Steve Chabot

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1702) to amend the Small Business Act to improve the small business development centers program, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, this legislation provides a level of certainty for small businesses who contract with the Federal Government. It is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that benefits small firms and ought to improve efficiency within the Federal contracting arena. Mr. Speaker, I again thank Ms. Velazquez for her work in a bipartisan manner on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, before I yield to the principal sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Bacon, I would like to thank my colleague Steve Knight from California for working on this as well; and also Al Lawson from Florida, and also Stephanie Murphy from Florida. So we have two Republicans and two Democrats again working together on this on behalf of small businesses all across the country, and I want to thank all four of those Members for their leadership on this on both sides of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon).

Mr. CHABOT

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

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Missouri for yielding. It is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month, and the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner) has been a leader in speaking out on this critical issue for many years now, and we appreciate her leadership on that. As a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have had the opportunity to advocate for global human rights issues for many years. Tonight, I want to condemn a genocide that has been happening before our eyes: the genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, Burma. Last September, the Burmese military began a so-called clearing operation, allegedly in response to some insurgent attacks. In reality, this was just an excuse for a massive and barbaric campaign to forcibly remove the Rohingya from Burma altogether and erase their memory from the Rakhine State once and for all, resulting in over 700,000 Rohingya, many of whom are children, fleeing Burma for Bangladesh. This has needlessly left Bangladesh and the world with one of the worst humanitarian crises that the world faces today. While these numbers are truly shocking, as we learn more about the crimes committed by the Burmese military, there can be no doubt that this is, in fact, genocide. When the Rohingya arrived in Bangladesh, they told story after story of the crimes that they had witnessed and that they had personally suffered: widespread killings, mass graves, rapes, and other unspeakable horrors and injuries. These atrocities have been confirmed by many people who had no ax to grind here or anything, So this is something that the world must see and must believe. In addition, hundreds of villages have been burned and others have been simply bulldozed in a clear attempt to prevent the Rohingya from ever returning. Together, these heinous acts are a deliberate attempt to irreparably harm the Rohingya. This is absolutely genocide. Together with Mr. Engel and Mr. Crowley, our colleagues here in the House, I have helped to lead the House's efforts to address this crisis. With our passage of H. Con. Res 90, the House unequivocally condemned the Burmese military's atrocious actions, but more serious action is still needed. Burma's constitution allows the Burmese military to control much of the government, and civilian leadership has taken virtually no real steps to address this violence. That is why I joined again with Mr. Engel and Mr. Crowley to introduce the BURMA Act, which applies tough, targeted sanctions on the individuals involved in leading this genocide. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation and then, ultimately, of course, to vote for it when the time comes. As we remember the victims of all genocides this month, we must work to adequately address one which is unfolding right before our eyes, right before the world's eyes right now. So, again, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Missouri for calling this particular action to the attention of our colleagues and the attention of the world, but also other genocides and other atrocities that have occurred across the globe. She is truly a leader, and we are lucky to have her doing that in Congress on an everyday basis, but also, in particular, this evening.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my continued support for this legislation. A lot of hard work has gone into this legislation over the years, and the result is an unprecedented level of consensus from a broad coalition of stakeholders in the music industry who don't always agree. This legislation, I think, will prove to be a great benefit to music consumers, creators, and producers alike. The way we listen to and experience music is much different today than it was when the Copyright Act was enacted back in 1976. As a result, our copyright laws have become outdated and are, in many ways, insufficient for the music industry in the 21st century. This legislation provides much-needed updates to bring music licensing into the digital age, particularly improving market efficiencies and transparency to reflect the modern music marketplace. So again, I thank the chairman, ranking member, and various sponsors of the underlying pieces of legislation included in this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, this is National Crime Victims' Rights Week, and back in 2004, I introduced the Crime Victims' Rights Act, which was signed into law by President Bush as part of the Justice for All Act. Under that landmark legislation, crime victims were finally awarded criminal rights in Federal criminal cases, including the right to protection, the right to timely notice not to be excluded and to be heard at all public hearings, the right to confer with the prosecutor, the right to restitution, the right to a speedy trial, and the right to privacy. Several years later, the GAO found that too many victims were not aware of these important rights and that more needed to be done to educate victims. You see, in civics class, we all learned about the rights of the accused, but very little attention is given to the rights of victims. Mr. Speaker, as we commemorate National Crime Victims' Rights Week this week, it is important that we make sure victims know what their rights are under the law. It is the least we can do to show victims the respect and dignity that they deserve.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Goodlatte for his long-time commitment to this very, very important issue, passing a balanced budget amendment for our Nation. Mr. Speaker, with the national debt exceeding $20 trillion, it is long past time that we take necessary steps to restore fiscal responsibility to the budget process. Too often, spending bills are passed by adding to the deficit rather than balancing the budget and helping to pay down our national debt. It is time to reverse that mentality. One of the greatest disappointments that I have experienced in my 22 years in Congress happened when we passed a balanced budget amendment in the House by the required two-thirds votes, but the effort failed in the Senate by just one vote, and a number of Members from the House went down to the Senate to personally watch that vote and stare those Senators in the eye, and it was such a disappointment because we all knew then how important this was to our country. And here we are, 20-plus years later, and the debt has gone up far more than any of us thought even possible at that time. Had the balanced budget amendment passed back then, our debt today certainly would be lower, much lower. The American people sent us here to make the difficult decisions necessary to balance the budget and to live within our means. Just as the American people have to do, every family has to balance their budget every week or every month, and they can't spend more than they take in or they end up going bankrupt. Our Federal Government is basically bankrupt, but since we print money here, we are able to go on. But that harms the American people. It harms our economy. We have got to do something about it. We cannot continue to just hope that we pass a balanced budget. It has become increasingly obvious over the years that the only way to ensure a balanced budget is to mandate, to require that Congress pass one, and that is what we are considering today. Passage of the balanced budget amendment is the only thing that we can do to make certain that we, and future Congresses, rein in the out- of-control spending and restore fiscal sanity to Washington. The resolution offered by Chairman Goodlatte today takes the necessary steps to ensure that for any fiscal year, total outlays--what we spend--do not exceed total receipts--what we take in. Our Nation cannot continue to spend money that it doesn't have. Let's end the borrow-and-spend mentality that created our staggering national debt--over $20 trillion--and put our Nation on a sustainable path by requiring that a balanced budget be enacted every year. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the seventh anniversary of the Syrian people's demand for democracy, which began on March 15, 2011. As a senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have watched President Bashar al-Assad commit a catalogue of the most barbaric crimes during seven years of civil war. These include his use of chemical weapons against civilians, his mass imprisonment and murder of his own citizens, and his deliberate shelling of noncombatants. His violence has created a catastrophic refugee crisis, and the death toll from his brutal war is in the hundreds of thousands. Worse, Russia and Iran have been keen to expand their influence in Syria--no matter the human cost. Not only has Vladimir Putin propped up Assad militarily, but he has provided diplomatic cover for Assad's crimes. Further, Tehran has entrenched itself in Syria by mobilizing and training numerous proxy fighters. This expanded influence undermines American interests, threatens Israel, and further destabilizes the Middle East. I encourage the Administration to work with Congress and our allies to bring this war to a needed conclusion; one that transitions Syria into a post-Assad future.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Goodlatte, Majority Leader McCarthy, and Congressman Rutherford for their leadership on this important legislation. Over the years, our Nation's schools have become soft targets for any would-be killer who has gotten access to a gun. We need to do a better job of protecting both students and faculty from these increasingly frequent threats. This legislation combines school safety provisions included in two bills, one originally introduced by Mr. Rutherford, and the other by me. Together this proposal represents a collection of commonsense solutions to better help protect our students, our teachers, and other faculty in our schools. H.R. 4909 reauthorizes the COPS Secure Our Schools grant program and more than doubles its annual budget from $30 million to $75 million annually. Of that $75 million, not less than $50 million per year will be made available for evidence-based strategies and programs to prevent violence in public or private schools over the next decade. Among the security measures for which these grants may be used include additional training to ensure the health and well-being of students, the development of more robust threat reporting systems, and investments in more advanced security technologies. Additionally, the COPS Secure Our Schools grants can be used in conjunction with the COPS Hiring Program to ensure that our schools have both the security measures and personnel in place to prevent future violence. On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice will use the COPS Hiring Program to increase the number of school resource officers nationwide. The legislation we are considering today could help that effort by allowing schools to hire retired police officers to provide security if the Department of Justice determines that such plans would provide a significant improvement in school security. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Dan Hils, president of the Cincinnati FOP, for actively engaging on the issue of school safety and for bringing these types of forward-thinking solutions to my attention. He has been a tremendous resource throughout this process. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleague to support this measure.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for yielding. First of all, I am glad that the gentlewoman isn't talking about Wall Street this evening. The gentlewoman always wants to talk about Wall Street, and I am glad we are talking about Marcy Kaptur this evening because she is really special. This, of course, is in recognition of a fellow Ohioan, Marcy Kaptur, who will become the longest serving woman in the history of the United States House of Representatives. That is quite an accomplishment. She will be breaking the record currently held by Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers, a Republican from Massachusetts, who served from 1925 to 1960. I think I speak for most Ohioans, regardless of party, when I say we are proud that Marcy has brought this prestigious milestone back home to Ohio. Marcy has been a stalwart supporter of her constituents, fighting for jobs and fair trade agreements. That is why her constituents continue to elect her to represent them in this body every 2 years, even though we have been trying every 2 years to knock her off. We just haven't been able to do it, she is that good. Like me, Marcy grew up in a working class family. She was the first member of her family to attend college, earning degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan. Graduating from these two universities, one of which is not even recognized in some parts of Ohio, had to be a tremendous hurdle to overcome when first running to represent Ohioans. Yet Marcy continues to earn the trust of her constituents, and that says a lot about who Marcy Kaptur is as a person. As the son of a World War II veteran myself, I would submit that perhaps Marcy's most enduring accomplishment was her 17-year battle to get a World War II Memorial built on The National Mall. I just wish that it had been completed in time for my father to have seen that. I know he would have been really excited about it. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1998, before that wonderful memorial was completed, but I know he is looking down and sees it. I really appreciate all the other World War II veterans that do get to see it. Through a number of setbacks, Marcy Kaptur never wavered in her support for that memorial. Every time I meet with a group of World War II veterans who have flown in on an honor flight--which was another Ohio creation, I might add--to visit the memorial, I am reminded of Marcy's dedication and determination to make that happen. We truly owe her a great deal of credit for the beautiful tribute to the Greatest Generation that the World War II Memorial has become. As dean of the Ohio Republican delegation, I would like to express how proud the Members in this Chamber are for this historic accomplishment. Even though we do not agree on everything--or, I guess, even very much sometimes--and have been known to have a few disagreements here and there, I am proud that she is not only breaking the record for the longest serving woman in this body, but she is doing so as a Representative of our great State, the great State of Ohio. We are really proud of Marcy. We are happy that she has accomplished this. We hope she will be around here for many years to come. I hope I am here, as well, to continue to serve with her. Obviously, all of our constituents get to make that decision every 2 years. Congratulations, Marcy. I speak on behalf of all my colleagues within the Ohio delegation as well as on behalf of an awful lot of other Republicans in the House who respect you greatly. Congratulations.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, in recognition of International Women's Day, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of two women from Cincinnati. Long ago, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote ``Uncle Tom's Cabin'' in Cincinnati. When she later met Abraham Lincoln in the White House, he reportedly said: ``So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.'' More recently, Elina Govil, a high school student from Indian Hill, is fighting to provide at-risk girls in conflict zones with access to a proper education. To assist Elina in her efforts, as a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I introduced the Protecting Girls' Access to Education Act, bipartisan legislation that could help millions of young girls across the globe. Children who are denied an education, because they live in an area that is torn by chaos and war, have little chance of ever attaining a stable existence. Girls, in particular, are subject to exploitation and the pitfalls of human trafficking, violence, and poverty. Thank you, Elina, for helping girls everywhere to have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Shimkus yielding. And I want to thank Chairman Walden, as well, for his hard work in this area, as well as Mr. Shimkus', and the entire Energy and Commerce Committee for their leadership in this area. As chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I continue to hear from small-business owners all across America that compliance with regulations is one of the greatest challenges that they face, and this is, in essence, what this is. In fact, today, I chaired a hearing on how the regulatory process is impacting small businesses. The bill before us today, the BRICK Act, would provide crucial relief to America's brick, clay, and tile industries, the majority of which are, by definition, small businesses; and we should always remember that small businesses create about 7 out of every 10 new jobs in America. The BRICK Act would ensure that small-business owners don't have to worry about spending millions of dollars to comply with a regulation that may well be thrown out in court. I would urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4607, the Comprehensive Regulatory Review Act. I want to thank Chairman Hensarling and the entire Financial Services Committee for their continued critical work on financial regulations. As chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I consistently hear from Main Street businesses, small businesses from all over the country, that overregulation is preventing business expansion and job growth. Just last week, I chaired a hearing on a recent report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office that explored whether financial regulations were adversely impacting community banks and credit unions. One of the major takeaways from that report was that we need to improve the tools available to financial regulators to reduce those burdens. Because small businesses most often rely on conventional bank borrowing to finance their development, any additional red tape that reduces access to capital can be a monumental problem for the Nation's smallest firms. The bill that we have before us today, which would reform the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996, is a move in the right direction. Making sure all financial regulators have a comprehensive process in place to review regulations will strengthen our financial sector and make it more possible for America's small businesses to have access to the capital that they need to grow and expand and create more jobs for more Americans. Mr. Speaker, I therefore urge my colleagues to support the commonsense reforms that are in H.R. 4607, and I urge them to support this legislation.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I also thank him for pulling together this Special Order here this evening. As the gentleman mentioned, I used to be the chair of the subcommittee that he now chairs, and that is the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. I have been on the Foreign Affairs Committee for over 20 years now. We do a lot of important things on that committee, and our view of China has evolved somewhat over that time. Do we want to have good relations with China? Absolutely. It is in our best interests, it is in China's best interests, it is in the world's best interests. We passed normal trade relations some years ago. It used to be called the most favored nation; now it is normal trade relations. We trade with them a lot. Many would argue that American jobs have gone to China. They have stolen our technology, our intellectual property secrets, and a whole range of other things. So they haven't been terribly cooperative in that area, yet they have benefited a great deal. One of our strongest allies, Taiwan, the PRC--China--has been bullying for years. Too often, China has gotten their way. They have been able to keep Taiwan out of international health organizations that would be helped by having the Taiwanese expertise in that. They have done a whole range of things. When I first came here, there were several hundred missiles in the PRC--China--pointed at Taiwan. Now there are over 1,600 missiles, and they threaten them on a whole range of things. So it is very important that we continue to have strong relations with Taiwan. Legislation that I have proposed and that we have passed here before in our committee and that we hope to pass in the House as well--and then we hope the Senate will take it up as well--is to allow high- ranking Taiwanese officials to come here to the United States, particularly to Washington, D.C., to meet with our officials here in our Nation's Capital. That makes sense, and hopefully we will do that in the very near future, but China has been very uncooperative, obviously, with respect to Taiwan. They have been particularly uncooperative with respect to one of our greatest threats in the world right now, and that is North Korea. We get a lot of lip service from China, but very little action. North Korea is a threat. For a long time, they were a threat to the region. We cared about that and we worked with our allies on that. But now they are a threat to Washington, D.C., and Seattle and Los Angeles and my home city, Cincinnati, and cities all over the United States, because we believe they can now reach the United States with nuclear weapons. That is the first time. A lot of us were concerned about that day ever coming. Previous administrations tried to get China to lean on North Korea because China has the greatest clout with North Korea because China provides most of their food and most of their fuel. About 90 percent of North Korea's trade is with China. China acts like they are going to be helpful, and then they are not. The last thing we want to see is military confrontation. You will have some folks in our country that that is their principal priority, they don't want any confrontation, but then they will be satisfied to have North Korea have nuclear weapons. We can't tolerate somebody as unpredictable, somebody as dangerous as Kim Jong-un or his predecessors, his father or grandfather, people like that to have nuclear weapons. It is just unacceptable to the United States and most other countries around the world, but the rest of the world looks to us to act. This is a case where we really do need China to step up and do the right thing. Thus far, they have not been willing to do that. So the question is: How do we get China to do that? In the past, a number of us thought the way you got China's attention was to at least discuss with our allies in the region--South Korea, Japan, even Taiwan, perhaps--to consider having nuclear weapon programs themselves. And maybe even talking about that would be off-putting enough to the PRC that they would lean on North Korea to back off their program. Well, we are probably beyond that now because North Korea not only has a nuclear program, but they have one that could now hit the continental United States. I think the only thing at this point that works is any leverage that we have with China itself, that if they don't act, then they can either trade with North Korea or they can trade with us. That ought to be a pretty easy deal for them to make. The economy in North Korea is in shambles. The people are starving. The people are repressed by their own illegitimate government. So there is not a lot of trade. It is not of great import to China. In fact, their relationship with North Korea--I think the way they look at it--it keeps us off balance. So they can trade with North Korea or they can trade with us. Now, trade with the United States is very significant to the PRC. It means millions and millions and millions of jobs. Are we willing to go that far? Well, I think we should be when you are considering war, which is the alternative to actually getting North Korea to back off their program. So in this case, I think we ought to make it clear to China that we are serious about this; whether it is the financial system, international banking, cutting that off. We ought to fully cut that off with North Korea and at least on the books we have, but China has ways of getting around that and propping up their ally, North Korea. So this is the time. It has got to happen soon. North Korea has, we think, probably 20 or so nuclear devices at this point. You wait another year or 2 years, they are going to have dozens and dozens and dozens of them. Not only is that dangerous because they have them, but it is dangerous because they will sell those nuclear devices to organizations, al-Qaida, perhaps even ISIS, or other organizations that would love to smuggle those things into this country and use them. They would use them in a heartbeat if they had them. We can't let that happen. So things that we talked about in previous administrations and that administrations would negotiate--we had six-party agreements and we would get together--and North Korea would agree: Okay. For food and fuel, we will end our nuclear program. On the books it was ended, but underground or in the mountains, it was continuing. Both previous Republican and Democratic administrations essentially let that happen, and it was bad, but they couldn't reach the United States. Now they can reach the United States. So we are at that time now that years ago we warned about. We are there now. So I would strongly encourage this administration to take this seriously and do whatever is possible, short of war--we want to avoid that if at all possible--to make sure that China finally leans on North Korea to back down. Mr. Speaker, I thank again the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), who is doing a fine job as chair of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee. I also thank him for the opportunity and pulling this together this evening.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to honor former Congressman and Cincinnati Mayor Tom Luken, who passed away last week at the age of 92. Tom Luken was a Democratic stalwart and something of a local political legend representing the people of Cincinnati for 15 years in this body. I learned firsthand just how tough a politician he was when I ran against Tom in 1988. He won. But I also learned a great deal about Tom Luken, the man, during that race. He was a dedicated public servant who always focused on the needs of the people he represented. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. As many probably know, his son Charlie was also Cincinnati mayor and also served in this body for a term. Mr. Speaker, even though we were from different political parties and disagreed on a lot of issues, I have always respected Tom for his commitment and dedication to our community and to our Nation. I hope that his wife, Shirley, and his entire family know just how much Tom Luken will be missed.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership in ensuring that a number of important reforms to section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act were included in this legislation. I rise in support of this modified version of S. 139. While this does not go as far to reform FISA section 702 as the USA Liberty Act, which passed out of the Judiciary Committee in November with my support, the reforms that are included help to provide a more appropriate balance between protecting our civil liberties and providing the intelligence community an important national security tool for another 6 years before its expiration this Friday. FISA section 702 is a critical tool used by the intelligence community to protect American citizens from foreign threats and has been successfully used numerous times to prevent terrorist plots. Since we last reauthorized FISA section 702, much has changed not only in who our foreign threats are, but also in the methods that they use against us. The bottom line is we need to protect the safety of the American people. We need to make sure constitutional protections are in place, and this is the proper balance.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank Sergeant Thomas Reid, Jr., for his 45 years of service with the Cincinnati Police Department. A lot has changed since he joined the department back in 1972, after serving in Vietnam, but one thing has remained the same. For 4\1/2\ decades, Sergeant Reid continued to dedicate himself to keeping our community safe. During his time on the force, Sergeant Reid led by example and passed his knowledge and experience on to his fellow officers, often advising them to ``treat others as you want to be treated.'' Sergeant Reid retired at the end of December as the Cincinnati Police Department's longest-serving member, and his leadership and guidance will be missed. The city of Cincinnati is a better place because of his service, and his legacy and impact will be felt in our community for years to come. For that, Mr. Speaker, we Cincinnatians are deeply grateful and indebted to him. Thank you, Sergeant Reid.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on this. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of all three of these overwhelmingly bipartisan bills. First, I would like to speak on H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act, a bill which I introduced this Congress along with my colleague, Congressman Sherman. We appreciate his support on this and a lot of other issues in this Congress, Chairman Royce and other Members as well. For close to 4 decades now, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act has served as a cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations, and together, with President Reagan's six assurances, we have maintained peace and stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region. However, there are still major steps that we can take to further strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. I believe one of the most important improvements that we can make is to allow the President of Taiwan and other high-ranking officials, like Taiwan's foreign and defense ministers, to visit Washington, our Nation's Capital, something that is currently prohibited. This is our own self-imposed policy and it is outrageous. These restrictions are only carried out because of potential diplomatic retaliation from the PRC, from China. Personally, I think restricting high-level visits by senior Taiwanese officials is not only insulting, but it is counterproductive. We should be encouraging more direct dialogue with the democratically elected President of Taiwan and other highest elected officials. We let the leaders of China, the PRC, come to Washington on a regular basis and we give them the highest honors, yet we shun the democratically elected leaders of our longtime ally, Taiwan. We need to send a strong signal that the current approach to bilateral contacts and communications between the U.S. and Taiwan is outdated and it is time for it to go and be changed, and that is what this bill is all about. If we seriously want to promote greater democracy in the region, we should be as supportive as possible to the countries that are actually practicing democracy, and that is what Taiwan does. It is a longtime ally of ours. That is exactly why I introduced the Taiwan Travel Act along, again, with Congressman Sherman and Chairman Royce a year ago--January 13, 2017, to be exact. This bill, which has broad, bipartisan support from a long list of cosponsors, states that our government should encourage visits between the U.S. and Taiwan at all levels. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to quickly voice my support for H.R. 3320, a bill championed by my friend and colleague, Chairman Ted Yoho. This bill directs the Department of State to assist Taiwan in regaining observer status in the World Health Organization, WHO. Unfortunately, Taiwan has been excluded from participating in most of the really important international organizations, including the WHO, for almost 50 years now. Many of my colleagues and I have advocated for years for Taiwan's meaningful participation in the WHO, much to the dismay of China, which has consistently thwarted these efforts. Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO creates a dangerous and unnecessary gap in global health, especially considering the stellar health research and medical resources Taiwan has to offer. That is why H.R. 3320 is so important. WHO membership for Taiwan is not only in the best interests of Taiwan, it is in the best interests of the rest of the world, including the United States. Mr. Speaker, lastly, I want to voice my support for H. Res. 676, Chairman Royce's and Ranking Member Engel's resolution supporting the rights of the people of Iran and condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protesters. This is a commonsense measure. The current regime in Iran has never respected human rights or the rule of law. The recent situation in Iran only underscores this reality. I am pleased to see my colleagues quickly condemning the atrocities by that government this very day; however, I want to take this opportunity to stress the importance of remembering the big picture in Iran. It is a country, let's face it, that is being run by thugs. Not only do they perpetrate violence and marginalize their own people, they harbor, promote, and finance terrorism throughout the region. They threaten America and its allies. They continue to develop ballistic missiles, which we know that one day they would like to have tipped with nuclear devices. That could be a threat not just to our allies in the region, but the United States. This most recent outbreak of civil unrest in the country should not be a surprise, considering the Iranian regime's ruthless tactics. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues join me in support of this measure also and take further steps to hold Iran accountable for both its domestic and international violations. I urge my colleagues to support all three of these measures. Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the gentlemen from California, Chairman Royce and Mr. Sherman, for their support on these and other measures.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in support of H.R. 477, and I want to thank Chairman Hensarling and Chairman Huizenga for their hard work on this effort. While we are finally seeing improvements in our economy, we will not experience its full potential until we fully unleash American small businesses. As chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I frequently hear from small-business owners that regulations are preventing their growth and expansion. The bill before us today addresses one of the many regulatory hurdles that stand in the way of small business development. Reducing red tape on brokers would decrease the burdens on small businesses that are going through the next phase of their growth, including transitions in ownership. This should be a time of expansion and increased opportunities, not higher cost and bureaucratic red tape. Let's work together on behalf of our Nation's small businesses so they can continue to grow today and create the jobs of tomorrow.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chairman yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 90. This is a bipartisan bill condemning the Burmese military's systemic attacks on the Rohingya in Rakhine State. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank especially Congressman Crowley from New York for working together in a bipartisan manner on this legislation and also with Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel and so many others. As someone who has chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia and the Pacific and who has been to Burma and met with Aung San Suu Kyi and followed Burma very closely, what has happened there is truly shocking and disheartening, and really a blot on the world in how this has been handled up to this point in many ways. The Rohingya have long been at the fringes of Burmese society and it is no secret that the Burmese military regards them as outsiders who don't even belong in Burma at all. That is why the military used some attacks back in August by a rogue group of Rohingya as a pretext to terrorize the entire Rohingya population. This campaign of terror and violence has demonically worked. Over 600,000 Rohingya have fled Burma for Bangladesh, and at least 250,000 of those people are children. Further, credible human rights organizations and the media have documented numerous horrors and abuses, including rape, murder, and torture. The most unspeakable things have happened there. Together, these atrocities amount to what has been called ``a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.'' Unfortunately, Burma's constitution ensures that the Burmese military controls much of the government in Burma, while Burma's civilian government has proved incapable of taking appropriate action to address this violence. Since the Burmese military began its ethnic cleansing campaign, it has gone on and on. Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to do everything we can to stop these horrors.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As a result of this bill, Ohio families will keep more of what they earn. Additionally, it will create tens of thousands of jobs in Ohio and in other States all across the country. As chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I want to make sure that the Tax Code works for our Nation's job creators so that we can create jobs, not against them. Seventy percent of the new jobs created in the American economy nowadays are created by small businesses. Unfortunately, small businesses are getting killed by the existing Tax Code. This Tax Code will bring rates down from approximately 40 percent for small-business owners to, in many cases, 25 percent and, in a lot of cases, 9 percent. From 40 percent down to 9 percent. That means small businesses can keep that money, invest and create more jobs for more Americans. The naysayers around here obviously can't say enough bad about this bill, but it is going to be good for America. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, as former chairman of the Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on the Middle East and having traveled to Yemen myself a couple years ago, I rise in support of H. Res. 599, a resolution that calls for an end to the conflict in Yemen and denounces the targeting of innocent civilians and the use of civilians as human shields. It has become painfully evident that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard continues to transfer increasingly sophisticated weapons systems to the Houthis in Yemen. These weapons are now being used to target civilians as well as one of our regional allies, Saudi Arabia. There is an urgent need for a political solution in Yemen, with growing famine, 500,000 new cholera cases, and the death of 10,000 Yemeni civilians since 2015. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill and I urge my colleagues to join in condemning Iranian activities in Yemen. I call on our global partners to take appropriate measures against the Government of Iran, including the banning of Iran's weapons to the Houthis, and condemning targeting of civilians.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3441, and I want to commend our colleague, Mr. Byrne, for sponsoring this legislation. I also want to commend Chairwoman Foxx for her leadership on this very important issue. I am proud to be an original cosponsor myself. As chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I have had the opportunity to see firsthand how the National Labor Relations Board's new joint employer standard threatens the ability of small-business owners to remain independent and responsible for their own employees. At a Small Business Committee hearing last year, an Army combat veteran and small-business owner testified that: ``Local business owners may effectively be demoted from entrepreneur to middle manager, as they are gradually forced to forfeit operational control of the stores, clubs, inns, or restaurants that they built.'' At the same hearing, another small-business owner testified that: ``I would cease to be an independent small-business owner . . . ultimately, I would become a de facto employee of the corporate brand.'' These are merely two examples of the consequences real American small-business owners face because of the decisions of Washington bureaucrats and activist judges. The Obama-era joint employer scheme threatens small businesses, the engines of American economic growth. Small businesses, after all, create the majority of the new jobs in this Nation; they spur innovation. Enacting this legislation would help ensure continued freedom for America's best job creators. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3441. Passage of this legislation is necessary to restore certainty to America's small- business owners and their employees so that they can continue to operate their businesses locally and independently.