspension and disbarment system. My question is why don't they use it?

Misguided regulatory policies, like the blacklisting rule, don't stop bad actors, but they do end up adding new layers of redundant bureaucratic red tape, harming employers and older workers, disabled workers, female workers, minority workers, and workers, in general, alike.

I urge my colleagues to support the resolution of disapproval and roll back this duplicative and unnecessary rule.

Mr. Speaker, 44 years ago, because of Roe v. Wade, over 58 million children were taken from the chance to utter the words of the psalmist in Psalm 139 when he said:

For you formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's

womb. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and

wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows

it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was

made in secret, and skillfully, wrought in the depths of the

Earth; your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in your

book were all written the days that were ordained for me,

when as yet there was not one of them.

Mr. Speaker, those lives were lives of children that were created, uniquely formed with a purpose that God only intended. Our Nation did wrong. We can turn from that. We can ask Him to heal our land. And even as the psalmist said:

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the

womb is a reward.

We can again affirm that and say that they should be given a choice-- that little girl, that little boy--making a choice for life, and who knows what that would do to impact our world for the good.

Mr. Speaker, for too long, Washington has spent education dollars by building bureaucracy instead of by advancing opportunities for our children.

As a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, I believe we must change the status quo and restore local control in education. We need someone to lead the Department of Education and to work with Congress and leave decisionmaking in the hands of parents and local communities, not in Washington. Betsy DeVos is that person.

She has dedicated her life to fighting for children in Michigan. She has been a tireless advocate for giving families choices and for ensuring our kids have access to quality education, including in public schools, regardless of their Zip Codes. She has a heart for children and will be a champion for every student in America.

I encourage the Senate to confirm her quickly so that, together, we can get to work on ensuring a high-quality education is within reach for every child.

Mr. Speaker, this week kicks off the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. As a car guy all my life, I never missed the world's premier automotive event, the greatest show on Earth. This year there is plenty to celebrate.

Just yesterday, Fiat Chrysler announced it would create 2,000 jobs and invest $1 billion to modernize manufacturing plants in Michigan and Ohio. Last week, Ford scrapped plans for its facility in Mexico and instead promised to invest $700 million at the Flat Rock plant. This move will bring 700 new jobs to Michigan. These are exciting developments for our State's economy and good paying jobs for our dedicated and talented workforce.

Mr. Speaker, as everyone will see at this year's auto show, Michigan continues to lead the way in car manufacturing. Working together, we can keep Michigan on the forefront of innovation and mobility and keep making the best cars and trucks in the world right in our backyard, the motor capital of the world.

``Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

``Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal.''

Amendment XXII, section 1:

``No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.''

Section 2:

``This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on this.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act.

This bill is a bipartisan and bicameral effort to provide more information about Federal programs and their activities online. The American people deserve to know what their government does with their hard-earned dollars. The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act will make it easier to evaluate Federal Government spending by requiring Federal agencies to identify their programs, provide basic information like what their programs do, how they perform, and how much they cost. Agencies must do a better job of managing their programs and identifying areas where taxpayer dollars are wasted.

The Government Accountability Office is tasked with reporting on duplication and continues to find new areas of duplication across the government. In 6 years, GAO has identified 250 areas and 637 corrective actions in those areas to reduce fragmentation, overlap, or duplication or address other opportunities for financial benefits. While only 41 percent of recommended corrective actions have been taken, GAO estimates this progress will result in approximately $125 billion in financial benefits and savings over 15 years.

While GAO's work has been invaluable, their ability to look comprehensively at the Federal Government is inherently limited because of the poor reporting by agencies about their activity. Quite simply, Mr. Speaker, without better data, billions more will be lost.

Current law, specifically the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act, requires agencies to report all their programs, their funding, and their performance information to the Office of Management and Budget. However, OMB's current inventory is incomplete and provides inconsistent information. This makes it more difficult and time consuming to identify areas of waste and inefficiency.

The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act establishes an across-the-board definition for ``program'' and requires the publication of detailed information on each Federal program. This change will allow American taxpayers and Federal watchdogs to better evaluate the effectiveness and utility of government programs.

The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act, Mr. Speaker, is an important and necessary step forward for the government in providing programs that are accountable, effective, and efficient.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Senator Lankford for his work on the Senate companion bill in the last Congress, which will be reintroduced in future weeks. I also thank Representative Cooper of Tennessee for his continued bipartisan support and cosponsorship on this issue.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I believe the American people deserve to know how their hard-earned tax dollars are spent. That is why I introduced the Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act.

Congress is known for its complex bills, but this one is pretty simple. It requires each Federal agency to provide taxpayers an annual report card of what they are doing with the money they have been given. With a government this large it is no secret we have waste and duplication. By better tracking government spending, we can look back and identify the outdated programs that should be eliminated or streamlined to save money.

As the people's representatives, we are here to be responsible stewards of their tax dollars, and this bipartisan bill is a good start to stopping wasteful spending.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 468) to amend the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to increase knowledge concerning, and improve services for, runaway and homeless youth who are victims of trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 468.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, human trafficking is not just a concern in foreign countries. It is happening right here in the United States and many times in our own backyards.

In Michigan, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has referred more than 13,000 CyberTipline reports of suspected child sexual exploitation to law enforcement.

Last Congress, I hosted a series of human trafficking forums in my district which brought together county prosecutors, sheriffs, the State police, and members of the southern Michigan Task Force on Human Trafficking to discuss how our community is dealing with these heinous crimes and hear feedback on what additional actions Congress can take to help local law enforcement combat trafficking.

One of the things I heard at my district roundtables is the need for improved resources for victims' advocacy and support, especially for youth victims and at-risk youth. Federal and State officials, law enforcement, the courts, all of us have a moral obligation to eradicate trafficking and support its victims.

It will take close coordination between all stakeholders to achieve the dual goals of ending the human trafficking epidemic and assisting the victims. That is why I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 468, the Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act.

This legislation will help better serve our most vulnerable youth who are victims of extreme trafficking. This legislation amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to use existing grant resources to train staff on the effects of human trafficking in runaway and homeless youth victims and for developing statewide strategies to reach such youth.

It also allows the Secretary to utilize the existing Street Outreach Program to provide street-based services for runaway and homeless youth who are victims of trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, Congressman Joe Heck, for his leadership on this bill, as well as the Education and the Workforce Committee chairman, Mr. Kline, and the ranking member, Mr. Scott, for their work on moving this legislation forward. Our Nation's runaway and homeless youth deserve access to services that will help them escape a life of crime, abuse, and neglect.

Passing this simple fix to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act will help ensure that those suffering from the trauma of these deplorable crimes

will have access to the care and support they need.

I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 468, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline), the chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for his statements in support of this legislation, I thank Mr. Heck for sponsoring it, and Mr. Kline as the leader on this committee.

This is a privilege of service in this body, when we can come together in a bipartisan fashion to do what is right for our country; but, in this case, to do what is right for our defenseless young people, many of whom have been caught into a web that offers nothing but pain and misfortune for the future. To take a stand on this issue, to stand for opportunity, to push back against the dark clouds of crime that prey on young people is something that we can stand together on.

I think we have said significant words in support of this legislation. Now it is time to get to work, and the best way to do that, Mr. Speaker, as you and I both know, is to pass it.

So I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 468, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 469) to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to enable State child protective services

systems to improve the identification and assessment of child victims of sex trafficking, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 469.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, domestic child trafficking is a serious problem, sadly, in the United States. Around 300,000 American youth are at risk of sexual commercial exploitation and trafficking each year. That is why the House of Representatives is considering a number of bills this week that seek to ensure that human trafficking victims are treated as victims and have access to the services they desperately need.

As a Member of Congress, I have worked on legislation to help address this problem in the past and will continue that important work this year. I have also held local roundtables in Michigan with victims, advocacy, and law enforcement groups to do everything I can to work with my communities to address this heinous crime.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that 68 percent of likely sex trafficking victims were involved in the child welfare system at one time. Instead of properly identifying and assisting trafficked and exploited children, these children are often sent to the juvenile justice system, where they are labeled and treated as criminals. These innocent victims are victimized by the very system that was designed to protect them.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 469. The Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2015 will help protect child victims by improving practices within State child welfare systems to identify, assess, and document sex trafficking victims. The House passed this legislation by a voice vote last summer, and I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Karen Bass, for her work on this important legislation again this Congress.

H.R. 469 amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to direct States to implement and maintain procedures to identify and assess reports involving children who are victims of sex trafficking.

The bill also requires that States train child protective services workers on how to identify these children and the services necessary to meet their needs, and it would improve reporting on the number of children identified as sex trafficking victims.

Mr. Speaker, this bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report on the type and prevalence of youth trafficking victims in the welfare system, provide a summary of State practices for serving youth trafficking victims, and report on any barriers in Federal law that prevent identification and assessment of youth victims of trafficking.

It is imperative that we continue to pass legislation that helps victims of both labor and sex trafficking, to ensure that victims receive the services they need to escape a life of abuse.

Again, I would like to thank Congresswoman Karen Bass and Chairman Kline of the Education and the Workforce Committee for their work on this important bill.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 469, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas, Judge Poe, one who understands this process from his time in the court of law as a judge.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri, Congresswoman Wagner, an aggressive and outspoken advocate for children since arriving here in Congress, an opponent of trafficking, and who has much to say but who also has had much evidence of action on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), who, in arriving here just this term, has rolled up his sleeves and has already taken aggressive action on issues that make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time.

I think much has been said today that causes us to understand that what we are dealing with in this bill is the fact that there are entities that are supposed to be protecting children, that are supposed to be providing resources--law enforcement and welfare and human service entities--that are missing the mark. A lot of that comes from inadequate recordkeeping statistics and from the lack of knowledge of how this is having the greatest impact in negative ways on children's lives. We would do very well today to follow the advice and direction from speakers who have already spoken on this issue.

Pass this legislation, and provide further hope for children caught in the trap of human trafficking and enslavement that comes from this crime. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 469.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 246) to improve the response to victims of child sex trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 246.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 246, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today, the House of Representatives continues its commitment to bolstering enforcement efforts against human traffickers in the United States and ensuring that we properly identify and serve victims.

I want to thank Congresswoman Joyce Beatty for her leadership on this issue and for introducing H.R. 246, which will improve the ability of law enforcement officials and others to respond to and assist these victims.

The House voted 409-0 to pass this legislation last summer, and as previous House efforts have done, the bills being considered today attempt to change for the better how we view victims.

For too long, these victims have been seen as willing participants and treated as actors in the criminal scheme; however, we now know that, oftentimes, individuals are trapped as victims by human trafficking organizations and, sadly, many of these victims are children.

Congresswoman Beatty's legislation will ensure that we view victims of sex trafficking not as participants, but as victims, and ensure that child sex trafficking crimes are reported.

Under current law, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operates the CyberTipline to provide online users and electronic service providers a means of reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in many areas, including child prostitution.

H.R. 246 would replace the term ``child prostitution'' with ``child sex trafficking'' in the CyberTipline reporting categories to reinforce that children who are sex-trafficked or sexually exploited are victims whose situation should be taken seriously when reported.

It would also ensure the public recognizes that child prostitution is included in how NCMEC uses the term ``child sex trafficking'' and thus should still be reported to the CyberTipline.

Again, I want to thank Congresswoman Beatty, along with the Education and the Workforce Committee and House leadership for recognizing the need to steadfastly address this dreadful practice.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 246, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers at this time, and so I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time.

The passage of this legislation shows the House's commitment to providing the necessary tools and policies to help reduce child sex trafficking and better serve these victims, and on the recommendations and admonition of my colleagues today, again I would say, these victims in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, this is good work that we are doing here. I submit, it is probably the type of work that our constituents are calling us to work across the aisle to accomplish.

During the human trafficking roundtables I have held in my district, law enforcement officials have consistently raised the need to make community members aware of the real and present threat of human trafficking. We must work to not only educate children, but also families and the general public, about the safety risks.

The statistics on sex trafficking and exploitation among young people are startling. Approximately one out of six runaway youth are likely victims of sex trafficking, and roughly one out of three youth are lured into prostitution, victimization, sex-trafficked within 48 hours of running away from home.

This is happening all over the country and not just in my home State. Therefore, I urge all Members to lead efforts in their districts to continue the conversation about human trafficking to learn what more we can do in our communities and to curtail this heinous crime.

H.R. 246 is another step to educating our communities about human trafficking victims, and it continues our work to ensure that we are doing what we can to help reduce this horrible crime.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 246.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for putting this Special Order together on the 42nd anniversary of an infamous decision, Roe v. Wade, Mr. Speaker, where I believe the Supreme Court stepped out of their role and unconstitutionally set up the course that has gone on to this day, the murder of innocents and, ultimately, murder of innocence of our country as well that in its inception was established on a principle that was well known, well understood, and put into our Declaration of Independence that said:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal and endowed by their creator with certain

unalienable rights, among them the right to life, liberty,

and the pursuit of happiness.

It all begins with life. I will never forget 8 years ago as I stood in a maternity ward at Northwestern University Hospital and waited for word from the room where my daughter-in-law was giving birth to our first two grandchildren, twins John Timothy and Micah Todd.

Micah Todd is now 8 years old, happy, healthy, moving forward. John Timothy we look forward to seeing him again some day in heaven. For 8 days he lived on this Earth. He fought after being born with his twin brother at 26 weeks. I watched them as they fought for life. I watched them at less than 12 inches long, one pound, 12 ounces, fighting for life, understanding in their own way that this is what they were supposed to do. They were capable of pain. They were capable of doing what nature's God had enabled them to do.

That changed my life more than ever before, though back in 1982 I ran for the State house on the issue of life itself. That is what brought me out of the pulpit as a pastor and brought me into the arena to try to promote life and go away from that terrible decision that the Supreme Court put upon us.

Now I think 42 years later we have seen gains in this country, as we will see millennials come out of Metro tubes tomorrow, as we will see young people standing in front of us speaking for life, declaring their desire to see abortion ended, and I am hopeful that in our day we will see that take place not because of religion, not even because of politics, but because of people understanding the sanctity of life, understood by the prophet Jeremiah when he said after the words of God himself:

Before I was formed in my mother's womb, you knew me and

declared the days of my life.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from New Jersey, all of my colleagues who will stand in defense of life, I say thank you. Let's not give up, because we are on the right side.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge President Obama to work with Republicans in this new Congress.

After being sworn in last week, we immediately got to work voting on legislation to boost job creation, provide relief from ObamaCare, increase America's energy security, and create more job opportunities for veterans. All these bills passed with strong bipartisan support. Yet for some reason the President has already said he will veto at least two of them.

Mr. Speaker, building the Keystone pipeline will put Americans back to work and help secure our energy future. Restoring ObamaCare's definition of full-time employment from 30 hours to 40 hours will increase take-home pay for hourly workers.

Mr. Speaker, we are here to solve problems and deliver positive results for the American people. For the good of America, I hope the President will put down his veto pen and join us in that effort.

Section 3:

``New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.''

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to stand here in support of the Save American Workers Act, legislation that helps my constituents in Michigan who are struggling under the President's health care law, regardless of the sophistry from the other side.

While Michigan has been hard-hit over the past few years for many reasons, the negative effects of the President's health care law have only amplified our struggles by eroding full-time work opportunities for hourly workers.

As chairman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, I am deeply committed to safeguarding workers and businesses from ObamaCare's damaging consequences. Restoring the traditional 40-hour workweek is an important reform that will protect employees and provide certainty for employers.

We need effective solutions that focus on getting people back to work rather than forcing people from their jobs, like Janet from Jackson, Michigan, who called my office in tears last September.

This 56-year-old single mother of three had just been told that morning by her employer that her home health care job was being moved from 36 hours to 28 hours because of the new requirements under ObamaCare. She asked: How am I going to pay my mortgage and insurance with only 28 hours?

Let's give Janet the opportunity to save her 36 hours, have it back, by passing the Save American Workers Act. Like Janet, everyone should have the chance to work, to succeed and prosper and be in control of their own health care issues.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who has dedicated over 40 years of his life to mentoring and educating thousands of young men and women in Saline, Michigan.

Coach Jack Crabtree has long been admired for his fighting spirit, dedication, loyalty, and integrity. Throughout the last four decades at Saline High School, Coach Crabtree has left lasting impressions on his students, his players, and his staff.

In the classroom, he taught students the importance of civic engagement through his American government, history, and economics classes. In fact, my staff has been blessed by the impact of one of his former students.

As head of the physical education department, Coach Crabtree emphasized the value of working hard until the whistle blows, but he certainly is most well-known in the community for dedicating a large part of his life to football and, under his leadership, created the storied football tradition which exists today at Saline High School.

In 1988, Coach Crabtree's success on the field was affirmed when he was inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame; however, Jack Crabtree has been more than just ``the football coach'' to the community of Saline, Michigan.

He always knew the most important play on the football field was the next one, and he passed along his focus and persevering spirit to young people in Saline throughout his four decades as a teacher, coach, and mentor.

His dedication to hard work, discipline, and integrity has shaped and motivated thousands of his students and players to achieve great things in their personal and professional careers.

Jack Crabtree embodied his personal credo that, in the long run, a man's dedication is the only true measure of his greatness.

I am grateful to Coach Crabtree for his continued commitment to the community of Saline, and I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing his many years of service.