James Comer

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy we could expedite the Settlement Agreement Information Database Act's consideration today. This Chamber has passed the SAID Act with broad support three separate times, in the 115th, 116th, and 117th Congresses. It is time the Senate acted on this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this necessary, bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 300, the Settlement Agreement Information Database Act. Transparency and public participation are vital to ensure the public's continued trust in our government. Federal agencies frequently use settlement agreements to resolve litigation without going through lengthy public trials. However, it is impossible for Congress and the public to determine the impact these settlement agreements have on State and local governments and private-sector entities because they must continue to follow the agency requirements these agreements mandate. Such secret negotiations and agreements essentially prevent the public from participating in important policy decisions. These Federal settlements agreements impose a tremendous burden. They are often difficult to see and hard to understand. Further, State and local governments, industry stakeholders, and taxpayers can be directly affected by the settlements for years, yet they can't provide input. This legislation seeks to correct that problem. The Settlement Agreement Information Database Act, or SAID Act, requires Federal agencies to submit information regarding consent decrees and settlement agreements to a public electronic database. This public resource, to be overseen by the Office of Management and Budget, will include dates, payments, attorney's fees awards, and a list of State and local governments and other entities impacted by each settlement. Currently, agencies release information about settlements at their discretion and will only publicize the facts that reflect favorably upon the agency. Furthermore, the terms of the settlement agreements are often deemed confidential. Under the requirements of the SAID Act, if an agency believes that information regarding an agreement should remain confidential, the agency head must publish an explanation of why it is confidential. This will increase transparency and shine a much-needed light on agency settlement agreements. I thank my Committee on Oversight and Accountability colleagues Gary Palmer and Gerry Connolly for preparing this important legislation for consideration today. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this commonsense legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. COMER. Madam 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 this measure.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, Congress is charged with overseeing the executive branch. This includes overseeing the general management and operations of government agencies. For the success of our government's missions and Federal programs, we must have a competent and skilled workforce to deliver services to the American people, defend our Nation, and execute the laws passed by Congress. However, agencies lack the tools to identify and hire the best candidates to fill these positions. The problem is that hiring for the Federal civil service has over- relied on the paper credentials and self-administered job proficiency assessments of candidates. The reintroduced Chance to Compete Act of 2023 ensures agencies use objective, skills-based assessments to evaluate job candidates. The private sector already uses such structured interviews, knowledge tests, and writing samples for the hiring process. It is time for the Federal Government to do so as well. Agencies should be able to hire professionals that can do the work, and there are many ways to build the right kind of professional expertise. H.R. 159 represents one of those rare bipartisan legislative reforms that targets a specific problem, implements tested solutions, and reflects private-sector best practices. The bill codifies and improves upon the policy initiatives begun in the Trump administration and which the Biden administration is continuing to implement. I thank the chairwoman of the Committee on Education and Workforce, Dr. Virginia Foxx, who is also a senior member of the House Oversight Committee, and Congressman Gerry Connolly for working quickly to ready this bipartisan bill. I also thank Representative Ro Khanna for, again, supporting this bill that will help us modernize our government. I hope that our Senate colleagues can swiftly advance this important legislation so that it can be signed into law this year. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill aimed at hiring applicants for Federal positions based on whether they have the relevant skills to do the job. The American people deserve nothing less from their Federal Government. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. 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 this measure.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the creation of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The Federal Government exists to serve the American people, administer the law impartially, and protect our cherished freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. However, some unelected, unaccountable Federal bureaucrats have abused their positions of power. The other side of the aisle likes to talk about ``threats to democracy,'' but they refuse to do any congressional oversight as the Federal Government weaponized its authority, influence, and power to target American groups and citizens based on their political and ideological views. Just yesterday, we learned that classified documents from Joe Biden's time as Vice President were stashed in an unsecured closet. The National Archives knew about these documents several months ago, before the election, but the American people were just informed yesterday, thanks to some investigative reporting. Meanwhile, the FBI conducted a raid on former President Trump's Mar- a-Lago residence for the same violation. Why has President Biden, who has repeatedly kept classified materials in an unsecured location for years, never faced a raid? Is it because we have a two-tier system of justice? The left also continues to push for an expanded IRS, even though the agency has a history of targeting conservative political groups. They have pushed for more audits of middle-class Americans instead of better customer service. In another example, at President Biden's direction, the Department of Homeland Security formed a dystopian disinformation board tasked with policing American speech online. While this board has been disbanded, we continue to learn more almost every day about how the Biden administration pressures big tech to censor and oppress Americans' views online that are contrary to their political narrative. The Biden administration's Justice Department also actively targeted parents concerned about woke curricula in their children's schools and labeled many as domestic terrorists. The American people have made it clear that they want accountability for these abuses.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, we cannot delay accountability any longer. We need to get to work now. We must expose the abuses committed by the unelected, unaccountable Federal bureaucracy and enact solutions to prevent similar abuses from happening in the future. I look forward, as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, to work closely with this new select committee.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Captain Thomas F. Mantell Jr., of Simpson County, Kentucky, who was killed while serving in the Kentucky Air National Guard on January 7, 1948. Earlier that day, an unidentified flying object was reported in several locations in Kentucky and Ohio. Despite the dangerous nature of the mission, Captain Mantell heroically pursued the object and paid the ultimate sacrifice while in pursuit. His death was the first of the Kentucky Air National Guard. Captain Mantell also served as a decorated officer in the Army Air Corps, flying missions over Normandy and on D-day. For his service during World War II, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism. In the years since Captain Mantell's untimely death, the people of Simpson County have kept his memory alive. A memorial was dedicated in his honor in 2001, and commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary will take place this year. I join the people of Simpson County in remembrance and gratitude for his bravery while carrying out his final mission.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to strongly encourage our Senate friends across the hall to oppose this omnibus spending bill and get back to regular order and allow Congress to debate this massive spending bill and to offer amendments on the floor the way the Founding Fathers designed this body. We just had an election, Mr. Speaker, and the voters overwhelmingly said that the biggest issue to them was inflation. We have inflation because this body has spent too much money, but apparently, this body did not get the message from the voters. I am going to have the honor of being the chairman of the House Oversight Committee in a few weeks. One of the priorities of this committee will be to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the Federal Government. We have agencies like the NIH, the CDC, the FBI, the FDA, the IRS, and the list goes on and on, that cannot account for the spending of massive amounts of tax dollars, yet this body is going to give all those Federal agencies a blank check for another 12 months. We need to oppose this and get back to regular order.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, Houston native and Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. In April 2020, she was reported missing from her unit. Tragically, her body was found 2 months later along the Leon River near Fort Hood. It is believed Specialist Guillen was killed by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood who had been harassing and stalking her. Specialist Guillen's death spurred a national policy conversation about the way in which sexual harassment claims have been handled by the military. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this postal naming bill honoring Vanessa Guillen's life and legacy. Mr. Speaker, I encourage passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to honor Judge Wade White of Lyon County, Kentucky, who is retiring at the end of the year. Judge White's dedication to the community has not gone unnoticed. He was first elected to the position in 2010 and then reelected in 2014 and 2018. In recognition of his service, Judge White has received multiple awards as Lyon County judge executive, including the Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful group's Kentucky Elected Official Ripple Effect award. He was also inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 2016 and 2018. Before taking on his responsibilities as judge executive, he worked for 14 years in several roles for State Farm and Progressive Insurance companies. In fact, President Biden nominated Judge White to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors in June of this year. Judge White has been a passionate advocate for issues impacting our local communities, including Land Between the Lakes, rural broadband access, and our effort to rid local waterways of Asian carp. When people say the squeaky wheel gets the grease, as the Congressman for Lyon County over the past 6 years, I can tell you that Judge White is the squeaky wheel. On behalf of Kentucky's First Congressional District, I thank Judge White for his dedicated service to improving our communities. Honoring Judge Hollis Alexander Upon His Retirement

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 1-year anniversary of the devastating tornadoes that struck my district. On December 10 and 11, 2021, communities from Fulton to Taylor County endured a fierce, long-track tornado that leveled numerous communities. The damage sustained during the relentless storm was unimaginable, and our prayers are still with the families who lost loved ones. In the aftermath of this disaster, Kentuckians across the Commonwealth came together to offer help, provide support, and deliver aid when many needed it most. As the communities continue to rebuild and recover, I want to recognize the local servant leaders and citizens who are helping get our communities back on their feet. As we continue to move forward, I am inspired by their courageous efforts to restore our local communities. Serving the people of Kentucky's First Congressional District is an honor, and my office remains committed to assisting their recovery efforts in every way. Dawson Springs Tornado Relief Effort

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the selfless efforts of local Kentuckians who served their community in a time of need. Todd Marshall, Larry Cavanah, Kent Workman, Zach Willett, Paulette Gray, Brandon Godbey, Tamara Rice, Abby Garrett, and Gabe Workman answered the call to aid their fellow Kentuckians after the devastating tornado on December 10, 2021. With their assistance, Dawson Springs Independent school was transformed overnight into the Dawson Springs tornado relief center. As the community began to rebuild and recover, thousands walked through the school's front doors in need of aid. This group of Kentuckians dedicated their time to help sort over 29,000 pounds of clothing, prepare warm meals each day, and provide families with a Christmas by converting classrooms into departments for women's clothing, men's clothing, baby equipment, and toys. On behalf of Kentucky's First Congressional District, I express my heartfelt thanks to this group of extraordinary administrators, staff, faculty, and students. Their compassion for our communities did not go unnoticed. Honoring Judge John Phelps Upon His Retirement

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Judge John Phelps on his retirement as judge executive of Cumberland County, Kentucky. A native of Cumberland County, John has dedicated his life to bettering his local community and State. After graduating from Cumberland County High School, John married his high school sweetheart, Leslie, and raised a family of four children and four grandchildren in his hometown of Burkesville. In addition to being a dedicated family man, John served south central Kentucky in various ways throughout his career, including as a well-respected loan officer and realtor before becoming Cumberland County judge executive in 2011. For over a decade, John served his constituents with honor and humility. In 2020, he was elected president of the Kentucky County Judge/Executive Association. In this role, he led the association in helping judge executives work together to solve common issues and improve their local governments. I am proud to have worked with Judge John Phelps throughout his career and wish him the very best in a well-deserved retirement. Honoring Judge Wade White on His Retirement

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to honor Judge Executive Hollis Alexander of Trigg County, Kentucky, who is retiring at the end of the year. Judge Alexander has been a leader and public servant in Trigg County and Cadiz for over three decades. He has served in various capacities, including working for the Cadiz Fire and Police Departments, the Trigg County Ambulance Service and Sheriff's Office, and the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force. Before serving in his current position, Judge Alexander was the chief of the Cadiz Police Department for 16 years, from 1996 to 2012. After being appointed Trigg County judge in 2012, he was reelected in 2014 and 2018. Judge Alexander has been a vocal advocate for Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area and important issues concerning rural Kentucky. On behalf of Kentucky's First Congressional District, I thank Judge Alexander for his commitment to and passion for improving our communities. Recognizing Bart Rowland Upon His Retirement

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize my good friend, Bart Rowland, upon his retirement from the Kentucky House of Representatives. Bart served Monroe, Cumberland, Metcalfe, Green, Hart, and Hardin Counties as their voice in Frankfort for 10 years. Bart was a very well-respected member of the Kentucky General Assembly who quickly rose the ranks to become chairman of the Kentucky House Banking and Insurance Committee. As chairman, Bart passed many bills that improved the entire financial services industry in Kentucky. Bart was elected for the first time in 2012 during a special election, which happened as a result of his predecessor being elected Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture. Mr. Speaker, I was Bart's predecessor, and I can say with confidence that the people of my home area never had a better State representative than Bart Rowland. Bart and his wife, Jerri, and their three kids reside in Tompkinsville, Kentucky. On behalf of everyone who Bart has represented so well over the past decade, I wish him and his family the very best in the next chapter of their lives. Role of House Oversight and Reform Committee

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss an issue today that has been in the news a lot over the last few weeks, and it pertains to the role of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. God willing, January 3, I will take command as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. My goal, as I have said to just about every media outlet that has asked about it, I want to bring the House Oversight and Reform Committee back to its original intent. The intent of the House Oversight and Reform Committee is to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the Federal Government, and I believe when we look around in the Federal Government, we see a whole lot of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. When asked about my priorities as the next chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, I want to talk about my first priority, and that is to get the backs of the taxpayers of the United States of America. Just in the name of COVID, over the past 3 years, Mr. Speaker, so that spans two administrations, this body has been reckless in its spending in the name of COVID. When you look at all the stimulus bills, all the stimulus programs, all the giveaways, those dollar amounts run into the trillions of dollars. Now, we can talk about all the money and go down line by line, and we will see a lot of success stories. Take the PPP loan program, for example. There are some great success stories in there. I don't think anyone in this body, regardless of their ideology, regardless of whether we are rural, urban, suburban, whatever, wouldn't argue that, during COVID, there were industries that suffered far worse than other industries. For example, anything in the tourism or travel industry, obviously, was devastated, whether they be the airline companies, whether they be hotels, whether they be anything pertaining to leisure travel. The PPP loan program was a lifesaver for many of those businesses. When we had the very brief debate on the PPP loan program, the goal was to help businesses keep people working during the government shutdown by supplementing and subsidizing their payrolls, which was noble because if you look at it, the government was going to pay for it one way or the other, either in the form of PPP loans or in the form of unemployment insurance. So, we had to step up in this body. But, like this body does time after time after time, there were not sufficient guardrails on that program. We have stories coming in every day by various media outlets, by various investigative reporters, by various oversight mainly and almost exclusively by Republican committees in this body that will show that there were fraudulent businesses that didn't even exist that got millions and millions of dollars alone. We will find that there were businesses that had record years during COVID. They never missed a beat. They never had a layoff. They had record years. They got millions and millions of dollars. We even read just this week how many law firms in America that never missed a beat during COVID got huge PPP loans. We even read that Hunter Biden's former law firm got over $10 million in PPP loans despite never missing a beat. So, in this congressional body, in this House of Representatives, who in the majority has been providing oversight over the PPP loan program? It has not been the House Oversight and Reform Committee. We have been investigating the Washington Commanders. We have been investigating what the world would look like if the United States passed the Equal Rights Amendment. We have had bills on white supremacy. We have had bills on abortion. What we haven't had bills on is oversight. During the prior 2 years when the House flipped the last time and the Democrats took the majority in the House Oversight Committee, there were dozens and dozens of high-level Trump cabinet secretaries and appointees that testified before the House Oversight Committee. Dozens and dozens. I want to say in the upper thirties. Fast forward to the last 2 years of the Biden administration. Do you know how many cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries have testified in front of the House Oversight Committee? Zero. Zero. That is going to change on January 3. Back to COVID, which is what I want to have as the first hearing of the Oversight Committee. We have had programs that have gone unchecked. We have made mistakes in this body, like this body always does, especially when we rush bills, and we don't read bills and we must pass bills. Then you look at the unemployment insurance extension. Most of these programs were administered by the States. But the States were getting money and mandates from the Federal Government. And now guess what we are learning, Mr. Speaker? We are learning that there were hundreds of thousands of fraudulent unemployment claims, maybe millions. It is estimated that as many as 25 percent of all the extended unemployment that this body continued to approve went by the way of fraud; many to foreign countries. Who has been looking into that in the House of Representatives over the past year and a half? Not the House Oversight Committee. I haven't seen a committee in here that has been checking into that. So that is going to be our role. Then you look at the stimulus money. The hospitals. I love hospitals. I have 29 hospitals in my Congressional District; I would say as many as anybody in this body. Hospitals received a lot of money. The list goes on and on and on. State and local money. We had jurisdiction on the House Oversight Committee. $350 billion with no guardrails. That is what we kept saying, no guardrails on the State and local money. Who has been looking into that? Not the House Oversight Committee. But that is going to change on January 3. So we have a lot of challenges in our quest to get the backs of the American taxpayers. We want to identify waste. We want to identify fraud. We want to identify abuse. We want to hold people accountable for abuse and fraud. We would love to try to claw some of this money back. And in some instances Secret Service with some of the fraud has been able to claw some of the money back that was spent fraudulently in the name of COVID. So all the COVID money that was spent is going to be a priority for the House Oversight Committee. We are also going to have a huge interest in the debacle at the southern border, Mr. Speaker. When you look at what is going on on the border--and there has been no shortage of floor speeches on this side of the aisle in the past 2 years about that--we are concerned about some of the decisions that have been made at the top. We have been to the border, the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, many times. I have several members of the committee that represent border States. We have heard from Border Patrol agents. And I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, what we have heard from Border Patrol agents is very concerning, especially about conversations they have had with Secretary Mayorkas. In a recent trip to the southern border, about a week or so ago, Leader McCarthy announced that investigating the potential wrongdoing at the southern border would be a priority in the next Congress and that Mr. Jordan and Mr. Comer would oversee the investigation. We are going to do that. We are going to do that on day one. Then we look at other hearings that have been in the news that--I don't think it is any secret, and I will conclude with this one, Mr. Speaker--we talk about the Biden family influence-pedaling investigation. Now, there are some media outlets that have done a very good job of reporting accurately what the purpose of this investigation is. And then there are a whole lot of media outlets that have blown this off, and they say this is the Hunter Biden laptop investigation. That is not true and let me be very clear. This is an investigation of the President of the United States to determine whether or not he and his administration is compromised because of the millions and millions of dollars that they have received from our adversaries in China, Russia, Ukraine, and even the Middle East. We look at all the decisions that this administration has made that we scratch our heads and say, Why would they do this? Why would they do that? Why would they cancel the Keystone pipeline? Why would they cut off drilling? Why would they make it harder to get permits? Why are they going to Saudi Arabia begging for more oil? Why are we trying to force electric vehicles on the Postal Service fleet and the government. And why are we doing all of this stuff? Then you look at some of the business dealings that the President's family was involved in, and the one that strikes me as the most concerning, Mr. Speaker, was the one with CEFC China Energy, which was a Chinese energy company. Then Hudson West, which was the company that the President's son was involved with, a company that the President's son also asked for keys to be made because of his partner coming in, which happened to be the current President of the United States. But regardless, there was a map of the United States of America on that laptop. It was in Chinese, and it had all these major natural gas suppliers listed. The objective was to help this Chinese energy company not only purchase American liquefied natural gas, but also, to help this Chinese company start taking ownership in the drillers of natural gas in the United States. Now, let's think about that. There is outrage in this body, there is outrage in America over China buying farmland in the Dakotas. Here we have an effort by the Biden family to help China take ownership of an American energy industry. I find that concerning, Mr. Speaker. We have been criticized for wanting to investigate this by many in the mainstream media, and I find that ironic, considering that in the last administration there were many investigations. In fact, they are still investigating the last administration. Now, I am not going to comment on the last administration, whether these investigations are warranted or not. It is not up to me to decide. What I will say is we are going to investigate any potential wrongdoing in this White House. And at the very least, we are going to let the American people know exactly what was going on within this family. It is not just the President's son, it is the President's brothers, as well. This was a family business. They didn't manufacture anything. They weren't licensed to sell anything. They don't own any real estate. They don't have any employees. What was the business? I would argue it is influence pedaling. But we are going to investigate that and see. So the one challenge I have, and that we will have providing oversight from this side of the aisle on, is to restore confidence in congressional oversight, because let's just be honest, Mr. Speaker--and I blame both parties for this--congressional oversight doesn't have a lot of credibility. We have had a lot of high-profile hearings over the past decade that really haven't, unfortunately, amounted to a whole lot. There has been a lot of fishing, a lot of hearings, a lot of outrage, a lot of tax dollars spent. Some pretty good information has been recovered, but at the end of the day, not a lot has happened. I blame, again, both parties, particularly the current chairman of the House Intelligence Committee because many of his investigations were based on things that we now know, like the Steele dossier, were not true. So this investigation with the President of the United States is based on interviews that we have already had. This is based on documents that we have, many in that laptop, which by the way, The Washington Post has confirmed is a legitimate laptop. Then when the White House and the Democratic National Committee came out and said, oh, well, that may be the President's son's laptop, but it has been compromised; there has been a folder added. CBS News did a forensic audit and proved that that is a legitimate hard drive that has not--and I repeat--has not been tampered with. Now, we find out from Elon Musk that there were people involved in the President's campaign, involved in the Democratic National Committee, and I fear involved in high levels of the Government--we haven't gotten to that yet, but stay tuned--that were telling everyone, especially in the social media companies, oh, that is not true, that is Russian disinformation. Very concerning because one must ask oneself: Why were they doing that? What is on that computer? And don't tell me, Mr. Speaker, it is a bunch of pictures and videos. I don't care about the pictures and videos. It is the data on there about the Biden family influence pedaling with our adversaries across the globe. That, Mr. Speaker, is why the House Oversight Committee will investigate the President of the United States for any potential wrongdoing and try to determine whether or not this administration is compromised. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time today. I thank you for the opportunity to tell the American people a little bit about what the House Oversight Committee's goals and objectives are in the next Congress. We have a big job. Not only do we have trillions of dollars to try to account for what has been misappropriated, misspent, abused in this body, we also have a lot of investigations to conduct while at the same time trying to restore credibility for congressional investigation. I look forward to working with every Member of this body, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor Mayor Steve Austin of Henderson, Kentucky, who is retiring at the end of the year after serving three terms. Mayor Austin is a lifelong resident of Henderson. He is a graduate of Holy Name High School and Henderson Community College before he continued his education at Evansville College and at Harvard School of Business regional campus sessions. Before being elected Mayor, he worked at Henderson's local newspaper, ``The Gleaner,'' for more than four decades, covering a wide range of topics before serving as publisher for 22 years. I have had the privilege of getting to know Mayor Austin well over the years. While his time as Mayor may be coming to an end, I am confident his dedication and service to Henderson will continue for many years to come.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Dr. Tony Brannon on his well-deserved retirement. Dr. Brannon grew up on a small family farm and at an early age began to participate in the Future Farmers of America events. His dedication to the FFA program and agricultural community would only grow. He completed a bachelor's degree in agricultural education from Murray State in 1981, a master's degree in 1982, and a Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University in 1988. Dr. Brannon's heart never left Murray State, though. Legend has it he even wrote in soap on his bathroom mirror ``MSU'' as a reminder of his goal to come back to Murray State. He returned to Murray State as a faculty member in agricultural education and mechanization. In 2005, he was named the dean of the School of Agriculture. For nearly 35 years, he has molded a generation of new agricultural leaders in Kentucky. As many gather to celebrate Dr. Brannon's retirement, I thank him for his commitment to the MSU community, service to the Kentucky FFA Foundation, and unwavering passion for helping thousands of students achieve their dreams.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the PAST Act. This legislation attempts to eliminate the Walking Horse industry, which is prominent in my congressional district. The vast majority of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry is located in Tennessee and Kentucky. The Tennessee Walking Horse is the most inspected horse in the world under current law, with both pre-show and post-competition inspections performed by both USDA inspectors and horse industry organization inspectors. The PAST Act eliminates the industry inspection entities and replaces them with new employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Justice Department, increasing bureaucracy and cost to the taxpayer. The PAST Act is not widely supported by the horse industry. In fact, the vast majority of the active Tennessee Walking Horse industry stakeholders in my district oppose this bill and instead support Representative Scott DesJarlais' commonsense reforms and modernization of the Horse Protection Act contained in H.R. 6341, of which I am a cosponsor. This bill fails to promote objective, science-based inspections. I oppose the PAST Act and how it will lead to the hiring of more government bureaucrats while failing to protect the horse industry from biased inspections. I encourage my fellow Members to vote against this bill.