Rick Crawford

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 261 would designate the United States Courthouse located at 200 Northwest Fourth Street in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the William J. Holloway, Jr. United States Courthouse. A native of Oklahoma, Judge Holloway served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Judge Holloway was nominated by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals by President Johnson in 1968. He served as chief judge from 1984 to 1991 and assumed senior status in 1992 until his death in 2014. During his 45 years on the bench, he authored over 900 opinions and became the longest serving tenth circuit judge. I think it is more than fitting to name this courthouse after him. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her support, and I urge all of my colleagues to support S. 261. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, ever since the Iranian agreement's completion, its proponents have insisted that the deal is based on verification, not on trust. That is because Iran is not a country that can be trusted, evidenced by their funding of terror, detention of American citizens, and past attempts of secretive nuclear armament. However, as details are continuing to be revealed, it is clear that negotiations were, in fact, based on trust. The verification this agreement hinges upon has been entrusted to the Iranians themselves, while objective inspections of their facilities can be delayed for weeks and weeks at a time. To top it all off, Congress still doesn't have access to the agreement in its entirely. It is entirely naive for supporters of this agreement to trust an unstable, hostile theocracy to self-certify on nuclear weapons when the Federal Government doesn't even trust our own American citizens, farmers and ranchers, to self-certify on farm fuel storage. I strongly encourage all attempts to disarm Iran, but the Ayatollah's aggressive actions and statements against the U.S. and our allies, particularly Israel, have shattered their credibility in the international community. And the President's threat to veto alterations to his deal confirms his personal commitment to his own legacy rather than the concerns of the American people and our closest allies. Congress cannot accept the terms of this agreement which empower an untrustworthy and hostile nation in an already dangerously unstable region.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of House Concurrent Resolution 70, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, Edith's parents were William Earl and Marsha Susan Gates. She has one younger brother, Billy Duane, who resides in Texas. Edith was born at 4:00 p.m. September 4, 1915, in the country outside of Peach Orchard, AR. She moved from Peach Orchard, Arkansas to Michigan in 1925 at age 10. She graduated as Salutatorian from John J. Pershing High School. She was married to Loyd Elvin Brady in the midst of the Great Depression on October 28, 1934, at the Hazel Park Baptist Tabernacle, Hazel Park, MI in a wedding dress costing $13. She had 6 children, Roger Bryan, Kay Linda, Loyd (Bud) Elvin II, Dan Gregory, Robert Franklin and Kirk Alyn. As the wife of a city manager she resided, entertained and attended public/political functions in Hazel Park, MI, Trinidad, CO, The Dalles, OR, Monrovia, CA and Santa Clara, CA, before her husband retired to raise cattle at the Sugarbush Ranch in Success, AR in 1963. She has 13 grandchildren, 13 great-grand-children, and 5 great-great grandchildren. She was baptized into the Christian faith as a child and has been a member of the Success Baptist Church in Success, AR since 1963. She became Deputy Treasurer of Western Clay County, Arkansas in 1968, in which capacity she served for 16 years. Edith has family traveling from California, Texas, Georgia, and Michigan for the centennial celebration. She loves celebrating events with her family, recollecting amusing stories/life lessons, following political commentary, reading western novels, and cheering for the St. Louis Cardinals. She plans to wear high heels to her 100th birthday celebration.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of House Concurrent Resolution 73, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of House Concurrent Resolution 74, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Marvin ``Butch'' Baden. Butch began his career in the U.S. rice industry in 1958 as an ``office errand boy'' at Riceland Foods. He has served in many capacities since that time, including his current role as senior vice president of rice sales at Producers Rice Mill. During Butch's 37 years at Producers Rice Mill alone, he has marketed the equivalent of 1.3 billion bushels of rough rice, which translates to about 20 million metric tons of both milled and brown rice. In 1981, when U.S. rice acreage exploded from 2 million acres per year to just under 4 million acres, new market access for U.S. rice was crucial in supporting prices for U.S. rice farmers. Butch was one of the critical pioneers at the time who dramatically expanded the export demand for U.S. rice. Butch was directly involved in the opening of new export markets for U.S. rice in the Caribbean, Iran, Iraq, and Nigeria. Butch also expanded U.S. rice exports in Europe, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. With nearly 50 percent of the U.S. rice production required to be exported, the fruits of Butch's efforts not only enhanced the returns of the farmers he worked for, but the new export demand for U.S. rice also benefited the market prices of all U.S. rice farmers. In all, Butch has logged nearly 9 million air miles on behalf of the U.S. rice industry. From humble beginnings as an office errand boy, Marvin ``Butch'' Baden, through hard work and perseverance, has earned and achieved the highest level of respect and appreciation within the U.S. rice industry.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 2722.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Scott, and I would like to thank the other cosponsors of this bill, Mr. Huizenga, Ms. Moore, and Mr. Maloney, for joining me in this bipartisan effort to help bring transparency to the global swap markets. I certainly appreciate the subcommittee chairman's support as well. While I might not agree with every provision in the Dodd-Frank law today, I believe we are working towards its bipartisan goal of giving regulators the tools they need to improve systemic risk mitigation in the global financial markets. I think everyone agrees that the lack of transparency and the over- the-counter derivatives markets escalated the financial crisis of 2008. In order to provide market transparency, the Dodd-Frank law requires posttrade reporting to swap data repositories, or SDRs as they are called, so that regulators and market participants have access to realtime market data that will help identify systemic risk in the financial system. So far, we have made great strides in reaching this goal, but, unfortunately, a provision in the law threatens to undermine our progress unless we fix it. Currently, Dodd-Frank requires a provision requiring a foreign regulator to indemnify a U.S.-based SDR from any expenses arising from litigation relating to a request from market data. While the intent of the provision was to protect market confidentiality, in practice, it threatens to fragment global data on swap markets because it is a major stumbling block to our regulators' abilities to coordinate with foreign counterparts. The intended result is a fragmented global data framework where regulators were unable to see a complete picture of the marketplace. Without effective coordination between international regulators and SDRs, monitoring and mitigating global systematic risk is severely limited. My bill fixes this problem by removing the indemnification provisions in Dodd-Frank. This legislation has broad bipartisan support and passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 420-2 in the last Congress, as Chairman Scott indicated. Additionally, both the SEC and CFTC are on record supporting this bill. If left unresolved, the indemnification provision in Dodd-Frank has the potential to reduce transparency in the over-the-counter derivatives markets and undo the great progress already being made through the cooperative efforts of more than 50 regulators worldwide. In passing this legislation, we ensure that regulators will have access to a global set of swap market data, which is essential to maintaining the highest degree of market transparency and risk mitigation. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill.

Mr. CRAWFORD

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

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment in defense of agricultural producers across our Nation who are facing the heavy hand of EPA regulations. The EPA's Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule for on- farm fuel storage requires farmers and ranchers to make costly infrastructure improvements to their oil storage facilities to reduce the possibility of an oil spill. These regulations fail to take into account the relative risk of oil spills on farms, and they do not factor in the simple fact that family farmers are already careful stewards of our land and water. No one has more at stake in the health of their land than those who work on the ground from which they derive their livelihoods. The USDA itself discovered little evidence of oil spills on farms and determined in a recent study that more than 99 percent of farmers have never experienced a spill. To require that all of our producers make a significant investment to prevent such an unlikely event seems out of touch with reality and disregards the already overwhelming number of safeguards our farmers already employ. My amendment would restrict the EPA's ability to enforce SPCC regulations on farms so that farmers and ranchers can go about their business of producing food and fiber without having to worry about unnecessary compliance costs and red tape. On three separate occasions, the House unanimously passed my bipartisan legislation, the FUELS Act, which rolled back these same SPCC regulations on farms. I urge my colleagues to again support our farmers and ranchers by supporting this amendment.

Mr. CRAWFORD. I yield to the gentleman from California.

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

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2131) to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 83 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina, as the ``J. Waties Waring Judicial Center''.

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2131.

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2131 designates the Federal building and the United States courthouse located at 83 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina, as the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center. Judge Waring was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1880. After becoming a lawyer, he was in the private practice of law and eventually served as corporation counsel for Charleston, South Carolina. In 1942, after serving as assistant U.S. Attorney, Judge Waring was appointed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to serve as a judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina. During his tenure on the bench, Judge Waring's opinions had a significant impact on civil rights. For example, in the case of Duvall v. School Board, he ruled that equal pay must be guaranteed for equally qualified schoolteachers, regardless of race, and his dissent in Briggs v. Elliott stating that ``separate educational facilities are inherently unequal'' formed the legal foundation for the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. This bill is supported by the entire South Carolina delegation. Given Judge Waring's dedication to the law, it is fitting to name this Federal building and courthouse after him. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, again, I would just urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2131. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this rule and the underlying legislation to repeal country of origin labeling for meat products, and I believe this effort is long past due. I thank the chairman of the Rules Committee for bringing this rule to the floor, and I appreciate Agriculture Committee Chairman Conaway's expeditious response to the WTO's final ruling that sets the table for a huge hit to America's struggling economy. Not only has COOL been a costly burden on our Nation's meat industry for more than a decade, but now massive retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico will inflict pain on a vast amount of U.S. industries and jobs. At a time when American GDP is actually shrinking, and U.S. farmers and manufacturers are desperately seeking export markets, the worst thing we can do is allow this policy to damage our ability to get American-made to market. COOL represents yet another failed government mandate imposing heavy costs on private sector industry for no defensible purpose. While the primary goal of COOL is to give American-grown meat a competitive advantage, the result has been exactly the opposite. Even the Department of Agriculture agrees that COOL has actually negatively impacted the industry that it was supposed to benefit. As a direct result of this policy, we have not only seen sharp increases in the cost of marketing and selling beef and pork, but looming trade retaliation is already costing American industries that contract for future delivery of goods into these export markets. If we allow these retaliatory tariffs to go forward, our Nation's businesses will experience billions of dollars of market loss, which will kill jobs, harm our U.S. competitiveness, and have a long-term negative impact on America's economic health. Fortunately, today we have a chance to end the harmful impact of this policy. I urge all of my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation to repeal COOL once and for all.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on this and certainly want to thank the ranking member of the full committee as well and my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota, who serves as the ranking member on our subcommittee. This is a great piece of bipartisan legislation. As has been noted here, this is about 100 years since this has been signed into law, and the grain trade has thrived over that century. GSA has supported its evolution by providing a backbone of stability relied upon by exporters, shippers, farmers, and, of course, consumers. With the farm economy and so many of our constituents relying on the ability of grain and oilseeds to get to market, it is critical that we act to provide stability for the grain trade, like we are doing here today. This legislation accomplishes that goal in the following two ways. Many of the provisions in current law are set to expire on September 30 of this year. A lapse in that authorization would disrupt the current grain inspections process; therefore, Congress should not delay in passing its reauthorization. The House is getting its job done well ahead of schedule by considering this bill today, and I hope my colleagues in the Senate will act soon as well. Secondly, this legislation provides stability by ensuring we can avoid disruptions like that which took place last year in Washington State, which was alluded to earlier by the chairman. Last summer, the Washington State Department of Agriculture discontinued its export inspections amid an ongoing labor dispute. Since labor disputes do happen from time to time, this kind of situation was anticipated by our predecessors, which is why current law provides a mechanism for USDA to step in and provide inspection services in the event of a disruption. However, the dispute devolved into a political situation in which the Secretary of Agriculture declined to use his discretionary authority to maintain inspections. While inspection services were eventually restored, it is critical we avoid a repeat of that unfortunate decision. Fortunately, the Agriculture Committee arrived at a bipartisan consensus and found a way to avoid any future disruptions to the grain trade by giving the industry more control of its own destiny. I urge support from my colleagues for this vital legislation. I thank the committee for all of its hard work to move this bill forward.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman. I would urge adoption of the amendment, as well as support of the underlying bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition, although I do not oppose the amendment.

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the cosponsors of this amendment. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin for introducing the amendment and the cosponsors--Ms. Moore, Mr. Huizenga, Mr. Maloney--for joining me in efforts to help bring transparency to the global swap markets. While I may not agree with every position in the Dodd-Frank law, today, I believe we are working towards its bipartisan goal of giving regulators the tools they need to improve systemic risk mitigation in global financial markets. I think everyone agrees that the lack of transparency into the over- the-counter derivatives market escalated the financial crisis of 2008. In order to provide market transparency, the Dodd-Frank law requires posttrade reporting to swap data repositories, or SDRs, so that regulators and market participants have access to real-time market data that will help identify systemic risk in the financial system. So far, we have made great strides in reaching this goal, but unfortunately, a provision in the law threatens to undermine our progress unless we fix it. Currently, Dodd-Frank includes a provision requiring a foreign regulator to indemnify a U.S.-based SDR for any expenses arising from litigation relating to a request for market data. Although well intentioned, the effect has been a reluctance of foreign regulators to comply, which threatens to fragment global data on swap markets and making it harder for regulators to see a complete picture of the marketplace. Without effective coordination between international regulators and SDRs, monitoring and mitigating global systemic risk is severely limited. H.R. 2289 includes a bipartisan provision that removes the indemnification provisions in Dodd-Frank. This provision received broad bipartisan support when it came to the floor as a stand-alone last year, passing the House by a vote of 420-2. Additionally, both the CFTC and the SEC support the fix. This amendment makes a small technical change to make clear that only swap data can be shared with foreign regulators. It will ensure that regulators will have access to a global set of swap market data, which is essential to maintaining the highest degree of market transparency and systemic risk mitigation. Again, I thank the gentlewoman for introducing the amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CRAWFORD. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway), the distinguished chairman of the full committee.

Mr. CRAWFORD

Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member DeFazio for their hard work and to the rest of the committee for the hours of work already done on a long-term transportation bill. I rise today in support of H.R. 2353 to prevent the shutdown of funding for infrastructure improvement. I believe there is shared commitment between the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and most of the Members of the House to pass a fully funded, multiyear highway bill. With the debt crisis we continue to battle, it is becoming more and more difficult to find the much-needed resources for our most critical needs. That leaves few options at our immediate disposal, most of which are not palatable in this economic environment. Members of both the Transportation Committee and the Ways and Means Committee will have to take a closer look at potential funding alternatives and be creative in how to finance a reliable and modern infrastructure system, and at the same time, we need to work towards getting our country back on a path of fiscal solvency. As we work on a long-term solution, we should examine how to reform the highway trust fund to prevent finding ourselves in this same position over and over. A consistent funding mechanism, paired with a more transparent system that demonstrates effective use of taxpayer dollars, will put us in a better position to fund critical infrastructure projects and instill more confidence on the part of our constituents. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting H.R. 2353 so we can continue work on a multiyear transportation bill to ensure our Nation's growth. Failure to act threatens our general contractors and their employees, suppliers, and puts at risk the jobs that are both directly and indirectly supported by these projects. Mr. Speaker, if we want to keep our folks in business and continue any meaningful growth in our economy, then we must find a reliable, long-term solution.