John Culberson

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, to everyone in Texas and Louisiana who has suffered the loss of a loved one or the loss of everything they own in this catastrophic flood, we are here today to tell you that help is on the way and to say thank you. Help is on the way because today, in the Congress, there are no Republicans, there are no Democrats. We are all Americans here today, unified in our determination to move swiftly to help all those poor people who have suffered so much as a result of this catastrophic storm. It is an unparalleled disaster in our Nation's history. My district suffered. We all suffered, all of us in southeast Texas, southwest Louisiana. My brother and his wife lost everything. Their home is still underwater. My in-laws lost everything. Their home was destroyed, everything they owned and loved, but they are just personal possessions. No one lost their lives. I can't imagine if you lost a loved one in this catastrophe. But help is on the way. We are all unified here today. We are all working together to make sure that we get this immediate infusion of cash into the Disaster Relief Fund to help these people who have suffered so much and been displaced so abruptly and so catastrophically. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for bringing this to the floor so quickly, thank our leadership for working together to get this done. I want to thank President Trump and his wife for personally donating $1 million to the relief fund for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. I want to thank, also, all of the first responders who sacrificed so much to save so many lives. I want to thank especially the people of America who stepped up to help the people of Houston. I spent all of last week out in neighborhoods in boats and on trucks and in waders helping pull people and their property and their pets out of their homes. Last Saturday, I ran into a group of guys, four guys, with a bass boat that drove all the way from Florida. They saw the catastrophe on television and said, ``We can either sit here and watch this or we can go help our fellow Americans,'' and they jumped in their truck and they drove that bass boat all the way to Texas to help us. A guy from Michigan showed up in our neighborhoods just to help. I want to thank my friend and my colleague, Congressman Garret Graves of Louisiana, who called me on the second day of the disaster and said: The Cajun Navy is on the way. I said: What? I didn't know there was such a thing as the Cajun Navy. Garret said: 110 trucks are on the way to Texas towing 100 boats loaded with thousands of meals of jambalaya and red beans and rice and diapers and water and radios and everything that you need to recover from a storm. They just did it, our neighbors. I have never been prouder to be an American, never been prouder to be a Texan or a Houstonian, to see people step up and help each other out of the goodness of their hearts, because we are Americans and we are the greatest nation in the history of civilization, and it is because we are all self-reliant. It is because we all look after each other as a community. We all love each other. We love our family, our God. We respect the law. This great Nation that was founded on the rule of law is a bond that connects all of us, and we saw it in this disaster, and we thank you all from the bottom of our heart. Help is on the way.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, last year, over 7,000 cases of human trafficking were reported in the United States. Unfortunately, the city with the largest number of cases was our hometown of Houston, Texas. Human trafficking is an absolutely despicable and deplorable crime that demands swift action. As chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I have spearheaded efforts to make sure that our Federal law enforcement officers have all the resources they need to crack down on these human traffickers, who are exploiting our children and young women coming across our borders. We have to work together to provide justice and relief for these victims. That is why Congress has passed 16 bipartisan bills to combat this human trafficking epidemic. These bills ensure that all law enforcement officers at the State, Federal, and local level have the resources they need and the support they need to fight this overwhelming crisis. I am proud to support these measures, and I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that we crack down and drop the hammer on human traffickers.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, every day law enforcement officers across America put their lives on the line to protect our communities and our fellow citizens. National Police Week is an opportunity for all Americans to recognize and express our deep appreciation for those law enforcement officers and first responders for their selfless service. I want to take a moment to honor those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. In Harris County, Texas, we recognize and remember the lives of Chief Clint Greenwood and Deputy Darren Goforth, who worked tirelessly to keep Houston safe. Both of these men served their communities and families honorably, and we are so grateful for their sacrifice. As chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, it is and will continue to be one of my top priorities to ensure that our law enforcement officers have the resources they need to protect our communities and to protect themselves. We must always honor and protect those who protect us. I express a deep thanks to the people of Texas and America, to all our uniformed officers, for their dedicated service to our Nation.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. This bill protects our Second Amendment rights and contains pro-life protections that we have had in previous legislation. This is a good bill, Mr. Speaker. I urge all Members to support it.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, the reason you can't buy a house or a business with a 1- or 2-page contract is all the detail in that big, thick stack of documents ensures that both parties are going to perform and do exactly as promised in the contract. The same is true of this appropriations bill. The Founders understood the power of the purse was the most important and powerful check and balance in the Constitution. I am proud to support this legislation because the detail in this bill will help ensure that the agencies that are responsible for spending our taxpayers' hard-earned and very precious tax dollars have to perform according to the detail in this bill. My portion of the bill--the Commerce, Justice, Science portion--is responsible for funding our Nation's law enforcement officers. Now that we have a President who will enforce the law, we ensure that our men and women in uniform who protect us have the resources they need in this bill. We funded the FBI with an additional $277 million to help those men and women fight terrorism, espionage, and cybercrime. The DEA, the Marshals Service, and the U.S. Attorneys all get increases to ensure our communities are made safer by combating gangs, drug trafficking, and violent crime. We make sure in this bill to fully fund opioid abuse programs to reduce this terrible plague that is now sweeping across our Nation. We also in the Commerce, Justice, Science bill are responsible for funding the National Science Foundation, which we protected and made sure that the scientific community has the money they need to continue to do their great work. I also, as a Houstonian and a Texan, take special pride in the funding that we have given to NASA to make sure that NASA will be restored to the glory days of Apollo with a funding total of $19.7 billion, and put them on a 50-year path to discover life in another world, the oceans of Europa, to look for that nearest Earthlike planet around the nearest star, develop an interstellar rocket propulsion system to go to at least 10 percent of the speed of light and to launch no later than 2069, the 100th anniversary of Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon. We have directed NASA to launch the first interstellar mission to that nearest Earthlike planet. To pay for these increases, we are freezing 29 programs and cutting about 15 others to make sure that these are paid for.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, on account of illness, I was not present for votes on March 7, 2017. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 127, and YEA on Roll Call No. 128.

Mr. CULBERSON

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

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is very straightforward. We are simply expediting the funding that has already been appropriated, already been authorized, and already set aside for this project to ensure that the Corps gives the Brays Bayou project the same priority and the same urgency that it has, for example, with other projects in the area like Buffalo. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to work with my colleague, Congressman Al Green. I move passage of the amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, this simple amendment that I am offering today with my colleague and good friend, Congressman Al Green of Houston, would direct the Secretary to expedite a project that we both share in Houston, the Brays Bayou flood mitigation project. It was authorized back in 1996. We have experienced massive flooding in southeast Texas, and tremendous damage to homes and businesses throughout the area that Congressman Green and I represent. It is vital that this project be completed as soon as possible. Expediting this project will remove 29,000 homes and businesses from a 100-year flood plain. The project is essential to reduce the devastation and suffering the people of Houston and Harris County have experienced in recent years. I am proud to offer the amendment today with my colleague, Mr. Al Green of Houston. I want to thank the Rules Committee for making the amendment in order. I especially want to thank Chairman Shuster and his very capable committee staff for their assistance with this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

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

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, on roll call no. 335 I am not recorded because of travel delays due to inclement weather in the DC area. Had I been present, I would have voted aye.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, on roll call No. 334, I am not recorded because of travel delays due to inclement weather in the DC area. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, on roll call No. 336 I am not recorded because of travel delays due to inclement weather in the DC area. Had I been present, I would have voted no.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, the Zika virus does pose a genuine emergency situation and, as in any emergency, requires a calm head, clear thinking, and rational approach to dealing with the problem, absent of emotion. You have got to be careful and thoughtful about these things. As with any emergency situation, you have got to trust the experts, and the experts in the field have told us that the Ebola virus is no longer as serious a threat as it was. That emergency has passed. We now need to focus on the Zika virus, which we are beginning to see cases in the United States. So, in a thoughtful, careful, rational way, the Republican majority has made certain that the money, our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars, is wisely and prudently spent. When we first recognized it, Chairman Rogers, Chairman Cole, and Chairman Granger made sure there was $5 billion set aside in the current year to fight Ebola and other infectious diseases. Nearly $2 billion is still in that account for other infectious diseases. And to deal with this Zika crisis, we have in this legislation tonight--which I urge my colleagues to support--added another $622 million that is completely offset. We have made savings and cuts in other areas of the government to make sure that our constituents' hard- earned taxpayers dollars are wisely spent. We are not increasing spending. We are offsetting this $622 million to fight Zika in a thoughtful, intelligent, rational way, beginning with funding mosquito control and prevention in those States with heavy mosquito populations. Texas was inundated with rain this past April, and we got the threat of a large mosquito population that is very real. So this funding tonight, which is completely offset and paid for, will help combat that threat. Chairman Rogers, Chairman Cole, and Chairman Granger have provided $230 million to the National Institutes of Health in addition to-- remember--the $2 billion that is still there from the current year to fight Ebola and other infectious diseases. We have made sure that there is careful oversight of our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars and to make certain that each agency has to report to Congress on how the money is going to be used. They have to submit a spending plan. We have to make certain the dollars are going where they will do the most good. That is our responsibility. That is our duty. As good stewards of our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars, as guardians of the Treasury, we have a fiduciary duty to make sure that money is not wasted. Chairman Rogers also put an expiration date on the funding to make sure that the money is not going to be transferred to other activities. It has got to be spent on fighting this dreaded disease. The only politicization that has taken place tonight are those who would stand up in front of the people of the United States and try to make it an emotional issue. We have got to approach this, as in any crisis, in a calm, thoughtful, and intelligent way that makes sure that we are targeting our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars where they will do the most good. Any additional funding that is necessary to fight this outbreak in the next fiscal year can and will be considered as part of the normal appropriations process. In a thoughtful, considerate way, Chairman Rogers has given us a bill to help solve this crisis, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my good friend Dr. Charles Elachi, the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who plans to retire this June after 45 years of service to the people of the United States of America. Dr. Elachi's journey to become the Director of JPL is a source of inspiration and encouragement to every young person in America who dreams of making great discoveries or changing the world around them. Charles Elachi's life is a true Horatio Alger story. As Dr. Elachi wrote recently in an essay for the Smithsonian, ``How did a boy from an ordinary, middle-class family in a little Lebanese village come so far? The answer is deeply connected with what I believed as a child and I still believe today: The United States is a land of freedom and opportunity, where anything is possible, and where dreams can and do come true.'' Growing up in the small Lebanese town of Rayak, Charles remembers meeting ``quite a few American visitors. Over and over again,'' he said, ``I was struck by their open, positive attitude toward life, their attitude that anything is possible, no holds barred, regardless of family background, religion or color.'' As a boy, he loved watching the stars at night, and he says watching those stars helped inspire him to study hard at school. He was so successful at his studies that he distinguished himself as Lebanon's top science student, an honor which enabled him to attend any university he chose. He first earned a degree in physics at the University of Grenoble, France, and then earned a degree in engineering at the Polytechnic Institute. When it was time to decide on graduate school, those early positive memories of optimistic fearless Americans inspired him to go to California, where he earned admission to the California Institute of Technology. He fell in love with southern California, and earned a master's degree and a doctorate in electrical sciences from Caltech, a master's degree in geology from UCLA, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. His lifelong dreams about exploring the stars and his exceptional work in college brought him to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1970. He first worked on Earth observing missions, and then moved on to planetary exploration and astrophysics. His scientific and engineering gifts and his natural talent as a leader led NASA to select Charles as the Science Team Leader on the Space Shuttle's Imaging Radar. JPL recognized his unique skills and assigned him to be a key part of the Magellan Imaging Radar which was so essential to visualize the surface of Venus through its permanent and total cloud cover for the first time. NASA and JPL were so impressed with his work that he was then chosen to lead the radar science team for the extraordinarily successful Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. Once again, his skill with orbital imaging radar systems proved essential in visualizing the surface of an alien world otherwise forever hidden beneath a permanent worldwide cloak of clouds--Titan. Charles' work as the leader of this radar team was a vital part of selecting the site for humanity's first successful landing on an alien world beyond the moon and Mars when the Huygens spacecraft landed on Titan in January, 2005. The Cassini orbiter continues to thrive far beyond its predicted lifespan and return groundbreaking scientific discoveries about Saturn, its ring system and its immense family of moons. Charles Elachi was appointed as director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2001, and under his visionary leadership, JPL scientists and engineers have discovered: conclusive evidence of water ice and long lasting rivers and lakes on Mars; created history's most detailed gravity field and ice maps of Earth; returned history's first samples and close up images of a comet; landed three complex and highly successful spacecraft on Mars; blasted the first artificial crater in a comet to learn what comets are truly made of; landed the first spacecraft on Titan and sampled its surface and atmosphere; discovered lakes and seas of liquid methane on Titan using Charles' imaging radar; created the first deep space telescopes to see the universe in ultraviolet and infrared; returned our first true close up images of dwarf planets and asteroids; created the most detailed map ever made of the Moon; discovered millions of black holes; discovered the first Earth like exoplanet in the habitable zone of another star; discovered conclusive evidence for immeasurable millions of exoplanets in our galaxy; set a still growing record for driving a spacecraft across the surface of another world with the unstoppable Opportunity lander on Mars; discovered the most luminous galaxy in the universe; discovered conclusive evidence for liquid water today on the surface of Mars; discovered immense geysers of frozen water erupting from a worldwide ocean beneath the frozen surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus; and laid the groundwork for what most planetary scientists predict could be the first discovery of life beyond Earth in the vast oceans of Europa. These discoveries will be remembered throughout human history. ``Only the United States could do this!,'' as Charles vividly remembers a foreign visitor saying on the night a rocket sky crane gently landed the Mars Science Lab on the surface of Mars in August of 2012. Charles was reminded that night of another day he felt the same sort of immense pride in his nation when he took the oath to become a United States citizen in August of 1979. ``In this nation of immigrants,'' Charles wrote for the Smithsonian, ``especially in science and engineering, where people try new things and solve problems, they don't ask where you're from. Instead, they ask who is the best person to help overcome a challenge.'' ``In other countries, you just don't find this merging of cultures, this melting pot. I think diversity truly enriches our society and makes the United States more intellectually and economically powerful. People from different backgrounds bring different ideas and thought processes. The best ideas rise to the top. I see that happen at NASA and JPL all the time. How else do you land a rover on a planet no human has ever visited, or design a robot to capture an asteroid?'' Charles tells us that ``I believe this uniquely American spirit of optimism, the sense that anything is possible for anyone, is a key reason our nation is the world leader in space exploration. . . . That wonderful, very American spirit of opening doors, of pushing the frontier, of pursuing the seemingly impossible--that's what exploration is all about. When the United States landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong took that one ``small step'' on the surface, when we landed a rover on Mars, when we deliberately collided with a comet to study its interior, all those milestones made people here feel deep pride as Americans. But I also believe and hope that they made people around the globe feel deep pride as humans, pride in all the positive and amazing things we can accomplish when we work together.'' Charles Elachi embodies everything that has made America the most prosperous and powerful and freest nation in the history of the world. His life and the scientific discoveries he has left us all as his legacy will inspire us and our children and grandchildren and their descendants for all time. Charles Elachi and his extraordinary team of scientists and engineers have made our lives as Americans and as members of the human race far, far richer because he and his team have dared and succeeded in achieving mighty things. All Americans owe this wonderful good man an immeasurable debt of gratitude. We will reap the harvest of his visionary leadership for many, many generations to come. It is my great privilege to be his friend and to stand here today, on behalf of the people of Texas I represent who love NASA and its mission, and on behalf of the United States Congress, to thank Charles Elachi for his devoted service to America, to NASA, to JPL, to science and for helping lead humanity in our greatest era of discovery. May God always bless you and you and your family, Charles.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, the Obama administration has just issued a series of executive actions attempting to limit our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. As the new chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, I have been entrusted with the responsibility handed down to us by our Founding Fathers of the power of the purse. The Department of Justice and the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have already been put on notice that, if they attempt to interfere with our Second Amendment rights, I have the authority, as chairman, to block their ability to move money within the agency, to block their ability, for example, when they submit a spending plan. That is a very powerful tool of persuasion, not always guaranteed. The Founding Fathers entrusted the power of the purse to the Congress as a way to give a check and balance to an out-of-control executive. I don't need a bill. I don't need an amendment. And I don't need any new authority. The Congress has it. I will execute that authority entrusted to me to protect our Second Amendment rights and to make sure that Americans always have the right to keep and bear arms in defense of our freedom. If the Obama administration wants access to our hard-earned tax dollars, they are going to have to assure me and the American people that they will not interfere with our constitutional rights.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. I thank the gentleman for his leadership in helping San Bernardino recover from this horrific attack. Law enforcement protecting the homeland is our top priority in this bill, and we have provided a significant increase for the FBI to combat terrorism. For local law enforcement assisting the FBI, the Bureau has the ability to reimburse costs. The Department of Justice also has $50 million available for assistance to victims of terrorism.

Mr. CULBERSON

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, my colleague from Oregon is confusing the issue. This isn't about making money. This isn't about repaying the money. This is about making sure that our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars are going to be wisely and carefully and prudently sent only to those transit agencies that have proven they can do a good job, that they don't have more debt currently than they have current assets. My amendment, quoting from the amendment, is very simple: Applicant shall have a current operating ratio of current assets to current liabilities of 1:1. That is at a minimum. Houston Metro would qualify for this. There are transit agencies all over America that would qualify for this. Let's make sure that the transit entity, before they ask for our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars, have demonstrated that they are competent and capable of managing the money that they already have on hand and they don't have more debt than they can carry. I urge passage of the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, this is not about making money. The Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority chairman yesterday told me that their asset-to-debt ratio is about 2:3:1. So they have got 2 to 3 times more assets than they do debt. That is what this amendment says, that we will, as good stewards of our taxpayers' hard-earned dollars, only send Federal transportation grants to transit agencies like Houston Metro that have done a good job managing their responsibilities and their assets are at least on par with their debt. That is all it says. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. In fact, I just spoke to the chairman of the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority yesterday, and he tells me that their asset-to-debt ratio--they have got assets.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, my colleague from Oregon is confusing the issue here. The amendment is very straightforward. Let me read from the amendment itself. The applicant transit agency has to have a current operating ratio of current assets to current liabilities of 1:1. They have to have the same current level of debt as they do assets in order to be eligible to apply for a Federal transit grant. This isn't about making money. This is about making sure the taxpayers are not going to give another brick to a transit agency that has already got too much debt and is overloaded and is in a position where they may not be able to take full advantage of the grant. Taxpayers, our constituents, should not have to put their hard-earned tax dollars into a transit agency that is carrying more debt than they have assets. This is very straightforward. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, one of our principal responsibilities here is to be good stewards of our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars. It is a responsibility that I know each one of us takes very seriously. My amendment today will ensure that we apply the same commonsense standards to the investment of our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars that we do in the investment of our own dollars. You in your own life would not loan money or invest money in a business that was so poorly managed that it took on more debt than they could manage. You wouldn't put your money in a company that had taken on so much debt that their debt exceeded their liabilities. And, certainly, if you were applying for a bank loan, a bank would not loan your business money if your business had more debt than it had assets. That is all this amendment says is that the Federal Government will not invest our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars in a transit agency that has more debt than they do liabilities. My amendment ensures that the minimum asset-to-debt ratio that a transit entity can have is 1:1. It is common sense. This is sort of a working guideline that I know the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, on which I work, and the Federal Transit Administration has for years wanted to be sure that the agencies out there--transit entities across America--have no more debt than they do assets. So the amendment says the Federal Government will not issue a Federal transit grant to an agency that has a ratio of current assets to debt that exceeds 1:1, very straightforward, very simple. Let's protect our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars in the same way we would protect our own. In fact, it is actually a much higher obligation that we have to be good stewards of the Treasury, as responsible representatives. I urge adoption of this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.