Steve Chabot

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 88. I was one of the original founders of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus. It was a bipartisan group of people who founded it. I have been the chairman of the Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. I have been a longtime friend of Taiwan. I have been there probably a dozen times over the years. This important legislation reaffirms the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as cornerstones of U.S.-Taiwan relations. As a longtime supporter of Taiwan, as I mentioned, I believe that the U.S.-Taiwan relationship is absolutely vital to the security and sustainability not just of Taiwan, but of the whole region. Taiwan is a close ally, one that truly believes and practices freedom and democracy. We witnessed this firsthand this past January, as some of my colleagues have mentioned, when the people of Taiwan held democratic national elections resulting in the election of Tsai Ing- wen. I want to congratulate her and wish her best wishes in her role as President of Taiwan. Taiwan elects their people democratically, unlike the PRC right across the Taiwan Strait. As we know, China has been bullying Taiwan for many years now. It is unfortunate that the PRC, China, doesn't follow, as an example, the people of Taiwan, who democratically elect their leaders. Taiwan faces an unrelenting threat from China, which has nearly 1,600 ballistic missiles aimed at this small island. I remember when I came to Congress about 20 years ago, we talked about how scary it was that there were a couple hundred, 200 or 300 missiles aimed at Taiwan at that time. That has increased over the years to 1,600 missiles aimed at Taiwan from China. Although Taiwan enjoys de facto independence, China's ultimate goal is to take over Taiwan, to annex Taiwan, whatever the people of Taiwan believe. We absolutely cannot let that happen. China's ultimate goal, as I say, is the annexation of the island. We have all seen the growing hostilities in the East China Sea and South China Sea over the last couple years. I believe that this legislation underscores the point that the Taiwan Strait continues to be one of the potential flash points on the globe. We have seen China literally building islands and then militarizing those islands, much to the chagrin of all their neighbors in the region, from Japan to Vietnam, to Taiwan, to the Philippines, and on and on. That is what the PRC, China, has been up to. Any sort of solution between China and Taiwan should be reached in a peaceful and fair manner and only with the agreement of the people of Taiwan. Mr. Speaker, April 10, 2016, marked the 37th anniversary of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, the TRA. This act codifies into law an institutional framework and legal basis for continued interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan, and it serves to maintain peace and stability in the western Pacific. When President Ronald Reagan agreed to sign the U.S.-China third communique in 1982, he was aware of the communique's effect on Taiwan and fully recognized that Taiwan needed to be reassured that they would not be abandoned--and they will not be abandoned--by the United States. In order to reinforce American support for Taiwan, the United States issued the Six Assurances. The Six Assurances provided a framework for sustaining the unique relationship between the United States and our ally, Taiwan. Mr. Speaker, they are as valid today as they were back in 1982. They rightfully function along with the TRA, as cornerstones of U.S.-Taiwan relations. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Clark and Mr. Guinta for their hard work in making this Special Order happen tonight and in moving forward on this very, very important issue. Mr. Speaker, opioid use is an epidemic in this country, and unfortunately the problem is only getting worse. I want to also commend Senator Rob Portman for his leadership in introducing and passing in the other body CARA, legislation to combat opioids, especially heroin. I would expect that whatever we pass here in the House--and we are considering a number of bills--will ultimately be reconciled with the Senate and Mr. Portman's bill over in the Senate. This will help many struggling Americans. I talked to a member of a city council in one of the smaller communities in my district back in--I represent the greater Cincinnati area--in Lorain County. It happened to be North Bend. According to the last census, there are only 857 people who live in the entire village, so it is pretty small. But the first councilperson that I talked to talked about the heroin problem they are having in this community. This is a very small community, kind of a normal, middle class area. There are great people, families, hardworking people. Yet, heroin is becoming a scourge in this community. William Henry Harrison, one of our earlier presidents--he has his monument and was buried--is from this community. It is just amazing to me to think that if it is hitting a small community like this, it is hitting virtually everywhere. Simply put, we must find workable solutions to this epidemic. High income, low income, urban, suburban, rural, it really doesn't matter. This epidemic is impacting communities all across this country. In fact, in my home State of Ohio, 13 out of 16 congressional districts are designated as high intensity drug trafficking areas by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Back in 2014, just a little over a year ago, we had a staggering 2,744 heroin deaths in our State alone. Obviously, States all over the country are having this problem as well. Mr. Speaker, in searching for an answer to this problem--I happened to be the dean of the Republicans in Ohio--we had a briefing with the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli. We actually learned an awful lot about what is happening in our State and nationally. Basically what we learned is that there are two fronts. It is reducing the supply and it is eliminating the demand. Supply reduction is a complex issue. Since much of the heroin is coming across the Mexican border, obviously, increased border security is important. Treatment is absolutely important. The Drug Enforcement Agency often has take-back days where people can drop off old prescriptions to licensed agents for disposal. What we have seen are that an awful lot of especially young people who are getting hooked on heroin start out with prescription drugs, and oftentimes it is something that they got from a family member in their own home. Despite additional control mechanisms, if there is one thing we have learned over the years, it is almost impossible to completely cut off the supply of any particular drug. So we must also eliminate the demand. We need to focus on drug treatment and prevention programs. For example, in Cincinnati, we have something called the Talbert House, which is one of many nonprofits that help folks in southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky to combat substance abuse. So there are many, many programs that we already have. We need to have more. I want to, again, commend the fact that this is happening in a bipartisan manner. We have a lot of Members in the House, both Republicans and Democrats, who have come together and have a lot of good plans. They have talked with the folks in their districts. I commend my colleagues for working on this together in a bipartisan manner. Let's reconcile what we pass here with the Senate, let's get this passed into law, and let's move this forward on this very, very critical issue. I thank the gentlewoman from Massachusetts for pulling this Special Order together this evening.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. I thank Mr. Hensarling for his leadership on this. I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona, who just spoke, for her leadership on this as well. Mr. Speaker, as the chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I have the pleasure of hearing from America's small-business owners each and every day, both in my district and up here in Washington. The stories of success are always encouraging to hear, but all too often, what I am told is how the government is making it difficult for small businesses to grow and succeed and to, therefore, create jobs. Perhaps the most common concern is just how difficult it is for entrepreneurs who are starting out to access the needed capital to grow. This bill expands access to capital by ensuring small businesses can continue to connect with so-called angel investors. One popular way small businesses have connected with angel investors is through demo days. These are events that are sponsored by universities, nonprofits, local governments, accelerators, incubators, and other groups that allow entrepreneurs to showcase their products and to informally meet investors and customers. However, SEC regulations are threatening to force these events out of business by imposing unwieldy regulations that dictate who is and who is not allowed to simply attend. These regulations would force everybody who merely walks through the door to go through what is essentially a full financial interrogation in one's handing over of tax documents and bank statements, paybook information, and on and on and on. Mr. Speaker, this doesn't make any sense. We should be encouraging participation in demo days, not creating obstacles. After all, not only are these events places at which to connect investors with our communities' small businesses and entrepreneurs, but they also provide a great opportunity for students, for example, and our next generation of entrepreneurs to ask questions and learn what it takes to get a business off the ground. Mr. Speaker, again I thank Chairman Hensarling for his leadership in getting this bill through the committee, as well as to thank Representative Hurt, Representative Sinema, and Representative Takai for working in a cooperative and bipartisan manner to move this bill to the House floor. It was very bipartisan. All of the Republicans voted for it, and almost half of the Democrats voted for it in committee. It is always wonderful when we are able to work together to support small business, and there is no better time than now. Next week is National Small Business Week, when we will be celebrating the contributions of small businesses and entrepreneurs in every community all across America. Every one of us has small businesses in our districts. It serves as a reminder to us in this Chamber of how important it is to create policies that promote an environment for small businesses to succeed, and this bill is one more step in that direction. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4498. Again, I really appreciate the bipartisan nature of this bill and its support thus far. 1615

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for his leadership in this very important area. Mr. Speaker, when families in this country struggle, it is appropriate that we take reasonable steps to help them through a rough patch. We have several programs designed to do just that, like the Food Stamp program. It is also known now as the SNAP program, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides a short-term safety net for those who have fallen on hard times. However, the Food Stamp program, like most welfare programs, was never intended to become a way of life for its recipients. Unfortunately, that is exactly what has happened. That is what has happened to far too many people in this country. It is supposed to be temporary help to the truly needy. Unfortunately, to many, it has become a permanent way of life. To address this growing problem, we need to take steps to help people get off public assistance and back on their own feet. One way to do this is to enact strong work and job training requirements for those able to work. That is why I introduced legislation, H.R. 4849, a couple weeks ago to restore and strengthen work requirements for able-bodied adults enrolled in the Food Stamp program, or SNAP program. Under this legislation, in order to continue to receive benefits, those recipients able to work must either find employment--which is what we would certainly prefer--or participate in a job training program in order to enable them to get work or to volunteer for the community in some eligible capacity. So real help to other people in need in the community. That seems very reasonable that somebody who is receiving benefits, tax dollars, would actually give something back to the community or be on the path to better themselves so that they can get off the need to rely on their fellow citizens and on their own two feet, as we said before. The legislation also addresses waste and abuse in the Food Stamp--or SNAP--program by expunging unused benefits after a 90-day period. The intent of the Food Stamp program is to assist those families in need on an as-needed basis. If a recipient hasn't utilized all their benefits after 90 days, which is a reasonable period of time, I think, then the recipient has not really demonstrated the need for those funds. So let's use those unused funds to help some other truly needy people or let's give that money back to the taxpayers, where it came from in the first place. Ohio did a study and they found that in 25 people, there was $300,000 sitting in the SNAP account that they hadn't used, just building up. Unfortunately, that is oftentimes funds that are going to end up in either fraud or are going to be used for other purposes that was never intended for food stamps. Food stamps are supposed to help people, the truly needy, not be there to end up being used for gambling purposes, buying lottery tickets, or to buy drugs or alcohol or anything like that. So this takes some of the abuses, I think, out of the system. Mr. Speaker, these are commonsense reforms that will help make sure that food stamps go to those who actually need them while at the same time protecting our tax dollars from those who would take advantage of the system. I want to thank, again, the gentleman from Arkansas, French Hill, for his leadership on this issue. This is a very important issue. There is a lot of money, unfortunately, that gets wasted in a lot of these programs. Let's make sure that the safety net is really helping people and not being abused. I thank him for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, allowing service-disabled veterans access to small business advocates in Federal agencies is simply common sense. Allowing those advocates the tools necessary to detect fraud is good government. This bill deserves the support of the House. I want to thank Mr. Hardy of Nevada for his leadership, Mr. Coffman of Colorado, Ms. Adams of North Carolina, and, as always, the ranking member, Ms. Velazquez, for her leadership in this matter and all the other bills we had today. I urge passage of H.R. 4326. I also want to thank the Speaker pro tempore for his time this afternoon. I particularly enjoyed his pronunciation of the great State of Ohio. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman). He is the chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4326) to amend the Small Business Act to expand the duties of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, and for other purposes.

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 materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization were created in 1978 to serve as advocates within Federal agencies for small businesses seeking prime contracts and subcontracts. These small offices help review contracts to prevent bundling, make sure small companies are paid promptly, and ensure that solicitations are written in a manner that maximizes the use of small businesses. H.R. 4326, introduced by Ms. Adams of North Carolina, makes two improvements to this program. First, H.R. 4326 makes a technical correction to the Small Business Act. When these offices were created in 1978, there was no contracting program for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses or for businesses located in and employing people from distressed areas, commonly known as HUBZones. Therefore, H.R. 4326 updates the act to make it clear that these small-business advocates are authorized to provide assistance to service-disabled veterans and HUBZone small businesses. Second, the bill allows the Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization to crack down on credit card fraud by Federal employees. Last year we learned that the Department of Veterans Affairs had ignored the law and hidden almost $6 billion in spending by using these credit cards. These contracts should have gone to service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses, but the small-business office didn't have access to the data that would have let them catch this fraud. H.R. 4326 gives these small-business advocates access to this data. This legislation was included, as I mentioned some of the other bills were, as part of a larger bill that passed the Small Business Committee in January, and it received bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support and pass H.R. 4326. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Hardy), who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations.

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 materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4332) to amend the Small Business Act to clarify the duties of procurement center representatives with respect to reviewing solicitations for a contract or task order contract.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in closing, allowing small businesses the opportunity to compete for contracts is simply common sense. Competition encourages innovation, lower prices, and job creation. This bill will alleviate an unnecessary barrier to small-business competition. H.R. 4332 removes a regulatory hurdle. I urge my colleagues to vote to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 4332. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Kelly) who in a relatively short period of time in this Congress is already showing considerable initiative and has taken a leadership role in the committee.

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 materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4325) to amend the Small Business Act to modify the anticipated value of certain contracts reserved exclusively for small business concerns.

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. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, many of the contracting provisions in the Small Business Act were written in the 1960s and 1970s. As such, they predate the government's move to a set of standardized contracting terms in 1984. In reality, this means that the Small Business Act uses outdated terms that make it hard to read in conjunction with other laws. Even the SBA has adopted the new terminology in their regulations, given that over 30 years have passed since it was first adopted. My colleague and the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, Ms. Velazquez of New York, introduced H.R. 4325 to update the Small Business Act. Thanks to her efforts, we will no longer use different terms for micropurchase or simplified acquisition than the rest of the government. This will make it easier for small businesses to understand the law and for contracting officers to implement the law. This legislation was included as part of a larger bill that passed the Small Business Committee in January, and it received bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support and pass H.R. 4325. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, in closing, the gentlewoman's bill is simply good government. We shouldn't have different terms and different laws if we are talking about the same thing. Federal contracting is confusing enough for small businesses without the use of arcane terminology. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 4325. I would like to thank the gentlewoman, the ranking member, Ms. Velazquez, for her leadership in this matter. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Curbelo), who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, in closing, allowing the SBA to develop rational size standards for small farmers, rather than perpetuating a one-size-fits-all approach, simply makes sense. It will allow these farmers to access the appropriate SBA programs and helps ensure that regulations are properly crafted. The provision doesn't have any cost since SBA is already doing this for all other industries. This bill deserves the support of the House, and I would urge my colleagues to vote to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3714. Again, I want to thank the ranking member and the other Members that have been mentioned here today for their work on this important measure. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the Small Business Act, the Small Business Administration sets size standards for approximately 1,100 industries every 5 years. These standards determine what is a small business for purposes of regulatory analyses, procurement programs, capital access, and technical entrepreneurial development assistance. The SBA sets these size standards in accordance with statutory guidelines and using notice and comment rulemaking. The Small Business Committee and, in particular, my colleague from Illinois (Mr. Bost), has spent a great deal of effort to make sure this is a transparent and accountable process. However, agricultural enterprises have not been able to benefit from these advances due to a historic anomaly. Forty-six different industries, as diverse as cattle ranching and citrus farming, are all subject to a single size standard that hasn't changed in nearly 20 years. That means that, to qualify as small, a poultry farmer or a soybean producer can only have $750,000 in receipts each year. That is receipts, not revenues. For some agricultural producers, $750,000 does not cover the cost of a hobby farm. H.R. 3714 levels the playing field for these small farmers. It does not set a size standard, but instead requires that the SBA examine the characteristics of these industries to develop size standards using the normal process. Recognizing that a small dairy doesn't look like a small corn farm is common sense. My colleague, Mr. Curbelo of Florida, who chairs the Agriculture, Energy, and Trade Subcommittee of the Small Business Committee, held a hearing examining H.R. 3714, and the witnesses overwhelmingly supported this legislation. H.R. 3714 was then included as part of a larger bill that passed the Small Business Committee in January, and it received bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to support and pass H.R. 3714. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), who put a lot of hard work and thought into this, and I thank him for his leadership on this matter.

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 materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3714) to amend the Small Business Act to allow the Small Business Administration to establish size standards for small agricultural enterprises using the same process for establishing size standards for small business concerns, and for other purposes.