Eric Cantor

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes of the week are expected no later than 3 p.m. On Friday, no votes are expected. Mr. Speaker, the House will consider a few suspensions next week, a complete list of which will be announced by close of business today. In addition, the House will consider H.R. 1797, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. I also expect the House to consider H.R. 1947, the Federal Agricultural Reform and Risk Management Act. Chairman Frank Lucas and the members of the Agriculture Committee have worked very hard to produce a 5-year farm bill with strong reforms, and I look forward to a full debate on the floor. I thank the gentleman and wish him a happy birthday again.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I would respond by saying that it's certainly our intention to complete deliberation on the farm bill. The Speaker has continued to commit himself and our conference to an open process for this House, and I look forward to a robust debate on what, as the gentleman knows, has been a bipartisan effort at the committee.

Mr. CANTOR. I would respond by saying that I do think there is a commitment to genuine and robust debate on all sides. And hopefully, without speaking to details because, as the gentleman knows, the Rules Committee has not met, that would include all subject matter in the bill.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. There has been a lot of discussion that I have been receiving, comments, input from Members, and we're looking at weighing those suggestions and inputs as to how the Rules Committee will deliberate in terms of the rule and how the bill comes to the floor.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and would respond by saying, as has been the custom in this Congress and last, we will continue to abide by the 3-day notice, and I do think there will be adequate time for review by parties on all sides.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I do think that the posting of the bill will occur shortly. And I also would tell the gentleman to expect the vote sooner than Wednesday, perhaps on Tuesday. As the gentleman indicated before by his question on the farm bill, that may take up a considerable amount of time and debate. So I would just respond in that way.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman again. It has always been the commitment on the part of the Speaker and the majority to try and accommodate the need for open debate on issues of contention especially; and not speaking for the Rules Committee, I do think that we'll continue to see that tradition in the House being followed. Again, I thank the gentleman for raising the concern.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. Just very quickly I would respond by saying that the gentleman is correct. There has been a lot of debate around the issue that he refers to. There was considerable debate in the HASC committee, and the HASC committee, House Armed Services, came up with a bipartisan approach to the sexual assault issue, and it was inserted into the base bill. And, in fact, it is consistent with President Obama's view and the Pentagon's view on this issue. So I understand that the gentleman may differ, but it was certainly a bipartisan product that was in the bill. And I hear the gentleman in terms of procedure and perhaps a characterization of a vote; but I do think, at the end, the minority was afforded the motion to recommit. And the characterization that we believe is a procedural vote, the gentleman takes another view. I understand that the subject matter was the same as these amendments, and these amendments that were not brought forward on the floor were heavily discussed in committee, resolved on a bipartisan basis. So, again, I understand the gentleman's point and look forward to continuing to do all we can to safeguard the women in our military, and to make sure that we protect all American citizens, which I do think this bipartisan resolution of the issue will do.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and would say that the Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Goodlatte, is very, very involved in the discussion around these issues and is intending to address and begin to address the issue of immigration this month. And certainly my hope is that we, in this House, can see a full debate on the floor throughout the committee process and to make sure that we can address what is a very broken immigration system. And I know that the gentleman shares with me the commitment to try and do all we can to reflect the notion of trying to address a broken system.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and would say that, yes, there is a commitment to try to make sure that there is not a doubling of the interest rate to students who would look to incurring debt to go to school. As the gentleman correctly knows, Mr. Speaker, this House is the only body that has passed a bill to provide for protecting these students against such a rate increase. In fact, the bill that passed the House, as the gentleman knows, was a bill that allows for rates to go into a variable mode, to assure that any increase that would occur is not that increase in the statute, but long term could protect students as well from that kind of a hit. Now, I've talked to several members of the administration. Our chairman, John Kline, has been in contact, I know, with the Secretary, as well as others, in trying to resolve this issue. Discussions are ongoing. It is my hope, I would tell the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, that we can resolve this issue so that perspective students can be assured that their rates would not double. But it is the House who has provided the pathway and the roadmap to ensure that happens. And we're trying to work with the administration, since the Senate has been unable to act, to avoid this from happening.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet on Monday next, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my friend from Maryland, for those kind birthday wishes. Yes, it is my 50th birthday. I've been saying all day that my wife, Diana, and I are empty nesters now, so it's about time I'm 50. But I do thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I would tell the gentleman that I'll be glad to take him up on a kinder and gentler colloquy for the birthday. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the House will meet in pro forma session at 3 p.m., and no votes are expected. On Tuesday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour and at 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for morning hour and at noon for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes of the week are expected no later than 3 p.m. Mr. Speaker, the House will consider a few bills under suspension of the rules, a complete list of which will be announced by the close of business tomorrow. In addition, the House will consider H.R. 1910, the National Defense Authorization Act. Chairman Buck McKeon and his committee once again will bring a bipartisan bill to the floor to ensure that our men and women in the armed services have the tools and resources necessary to protect the freedoms that all of us enjoy here at home. Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I understand his concerns. I think all of us have concerns about the way spending reductions are implemented under sequester. As the gentleman knows, we in the majority have continued to try and advocate. We've put proposals forward to accomplish the spending reductions and reforms in a smarter way. I think both of us, Mr. Speaker, would agree there are much smarter ways for that to happen. Unfortunately, it is the law. In fact, again, the House has posited its formula for better reductions in spending. The White House and Senate refused to go along. So sequester is the law. As the gentleman knows, 302(b)s are set according to the post-sequester numbers, and that is our intention, Mr. Speaker, to abide by the law with the sequester in place. I would respond to the gentleman's inquiry about budget conference, and the gentleman knows, as I've said before, Chairman Ryan stands ready to work with Senator Murray on drawing an outline and structure for the way a conference would proceed. Unfortunately, there can be even no discussion on that point because there is an insistence on the part of the Senate and the White House that any budget conference discussion include a discussion of tax increases. We have said repeatedly that we can't be raising taxes every other month, every 6 months in this town. There was a significant increase in taxes, an impact on working Americans this year because of the fiscal cliff. We remain committed to addressing the problems of the budget, but will not do so while there is an insistence that a prerequisite is raising taxes.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I will respond to the gentleman that we would like to have agreement that we can begin discussions of a fiscally sane path to balancing our budget. As the gentleman knows, Mr. Speaker, our conference has made its stand saying we want to balance the budget, we want to promote spending reductions and reforms that get us there in 10 years. In that vein, we would like to see that it's not punishing the American taxpayer the way that we get there, as far as the budgeteers are concerned here in Washington, that it's from growing our economy and from reforming the kinds of things that are necessary to take care of those unfunded liabilities at the Federal level.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. To his first point about jobs bills, Mr. Speaker, we have remained committed in the House, as the majority, to doing all we can to help every American in terms of a brighter future, and that is a path to a better job, better career. We brought forward the SKILLS Act, something that is a bipartisan commitment and should have been a lot more so on this floor in trying to streamline workforce training programs to help those who are unemployed. We want to help the unemployed get into a job. The Federal workforce training program is a mess. There are 50 programs. It is very difficult for unemployed people to get the training and skills they need to get a job. Unfortunately, that wasn't met with a lot of bipartisan reception. Secondly, we just voted on the Keystone XL pipeline bill, a known proposal to create tens of thousands of jobs, much less contribute to America's energy security and independence, as well as competitiveness, which means more jobs and more capital flowing into America. We also passed, without any bipartisan support, the Working Families Flexibility Act, looking to those struggling moms and dads who are working, the fact that 50 percent of our workforce comes from dual- income households, many of them with kids. The Working Families Flexibility Act, it addressed the very struggles that working families have in trying to make their life work. We couldn't get bipartisan support on that. And then I would say to the gentleman, we remain committed to making the future brighter through offering more opportunity to all people. Our solutions, that come from conservatives in the House majority, we believe our solutions can work for everyone. The gentleman knows--he and I have met on his Make It In America agenda--there are things that we have in common, but, unfortunately, we can't see a way to having bipartisan votes. So I remain committed to working with the gentleman on his agenda, and I know the spirit in which he approaches his obligations to his constituents and his caucus, and know that we hopefully can get back on track towards that end. Now, towards the question, secondly, about budget levels and writing the bills, I would say to the gentleman that we have drafted the appropriations bills, marked them up, along with his caucus, and I would say that they reflect our priorities. Obviously, our priorities are going to differ from the Members on his side. The trick is to try and see where we can work towards a commonality. And lastly, to the debt limit, yes, we remain very concerned about that. Hopefully, we can all work together and come up with a way that we can adopt a plan that will manage down the debt and deficit and allow us to reach a balance in the Federal level within 10 years, enacting the necessary reforms to the programs that we know are disproportionately causing the deficit without disproportionately continuing to hit the discretionary side, when we know the mandatory side provides most of the impetus for growth.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, first of all, it is our intent to continue to work through the appropriations process and bring all the bills to the floor, that's correct. I would say furthermore to the gentleman, as far as the impact of the sequester and 302(b)s on a specific bill versus a piece of that bill, meaning the NIH research piece, as the gentleman knows, legislating, especially in times of fiscal stress, is about prioritizing. The gentleman correctly states that I'm very much in favor of making a priority out of Federal research and development. I'm convinced that basic research is needed to allow us to continue to advance the breakthroughs in science that not only help heal people and cure disease, but ultimately can help us bring down health care costs, which is the number one issue that's aggravating our deficit. So I'm glad to hear the gentleman shares that priority. I know he does. But it doesn't mean necessarily that because we are going to commit ourselves to balancing this budget that we cannot share that priority. I hope the gentleman can share with us the import of that priority and support what it is that we're trying to do in the area of research, making sure that we can reduce other lesser priorities in spending.

Mr. CANTOR. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CANTOR. I would just join the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, in congratulating Mr. Dingell for an incredible, first of all, milestone, and know he will continue in that service to the people of the great State of Michigan.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 3 p.m. on Monday, June 10, 2013.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman for his leadership and for bringing this bill forward. I appreciate the ranking member's support on this as well. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Improving Postsecondary Education Data for Students Act. American moms and dads are working tirelessly to help their children achieve their dreams. For many, that dream includes college. However, the cost of a postsecondary education has become increasingly difficult for a lot of families to bear. Young graduates today are not only confronting a tough job market when they leave school, they are continually facing a growing mountain of debt that is financially burdensome and extremely difficult to pay back. Many students choose schools and their majors without ever knowing the earning potential of their fields of study. This leaves many young Americans with a lower than expected income and struggling to pay down their loans once they graduate. For some, it can take decades. This has got to change. In my home State of Virginia, we've become a leader in attempting to address this problem. In 2012, Virginia enacted a requirement that schools in our State publish information regarding the proportion of graduates with employment, their average salaries and higher education debt at 18 months and 5 years after graduation. I expect that this data will become extremely useful to parents and students alike. Unfortunately, the data available to Virginia is limited to graduates who remain in the Commonwealth. This means that information available in the State database fails to fully capture students that graduate from a school, like the University of Richmond, which attracts students from 46 different States. Very often, they go on to take jobs throughout the country where they become leaders in their fields. We can help resolve this situation. The Federal Government currently has a significant amount of data that could help parents and students make better decisions regarding the financial benefits of prospective schools and majors, but this information is often hard to understand or is difficult to access. This bill requires the Secretary of Education to convene a 15-member advisory panel to provide recommendations on how to improve the information available to parents and students when deciding on their schools and majors. This panel will provide an interim report within 6 months and a final one within 1 year for Congress' consideration during the reauthorization of the Higher Ed Act. This legislation will serve to kick-start the process of improving transparency in higher education and will provide students and parents with the information that they need to make informed decisions so that a college education can continue to be a source of empowerment for millions of Americans. This bill is a great step in the right direction. I want to thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Messer) for his leadership, Chairman John Kline, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, and the rest of the Education and the Workforce Committee for their work on this issue, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman from Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to support the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act of 2013. The American economy is hurting, and what we need is less government standing in the way of the private sector, not more. This act will bring about some commonsense reforms by requiring the SEC to review existing regulations, as well as preventing new and unnecessary ones that would only continue to slow economic growth and hurt businesses and families. With job growth struggling and our already having experienced several years of high unemployment, we've got to make certain that we're doing what we can to ensure that it's easier, and not harder, for businesses to hire again. This act will do just that by first clearly defining the root of a problem before trying to implement perhaps unjust and redundant burdens on America's businesses. This is an appropriate reform bill that should garner bipartisan support. The President's own Jobs Council has advocated regulatory reform by focusing on streamlining the current system for permitting projects that can create jobs. That Jobs Council understood that regulations involving the Federal, State, and local level can lead to a tangled web of red tape and cause a bureaucratic nightmare. The current system will only continue to stunt economic growth, and this act is a much-needed step in the right direction. I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey, Chairman Garrett, as well as the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, the gentleman from Texas, for their leadership on this issue. Mr. Chairman, I strongly support the passage of the bill, and I urge my colleagues in the House to do so as well.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman for the time. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of the full repeal of ObamaCare. Moms and dads across America are worried. They are worried about their health, the health of their kids, the health of their aging parents. They are struggling to understand how the new health care laws will affect their prescription prices, their emergency room visits, whether they can keep their doctors or, worse, whether they can keep their jobs. These families want the best for themselves and their children, and so do we. House Republicans want patient-centered health care reform that lowers costs, increases access, makes the health care system easier to enter and easier to navigate. ObamaCare is not the answer. While both parties agree that we must make health care more accessible, we in the majority fundamentally disagree that more government is the answer. Sweeping mandates on individuals and businesses will not improve our health care. We do not wish to see unelected, Federal bureaucrats come between patients and their doctors--limiting choices, lowering quality and raising costs. Madam Speaker, this act, which is the ObamaCare law and which is set to be implemented 8 months from now, is a threat to American patients and their families. When this law was first debated in 2009 and signed in 2010, the White House promised the American people that ObamaCare would lower costs for families and businesses. That promise has been broken. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you like the health care coverage you currently have, you really don't know if you will be able to keep it under ObamaCare. Many employers are delaying hiring decisions because of provisions outlined in the law, and people with preexisting conditions are now being denied the coverage the President promised. There are more complaints about the law than praise--and for good reason. It is now projected that ObamaCare will send health care premiums skyrocketing in the individual and small group insurance markets. When fully enacted, this law is expected to pose new financial burdens on America's youngest adults and many working families. Moreover, due to the projected cuts to Medicare Advantage, many of our seniors will face a type of health care that they didn't bargain for. This act should not be considered a reform but a bureaucratic overreach that makes a mess out of our health care system and gives incredible power to the Internal Revenue Service. President Obama has already signed seven bills originating in the House that repeal or defund parts of this health care law, but if we are serious in wanting to deliver real results for the people who sent us here, we should repeal ObamaCare and replace it with the health care that the American people desire.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for his leadership in bringing this bill forward, as well as the bill's sponsor, the gentlelady from Alabama, a working mom whose inspiration is her kids at home and her husband that she is responsible for and with in order to make life work for them in Alabama. So I want to appreciate her leadership. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the bill, the Working Families Flexibility Act. If you are a working parent in this country, you know from experience that there's hardly ever enough time to spend with your family. Recently, I spoke with a constituent from Richmond. Her name is Nicole Lambert. She's a working mom who runs an early childhood education center. It's quite often that Nicole is approached by one of her employees requesting more flexibility with how they can use their overtime. Some of her employees need to take off to take their child to the doctor, some need to go and meet with a teacher. But under the current law, Nicole is not able to present her hardworking staff with this option. She understands that this bill would give her employees more flexibility to balance both work and their lives at home. Mr. Speaker, for too long working families in the private sector have not been able to choose a more flexible schedule when working overtime; but for the past 30 years, government employees have been afforded this luxury. It's time for all of us to present all parents in America with this option. As a father of three, I can tell you as a working parent I know that it is very necessary to be there for your children. And I bet no matter who you are as a working parent, if you asked a mom or a dad what they need more of, it's time. Washington should not be standing in the way of any employer voluntarily offering this benefit for any employee choosing more time. That's the bottom line, Mr. Speaker. Washington should not be in the way of more freedom in the workplace. I know this policy will work, from speaking with local government employees who already enjoy this advantage. Vicki is a working mom and a police officer in my district. She works long hours, and she raises her children. She tells me her life is made a little easier because she's allowed to work a few extra hours, save it up in case there's a sick day or an after-school event that she must attend. It's simply unfair for those who work for Nicole in the private sector to be prohibited from receiving the benefits that Vicki does, a government employee. This is a bill that should easily garner bipartisan support because, frankly, it puts parents before politics and will give people more freedom to make their lives work. There's simply no good reason to deny hardworking parents the opportunity to take their children to the doctor or to attend a parent-teacher conference. I want to thank my constituents for their relaying stories to me about their life story, about how this bill helps. And again, I'm very grateful to the leadership and the role model that the gentlewoman from Alabama (Mrs. Roby) and Chairman Kline have set forth in this effort. This act will help parents all across America, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, today, the administration has confirmed that the Assad regime in Syria has crossed a dangerous, game-changing red line, using chemical weapons against its own citizens. The Syrian conflict has raged for many months, and nearly 100,000 Syrian civilians have been killed. The conflict now threatens to spill over Syria's borders, destabilizing key American allies. This dangerous conflict threatens American national security interests in the region. I wanted to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to urge Members to attend the classified briefing that the administration will be providing tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. in the CVC auditorium. Secretary of State Kerry, Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Sandy Winnefeld, and Deputy Director of National Intelligence Robert Cardillo will be there to brief Members on the situations in both Syria and in North Korea. With that, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to say to Members that we won't be having another vote in this series.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I'm honored to stand before the House today in support of this award to honor Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair by awarding them the Congressional Gold Medal. The 50th anniversary of the attack on the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham is a strong reminder of how many people fought and died in the civil rights movement so that this country could live up to its founding ideals of equality and opportunity. On a recent trip to Selma, Alabama, I had the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with Congressman John Lewis and other civil rights heroes who stood on the front lines and fought to change America for the better. We must never forget the hardships they confronted and sacrifices they made. While reflecting on such moments in our history, and by honoring those who come before us, I look forward to continuing to focus on ways in which we all can stand together once again and continue to solve our Nation's problems and move forward in unison. I would like to thank Congresswoman Sewell, Congressman Bachus, and the rest of the Alabama delegation for their hard work on this matter and bringing it forward.