Steve Chabot

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership on this and many other issues. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to S.J. Res. 37 which would prevent the transfer of Paveway precision-guided munitions to the United Arab Emirates. There are numerous reasons to oppose this resolution. Let me list three: First, and most obviously, some Paveways have already left the U.S., and this fact alone shows that this resolution is more about messaging than action and demonstrates the urgent need the UAE has for these munitions. Second, the UAE is a steadfast partner against Iran. Tehran is our foremost opponent in the region right now and a critical threat to our interests there. I would note that the very flawed Iran deal put millions--in fact, billions and billions--of dollars of cash into the pockets of Iran, and they are now using those dollars to support terrorism, foment instability, put mines on ships, and attack ships in international waters. So they are now a threat not just in the region but a threat around the world. So, thank God, President Trump had the good sense to get us out of that terrible deal. If we want the UAE's continued help, we need to make sure that we are a reliable partner and that they are properly armed. The third item is that the U.S. needs to continue its leadership in the region. If the UAE and Saudi Arabia cannot buy arms from us, that doesn't mean they won't get arms. It just means that they will buy them from the Russians. This will diminish our standing, weaken our leverage with our partners, and call into question our reliability as a partner. For these reasons and others, I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I rise this evening to offer a commonsense amendment to H.R. 3494. My amendment simply strikes Section 401, which creates the Climate Security Advisory Council. And I thank the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan) for his leadership, and also cosponsoring this particular amendment. This council is not the most responsible use of the valuable manpower and funding of the intelligence community, especially since the Director of National Intelligence did not even request that we create such an organization. The Federal Government already has vast resources devoted to the climate issue. Any climate security intelligence work should be in the context of larger intelligence matters affecting major regions around the world and the U.S. national security infrastructure. Additionally, many of the existing intelligence organizations already do much of this work on their own, including the CIA. Section 401 would just create unneeded redundancy across the intelligence community. If the goal is to ensure that we allocate our resources efficiently, we should instead require a report to Congress from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence outlining the necessity for the Climate Security Council before Congress establishes the organization or appropriates any funding. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining?

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chair, I want to quote a great American President, Ronald Reagan. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman be granted 5 minutes in opposition, but I have a little time left. Madam Chair, I have no objection to the gentleman offering his opposition to this.

Mr. CHABOT. There is 2\1/2\ minutes left. Is that correct?

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I still have 2\1/2\ minutes, is that correct, because I reserved my time?

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I would like to make a unanimous consent request that there be an opposition that gets 5 minutes and that I can close with my 2\1/2\ minutes. We are trying to be fair here, and we are happy to give our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 5 minutes to offer their opposition.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck). I will just take 1 minute to wrap up.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I have 2\1/2\ minutes. Is that right?

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck).

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, 2 minutes in opposition.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I have 2\1/2\ minutes. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck). So I have 1 minute left.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I think I have 1 minute left. I thought perhaps the gentleman wanted to support my amendment, but he called it wrongheaded. I am just shocked. Madam Chair, in closing, this council is a redundant, unnecessary use of manpower funding. We need our intelligence community focused on the most critical threats facing our Nation, specifically, counterterrorism, Iran, China, Russia, North Korea. If this council is something that the Director of National Intelligence believes is critical to our country, he should come to Congress and make such a request, and to my knowledge, that has not occurred. Madam Chair, until he does, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and remove this provision from the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Cambodia Democracy Act introduced by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), and I would note that I happen to be the co-chair of the Congressional Cambodian Caucus, along with the gentleman from California, Alan Lowenthal. He and I, a Republican and a Democrat, have worked on this particular issue for many years now. So, I certainly thank the committee for moving forward with this very good and helpful piece of legislation. The people of Cambodia have been living under the iron-fisted rule of Hun Sen, as the chairman mentioned, for, literally, decades. Under his reign, he has denied Cambodians almost all of their political rights and prevented free and fair elections from taking place. In recent years, Hun Sen has resorted to violence and attacked peaceful protesters many times. He has undermined any sense of democracy by dismantling the country's only viable opposition party. The work of NGOs has also been dramatically limited, and critical media outlets have been virtually shut down. Like many other dictators, he fears the day when he will no longer be in power. As the beacon of hope and freedom to the rest of the world, a key pillar of our foreign policy must be to support the expansion of democracy in other countries. That is why I am very, very proud to support and cosponsor the Cambodian Democracy Act. This bill pushes back on Hun Sen's regime by applying asset-blocking sanctions on any government officials or security forces who undermine the democratic process or take part in human rights abuses. This legislation also codifies visa restrictions for these individuals. This is a strong, bipartisan bill that will allow us to show our support for the people of Cambodia and their desire for democratic governance. Members of both parties should support this important piece of legislation. I would fully expect them to do so. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Congressman Yoho; I want to thank Mr. Engel and Mr. McCaul as well, for introducing this bill, and for all of their work on behalf of the Cambodian people. I certainly appreciate their support on this. Supporting democracy abroad is very important, really a critical endeavor. The world will be a more peaceful and prosperous place with the expansion of free markets and free people. I would urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CHABOT. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am glad that we were there Friday night and not Saturday night. I know you had some electrical difficulties in the city the following evening. I am glad we weren't there then.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 277, the Access to Sufficient Capital for Everyone in Natural Disaster Areas Act of 2019, as also known as the ASCEND Act. I want to thank the gentleman from New York, as well as the chairwoman of the committee, Ms. Velazquez, for their bipartisan cooperation on the committee. It is probably one of the most, if not the most, bipartisan committee in Congress. We really do work together on behalf of small business; so I would like to thank the gentleman and, as always, Ms. Velazquez. When natural disasters strike the Nation, the U.S. SBA, the Small Business Administration, leads the government's long-term recovery efforts through its Disaster Loan Program. This program, which offers low-interest and fixed-rate financing to individuals and businesses, helps communities and neighborhoods as they recover and rebuild. To assist disaster victims quickly and efficiently, the SBA offers an initial unsecured loan disbursement of $25,000 to qualified victims. However, after November, that was going to drop to 14,000, and this reduced loan level would conflict with the disbursement levels attributed to all other declared disasters. Immediately after a catastrophe, and when victims need help the most, loan levels across the SBA's Disaster Loan Program should be clear and consistent. So H.R. 277, this bill, codifies the $25,000 unsecured loan limit for Physical Damage Loans under an SBA Agency disaster declaration. I would, again, like to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their cooperation in attaining this effort, and I urge my colleagues to support the ASCEND Act. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. This commonsense legislation passed out of our committee unanimously and will allow the SBA to be nimbler and more responsive to survivors of a natura disaster, so I would urge my colleagues to support it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 2142. This legislation offered by committee members Mr. Delgado of New York and Dr. Joyce of Pennsylvania make important changes to the SBA Office of the National Ombudsman that will make it easier for small businesses to comply with Federal regulations. Congress established the Office of the National Ombudsman in 1996 to assist small businesses, small government entities, and small nonprofits when they are subject to excessive enforcement by a Federal agency. Excessive enforcement may include repetitive audits or investigations, excessive fines, penalties, threats, retaliation, or other unfair enforcement action. This simple and commonsense bill would require the ombudsman to create a public website to provide the compliance guides required by section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, or SBREFA. Mr. Speaker, these compliance guides help small firms better understand how to comply with the most onerous Federal regulations. Housing them at one spot on the ombudsman's website is an easy way to save a small business a significant amount of time. It is a good bill. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), the ranking member of our Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship Subcommittee.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, this is yet another example of how our committee continues to work across the aisle for the benefit of America's small businesses. We do it in a bipartisan manner, and I want to thank Mr. Delgado and the doctor, as well, for their leadership on this. I urge the bill's adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.