Rod Blum

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I oppose the motion to recommit. This bill addresses critical flaws in how the Federal Government addresses whistleblower retaliation. The consequences for whistleblower retaliation are very real. There is a chilling effect of whistleblower reports or unjust termination. In some cases, like that of Dr. Kirkpatrick in the Department of Veterans Affairs, the consequences are literally life and death. We have the opportunity to send this bill to the President for a signature today and fix this now. Why wait? And at what cost to Federal employees, veterans, and taxpayers? I support the gentleman from Maryland's effort to pass this provision which I previously cosponsored myself, but let's not let one good bill get in the way of another. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the motion to recommit and support the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor two brothers from the First District of Iowa on their retirement after their 31 years of service in the Iowa National Guard. Ryan and Todd Aarhus are a shining example of citizenship and servitude to our great nation. During their 31 years of service, both brothers were deployed. Todd served as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, and both brothers served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ryan and Todd have both had distinguished careers of service --not only have they served their country and state in the Iowa National Guard, but both also serve as Iowa State Patrol Officers, volunteer firefighters, and EMTs. Additionally, Todd also served on Governors Culver and Branstad's State Security details. It is my pleasure to honor both Ryan and Todd Aarhus on their retirement and to thank them for their dedication and service to our community, the State of Iowa, and our nation.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Richard Bice of Cedar Rapids, for his services as a local ambassador for the Cedar Rapids Alzheimer's Association. Earlier this year, Mr. Bice was awarded the Alzheimer's Association Advocate of the Year for the Greater Iowa Chapter. Mr. Bice has dedicated himself to service throughout his life: serving in the United States Army, running a successful insurance business in Cedar Rapids, serving as a state president for Multiple Sclerosis and Muscular Dystrophy associations in Iowa, and forming the Cedar Rapids Metro Optimists Club. Mr. Bice was also a dedicated husband to his late wife, Carolyn Bice, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2002. Mr. Bice cared for her at home for over 11 years until her death in 2013. Although he misses his wife dearly, Mr. Bice has maintained a positive outlook on life and has continued to better the community around him. Mr. Bice is a tremendous advocate for the Alzheimer's Association, where he discusses the journey that he and his wife went through after her Alzheimer's diagnosis. Thanks to the hard work of Richard and countless others we have hope that new opportunities for a cure will be available for future generations. It is clear that Richard lives by the words of his father, ``whatever you've been given, if you give back, it'll double.'' Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to recognize Mr. Bice during Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, and thank him for his outstanding contributions to the Eastern Iowa community, to the State of Iowa, and to our country.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank Ms. Carolyn Lerner for her service as Special Counsel at the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). This is her last week at OSC after six years leading the Office. OSC has the enormous and important task of policing the executive branch against prohibited personnel practices, including retaliation against whistleblowers. Ms. Lerner began her work at OSC in June 2011, and her impact there has been extremely positive. With her at the helm, OSC increased both the number of complaints it investigated and the number of cases it resolved. The agency has won widespread bipartisan praise for its work, including resolving multiple cases of retaliation against whistleblowers at the Veterans Administration. As co-chairman of the House Whistleblower Protection Caucus and member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I know how vitally important whistleblowers are to Congressional oversight of the federal government. The brave men and women who have the courage to expose abuse and fraud in their workplaces deserve to be protected, and under Ms. Lerner's leadership, OSC has done just that. It has been a pleasure to work with Ms. Lerner since coming to Congress. As her time at OSC comes to an end, I wish again to thank her for her service to our nation and her tireless commitment to protecting whistleblowers. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as cosponsor of H.J. Res. 13.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Patrick Leonard of Dubuque, Iowa for his year of service as President of the Iowa Funeral Directors Association. A fellow graduate of my own alma mater, Loras College, Mr. Leonard has successfully owned and operated his funeral home in Dubuque since 1990. His year as President of the Association has been marked by faithful leadership of the IFDA Board of Governors as they pursued IFDA's mission of promoting and supporting funeral service excellence. Since coming to Congress in 2014, I have seen firsthand the dedication, enthusiasm, and passion that Mr. Leonard brings to his profession every day. Last summer, we were honored to have Mr. Leonard represent the IFDA at my congressional office's Dubuque Senior Wellness Fair. He understands that leadership is about stepping up and getting involved personally in service of the mission. Mr. Leonard also finds time to give back to his community. Just last year, after months of preparation and coordination with the U.S. Navy, Mr. Leonard oversaw the return of a WWII veteran's remains back to Iowa. Mr. Leonard expressed to me how much of an honor this was for him, and how this project signified the importance of funeral services to those who pass, and their loved ones. On behalf of the nearly 700 licensed funeral directors in Iowa, I want to again thank and recognize Mr. Leonard for his exemplary service as President of the IFDA.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable teacher and citizen from Waterloo, Iowa. Mr. Gary Schnieders has taught History, Social Studies, and Economics at Waterloo Columbus Catholic High School for 39 years. Over those 39 years, Mr. Schnieders has made an enormous impact on the lives of his students and members of the community. Mr. Schnieders's devotion goes beyond the classroom with his annual trip to the hallowed ground of Europe's battlefields. This trip is no European vacation. Students walk the trenches of the Western Front and explore battlefields with a twelve-mile hike one day and twenty-mile bike ride another day. Prior to their departure, students are given reading assignments and must complete a 20-page essay. While in Europe, the students have nightly homework assignments. This annual trip is highly anticipated and one that many Waterloo Columbus students work toward their entire high school career. The itinerary also includes visits to several American cemeteries and memorials honoring our fallen heroes, and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. On the final day, the students visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial where they clean the grave markers, plant an American flag, and lay a rose on the grave of every Iowan. At the end of the day, students lay their final wreath of the trip at Normandy as Taps sounds in the background. Upon their return to Iowa, the students give presentations to their families, fellow students, and residents of Waterloo and Cedar Falls, with a special invitation extended to the local Veteran community. Over the past 39 years, Mr. Schnieders has shown his students what cannot be taught in a classroom--the meaning of sacrifice and love of country. Today, we honor his devotion that extends far beyond the classroom and helps to ensure the preservation of American values for generations to come.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable teacher and citizen from Waterloo, Iowa. Mr. Gary Schneiders has taught History, Social Studies, and Economics at Waterloo Columbus Catholic High School for 39 years. Over those 39 years, Mr. Schneiders has made an enormous impact on the lives of his students and members of the community. Mr. Schneiders's devotion goes beyond the classroom with his annual trip to the hallowed ground of Europe's battlefields. This trip is no European vacation. Students walk the trenches of the Western Front, and explore battlefields with a twelve mile hike one day and twenty mile bike-ride another day. Prior to their departure, students are given reading assignments and must complete a 20 page essay. While in Europe, the students have nightly homework assignments. This annual trip is highly anticipated and one that many Waterloo Columbus students work toward their entire high school career. The itinerary also includes visits to several American cemeteries and memorials honoring our fallen heroes, and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. On the final day, the students visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial where they clean the grave markers, plant an American Flag, and lay a rose on the grave of every Iowan. At the end of the day, students lay their final wreath of the trip at Normandy as Taps sounds in the background. Upon their return to Iowa, the students give presentations to their families, fellow students, and residents of Waterloo and Cedar Falls; with a special invitation extended to the local Veteran community. Over the past 39 years, Mr. Schneiders has shown his students what cannot be taught in a classroom--the meaning of sacrifice and love of country. Today, we honor his devotion that extends far beyond the classroom and helps to ensure the preservation of American values for generations to come.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to speak today on behalf of our legislation to reauthorize the Office of Special Counsel for an additional 5-year period to protect whistleblowers, Federal employees who have the courage to come forward to expose waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government and who are so important to our oversight responsibilities here in Congress. The Office of Special Counsel performs a variety of important responsibilities. Chief amongst them is investigating retaliation against whistleblowers from the executive branch agencies, as well as other prohibited personnel practices. Once again, this is vitally important to the work we perform in the Government Reform and Oversight Committee and ensures greater accountability from the executive branch to Congress. We are proud of the support this bipartisan bill has received from the whistleblower community and from those who care deeply about our efforts to perform effective oversight in our Federal Government. Since the last authorization expired in 2007, there are a number of necessary reforms for the OSC as the role of the Office continues to grow and evolve. By enacting this legislation, we can ensure the Office of Special Counsel will have access to Federal agency records that are absolutely necessary to perform their duty of protecting Federal employees who had the courage to speak up about malpractice, mismanagement, and fraud in the Federal Government. I think we can all agree how unfortunate it is that some executive agencies continue to stonewall the Office of Special Counsel in order to prevent them from investigating retaliatory actions against whistleblowers, even going so far as to invoke executive privilege when dealing with the OSC. Common sense tells us that this is unacceptable. If the Office of Special Counsel isn't granted the access to the information it needs, there is no way it can properly conduct the duties authorized by Congress. This bill also takes important steps to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Office of Special Counsel, such as allowing OSC to use a simplified process to reduce duplicative complaints to better focus their limited resources on allegations and investigations, and instituting a commonsense 3-year statute of limitations after which document recovery and witness recollections can be difficult to obtain. Mr. Speaker, before concluding my remarks, I would like to specifically highlight the important work the Office of Special Counsel performed recently in their exposure of the mismanagement and abuse of our veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Two whistleblowers at the VA hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, recently came forward with information regarding inadequate mental health treatment in employee training at their facility. They were later retaliated against by management. OSC was able to ensure that they received a new job at a nearby facility under different management. Just last month, the VA issued a report in response to OSC's investigation detailing the changes they had made to improve mental health care at that VA facility. Incidents like these serve as a great reminder that hardworking taxpayers are tired of corruption in the Federal Government. I would also like to note the excellent work of the current special counsel, Carolyn Lerner, who is a breath of fresh air in this role. Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is this committee, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, needs more whistleblowers in the Federal Government, not less; and the best way to ensure government employees come forward to expose waste, fraud, and abuse is to ensure that they will be protected. This legislation will enable OSC to do exactly that on behalf of all hardworking American taxpayers. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Chairman, that I am speaking on the floor of the U.S. House is remarkable timing. The city of Cedar Rapids, the largest city in my district, is currently experiencing major flooding of the Cedar River, cresting 11 feet above flood stage today. In 2008, just 8 short years ago, the same river crested at over 19 feet above flood stage. Yes, you heard that correctly, 19 feet above flood stage. I was in Cedar Rapids this weekend sandbagging alongside volunteers to prepare for this disaster and saw firsthand the amazing response from the community as thousands of eastern Iowans came together to protect their city. I want to thank Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett and his team for their tireless work to prepare the city for the flooding, as well as the administration of Governor Branstad for their assistance. Today's flooding further underscores the need for the administration to include the Cedar Rapids flood project in their budget. This project was approved by Congress in the 2014 WRRDA bill, and my amendment today calls on the administration to expedite this project. Cedar Rapids has spent untold millions of dollars on this disaster--money spent on a short-term solution--while the city waits for the administration to release the approved funding for the long-term fix. Since taking office in 2014, I have worked hard to get the authorized funding released, joining my colleague from Iowa, Representative Loebsack, in reaching out to the Army Corps of Engineers, the House Appropriations Committee, President Obama, and his Office of Management and Budget, stressing the importance of this project. The bottom line is: How many more Cedar Rapids floods will it take before the administration includes this project in their budget? How many times will families have to evacuate their homes? How many times will businesses have to cease their operations? How many times will employees be negatively impacted by the flooding? How many times must this happen before the administration includes this project in their budget? Mr. Chairman, I thank the entire Iowa delegation for their support on this issue. I encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment and make it clear, once again, that Congress believes the Cedar Rapids flood project should receive the funding that was approved in 2014. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1197, the Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act. I lost my father to cancer when he was just 52 years old, so finding cures for all types of cancer is personal for me. In Iowa alone, there will be approximately 2,200 new cases of breast cancer this year, resulting in about 400 unnecessary deaths. We must do more to cure this disease. By passing this bill and setting a goal of eradicating breast cancer by 2020, we have a chance to make a real difference for women and their families. I would also like to recognize my constituents, Christine Carpenter and Lori Seawel, for their selfless volunteer efforts to support this issue. I encourage my colleagues in the House to support and pass this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of E15 Day on September 16th, when gasoline retailers can once again sell E15 to American consumers and to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove regulatory barriers which prevent the sale of E-15 year round. The EPA first created the 1-psi waiver of the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) to increase the availability of 10 percent ethanol blends. As a result, nearly every gallon of gasoline sold in the United States contains ethanol. However, the EPA has been unwilling to provide a similar waiver for E-15 gasoline blends. This means E15 cannot be sold during the summer months, causing many retailers to not carry the higher blend and restricting access to renewable fuels. In response to these burdensome restrictions, I introduced H.R. 1944, the Fuel Choice and Deregulation Act. This legislation would extend the RVP waiver to include gasoline blended with more than 10 percent ethanol, allowing gas stations to sell E15 year round. I urge the EPA to repeal these archaic and meaningless regulations and increase access to E-15 gasoline. I applaud Governor Branstad for recognizing E15 Day in Iowa, and I hope Congress continues to work on enacting policy which increases consumer access and savings at the pump. I am proud of the vital role Iowa has in developing and providing America with cleaner energy sources. Drivers across the country are fueling their cars with Iowa grown ethanol. By allowing access to E15 year round, we can give consumers greater choice while helping our environment.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of my constituent, Ann Johnson, a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. This prestigious award is administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and recognizes outstanding teachers across the country for their contributions to the teaching of mathematics and science. Ms. Johnson was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching for her dedication and work at the Sageville Elementary School in Dubuque, Iowa. Teachers like Ann enable students to realize their potential and pave the path for the next generation of doctors, engineers, and innovators. On behalf of the Dubuque community and the First District of Iowa, I sincerely thank Ann for her commitment to educating our children in mathematics and science. Congratulations on this impressive award. I am proud to represent Ann, an extraordinary educator, in Congress.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4639) to reauthorize the Office of Special Counsel, to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide modifications to authorities relating to the Office of Special Counsel, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. BLUM. 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 the bill under consideration.

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 4639, the Thoroughly Investigating Retaliation Against Whistleblowers Act. This is a bill to reauthorize the Office of Special Counsel, or OSC, over the next 5 years. The bipartisan legislation was passed unanimously out of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. It also has the support of the whistleblower community. Mr. Speaker, OSC is tasked with a variety of responsibilities, including policing whistleblower retaliation across the entire executive branch, an immense responsibility. OSC's last reauthorization expired in 2007, so this bill is long overdue. In addition to reauthorizing the agency, this bill aims to give OSC the tools it needs to continue the good work it is already doing. For example, this legislation would ensure that OSC has the access to agency records that it needs. Agencies should not be able to stonewall OSC to stop the Special Counsel from investigating retaliation within their agency. Like inspectors general, OSC must have access to agency information in order to properly conduct the duties they are charged with by Congress. OSC is part of the executive branch, just the same as the agencies that Special Counsel oversees, so those agencies should not be able to invoke legal privileges to withhold information. Take the attorney-client privilege as an example. These agencies all represent the same client--the Federal Government--which works for the taxpayer. Mr. Speaker, the bill also allows OSC to use a simplified process to close out duplicate complaints so it can focus its resources on new whistleblower allegations. It puts a statute of limitations on whistleblower retaliation cases of 3 years, after which documents and witness recollections can be hard to obtain. These steps will help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of OSC operations. Mr. Speaker, OSC has an immensely important role to play in protecting whistleblowers, helping to root out waste, fraud, and abuse. I believe this bill will be good for the agency and good for the whistleblowers that they are charged to protect. I urge that we pass it here in the House of Representatives. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4777) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1301 Alabama Avenue in Selma, Alabama as the ``Amelia Boynton Robinson Post Office Building''.

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BLUM

Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5028) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 10721 E. Jefferson Ave in Detroit, Michigan, as the ``Mary Eleanora McCoy Post Office Building'', as amended.