Mike Coffman

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,262,144,462,897.94. On January 6, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,623,718,716,604.10 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bipartisan bill to avert a U.S. rare earth supply crisis by restoring our nation's production of rare earth metals. This bill, the Rare Earths Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2011 (RESTART Act), would achieve this by reestablishing a domestic rare earth industry in the United States. Currently, the world is nearly 100 percent reliant on Chinese exports for these critical materials and China's trade policies of restricting rare earth exports pose a serious threat to both the economic and national security of the United States. China supplies about 95 percent of the world's rare earth metals, used in everything from wind turbines, electric car batteries, television sets, smart phones, and advanced weapons systems. Chinese officials have announced a decision to cut exports of rare earth metals by 35 percent in the first half of 2011. The Chinese government-ordered reduction in rare earth metals exports demonstrates the urgent need for us to act to correct our rare earth supply chain vulnerability. I became alarmed early in 2009 when I learned that many U.S. defense contractors rely heavily on Chinese exports of rare earth metals to make everything from night vision goggles, tanks, and fighter aircraft, to precision guided munitions. This reliance on China poses a key vulnerability. My comprehensive, bipartisan legislation will put in place mechanisms to assist U.S. companies with meeting their needs for rare earth metals and ensure our national security needs are met in the near term. The legislation does not waive environmental laws, but it directs appropriate federal agencies to expedite the permitting process in order to increase the exploration and development of domestic rare earth elements, and the legislation establishes a multi-agency Task Force to carry out this process. The legislation makes federally-backed loans available to start rare earth production only when private capital is not available. The bill sets-up a Defense Logistics Agency rare earth domestic inventory to generate a domestic market and facilitate the domestic sourcing of rare earth alloys and magnets. It establishes a rare earth program at the U.S. Geological Survey, and it require the various cabinet Secretaries appoint Executive Agents for rare earths. Our Nation must act to protect our security interests with regard to rare earth elements. China is neither an ally of the United States nor is it a reliable trade partner when it comes to these strategic metals. My legislation has the support of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, CPA, the United States Magnet Materials Association, USMMA, and their members who are most affected by the disruption in the rare earth metals market.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 237 I inadvertently voted ``yea'' when I intended to vote ``nay.'' Amendment No. 9 Offered by Mr. Markey

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,251,174,516,308.48. On January 6, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,605,505,817,922.70 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,251,174,516,308.48. On January 6, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,612,748,770,014.60 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, there are many heroes from Colorado who have fought and continue to fight the global war on terror. Today, I pay tribute to one hero in particular, Marine Lance Corporal Christopher Steele Meis. Lance Corporal Meis of Bennett, Colorado, enlisted in the Marine Corps following his graduation from Bennett High School. He was deployed in January 2011 to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and served with his brothers of Second Battalion, Eighth Marines, at the tip of the spear in Helmand province. On March 17, his unit came under fire and he gave his life fighting the Taliban. Steele comes from a family with a long tradition of military service to our Nation. He was proud to be an American and from an early age he wanted to serve his country as a Marine. He chose to become a Marine because, in his words, ``they are the best.'' He had the reputation of a stand-up guy who loved his family and his country. Like a good Marine, he was also known to be the man up front, the man leading the way. Lance Corporal Christopher Steele Meis is a shining example of the United States Marine Corps' service and sacrifice. As a Marine Corps combat veteran, my deepest sympathies go out to his family, his fellow Marines, and to all who knew him.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. I thank the gentlewoman from Florida. We have strategic interests in Afghanistan. It would be wrong, it would be irresponsible at this time to expeditiously withdraw all of our forces from Afghanistan, again, without recognizing our strategic interests there. Although I differ on the strategy that we are using right now, I recognize the security interests of the United States that are vital for us to maintain not only peace and stability in the region but also at home.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, and I thank the gentleman from Ohio for bringing this resolution forward, and I reluctantly rise in opposition to it. I volunteered to serve in Iraq not because I believed that invading, pacifying, and administering the country was the right course of action, but I believed that once we had made the commitment that we had to follow it through and bring it to a reasonable and just conclusion. In Afghanistan, I think that what this Nation first did was great: That we were attacked on 9/11. The Taliban controlled much of the country and gave safe harbor to al Qaeda, and we gave air, logistical, and advisory support to the anti-Taliban forces in the country and they pushed the Taliban out. We made a wrong turn after that, by forcing the victors on the ground aside instead of using our leverage to have them reach out to the Pashtun elements of the country, and we superimposed a political process on them that doesn't fit the political culture of the country, a government that is mired in corruption and has little capacity to govern outside of Kabul. I believe it is wrong to use conventional forces against an irregular force that make our military vulnerable to asymmetric capability. But we have security interests in Afghanistan that we must accept. We need to make sure that the Taliban doesn't take over the country where it becomes a permissive environment, where they can use that to destabilize Afghanistan, to assist the Taliban on the other side of the Durand Line. We need some base of operations in Afghanistan to be able to strike al Qaeda targets in the federally administered tribal areas of Afghanistan. I believe that we can do it with a lighter footprint. I think we ought to be focused on supporting factions within this region that share our strategic interests.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,166,030,787,779.80. On January 6, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,527,605,041,486.00 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,164,360,361,278.80. On January 6th, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,525,934,614,985.00 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,193,176,753,471.62. On January 6th, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,554,751,007,177.80 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,186,168,803,680.47. On January 6th, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,547,743,057,386.60 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,178,525,108,267.60. On January 6th, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,540,099,361,973.80 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,172,957,589,856.62. On January 6th, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,534,531,843,562.80 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Colorado becoming a territory of the United States on February 28th, 2011. The territory was organized as a result of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush of 1858 through 1861. Given its name from the discovery of gold in the foothills of the mountain named for its explorer, Zebulon Pike, this gold rush resulted in a large movement of miners and prospectors to the area in search of their fortunes. As the initial gold deposits were collected, settlers moved westward into the Rocky Mountains to search for additional deposits, forming camps wherever they were discovered. Denver became the central supply town for these prospectors. More permanent mines emerged and settlers understood the vast wealth this mineral rich country held, and sought to establish a more concrete set of laws and government. Colorado officially became a territory of the United States through the signature of President James Buchanan on February 28th, 1861. The Colorado Territory was formed amid the furor of succession of southern states and matured during our Civil War. Our great state is now a destination for Americans and foreign travelers who come to behold our natural beauty and engage in our superior recreational activities.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,137,541,098,872.71. On January 6th, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,501,115,352,578.90 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,129,889,690,377.50. On January 6, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,491,463,944,083.70 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 69, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.'' Amendment No. 381 Offered by Mr. Reed

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Madam Chair, on rollcall No. 81, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an American hero, Mr. David Benke, an ordinary man who through extraordinary courage saved the lives of an innumerable number of children. His valor, daring, and selflessness are a compelling reminder of the strength and virtue of the American spirit. It was a chilly afternoon on February 23, 2010, when Mr. Benke's mettle was tested. He heard nearby gunshots on the grounds of the Littleton school where he teaches. 60 feet away a 32-year-old man was taking shots with a hunting rifle at a group of students. Heedless of the danger to himself, Mr. Benke tore towards the assailant and in an instant had wrestled him to the pavement and the rifle from his grasp. Two students had been wounded, but countless others were saved by his heroic efforts. In recognition and in honor of this selfless act, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission has awarded him the Carnegie Medal, a high honor ``given to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.'' Today, I too would like to recognize Mr. Benke's valor and selflessness and do honor to one of Colorado's most distinguished heroes. I am extremely proud to have David as a constituent and know that his bravery and courage will shine as a beacon of magnanimity that others will aspire to.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the Gutierrez amendment. The amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois would do an across-the-board general reduction to the aircraft procurement accounts for the Navy and the Air Force. The total reduction at $405.1 million would be transferred to the spending reduction account. Let me just say, he spoke to the V-22 aircraft that the United States Marine Corps uses today in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let me tell you, as a former infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps, I can't speak highly enough of the V-22 aircraft. There is no replacement right now if that aircraft were suspended in service. The CH-46 aircraft was put in the fleet in 1964 and retired in 2004, and the CH-53, I believe, in 1966. These old air frames are retiring. They need to be replaced. The V-22 is an effective aircraft, serving our Marines in the field in places like Afghanistan and Iraq with the kind of effort that our troops deserve. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. I move to strike the requisite number of words.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Chairman, it is time to end the Joint Strike Fighter second engine mistake. In 2001, the GE engine lost in procurement competition to the one designed by Pratt & Whitney. A sole source development contract was signed in 2005. But since 1997, Congress has provided for a Joint Strike Fighter alternative engine program. This continuing resolution includes $450 million for the alternate engine in the Joint Strike Fighter. According to the Pentagon, the second engine's cost is close to $2.9 billion. The Department of Defense is clear: in their view, our military and the taxpayers are best served by not pursuing a second engine. There are more pressing Department of Defense priorities. There is just no guarantee that having two engines will create enough long- term savings to outweigh the near-term costs of nearly $3 billion. The risk from a single engine is reasonable and consistent with past acquisitions. A single engine is not a new approach and does not create dangerous levels of risk. We currently have two current aircraft programs, the F-22 and the F-18, which both utilize a single engine provider. Additional costs and the burden of maintaining two logistical systems are not offset by the potential savings generated through competition. We are not making procurement decisions in a vacuum. If we had all the money in the world, maybe an alternate engine would be a good idea. But we don't. We have a deficit of $1.5 trillion and a debt of $14 trillion, and all our funding choices must--must--acknowledge that. I urge support for the Rooney amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today our national debt is $14,098,789,113,781.32 On January 6th, 2009, the start of the 111th Congress, the national debt was $10,638,425,746,293.80. This means the national debt has increased by $3,460,363,367,487.50 since then. This debt and its interest payments we are passing to our children and all future Americans.