Joe Barton

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, we always want to score a touchdown. Sometimes we take a field goal. What we don't want to do today is take a safety. Vote for this bill. Let's send it to the other body and continue to work to improve it. It is a good bill. Please vote ``yes.''

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I supported this bill when it came out of the Energy and Commerce Committee 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I want to thank Chairman Walden for his excellent leadership. As he knows, I had some concerns about the bill at the time. I didn't think it addressed all the problems that we needed to address. At the start of this week, I was a ``no'' vote--a friendly ``no'' vote, but I was a ``no'' vote. Our Republican leadership in the House and the President and his senior advisers continued to involve themselves in constructive discussions with people like myself. Yesterday they agreed to put back in the repeal of the essential health benefits provision, and that is a big win for conservative values, so I am now a ``yes'' vote. My friends on the left seem to think the only way to get a benefit is to have the Federal Government mandate it and then have the Federal Government pay for it. I am here to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that markets work. If we create a healthcare market where people can choose their insurance that fits their needs, there will be plans that provide for every so-called essential health benefit. But there will also be plans that provide for specific markets of young people without children or elderly couples or whatever it is. Mr. Speaker, markets work, and you don't have to mandate benefits for those markets to work.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise for two reasons today. First, I honor the life of my father, Larry L. Barton. He died on this date, December 7, 1996. He was a World War II veteran and a B-24 Liberator navigator. He was based in Italy and flew 40 combat missions over Central Europe. I also rise to commend President-elect Trump for his phone call to the President of Taiwan, President Tsai. Taiwan is a friend of the United States. We recognized Taiwan from the late 1940s to 1972. We then recognized Mainland China but maintained diplomatic relationships with Taiwan until 1978. President-elect Trump was right to make a phone call to President Tsai. They are a friend of the United States. In my opinion, there is no reason we can't have diplomatic relations with both nations. I am told that President Tsai is going to come through Texas in the fall on her way to Guatemala. I will welcome her if that trip occurs and will try to give her the hospitality that she gave me when I visited her great nation last month. A phone call is a phone call, Mr. Speaker. I commend the President- elect for calling President Tsai. I hope this means a warming of a relationship with Taiwan.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend President-Elect Trump on his phone call with the President of Taiwan last week. Taiwan has long been a friend of America, a beacon of democracy in a complicated region. A phone call is not complicated. I was fortunate enough to travel to Taiwan earlier this year and meet President Tsai. She is a balanced and judicious leader who is well aware of her nation's realities and promotes peace and prosperity with her neighbors. I would be honored if I could return the courtesy and extend some Texas hospitality to the President during her trip to South America in January and pledge to work with the new Administration to re-establish official diplomatic relations in Taiwan. Our nation's reality is that Taiwan is our friend and we should nurture and value that relationship. Over $67 billion dollars in trade flows between our countries and 148 sister cities connect us at a local level. A phone call doesn't change that.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, the Affordable Care Act failed because it was a one-sided, partisan, and close-looped system. This bill, the 21st Century Cures Act, will succeed because it has been done just the opposite. Chairman Upton, Diana DeGette, Frank Pallone, and many other people have worked together, as they said, for the last 3 years to find the best pathway forward to get new drugs and new therapies to our citizenship more quickly and efficiently. I want to congratulate both of them plus Chairman Brady, Dr. Murphy, and the others that have worked on this. This bill makes it possible for cures to actually be put into practice without all the red tape and regulatory overkill. Let me give you an example. This bill makes possible the use of what is called regenerative medicine which we call stem cell therapy. My 11-year-old son, Jack, last week played football with Coach Sam Harrell of Ennis, Texas, who 3 years ago could not get out of bed because of his disease. He had to go out of the country twice to get stem cell therapy. He can now act normally. This bill makes possible those kinds of cures. I rise in strong support and thank Chairman Upton for his strong work on this.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the first annual Texas Agricultural Memorial Day, a day we remember the lives lost and the sacrifices made by our state's farmers and ranchers as they provide food and clothing for Texas families. Texas Governor Greg Abbott designated November 21st as Texas Agriculture Memorial Day, which will be observed annually. The inaugural ceremony will be held on November 21, 2016 in the Auditorium of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. Every year, there will be a nomination and application process to add names of honorees to the memorial for three categories--memorial, honor and memorial service. The memorial list is for those who have lost their life while engaged in agricultural-related pursuits. The honor list is for those who have had a severely debilitating accident while engaged in agricultural-related pursuits. The memorial service list is for those who lost their life in a non-agricultural accident and had an active role in an agricultural operation. John Paul and Heather Dineen from Waxahachie, Texas envisioned the annual Texas Agricultural Memorial Day and organized the inaugural ceremony. Ten years ago, the Dineen family lost their five-year-old son, Johnny, in an agriculture accident. They are committed to sharing their story and advocating for safety awareness and education. Working alongside Governor Abbott and the Texas Farm Bureau, their hard work and vision culminated in the creation of the Texas Agriculture Memorial Day.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, this week the Tarrant County College Southeast Campus will be celebrating their 20th Anniversary. The Southeast Campus opened in 1996 with an enrollment of 3,993 under the guidance of founding President, Dr. Judith J. Carrier, along with 44 other full-time faculty members. The long-awaited campus quickly exceeded capacity, serving about 10,000 students face-to-face, as well as in dual credit courses at nine area high schools. In 2012, Dr. William Coppola became President and soon added a Collegiate High School to the campus. He currently is joined by 140 full-time faculty members serving a face-to-face student population of more than 11,000, and an additional 3,500 dual credit students in 11 area high schools. The Southeast Campus has developed a strong relationship with both the Arlington and Mansfield ISD's, maintaining a vibrant and successful Dual Credit Program in which students can earn up to as many as 42 transferable college credits. In addition, the campus works with these ISD's to develop Career and Technical Certificate options for the students. The campus has partnered with both ISD's to open Collegiate High Schools, serving first-time college students and those from low socio-economically disadvantaged families. The Southeast Campus faculty, staff, and student populations are diverse, and the Campus has built strong relationships with the various ethnic chambers in the community. Scholarship programs, cultural programs, and business/economic development events on campus have been attended by various members of the Tarrant County Asia American, Pan Asian American, Arlington Black, and Arlington Hispanic Chambers of Commerce. As the campus celebrates its 20th anniversary, the campus will remain ``the Spirit of Southeast'', which is exemplified in service to the community and forward thinking by the faculty, staff, and administrators who work tirelessly to promote student success at all levels. I am pleased to recognize the Tarrant County College Southeast Campus on this momentous occasion.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the people of Taiwan on their 105th National Day, which is October 10th, and take a moment to emphasize the significance of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship to both of our nations. Taiwan is a faithful friend of the United States and an important strategic partner, promoting peace and stability in the region through our shared values of democracy and respect for human rights. Our economic ties continue to expand to our mutual benefit. On this National Day, I also want to highlight the importance of the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which serves as the basis for our relationship. I am proud to say that the United States continues to build relations with Taiwan. I am honored to travel to Taiwan on this joyous occasion and congratulate our ally. I look forward to the continuation of friendship and cooperation between the governments and citizens of the United States and Taiwan.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Does the gentleman understand that we are talking about people at EPA? We are not talking about public health in the HHS. We are talking about EPA.

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time remains.

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Chair, I want to thank the gentleman from Tarrant County and Denton County for offering this amendment. I am a cosponsor. It is unconscionable that we are using a provision in Federal law that was first passed during World War II to give a handful of elite medical professionals the capability to get a little bit more than the average Federal pay scale. This has ballooned over at the EPA, and, as has been pointed out, as far as we know, there are in the neighborhood of 50 people who are now getting this above-average pay. We ought to be eliminating the program. We ought to be just putting the nail through the coffin in this program at EPA. Instead, because of the generosity of my good friend, Dr. Burgess, he is just saying don't hire any more. Surely this House of Representatives, with a $500 billion budget deficit, can see it within our heart to accept the Burgess amendment and let us in the authorizing committee hold hearings and hopefully next year pass a law that puts an end to this program. I rise in strong support of the Burgess amendment and would ask for its adoption.

Mr. BARTON. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, first, I think we should all recognize that this is a moment of tragedy in our great country. Our President and former President, as we speak here on the House floor, are in Dallas, Texas, at a memorial service for the officers who were killed and wounded and for the two civilians in the shooting incident in Dallas last Friday; so this is a solemn day for our country. But, here in Washington, several weeks ago, we had our annual congressional baseball game. As you can tell by the piece of hardware to my right, for the first time in 8 years, the Republicans won, which is something that we can be proud of. Before I comment for the winning side, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F. Doyle), my good friend and the manager of the congressional Democratic team.

Mr. BARTON. It doesn't feel very good, does it?

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F. Doyle). He and I serve on the same committee, and both of our staffs have worked well together on this game. Mr. Speaker, in 2013, the Republicans were outscored 22-0 in this game. That was the low point of my entire congressional career, not just baseball, I mean, legislative, you name it. But we have risen from the ashes. My coach, Representative Roger Williams, who is right behind me, has worked tirelessly. We had 32 Republican Members who suited up for the game. Twenty-seven of those were able to play in the game. We had great pitching from Mark Walker, John Shimkus, and our closer Pat Meehan. We had great hitting. I think we got 14 hits. We were comfortably ahead, and then the Democrats came back in the sixth inning and went ahead. And then we came back in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. Our slugger from the Sunshine State of Florida, Mr. Tom Rooney, slammed one down the right field line. And Bob Dold from Illinois scurried home, and I will be darned if we didn't win the game by one run. So we kind of slaughtered you all this year. It is going to be a competitive game next year, Mr. Doyle. In all honesty, it is one of the highlights of my year. I am not like Roger. I don't like getting up at 6:30 in the morning to practice, but we do it. I would like for every Member of the Republican team that has played and practiced to stand up. I would like all my team members to stand up. I didn't hear much applause on that side of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, it is a great game for charity. I think the series now is 39 and 39; is that right? So next year, it is bragging rights for the century.

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, we have a Member from the other body who actually was one of our stars, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona. So we appreciate him coming over.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, the entire Nation is aghast and shocked and in mourning about what happened in Dallas, Texas, last evening. One of the officers who was killed was an officer named Brent Thompson. He was a constituent of mine from Corsicana, Texas, and was a graduate of Corsicana High School. He was 43 years old. He had just gotten married 2 weeks earlier. He was a Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer, a DART officer, and he was shot--targeted--in cold blood by, apparently, an organized effort to target police officers, perhaps even Anglo police officers, in Dallas. We need to pray for his family, and we also need to take a look at our society and make a decision that we should respect, admire, and support those who defend us. Our prayers go out to Officer Thompson's family.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize William B. Pittard who is leaving the House to reenter the private practice of law. Mr. Pittard has served in the Office of the General Counsel for five and one-half years, initially as an Assistant Counsel; then, for nearly four and one-half years, as Deputy General Counsel; and, most recently, as Acting General Counsel. We will miss him. Mr. Pittard provided frequent and invaluable legal advice and representation to Members of the House (including me and my staff), the officers of the House, the committees of the House, and the leadership of the House--most often in connection with their interactions with the other branches of the Federal Government. He did so professionally and without regard to partisan identity and, as a result, we came to rely on his expertise and guidance. Over the years, Mr. Pittard played a very significant role in safeguarding the legal and institutional interests of the House of Representatives. Mr. Pittard has served the House with great distinction, and I am confident he will exhibit that same level of distinction in representing private clients. On behalf of myself and the entire House community, we thank Mr. Pittard for his many years of devoted service, and extend to him our very best wishes for his continued success.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I won't take nearly that much time. This motion authorizes a conference on S. 2012. This is a bill that will update our national energy policy. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the motion. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 744, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. I thank the gentleman. I appreciate being one of the eulogists for Mike Oxley. I am going to go at this a little bit differently than the other speakers. I am going to talk about Mike Oxley as the baseball player and manager of the Republican baseball team. I didn't get here until 1985. I assume that Mike immediately became the starting first baseman for the Republican baseball team when he got elected in the special election. The photograph to my left shows the baseball team from 1992. And in his beloved Cincinnati Reds uniform, next to some skinny kid from Texas, is Mike Oxley. Carl Purcell of Michigan was our manager. I was on that team. Mike was on that team. Dan Schaefer of Colorado, who later became the manager; Jack Fields; Jim Nussle; Governor John Kasich, who is now running for President; Chris Smith, who is still in the House; Rick Santorum, who later became a Senator and a Presidential candidate; Dean Gallo. And the skinny guy on the very left is the current chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Fred Upton. Mike was a hard-hitting first baseman. He was a very good player. And my favorite story on the baseball team, we were playing out in Virginia at the old Four Mile Run Park, and we weren't playing in the fancy Nationals Stadium like we are today. Mike was in his customary position at first base. I was the pitcher. They hit a pop fly down the first base line. And the Democratic runner who had hit the fly was running to first base, and he ran into Mike. Mike fell to the ground. He didn't catch the pop fly, and he began writhing around on the ground, holding his wrist. You know, we have to be honest. Mike was known as somewhat of a jokester and a prankster, and I thought he was kidding. I didn't think he had hurt himself. So I went over and kind of kicked him in the ribs and said, get up, let's get going. He said: No, no. I'm hurt. I'm hurt. They took him to the bench, and we finished the inning. Even when we got over onto the bench, he was still holding his wrist. And I kidded him again. I said: Mike, come on. You have got to get back in the game. Well, they took him to the emergency room; and, as his wife, Pat, knows, he had broken his wrist. He actually broke his wrist. So from then on, I never kidded him about things like that. When Dan Schaefer, who was the manager right before Mike Oxley, retired, the tradition on the baseball team is that the current manager picks the next manager. So Dan Schaefer called Mike and me into his office and said: Which one of you two wants to become the next manager? We both said that we wanted to become the next manager. Mike had seniority on me by 2 years--maybe 3 years. I said: Well, I will be the assistant coach, and, Mike, you can be the manager if that is the way Dan wants to do it. Mike looked at me, and he said: I will only do it one time. I said: Okay. Well, that one time turned out to be about 12 years. He was the manager for 12 years. Every year he would say to me: Joe, this is the last one, the last one. But about the time he became manager, we became the majority. We elected a bunch of really good baseball players: J.C. Watts, who had been an all-American quarterback at Oklahoma; Steve Largent, who was in the NFL Hall of Fame; Chip Pickering; Zach Wamp--really good players. So we won 10 or 11 games in a row against the Democrats, and Mike enjoyed being the winner. So as those guys began to retire, Mike decided that it might be time to turn it over. I have right here the last trophy that the Republicans won. It is true that we actually used to win baseball games. We have lost six in a row. But when Mike was the manager, we won, I think, 10 or 11 in a row. The trophy is in my office. There is Mike Oxley, the manager, and Joe Barton, who is the assistant coach, the last trophy that the Republicans won. He was a great manager, he was a great player, and he was a great guy. Now I want to switch over from his baseball career to his legislative career. He is remembered as the chairman of what we now call the Financial Services Committee. Before that, Mike was on the Energy and Commerce Committee. When the Republicans took the majority in 1995, Tom Bliley became the chairman. Mike Oxley became one of his subcommittee chairmen, one of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee chairmen. I served on Energy and Commerce with Mike Oxley. He was an excellent subcommittee chairman. He did his homework. As has been pointed out, he was very bipartisan. He worked with the others, the Democrats, on the other side of the aisle. After Tom Bliley retired, we term-limited our chairmen to three terms or 6 years. So in 2001, we had to pick a new chairman for Energy and Commerce. Billy Tauzin had been on the committee as a Democrat. He had switched parties and was a Republican. So the top two contenders to be chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee were Mike Oxley of Ohio, longtime Republican, excellent legislator, and Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, who had been a Democrat and then became a Republican. It was a pretty hotly contested race. It divided the committee. It divided the House. I was on the steering committee at the time representing Texas. It was a close vote. Billy Tauzin was picked to be chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee; but because of the esteem and respect that Mike Oxley was held in--he had served on what was called the Banking Committee, but he had never been a subcommittee chairman--he was elevated to be chairman of the Banking Committee and given the securities jurisdiction that had long been at Energy and Commerce, renamed the committee the Financial Services Committee, and he became the chairman of the Financial Services Committee and did just an outstanding job there. Sarbanes-Oxley is probably the most notable legislative achievement in his tenure as chairman. He was a great person and a good friend. I never saw him down or unhappy. He was great on the floor, he was great in committee, and he was a super guy on the baseball field. After he retired, he continued to frequently come by and visit when we were practicing. When he became ill, he kept a very, very upbeat demeanor. The last time I talked to him on the telephone was right before he passed, and by that time he couldn't speak--or he couldn't speak very well. He could just whisper. He said: I appreciate you calling. I told him I loved him. I really respect Mike Oxley. He helped me a lot as a young Congressman. We had a lot of fun on the baseball team. He was a great legislator. His family should be very proud of him. He will be missed. We will also honor him. Hopefully this summer, if he is looking down from Heaven, he will watch us beat the Democrats, and we will finally begin the Oxley winning tradition again in the charity baseball game.

Mr. BARTON

Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, the first thing that I want to do is commend the gentleman from North Dakota for his hard work on this. He is an original cosponsor of H.R. 702. He is a valued member of the ad hoc whip team that we put together. He and I have worked the floor. We have had dinners with undecided Members. We have helped coordinate action efforts with some of the outside groups that are supportive. You have been unflagging in his help on this. I could say similar things about the Speaker in the chair. The gentleman from Arkansas has also been a valued member of our team. What I want to focus on is to explain to the Members what this means strategically to the United States of America. The world produces and consumes about 95 million barrels of oil per day right now; 95 million. Three countries, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, combined produce about 30 percent of that, a little over 30 million barrels a day between those three countries. Right now, Saudi Arabia would be number one, Russia would be number two, and the United States would be number three at about 9 million barrels a day production here in the United States. Until this bill becomes law, which we hope will pass the House and the Senate and the President will sign it this weekend, if you want to change the world oil markets, it takes five or six phone calls. The chairman of OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, who have their headquarters in Vienna, would make four or five phone calls to the various oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, Nigeria. If they all agree on a price and a production quota, they have a meeting, they get all the member states to ratify it, and they set the price. A handful of people set the world price. That is the way it has been done since the mid-1970s during the Arab oil embargo. If we repeal the ban on U.S. crude oil exports, which I think we are going to do, and the President signs the bill next week, we have about 500 million barrels of oil in storage in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, up in the Midwest where the gentleman is from. Believe it or not, there is some in California and some even up on the East Coast. There is privately owned oil that is just sitting there. The chairman of OPEC calls those same five oil ministers and says, Boys, we need to raise the price. We are going to cut production. Each of you guys, your nation, we agree to cut production to half a million barrels a day. We are going to tighten up the market, and we are going to raise the price. And they all agree to do it. Well, that word is going to get out. Somebody in Houston is going to say, Well, I have got 10 million barrels right here. Somebody in Corpus Christi, somebody in New Orleans, somebody in Mobile, Alabama, somebody in New York City or Long Beach, California, there will be oil on the market to replace the production cutbacks of OPEC, if not in minutes, in hours. What we are doing is taking the keys from OPEC and giving the keys to the American people, the free market. Who has the biggest oil reserves in the world, if you include our alternative shale reserves? The United States of America. Who has the best technology in the world? United States of America. Who has the best people, the best seismic engineers, the best production engineers, the best oil field workers, the best truck drivers, the best pipeliners? The United States of America. So, by golly, within a week, we are going to unleash the free market competitive enterprise of the American people on the world oil market. These other countries--Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Libya--they can increase production a little bit, but there is only one country in the world that could literally double production within 4 or 5 years. Guess who that is? The United States of America So what we are doing this week in the omnibus--there are lots of reasons to be for it. If you want to take control of energy policy away from a handful of oil ministers who are primarily in the Middle East, vote for this bill and put control in the market. Let the Americans compete with the Mexicans and the Canadians and the Saudis and the Iraqis and the Russians and anybody else who wants to sell oil. We don't realize what we are about to do, but it has tremendous economic and strategic implications for freedom everywhere in the world. You, sir, from North Dakota have helped make that possible. The gentleman in the chair from Arkansas has helped make that possible. The 262 Members of this House, Republicans and Democrats--Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Texas--has helped make that possible. Next week is going to be a great week, it is going to be a milestone week, and we are going to look back, this is when we took back control from OPEC and gave it to the free market and to the American entrepreneurial spirit. I thank Congressman Cramer for his hard work. I am proud to have him as one of the leaders in this effort.

Mr. BARTON. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BARTON. We have a fleet of privately owned ships that are normally in private commercial operation and that are owned by the companies that operate here in the ports of the United States. We pay a small fee each year from the Department of Defense so that, if these ships ever need to be used to transport military supplies overseas, they have to cease commercial operation and carry the military cargo. They are only used when it is--I won't say an emergency, but a special situation. In this bill, we have some funding that increases the per-ship reimbursement rate slightly so that it makes it feasible for these ships to be on standby for our military to use. It was offered by the chairman of the full committee--I think Chairman Fred Upton--when our bill was on the floor, and it was included in the manager's amendment. It was made part of the bill then and is in the bill that is before us that we are going to vote on on Friday. It is a way to help in a cost-effective way our military when they need lift capacity to get military supplies overseas in a tense situation.

Mr. BARTON. It is a good deal for the taxpayer and a good deal for our troops.