Tom Cotton

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Nevada, Dr. Heck, the sponsor of this legislation, a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and soon to be brigadier general.

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Delaware, as well as the gentleman from Nevada, and everybody in this institution that helps serve our veterans every single day. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1742, the Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013, bipartisan legislation that ensures fairness in the housing assistance made available to our veterans who have borne the physical costs of service to the country. First, H.R. 1742 amends current law to exempt expenses related to a veteran's in-home aid and attendance-care payments from qualifying as income when determining their eligibility and payments from HUD programs. The in-home aid and attendance-care benefit is an enhanced pension program provided by the VA to severely disabled wartime veterans who make less than $12,256 per year. These pensions are provided out of medical necessity and should not be considered disposable income. Including them in income calculations skews eligibility and wrongly reduces the housing assistance that would otherwise be available to thousands of disabled veterans. The Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act also improves the way utility allowances are calculated by instructing public housing authorities to base payments on family size--that is, the number of people benefiting from a payment--rather than the current standard of dwelling size. Using this approach ensures, for instance, a family of four living in a one-bedroom apartment will not receive less in utility allowance than a single individual living in a two-bedroom apartment. These housing reforms have broad support from State and local housing agencies, low-income housing advocates, and for-profit and nonprofit affordable housing providers. Mr. Speaker, many of our current veterans assistance programs are flawed--they spend too much and they help too few. Fortunately, the CBO estimates the reforms in this bill will save almost $50 million over 5 years while helping thousands of veterans obtain the appropriate housing assistance. Sadly, homelessness affects over 60,000 veterans nationwide and approximately 1,000 in my home State of Arkansas. These numbers are unacceptable. As a combat veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, I understand not only the difficulties faced while serving in the military, but also the struggles that too many encounter upon returning to civilian life--especially with a life-altering disability. These men and women have put their lives on the line for our country; we should be doing all we can to support them--not making it harder for them to obtain assistance. I am grateful to my colleague and fellow veteran, Congressman Joe Heck, and the Financial Services Committee for their work on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and our disabled veterans. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material for the Record on H.R. 1742, currently under consideration.

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1742) to exclude from consideration as income under the United States Housing Act of 1937 payments of pension made under section 1521 of title 38, United States Code, to veterans who are in need of regular aid and attendance, and for other purposes.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. I want to thank the chairman and the committee for their hard work on WRRDA, which I am pleased to support. Mr. Chairman, I have offered an amendment that addresses an issue with the population growth projections of the 1958 Water Supply Act, which are outdated, and many local water districts are now forced to pay substantial principal and interest to the Federal Government on excess water supply. My amendment allows the Corps and local water districts to collaborate on finding new markets for their excess water storage. Not only does this partnership allow for the best use of shared resources, it also saves the taxpayers millions of dollars. Again, I want to thank the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the chairman, and the ranking member for their hard work on this bill and for supporting my amendment.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. I want to thank the gentleman from Alabama for the time. Madam Speaker, yesterday, I introduced legislation that would ensure the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program remains funded during a government shutdown. Today, I'm very grateful to my colleagues for swift action to fund this important program. In Arkansas, WIC benefits 42,000 kids, 24,000 infants, and 2,000 moms. Fortunately, the Arkansas Department of Health reached an agreement earlier this week with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the WIC program, though only on a week-to-week basis. Moms and kids shouldn't suffer because Senate Democrats have shut down the government to protect their special perks and political allies, because that is what has happened here, Madam Speaker. The House of Representatives, earlier this week, passed a continuing resolution that would fund the government, to include funding, in part, for ObamaCare; and we asked that the Senate Democrats only accept two simple principles: that the White House and Congress follow the same ObamaCare rules as the rest of America and that if Barack Obama is going to give big businesses a 1-year break from ObamaCare, then families and workers should get the same 1-year break. But Senate Democrats refused to fund the government with those simple terms, the terms that Congress should follow the laws they impose on the American people, and that workers and family should get the same breaks as businesses. Now, I know there's many important pieces of legislation in front of the Senate today. For instance, they earlier passed a resolution calling next week National Chess Week. Now, that's obviously an urgent matter for this country. But women and kids in need shouldn't be political pawns in the Senate's game. So I say to the Senate, let's put aside partisanship and pass this legislation for the kids, just as we did earlier this week for the troops.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, no country that forgets its veterans can long endure, and that's why America has always celebrated and cherished our veterans' service. George Washington, in his first days as President, demanded, in one of the most forceful requests he made to the Congress, that they honor our veterans. Abraham Lincoln, who presided over our bloodiest war, dedicated two of his most beautiful speeches, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural, in part or in full, to honoring our veterans. This is something that has long united our parties on both sides of the aisle. The Democratic Party has many distinguished veterans, as does our party. That is why, today, we should continue this commitment. We should ensure that the veterans who have been calling my office, who have been calling your offices, who've been calling all of our offices, don't have to face the kind of uncertainty and confusion that they do now because they aren't sure about what the Veterans Affairs Department can do for them. We have our differences about ObamaCare, about funding levels, about many other matters. But let us, for our veterans, come together, as Abraham Lincoln said, and appeal to the better angels of our nature. Uphold our veterans. Support and honor their service.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Regrettably, the government has shut down because of the stubborn party line votes of the Senate Democrats. The House Republicans have acted reasonably and responsibly to act on two simple principles: the government should be funded, and the American people should get relief from ObamaCare. We have repeatedly made reasonable and responsible compromises. We couldn't repeal ObamaCare, so we offered to defund it. We offered to delay it for merely 1 year when the President has delayed so many parts of it himself, yet the Senate rejected every one of those compromises. And now we have simply said, if ObamaCare is such an amazing success story, then the Members of Congress and Senators and their staffers should live under the laws they imposed on the American people. Yet that is not enough for the Senate Democrats. They would rather keep their special exemption from ObamaCare than keep the government open. So when I'm asked, When will the government reopen? The answer is very simple: when the United States Senate puts the national interests ahead of their personal financial interests.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the heroic efforts of Specialist Fourth Class John Philip Baca of the United States Army. Specialist Baca was a member of the 1st Cavalry Division, the ``First Team.'' His Medal of Honor was awarded for extraordinary bravery in action on February 10, 1970, in Vietnam. On that February day, a platoon from Specialist Baca's company came under enemy fire. Upon realizing his team could be of assistance, Specialist Baca jumped into action. He led his unit through enemy fire to a position within the patrol's defensive perimeter. But before they were able to attack, an enemy grenade was thrown directly into their unit. Specialist Baca covered the grenade with his helmet and fell on it, absorbing its blast. His quick action bravely saved eight of his fellow soldiers from death or serious injury. It is for this brave act and his unwavering courage that I am proud to honor the actions of Specialist Fourth Class John Philip Baca.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, Hassan Rouhani is no moderate. He was a devoted follower of the 1979 revolutionary cabal in Iran. He led the 1999 crackdown on students in Iran. He's bragged about deceiving Western nuclear inspectors. He's called Israel a Zionist Satan. He's not even a President-elect because he was chosen in a sham democracy and a sham election. Iran isn't looking for a chance to get to ``yes'' in negotiations. They are looking to give you a pretext to get to ``no'' on this legislation. Stand strong and vote ``yes'' to sanction Iran to stop their nuclear weapons capabilities.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, more than 100,000 Arkansans work in retail, restaurant, lodging, and other service sectors. These service industries have helped keep the American economy afloat in recent years. From restaurants like U.S. Cafe in Dardanelle, where I flipped burgers and fried fish as a teenager, to the convention hotels in Hot Springs, Arkansans rely on service industries every day as both employees and customers. Unfortunately, the Obama administration's many failed policies are imperiling our service sector. Nowhere is this more true than with ObamaCare. Service-oriented companies often have large and shifting workforces, they operate on extremely thin margins, and they cannot thrive on uncertainty. ObamaCare brings nothing but uncertainty. The House took an important step last week by voting to delay both the employer and the individual mandates in ObamaCare, but the only real solution is to repeal this awful law. Otherwise, service-sector employees and businesses will suffer continued setbacks, which means our economy will suffer yet another blow.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Madam Chairwoman, I rise to strongly urge opposition to the Amash amendment. This program has stopped dozens of terrorist attacks. That means it's saved untold American lives. This amendment is not simple. It does not limit the program. It does not modify it. It does not constrain the program. It ends the program. It blows it up. Some of you've heard the analogy that if you want to search for a needle in a haystack, you have to have the haystack. This takes a leaf blower and blows away the entire haystack. You will not have this program if this amendment passes. And it does so, despite all of the safeguards you have already heard. This program is constitutional under Supreme Court precedent--not recent precedent. Precedent goes back to 1979, just 2 years after I was born, the year that one of the young sponsors of this amendment was born. This program is approved by large bipartisan majorities of this body on the statute--text that they approved, not their secret intents or wishes. It is overseen by article III judges who have been confirmed by the Senate and are independent of the executive branch. It is reviewed by the Intelligence Committees, and it is executed primarily by military officers, not generals, but the majors and the colonels who have been fighting and bleeding for this country for 12 years. What is it, metadata? It sounds kind of scary. It's nothing more than an Excel spreadsheet with five columns: called to, called from, date, time, and the duration. Five columns, billions of rows. It's in a lockbox. It can't be searched unless you have specific suspicion of a number being used by a terrorist. Only then do they go into that database and do they run a search for what that number has been calling. Why do you need it? Verizon, AT&T, other companies will not keep this data for the years necessary. Secondly, you need it quickly. When I was in Iraq as a platoon leader with the 101st Airborne, if we rolled up a bad guy and we found a cell phone or we found a thumb drive, we would immediately upload that data so intelligence professionals could search it so they could go roll up another bad guy, because you only have a few hours to stop a terrorist once you catch another terrorist. Folks, we are at war. You may not like that truth. I wish it weren't the truth. But it is the truth. We're at war. Do not take this tool away from our warriors on the frontline.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, during a late-night series of votes yesterday on amendments to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act FY2014 (H.R. 2397), I intended to vote ``yes'' on the Fleming amendment (rollcall No. 392), but inadvertently voted ``no.'' Mr. Fleming's amendment prohibits funds from being used to appoint ``non-theistic'' military chaplains, which would contravene current DOD policy. As I witnessed firsthand in Iraq and Afghanistan, chaplains are essential to our Armed Forces and they minister to troops of all faiths--and none. I strongly support the spiritual role of our military chaplains and I'm pleased Mr. Fleming's amendment passed with bipartisan support.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Today, I honor the memory of my constituent Steve LaFrance who passed away earlier this month. Steve was a pillar of the Pine Bluff community, and really all of Arkansas. A pharmacist by training, he started his business in 1968 with a single pharmacy in Gibson's Department Store in Pine Bluff. From that modest start, Steve built USA Drug over 44 years into the largest privately owned chain of drugstores in the country. Steve's motto, like my own dad's, was ``do the right thing.'' It was the foundation of his success. All who knew him and all who worked with Steve, whether employees, customers, vendors, and even competitors, respected not only his business acumen, but especially his sense of fair play, passion, and loyalty. Even more than a businessman, though, Steve was a devoted family man, proud father of four children, seven grandkids, and the loving husband of Linda, his wife of 44 years. He was also a deeply faithful Christian man who walked in the path of the Lord and now walks with Him. On behalf of all Arkansans and the United States Congress, I wish to express my deepest condolences to him. Like you, we all miss ``Big Steve,'' and we were all enriched by having our lives touched by him.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlelady from Indiana for her effort on this very important amendment. For 4-plus years, the Obama administration has declined to transfer these terrorists at Guantanamo to Yemen. I would suggest that nothing has changed, if you look at the facts of the matter. Yemen remains a partner in our war on terror, but it still has weak capabilities. It still has not yet demonstrated the ability to house such terrorists or to deter terrorist activity in its own quarters as we've seen from things like the underwear bombing plot or the Fort Hood massacre. If we transfer these terrorists to Yemen, we cannot know for sure that it will not mean more attacks on our soldiers in Afghanistan, on our Ambassadors at our Embassies around the world, on our citizens around the world, here in the United States, or in allied countries. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this temporary and restrained amendment to ensure that terrorists at Guantanamo Bay do not escape back onto the battlefronts of the war on terror.

Mr. COTTON. I oppose this amendment. I oppose the closure of Guantanamo and the transfer of detainees to the United States. Guantanamo is a state-of-the-art detention facility in which we've invested millions of dollars in which our troops handle themselves with utmost professionalism. The detainees there have access to military tribunals and habeas corpus proceedings here in Washington, D.C. Who are these detainees? They're not innocent goat herders swept up by a marauding United States military of which I was a part in which I detained numerous potential terrorists. They are people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11; Mohammed al-Qahtani, one of the would-be participants in 9/11; terrorists who are closely associated with Osama bin Laden who have received explosives training, who are recruiters, who are poison experts, who are suicide bombers or who are commanders of al Qaeda training camps. I do not think we should bring them to the United States, give them their Miranda warnings, give them an attorney at taxpayer-provided expense and if acquitted and not accepted by their home countries be released back onto the streets of the United States. If that is what the advocates of this amendment would like, I suggest they should write their amendment in a fashion that would bring these detainees to their own congressional districts.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Thank you. When I was a child, I played a game called hide-and-seek, as I suspect many of you might have played. There was a phrase in that game called ``ollie ollie oxen free,'' which meant you could come out, that you were safe, that you no longer had to hide. This amendment is the ``ollie ollie oxen free'' amendment of the war on terrorism. It invites al Qaeda and associated forces to send terrorists to the United States and to recruit terrorists on U.S. soil. Think about what happens if you're detained in the U.S. for committing an act of terrorism: you will not be detained while you are interrogated; you cannot be used to stop future attacks. Think about what will happen: you will get your Miranda warnings; you will get an attorney at taxpayer expense; and you will, if acquitted and not accepted by your home country, be released into the streets of the United States. We are encouraging al Qaeda to send terrorists here if we adopt this amendment. Consider also about an illegal alien crossing our border. If he does so to get a job, Customs and Border Patrol can detain him and summarily deport him. If he is detained by intelligence or military professionals, what happens? He goes into the court system, and he gets all the rights due to a common burglar. The concerns that we have about due process are misplaced. The law plainly lets every person--a citizen or foreigner--file a petition for the writ of habeas corpus to challenge his detention. I strongly oppose this amendment.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Today, I want to highlight another potential IRS abuse, namely, unfair audits of adoptive parents who filed for the Adoption Tax Credit. We've all heard about the abuse of conservatives, Christians, and other groups, but fewer people know the alarming story of families who use the Adoption Tax Credit to offset some of the high costs of adoption. According to the IRS' own Taxpayer Advocate Service, 90 percent of those who filed for the Adoption Tax Credit last year were flagged for additional review. Nearly 70 percent were audited, but only 1\1/2\ percent of adoption credit claims were disallowed in the end. By contrast, only 1 percent of all tax returns are audited. Adoptive parents are loving, selfless Americans who are simply trying to provide a safe and loving home for kids in need. An adoption is a reflection of the boundless compassion of our country, and it helps save innocent unborn lives that may otherwise be ended by abortion. We should do all in our power to encourage adoption, not to discourage it through bureaucratic runarounds. I urge the Congress to get to the bottom of this unfair treatment of adoptive parents.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Today, on behalf of a grateful State, I rise to honor Scott County Sheriff Cody Carpenter and Arkansas Game and Fish wildlife officer Joel Campora, who died heroically last week trying to save their fellow Arkansans from flash floods. Sheriff Carpenter leaves behind a wife and four children. Officer Campora leaves behind a wife and two daughters. Along with my fellow Arkansans, I want to express my deepest condolences to their families, their communities, and their brothers and sisters in law enforcement. But even as we mourn their deaths and console their loved ones, let us also honor their sacrifice and courage. Sheriff Carpenter and Officer Campora died in the line of duty protecting their fellow citizens. John 15:13 says: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. These men volunteered for duty that can call for that ultimate sacrifice every day. Now that they have laid down their lives, I join my State and my country in mourning and celebrating their cherished memory.

Mr. COTTON

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today to seek swift approval of H.R. 324, a bill to grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the First Special Service Force in recognition of its superior service during World War II. The bill, introduced by my colleague from Florida (Mr. Miller), has 324 cosponsors, befitting the storied history of this unit. Mr. Speaker, the bravery and valor of the Army Special Forces, more commonly known as the Green Berets, are well known to most Americans. But many don't realize that this unit was born out of the First Special Service Force and the courageous soldiers that fought with it during World War II. The award of the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their heroic service will help ensure that this unit attains the historical recognition it deserves. Formed in 1942 to take on the hardest jobs in the most adverse conditions, the First Special Service Force was composed of American and Canadian soldiers. The unit fought bravely in the Italian Apennine Mountains against elite German units--the 104th Panzer Grenadiers and the Hermann Goering Paratroops--who were defending Hitler's Gustav Line south of Rome. They defeated German forces at Monte La Difensa after fighting south of the center of the line at Monte Cassino and participated in the successful assault of Monte La Remetanea and several nearby mountains. Sadly, of the 1,800 of the First Special Service Forces fighting soldiers and their 800 support troops, there were 2,300 casualties suffered in the 250 combat days before the unit was disbanded in December of 1944. Mr. Speaker, the men of the Special Forces fought with their faces blackened by their own boot polish. They were so feared that the Nazi defenders called them the Black Devils and the unit took that name as its own, calling itself the Devil's Brigade. Proud of their strength and bravery, Special Forces soldiers left cards with their patch insignia and the phrase ``The Worst is Yet to Come'' on corpses in enemy territory. Following World War II, a permanent elite unit was formed based on the experiences of the Special Forces and OSS operatives during the war. Today, that unit has evolved into the Army's Green Berets and a similar unit in Canada, the Special Operations Regiment. Today, we hear stories of brave men and women in uniform defending freedom around the world. I've seen some of this awe-inspiring bravery firsthand in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a soldier myself. But as we hail our soldiers of today, let us remember the heroism and bravery of the Greatest Generation during World War II. This legislation authorizes the striking and award of a single gold medal that will go to the First Special Service Force Association in Helena, Montana, the original training site of the First Special Force, and the sale of bronze duplicates of that medal. I ask for immediate passage of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time. Committee on House Administration, Washington, DC, May 20, 2013. Hon. Jeb Hensarling, Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Hensarling: I write to you concerning the jurisdictional interest of the Committee on House Administration in H.R. 324, to grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the First Special Service Force in recognition of its superior service during World War II. The bill, as introduced in the House on January 18, 2013, contains provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration. I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this legislation before the House in an expeditious manner, and accordingly, I will waive Committee consideration of provisions that fall within the Committee's jurisdiction. However, agreeing to waive jurisdiction over these amendments should not be construed as waiving, reducing, or affecting the jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration. Additionally, the Committee on House Administration expressly reserves its authority to seek conferees on any provision within its jurisdiction during any House-Senate conference that may be convened on this, or any similar legislation. I ask for your commitment to support any request by the Committee for conferees on H.R. 324 for provisions within the Committee's jurisdiction. I ask that a copy of this letter and your response be placed in the Congressional Record during any floor consideration of H.R. 324. I look forward to working with you on matters of mutual concern. Sincerely, Candice S. Miller, Chairman.

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 324) to grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the First Special Service Force, in recognition of its superior service during World War II, as amended.

Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials for the Record on H.R. 324, as amended, currently under consideration.

Mr. COTTON. I appreciate that reference to John 15:13, ``Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.'' Certainly, many members of the Devil's Brigade did that, as they do today in our Special Forces. Now, Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. COTTON. I yield myself the balance of my time. I join my colleagues, the gentleman from Georgia and the gentleman from Florida, in urging unanimous passage of this very important legislation the week before Memorial Day to honor the Devil's Brigade. I yield back the balance of my time.