Diane Black

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), and I ask unanimous consent that he may control that time.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, today, I rise in opposition to this substitute amendment. Every day, I hear from my constituents in Tennessee who are still struggling to find work and make ends meet. This is the result of the slowest economic recovery in American history, and, in parts of my district, communities are still plagued by double-digit unemployment rates; yet this amendment would raise taxes on Americans by $3.2 trillion. This would be on top of the $1.6 trillion in new taxes already imposed under President Obama. Raising taxes on small business is exactly the opposite of what is needed to reduce unemployment, get Americans back to work, and grow our economy. Even with this $3.2 trillion tax increase, which would be the largest in American history, this budget would never balance. In fact, compared to A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America, this substitute amendment would add $4 trillion to our debt over the next 10 years. This is because this amendment would increase spending by $7 trillion, compared to the House Republican budget. In fact, it increases spending for every category in the budget except for our national defense. This budget would take $1 trillion of its proposed tax hikes and use all of this money to break the Budget Control Act spending caps for nondefense spending only. This is unacceptable. At a time when we are faced with Russian aggression in the Ukraine, the threat of ISIS in the Middle East, and an increasingly unpredictable security environment, we need to adequately fund our servicemen and -women. That is why the House Republican budget would comply with the current spending caps in the law but still adds $387 billion in defense spending over a 10-year window, all while balancing the budget without any tax increases. Long before I served on the Budget Committee, I got a crash course on budgeting 101 as a single working mother. And in those years, I raised three children on a nurse's salary, teaching me how to live within my means and stretch my dollars. Mr. Chair, I have had to work to make ends meet, so I know how important our social safety net is for those in need. I want to see this safety net strengthened and preserved for future generations. However, this budget falls into the trap of measuring how much we care by how much we spend. Federal programs and initiatives should be evaluated based on their outcomes, by how many people we help get out of poverty, help to get back to work, and help to get the training and the education they need. One example is our Federal job training program. In 2011, the Government Accountability Office, the GAO, issued a report that found 47 overlapping Federal job training programs, costing $18 billion in 2009 alone. The report showed that this duplication was not serving workers that needed training and was not responsibly using Federal dollars. If we want to help workers who need training, there is a clear need to reform these programs to improve outcomes. That is why last year, this House passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. By the way, it was bipartisan legislation which was signed into law and made important reforms to Federal job training programs, better helping workers looking for a job while responsibly using taxpayer dollars. This substitute budget would take a step back from these reforms and simply spend an additional $13 billion on these programs without any reform. Unfortunately, this is just one example of this substitute amendment doubling down on failed policies of the past. Additionally, it would create a $1 billion slush fund for a national stimulus program. Just like the previously failed stimulus program, this would do nothing to create new jobs and simply adds another $100 billion to our debt, which our children and our grandchildren will have to pay. It would also reverse bipartisan reforms made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called SNAP, and increase spending. If we want to protect those who are most in need, we need to find ways to reform the SNAP program. The substitute amendment would go further than even ObamaCare has, calling for the creation of a public health insurance option, a backdoor way to nationalizing our health care system. This idea is so radical that when Democrats controlled both Chambers of Congress and the White House, it was not adopted. Health care should be patient- centered, allowing Americans to make decisions with their doctors and their families, not with the Federal Government. Instead of doubling down on ObamaCare, House Republicans want to see greater choice, more affordability, increased quality, and innovation in health care, which is why our budget proposes a market-based, patient-centered reform. We also will provide structural reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, which provide care to our Nation's seniors and those in need. The House Republican budget would make no changes for those who are near or currently in retirement, and provides States the flexibility to administer their Medicaid programs to meet the needs of the people in their own State. Doing nothing to reform this unsustainable path that Medicare and Medicaid are on, as this substitute amendment does, ensures that we will go bankrupt. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), my fellow colleague of the Budget Committee and also fellow Tennessean.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 110 for passage of McClintock Amendment No. 6, rollcall No. 111 for passage of the Democrat Motion to Recommit, and rollcall No. 112 for final passage of H.R. 749, which took place Wednesday, March 4, 2015, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall No. 110, the McClintock Amendment No. 6, and voted ``nay'' on rollcall Nos. 111 and 112, against the Motion to Recommit and final passage of H.R. 749.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, in the President's State of the Union Address he declared the need for ``21st century infrastructure.'' With today's legislation to complete the Keystone XL pipeline, we are offering him an infrastructure bill that would create jobs and promote energy security. This study from the President's own State Department says Keystone will create about 42,000 jobs and generate about $2 billion in earnings, all while imposing a negligible environmental impact. This project has been waiting for approval for more than 2,300 days. The Nebraska Supreme Court struck down the challenge against it. Fifty- eight percent of Americans said they support it, and a bipartisan majority in both Chambers of Congress approved it. I urge the President to listen to the will of his constituents and, if nothing else, maybe read the reports from his own administration. The excuses have run out. It is time to build.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, as a nurse for over 40 years, I saw how decisions in Washington affected the real people. I witnessed the effects of Congress' action on my patients' faces and in their billing statements. I understand better than most the need for health care reform, but ObamaCare was never the way to do it. Just ask the 16,000 Tennesseeans who lost their health insurance through Cover Tennessee, despite the President's promise ``if you like what you have, you can keep it,'' or the 11 million small business employees who CMS says will see their premiums spike because of the law. The results are in. ObamaCare was a mistake that hurts the very people it pretends to help. And that is why, today, I will vote to repeal this law once and for all.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, more than a year after its launch, healthcare.gov remains just as flawed as the underlying ObamaCare law itself. Most recently, we learned that the Obama administration was sharing users' personal data with numerous third party vendors. When the administration was caught with their hand in the cookie jar, they quickly scaled back, but many unanswered questions remain. That is why I have led a letter with Congressman Pat Meehan demanding answers regarding healthcare.gov data security and privacy policies. While we wait for their reply, we have also reintroduced the Federal Exchange Data Breach Notification Act, legislation simply requiring that the government notify consumers if their personal information is breached on the health care exchanges. It defies all logic that this basic requirement isn't already law. It is time that we change that.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. I thank the gentlelady and my good friend from Missouri for yielding to me, and I also thank her for all her tireless hours of work in not only bringing up this issue so that we will be more aware, but also in finding solutions so that we can help those that are victims. I am honored to wear the bracelet that is made by the survivors, and I thank her for her endless and tireless work on behalf of these young women--young women and men--who have become victims. Mr. Speaker, for many Americans, the issue of human trafficking is far removed from their daily lives, something that is relegated to foreign countries and maybe history books, but the truth is human sex trafficking is the third largest criminal enterprise in the world, with an estimated 300,000 young Americans at risk of becoming victims. According to the Department of Justice, those most likely to fall prey to this heartbreaking crime are 12-to 14-year-old girls. These young women are someone's daughters, and we cannot turn a blind eye to their plight. Last year, I had the opportunity to visit End Slavery Tennessee, a nonprofit that works tirelessly to confront trafficking in my State. Their mission is taken from the Book of Isaiah, ``to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners.'' This week, the House will take meaningful steps to fulfill this vision by taking up a series of bipartisan bills addressing the impact of trafficking. This includes the SAVE Act, sponsored by my good friend from Missouri, legislation that I cosponsored to go after the online advertisers who profit off of the sale of these innocent victims. Mr. Speaker, no single act of Congress will stop all acts of trafficking, or even bring justice for every victim whose innocence has been stolen by this evil activity, but we cannot let our inability to do everything stop us from doing something.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Madam Speaker, today is a somber occasion. On this 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's tragic decision in Roe v. Wade, our hearts ache for the 56 million unborn lives that have been lost due to this shameful practice of abortion. But, today, there is hope because we have an opportunity to make a difference by passing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. This commonsense, compassionate legislation will protect Americans' conscience rights by ensuring that their hard-earned tax dollars are not used to fund the destruction of a human life. As a mother, a grandmother, and a nurse for over 40 years, this measure is especially meaningful to me. During my years in the health care industry, I saw the joy in young parents' eyes when they met their newborn children for the very first time; I held the hands of grieving spouses and children as they said their final good-byes to loved ones; and, sadly, I witnessed a young woman lose her life due to the effects of a botched abortion. These experiences informed my view that all life is a precious gift from God, and I pray that, in time, this truth will be reflected in our Nation's laws; but, until then, can't we at least do this much? I urge a ``yes'' vote on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion, and I thank the sponsor for his work on this deeply important legislation.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, last year, I promised my constituents that, in the new year, we would bring the fight on illegal immigration and act to restore the separation of powers that was upended by President Obama's lawless overreach, and I meant it. That is why I proudly voted for the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act and the attached amendments. This bill is simple. It fully funds--yes, it fully funds--the DHS while ensuring that no dollars are made available for the President's executive amnesty. I am especially pleased that this measure contained key provisions of my bill, the Immigration Compliance Enforcement Act, which will defund the Obama administration's ``public advocate'' to lobby on behalf of illegal immigrants. Mr. Speaker, we still have three coequal branches of government, and when the President oversteps his bounds, we are compelled to respond.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 4 p.m. on Friday, January 16, 2015, and, further, when the House adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet on Tuesday, January 20, 2015, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Representative Adam Smith be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 217. He was inadvertently added through a clerical error and did not intend to cosponsor the legislation.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Section 3: ``Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.''

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Hire More Heroes Act. In my home State of Tennessee, we have over 525,000 veterans who have served our country in both war and peace--veterans, people like my son, Steve, and my husband, Dave. But today, too many of these Americans are struggling to find work. In fact, the unemployment rate among post-September 11 veterans is chronically higher than the national unemployment rate. I believe that we can do better. After all, our veterans have sacrificed for our country. Congress should, at the very least, make certain that Washington does not stand between them and access to a steady job. The Hire More Heroes Act will help accomplish this by exempting veterans who already have health insurance from being counted as full- time workers under ObamaCare's employer mandate, meaning that business owners can hire veterans without fear of being slapped with an ObamaCare penalty. That is why this body passed the legislation by an overwhelming vote of 406-1 last year. Unfortunately, our efforts were stonewalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate. But today, we have an opportunity to start anew. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the Hire More Heroes Act, and I thank the gentleman from Illinois for his work on this critical measure.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, President Obama came to Nashville to defend his unconstitutional immigration overreaches, but Tennesseans aren't buying it. I asked my constituents what questions they would ask the President during his visit to the Volunteer State, and the response was overwhelming. Penny in Springfield asked, ``Why has he chosen to ignore the voice of the people on the immigration issue?'' Janice in Gordonsville asked, ``What does he say to the legal immigrants who obeyed the law to become citizens?'' And Kimberly in White House simply says, ``I want to know why our laws are no longer valid.'' My constituents said it best. We are a Nation of laws, and this lawless immigration overreach must not stand.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, for many today, the heinous acts of the Nazi party in the World War II era are a story relegated to the history books and museums. But the fact is some of these war criminals are still alive, and they are even getting a monthly check from Uncle Sam. An Associated Press investigation found that dozens of Nazi suspects have collected Social Security benefits due to a loophole in our laws. And the cost to the taxpayers has reportedly reached into the millions. Seniors in my district already have concerns about the future of Social Security. The last thing that they want to see is their government using scarce taxpayer dollars for this purpose. That is why I was proud to cosponsor Congressman Sam Johnson's No Social Security for Nazis Act, legislation to cut off benefits to anyone stripped of their U.S. citizenship related to their participation in Nazi crimes. No act of Congress could ever make right the atrocities of the Holocaust or bring justice to its 6 million victims. But ending the flow of the payments to those human rights violators would sure be a step in the right direction. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his good work on this issue and this bipartisan measure and look forward to voting in support.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the disturbing remarks that have recently surfaced from one of the key architects of ObamaCare. It is no secret that the ObamaCare was built on broken promise after broken promise. Millions of Americans' insurance plans have been canceled; they have lost access to their doctors and hospitals; and instead of reducing premiums by $2,500, like the President promised, premiums are skyrocketing across our Nation. And now we have seen one of the key designers of the Affordable Care Act candidly discuss the smoke and mirrors that went into getting this disastrous law passed in the first place. Indeed, Mr. Gruber bragged about the lack of transparency involved in the process of passing this 2,000-page bill, even gaming the bill language so that it could not be scored properly by the Congressional Budget Office. Mr. Gruber refers to the ``stupidity of the American voter'' as a necessary component to getting ObamaCare passed and signed into law. This is outrageous. On behalf of my constituents in Tennessee's Sixth District and Americans across this country, I reject this assertion from one of ObamaCare's key architects. The American people are much wiser than this. After all, at no point in time has ObamaCare been popular with the public. Before it was even passed, the American people did everything they could to stop it, even electing a Republican senator in the blue State of Massachusetts to be the deciding vote against it. But the Democrat majority maneuvered their way around the will of the people, passing it anyway. And despite the underhanded efforts of this law's designer, it was still unpopular with the American voters when it passed. The law has remained unpopular to this day, and dozens upon dozens of Democrat lawmakers who were responsible for its passage have lost their jobs since its passage. American voters aren't stupid, as ObamaCare's designer says. To the contrary, they have repeatedly raised their objections to this government takeover of our health care system. In fact, a majority of Americans still say they wish ObamaCare had never passed. And that is why as recently as last week they sent majorities in both Chambers of Congress to Washington to dismantle this maliciously conceived boondoggle. Mr. Speaker, ObamaCare is arguably the worst piece of legislation to be passed in a generation. The law is such a mess that it may collapse under a review by the Supreme Court next year. The American people get this even if the law's designers do not. That is why they continue to send my colleagues and I to Washington to fight to protect them from this disastrous law.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, standing in this hallowed chamber of democracy where laws are debated, amended, and passed, one must stand in awe of our courageous forefathers who created this institution. In fact, 227 years ago when our Constitution was created and signed by 39 brave men, it created the first government of its kind, a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. These men, well aware of the consequences of all-powerful European monarchies, created a democratic system of three coequal branches of government each with its own unique role. The brilliance that these men instilled in this document is still alive and well to this day as we watch each branch of the government perform its role, keeping checks and balances on the others to make sure that the will of the people is obeyed. Mr. Speaker, this Constitution Day, let us give thanks to these wise and brave men who birthed our constitutional republic and our Nation.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, this September 29 marks the 115th birthday of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. It is a day that will be celebrated at VFW posts and in communities around the country, and it is a day that deserves our recognition here in Congress as well. As a member of our local VFW Ladies Auxiliary and the proud wife of a Vietnam veteran and a VFW member, I have seen firsthand how our VFW makes good on its promise every day to honor the dead by helping the living. Each year, the nearly 2 million VFW and Auxiliary members contribute more than 8.6 million hours of volunteerism in their communities. These are men and women who have already sacrificed for their country by traveling into harm's way to defend our freedoms or waiting anxiously for our loved ones to return home from combat, yet they continue to serve wherever they see a need. At our VFW post in Hendersonville, for example, members maintain a food pantry for disadvantaged veterans, and they started an Operation Spearhead to specifically serve the families of those called to serve in the war on terror. Perhaps most importantly, the VFW has always risen above partisanship and politics to maintain a strong, steady voice on behalf of our heroes since its founding in 1899. On this upcoming Veterans of Foreign Wars Day, may we pause to honor the many contributions of this organization and be reminded to pray for those who continue serving around the world.

Mrs. BLACK

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp), the esteemed chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to, first of all, thank my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee for all their help and their hard work on moving this bill forward. I would also like to thank Chairman Camp for his leadership and for his dedication in helping American taxpayers and families, which is really what this bill is about. Coming from two hardworking parents with no more than a ninth grade education between them, attending college was little more than just a dream for me growing up. Yet, with my parents' support and some hard work, I was able to be the first of my family to attend college and go on to graduate with a degree in nursing. This has allowed me to spend over 40 years working as a nurse in the health care industry. Just as this dream was for me, pursuing higher education is a dream for millions of children and their parents across this great Nation. It is a well known fact that the cost of education is climbing and that, for far too many, the ability to save and pay for college without ending up under a mountain of debt is simply out of reach. Today's broken Tax Code does little to ease that financial burden or to even provide a sense of security that education will be a reality in the future. That is why, under Chairman Camp's leadership, I worked across the aisle with my colleague, Danny Davis, as the chair and cochair of the Ways and Means Committee's Education Tax Reform Working Group last year. Over the course of our 7-month bipartisan working group meetings, frustration with the Tax Code was a common theme of what we heard. For instance, there are currently 15 different tax benefits related to education. Four of those are designed to help individuals save prior to becoming a student, nine are available for while the student is in school, and two exist for when the student has completed his or her education. It was overwhelming when we had tax experts explain it, so it was not difficult to imagine how parents trying to navigate these 90 pages of IRS instructions would simply toss up their hands and say, ``I give up.'' That is why the work that Mr. Davis and I did during the time together on this Education Tax Reform Working Group didn't end when we delivered our report to our colleagues. Instead, our desire to provide at least some relief from that frustration led the two of us to work to see how we could clean up the Code and help families struggling to finance education costs. That process led us to introduce H.R. 3393, the Student and Family Tax Simplification Act. Now, this legislation consolidates four existing education provisions--the Hope credit, the American opportunity tax credit, the lifetime learning credit, and the tuition deduction--into a single, modernized and strengthened AOTC. Streamlining the number of education provisions and retooling those that are most effective allows us to simplify the Code and reduce some of the confusion that exists today. As a result, students can spend less time figuring out how to finance the cost of education and more time developing the skills they need to succeed in our knowledge-based economy. Mr. Speaker, I think we all can agree that it ought to be easier for any family to plan, save, and invest in education. Everyone in this Chamber can agree that we should do everything that we can to help American children attain higher education and achieve their dream. So I am proud that, as the chairman has already referenced, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of Community College Trustees, the National Association of College Stores, and the United States Student Association--the United States Student Association--have announced their support for this bill. Now I ask for my colleagues in the House to join me in supporting this commonsense measure to help American students and families. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I could say a lot of things, but I don't think there is any better way for me to conclude than for me to read a letter that I will submit for the Record from a student who actually sent this to me today. I do want to read it, but I think you will see after I read it that the emphasis here is that we are helping those who need help the most by what we are doing with the simplification of this particular part of the Code. For the sake of the identity of the person, I am going to use the name Nancy. Let me read this to you: Dear Congresswoman Black, my name is Nancy, and I attend Atlanta Technical College. The additional $500 in refunds in your bill for students like me will be extremely beneficial. I am the mother of five, full-time worker, and student. Although I intend to continue my higher education once I graduate from the Atlanta Technical College, I have found out my Pell grant will expire next semester. I now find myself in the position of taking out loans for future semesters to make sure my tuition and books are paid for. I plan to use my taxes to help with this dilemma. The additional $500 may not seem like it would cover a lot, but in my case, it will cover at least one three-credit class or at least three of my textbooks. I would love the opportunity to have an option of using these moneys that are outright mine than to put myself in debt more by taking out a full amount of any loan. My only hope is that you take this letter into consideration, for there are many others out there in my predicament. Dear Congresswoman Black, My name is Nancy and I attend Atlanta Technical College. The additional $500 in refunds in your bill for students like me would be extremely beneficial. I am a mother of 5, full time worker and student. Although I intend to continue my higher education once I graduate from Atlanta Technical College, I have found out my Pell grant will expire next semester. I now find myself in the position of taking out loans for future semesters to make sure my tuition and books are paid for. I plan to use my taxes to help with this dilemma. The additional $500 may not seem like it would cover a lot, but in my case, it will cover at least one 3 credit class or at least 3 of my textbooks. I would love the opportunity to have an option of using monies that are out right mine, than to put myself in debt more by taking out the full amount of any loan. My only hope is that you take this letter into consideration, for there are many others out here in my predicament.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I do want to say that this was an incredible experience for me to be able to work with such a fine gentleman as Mr. Davis. We began this process with the chairman giving us an opportunity to take a look at this very complicated group of tax provisions in our code. What we found, with the Joint Committee on Taxation helping us, as I referenced in my opening remarks, there are 90 different pages, no less the fact that there are provisions that step on top of one another, and we actually asked the Joint Committee on Taxation, to help simplify this, to do a diagram for us, just a flowchart. What we found was, they came back and said this is so complicated that we can't even do a flowchart that would make sense. So we set out asking various groups to come and talk to us. These went all of the way from the very conservative, the very progressive side, think tanks, universities, colleges, those who represented the 529 provision, and to just come and let us know about what they thought about what was currently in the code. We heard consistently over and over again, it didn't matter where they were on the spectrum, we heard this is so complicated that people are not even using it because they can't figure out. As a matter of fact, there is a GAO study that indicated that 1.5 million tax filers who qualify for either the tuition and fee deduction of the lifetime learning credit in 2009 did not even claim the credit or the deduction because of its complication. So it was my honor to work with my esteemed colleague in going to work to say: What can we do to simplify this so that we can make sure that people who really need this assistance are going to get that assistance that is there in the code but they can't even figure it out? So after about 7 months, hammering back and forth about what we felt would best fit the needs of the students of this country and help to get them a start in college, to get them going, to be sure that they would have that opportunity to use those tax credits, we came up with this product. We then rolled it out with a press conference, and I am very proud to say that this was an effort of bipartisanship, one that I think if we could do more of that here in Congress, we would be accomplishing a lot. So it really is my honor to stand here today with my colleague who we worked so well together on this. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.