Kevin Brady

Mr. BRADY of Texas

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 566, as the designee of the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers), I call up the bill (H.R. 2029) making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi), one of our key leaders on tax reform.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins), a key member of our tax writing committee.

Mr. BRADY of Texas

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi), the former chairman of the Trade Subcommittee who played a key role in bringing forth this legislation.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on the conference report to accompany H.R. 644.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to be here today to talk about the conference report on the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. This process marks a return to regular order and ensures that Members and constituent voices are heard. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I share the Speaker's commitment to an open and transparent process. The conference report builds on the good work of my fellow conferees, Representatives Reichert and Tiberi, as well as support from a number of our Ways and Means members in the conference as a whole and dozens of other Members. It delivers on the promises we made to those Members when we considered trade legislation earlier this year. Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, this bill is a vital part of our progrowth agenda. It will level the playing field for Americans and also make it easier for them to compete in a global marketplace. It significantly improves trade facilitation. Here is how: it ensures that Customs and Border Protection focuses on its trade-related mission and streamlines processing of legitimate trade which will increase U.S. competitiveness and create U.S. jobs; it modernizes the agency's automated system and reduces paperwork burden. Basically, this bill replaces inefficiency with innovation and eliminates outdated systems. In addition, Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe that free trade is enforceable trade, and I am glad that this bill significantly strengthens enforcement of America's trade law. It creates new tools to combat currency manipulation based on ideas from Representative Miller and her colleagues in the Michigan delegation. It gives Customs and Border Protection new tools and holds it accountable to effectively act against evasion of antidumping and countervailing duties, including by targeting risky imports and establishing a new investigation process with strict deadlines and judicial review. Representatives Boustany and Jason Smith deserve credit for working together to make sure these provisions were included. The conference report strengthens trade promotion authority by reaffirming that trade agreements should not include provisions on immigration or greenhouse gas emissions, for which Representatives King and Sessions deserve great recognition. It ensures greater oversight of administration trade nominees and at trade negotiating rounds. This bill also includes important provisions to help fight human trafficking, which is a scourge that we must take seriously. Thanks to Representative Roskam's leadership, the conference report combats politically motivated acts against our good friend and ally Israel. With respect to the miscellaneous tariff bill, it reaffirms Congress' commitment to advancing a legislative process with robust consultation and consistent with House rules. I fully intend to work with my colleagues to develop this process early next year. Finally, it contains the Internet Tax Freedom Act to permanently ban States and localities from taxing Internet access or Internet commerce. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this important legislation. While I celebrate this bill, this is only the beginning. As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, I want to make sure my constituents in Texas and constituents all across America understand that we are going to continue to move progrowth bills that help grow our economy and make it easier for all Americans to find good jobs and have more opportunities. We have got an ambitious agenda, and we are just getting started. You can expect to see more action soon at our committee and on this floor on trade, on jobs, and on all the economic issues that matter to the American people. We are going to lead, and we are going to deliver. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), who has played a key role in strengthening trade enforcement in this bill.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen), who has played a key role in advancing our entire progrowth trade agenda.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Smith), a key member of the Ways and Means Committee who is focused on American agriculture and American outerwear.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), who played a key role in the language defending our friend and ally Israel.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 560, I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 644) to reauthorize trade facilitation and trade enforcement functions and activities, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Expanding trade and giving our American workers and companies more opportunities around the world creates jobs here in America: better paychecks, better opportunities, and a stronger economy for our country. Critical to that is to make sure our trade agreements and trade rules are enforced. That is what this bill is all about. This bill establishes the strongest enforcement and revenue laws ever put on the books in the United States of America. It incorporates issues against currency manipulation; protections and remedies on a number of other areas within our economy that never before have been placed into effect; and it creates a working trust fund, a source of existing revenue, to focus on enforcing those rules. It also streamlines the way we do trade in America. That is important as well, because it is important for consumers to lower prices. It is important for our local businesses as they manufacture products to sell and compete both here in America and around the world. In fact, it has been more than a decade since we have reauthorized Customs and those processes. This is about modernizing it, making it more efficient, more effective, more accountable, all of which helps grow our economy and helps working class families. As important from our side of the aisle, this fulfills the commitment of then-chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Paul Ryan, and our leadership to the Members in the House to make this an even better law. And we have succeeded, working with Representatives King and Sessions on immigration language, to make sure this is a trade-only agreement; working with members of the Steel Caucus--Representatives Barletta, Murphy, Davis, Bost, and many others--to ensure that we have strong remedies in those areas; working with Representative Miller and the Michigan delegation against currency manipulation; working successfully with Representative Zinke of Montana to make sure there is strong oversight of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and we have more access to negotiating rounds; working with Chairman Royce of California on human trafficking; working with Chairman Chabot of Ohio on small business provisions; working with Mr. Crenshaw of Florida to ensure that there are trade preferences for Nepal as they struggle in this bill; and working with Mr. Walden, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Boustany on key provisions. I say all that to make the case this is a bipartisan measure. It is thoughtful, it is effective, it is long overdue, and it is important to expanding trade and making that effective here in America. I urge its support. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, free trade is enforceable trade. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Walorski), who has fought for enforceable trade laws.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), a member of the Ways and Means Committee who is fighting for American agriculture, furniture, and other local businesses.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Yes, sir.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Reichert), who is the chairman of the Trade Subcommittee.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), my friend and colleague and neighbor.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. I do want to thank the gentleman from Oregon for his very thoughtful, constructive efforts to help us craft the right trade enforcement remedies. Going forward, I look forward to working with you on other trade remedy issues. I appreciate the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) whose hard work, along with that of the Michigan delegation, enhanced our hand on currency manipulation. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), who worked hard to ensure that trade agreements are for expanding trade, not expanding immigration.

Mr. BRADY of Texas

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the question on adopting a motion to recommit on the conference report to accompany H.R. 644 may be subject to postponement as though under clause 8 of rule XX.

Mr. BRADY of Texas

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if there was a first couple of servant leadership and a model for a successful marriage, it would be Tom and Charlotte Oleinik of Huntsville, Texas. Today, I have the pleasure of honoring them on their Golden Wedding Anniversary and sharing just a bit of their half a century long love story. Tom was born the fifth of 12 children in Rosholt, Wisconsin, worked on his family's dairy farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse. He served his country in Korea, at Fort Devins, and Fort Drum, before returning to the farm and then applying to protect and serve as a member of the Wisconsin Highway Patrol. Native Texan Charlotte Fisher was a Christmastime gift to her parents, who ran a Goose Creek rice farm where she grew up with her two younger siblings. She went to work and then college in Florida after graduating from high school. That decision to attend Florida College and to spend a summer in Wisconsin with her roommate would change the course of her life forever. That summer Charlotte worked days at American Motors and nights and weekends, she waitressed at the Timber Ridge Cafe where little did she know then a 50 year love story was about to begin when a handsome young state patrolman walked through the door. Tom, being a very smart man, asked the beautiful waitress on a date, but after a few dates, Charlotte took ill and needed surgery. While she was hospitalized, a certain man in uniform was a frequent visitor, often arriving with flowers. According to Tom it took a lot of proposing--and a lot of no's--to get a yes from his beloved Charlotte. Charlotte remembers it a little differently, but after Tom was baptized in 1965, this happy young couple got engaged and wed in Kenosha, Wisconsin on December 17, 1965. They went back to Florida College together and then moved to Texas where Tom worked with Charlotte's father while waiting to attend and graduate from the Academy. After receiving his badge as a Texas trooper, Tom and Charlotte settled in Corrigan, Texas, where they raised three boys of their own and took in many troubled teenagers in a home full of love and operated a family business in addition to their full time jobs. After a transfer to Brazoria County, Charlotte worked in the Angleton School District while their boys finished school. Then Tom retired and Huntsville won the lottery when this wonderful couple chose to call the town home. Charlotte and Tom's impact on Walker County has been lasting, after moving to Huntsville they created the HEARTS Veterans Museum, a gem for the Texas 8th and continue to this day to be pillars in the community. Their servant leadership in our Lord's name and the love they radiate has set an amazing example for us all. And I believe their 3 children, 17 grandchildren, a great grandson and the many troubled teens they have cared for would agree. The U.S. House congratulates you on celebrating your 50th wedding anniversary.

Mr. BRADY of Texas

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following Tax Complexity Analysis statement on the conference report to H.R. 644: Section 4022(b) of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (the `IRS Reform Act') requires the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (in consultation with the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department) to provide a tax complexity analysis. The complexity analysis is required for all legislation reported by the Senate Committee on Finance, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or any committee of conference if the legislation includes a provision that directly or indirectly amends the Internal Revenue Code and has widespread applicability to individuals or small businesses. Pursuant to clause 11 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation has determined that a complexity analysis is not required under section 4022(b) of the IRS Reform Act because the bill contains no provisions that amend the Code and that have `widespread applicability' to individuals or small businesses, within the meaning of the rule.