Rodney Davis

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. Luetkemeyer, and my colleague, Mr. Clay. Thank you for your service. Thank you for the stories about Stan Musial being ``the man'' when it came to a difficult time in Major League history. I would also like to thank you for your father's service too.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank my colleague, Mrs. Wagner, for her comments and support for this bill. I'd also like to thank my colleague, Mr. Enyart, for his support, and also for his service to our country. Thank you, sir. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer).

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I'd first like to thank my colleague and my good friend from Illinois (Mrs. Bustos) for her kind comments, and also for honoring her father's service to Major League Baseball and her brother's service to the youth and to the students at Southern Illinois University during his time there as a head baseball coach. I now wish to yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner).

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 2383, to name the new I-70 bridge that connects St. Louis and southwestern Illinois as the ``Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge.'' I introduced this legislation, along with my colleague Bill Enyart, as well as Ann Wagner, John Shimkus, Lacy Clay, Dan Lipinski, Aaron Schock, Emanuel Cleaver, Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler, Randy Hultgren, Adam Kinzinger, Billy Long, Blaine Luetkemeyer, and Jason Smith. Today marks a bipartisan opportunity to honor all of America's heroes as well as a legend of America's national pastime. Nearly 1.3 million of America's 21 million veterans live in Illinois and Missouri. Naming this bridge that links these two States is another way we can honor the brave men and the brave women who have served our country. Whether it's coming together to pass critical veterans funding measures, just like 420 of my colleagues and I did earlier this month on this very floor, or recognizing our veterans by naming this bridge, this body has shown it can come together in support of our veterans. This bill would also honor the legacy of Stan Musial. Mr. Speaker, the St. Louis Cardinals are one of the most storied and successful first-rate franchises in sports history, and the best player to ever don a St. Louis Cardinals uniform was Stan ``the Man'' Musial. Born in Donora, Pennsylvania, in 1920, Stan Musial lived an amazing, inspiring life. On the field, he was a 24-time All-Star, a three-time World Series champion, three-time National League MVP, and a first- ballot Hall of Famer. He finished his career as a .331 hitter; and he was consistent, earning 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 hits on the road. During his 22-year major league career spanning 3,026 games, he was never ejected by an umpire. These lessons in consistency and sportsmanship not only serve as a good reminder to Congress, but they are also attributes that I try to impart upon my sons and their teammates as the coach of their Little League baseball team in Taylorville, Illinois. Off the field, Stan Musial led by example. In 1945, in the prime of his career, Stan took a year off from baseball to go serve his country in World War II. Stan served in the Navy and was based at Pearl Harbor as part of a ship repair unit. There was more to Stan Musial than being an outstanding athlete who also served his country. He and his high school sweetheart, Lillian, were married more than 70 years and had four children. He also served as chairman for President Johnson's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; and in 2011, Stan was given this country's highest civilian honor: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. My first favorite player, Hank Aaron, a Hall of Famer, sums it up best when he said: I didn't just like Stan Musial; I wanted to be like Stan Musial. As an individual, Stan will be remembered as kind, modest, generous, and approachable. As an ambassador, Stan meant more to the game of baseball and St. Louis than he was ever willing to take credit for. Today, let's honor our veterans and Stan ``the Man'' Musial. I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 2383, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. 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 materials on H.R. 2383.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you to my colleague, Chairman Lucas. Thank you to Ranking Member Peterson. We agree: crop insurance is not broken. I stand here today to remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that recently Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack sat in our Agriculture Committee hearing and said that crop insurance is not broken. Crop insurance is one of the most successful programs we have in the Midwest as you heard in this debate. We see that we're not doing off-budget disaster assistance. We see that farmers are willing to give up direct payments to have better risk-management tools like crop insurance. Let's also get to the point, too, that bankers, our creditors, will not give loans to our farmers and keep our family farms in business without a strong risk-management program like the effective crop insurance program that we have. I urge all of my colleagues to oppose this amendment. We need to ensure that this risk-management tool, crop insurance, stays as viable and as effective as it is; and I stand here today and agree with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and agree that crop insurance is not broken. Please oppose this amendment.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. I thank the gentleman from Texas. I will say that my home town has no ``s,'' it's Taylorville. But, hey, Mr. Sessions has been there. So thank you very much for your time spent in that community and thank you very much for the time today. I rise today in steadfast support of H.R. 1947, the FARRM Bill. Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Peterson, we have crafted a farm bill that provides 5 years of certainty, cuts $40 billion, closes loopholes in the SNAP program, and preserves crop insurance as the key risk management tool for our producers. Ag has been a bright spot for this economy. For every $1 billion in agricultural exports, it supports nearly 8,000 American jobs. The district I represent is home to ADM, the University of Illinois, the Farm Progress Show, GSI, and Kraft Foods. From the farm to the classroom to the table, agriculture is a crucial economic driver in the 13th District of Illinois. I'd also like to quickly highlight two amendments I authored, which were included in the FARRM Bill. The first one would provide the agricultural community with a place at the table when the EPA considers regulations impacting agriculture. This is how we stop regulations from coming to the table that want to regulate milk spills like oil spills from the Exxon Valdez. They don't make sense, and the Department of Agriculture deserves a seat at the table to tell them that. I also had a bipartisan seed amendment that removes duplicative layers of EPA regulations at our ports to ensure that we don't face shortages of seeds in the Midwest. Lastly, I want to talk about another vital title to this bill. The area that I represent has the University of Illinois. And those of us who are fortunate enough to represent land grant universities know that they are the bedrock of agricultural research. With this FARRM Bill, we are reauthorizing university research and continuing the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative within the National Institute for Food and Agriculture. Research through AFRI benefits the entire world, and I'm proud of the research that the U of I has conducted through this program. Their cutting-edge research is aimed at improving food security, achieving more efficient crop production, and promoting animal health through livestock genome sequencing. We have an opportunity to move the FARRM Bill forward this week and avoid the uncertainty of year-long extensions that reform nothing and spend more money. This FARRM Bill is well thought out, contains critical reforms, and benefits all Americans. Vote ``yes'' on this FARRM Bill.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in opposition to the decision on Monday by the FDA to allow Plan B to be offered over the counter to girls at any age. I've been vocal about this issue and will continue to be. On May 20 this year, I co-authored a letter to the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking the FDA to reverse its decision. At one point, the President agreed that Plan B should not be used over the counter by girls without a prescription. Now it seems he has changed his mind. As a result of this FDA ruling, it will be easier for young girls to get Plan B than it will to get a tattoo. Mr. Speaker, this change is an insult to parents and the role they play in their children's lives. I am very disappointed with the FDA's decision to allow Plan B to be offered over the counter without age restriction.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the accomplished life of Mrs. Erma Scott Bridgewater who passed away on Tuesday April 2, 2013. She was a lifelong resident of Champaign, Illinois where she graduated from Champaign Senior High School and from the University of Illinois in 1937 with a degree in Sociology and a minor in Psychology. Mrs. Erma Scott Bridgewater went on to work at the City of Champaign's Department of Recreation as the director of the Douglas Center. There she became an influential part of numerous children's lives as the girls' track and softball coach, a mentor for the Douglas Center Drum Corps and Drill Team, as well as a chaperone for skating parties and Friday night dances. After 24 years of service to the City of Champaign, Mrs. Bridgewater served on a variety of boards and committees. Throughout her life she received many honors, among them the Living Legend Award, Martin Luther King Day Award and the National Council of Negro Woman, along with a mini park named in her honor on the corner of Bradley and Market Street in Champaign. Because of her dedication to the community and the lives she touched, I am proud to honor the life and accomplishments of Mrs. Erma Scott Bridgewater.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman formerly from the great State of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule, and I appreciate the time to talk about a very critical issue that the underlying bill addresses. As the father of a 16-year-old daughter, I don't know how comfortable I would be if she came to me and said she would like to join the military, especially given the current culture regarding sexual assault. This year alone, 26,000 men and women in the military have been impacted by sexual assault. The National Defense Authorization Act is a step in the right direction in ending this culture and establishing an intolerance, as it includes mandatory sentencing requirements and strips commanders of their authority to dismiss a conviction by court-martial. The Department of Defense estimates there were 19,000 victims of sexual assault in FY 2011 alone, but only 2,700 victims actually filed a report. In early May, I was pleased to cosponsor H.R. 1864, a military whistleblower bill which extends whistleblower protections to those who report instances of sexual misconduct. This valuable provision has been added to the National Defense Authorization Act. I am pleased to see Congress respond to the issues of sexual assault within the military. I look forward to the day when all fathers will be comfortable sending daughters like mine into the military to fight for our freedoms, and without second thoughts about their safety.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, April 4, 2013, I was attending to family medical issues and unfortunately had to miss votes. Had I been present in Washington, DC on Monday, June 4, 2013, my votes would have been as follows: For rollcall No. 184, on suspending the rules and passing H.R. 1206, the Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2013, which allows for the purchase of duck stamps electronically, I would have voted ``yes.'' For rollcall No. 185, on suspending the rules and passing S. 622, the Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Reauthorization Act of 2013, which reauthorizes two programs that collect and spend fees by the FDA to expedite the review and approval of drugs for use in animals, I would have voted ``yes.'' It is an honor to serve the people of the 13th Congressional District of Illinois.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Chair, on rollcall No. 196 I was unavoidably detained during this five minute vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' Amendment Offered by Mr. Garcia

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the heroic efforts of Deputy Chris Jones of the Jersey County, Illinois, Sheriff's Department. On April 23, Deputy Jones pulled a 67-year-old woman from a car that was being swallowed by floodwater. At 8:42 in the evening, Deputy Jones received a call to alert him of a driver in distress on State Highway 100. When he arrived on the scene, he tried to make verbal contact with her, but her car was submerged in water that covered the hood and part of the trunk, and she was unable to respond. He proceeded to enter the water, where he found the driver still conscious and he assisted her from the vehicle. He later learned that the woman had been trapped for around 40 minutes. Because of his valiant efforts and service to Jersey County, I am proud to honor the actions that Deputy Chris Jones took on April 23 of this year.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you to the gentleman from California for yielding. Many of my colleagues are correct. We do need a permitting process, but this bill is what needs to happen when the permit process breaks down. Keystone is going to create the tens of thousands of jobs that many of us in this Chamber go back to our home districts and talk about being created; but a piece of paper, with the lack of signature, is holding this up. Just this past week, our President stood and said he wanted to make sure that we shortened the time that permits like this take, that we shorten the process so that America can begin to put our trades and labor folks back to work again. This, Mr. President, is your time in history in which you can sign this permit, create tens of thousands of jobs, and really prove to us that you're serious about reining in this regulatory process.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. I inadvertently voted ``aye'' when I intended to oppose the amendment.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to follow the gentleman from Indiana, the subcommittee chairman of K-12, because I'm going to recognize a leader in our K-12 community in Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Matthew Maddox for being named the VFW National Citizenship Education Elementary Teacher of the Year. Matthew is a fifth-grade teacher at Columbus Elementary School in Edwardsville, Illinois, and he was selected as the Teacher of the Year from among 60,000 other teachers for his dedication to education, innovative teaching style, and resource development. In the classroom, Matthew has made it a commitment to recognize the sacrifices made by our Nation's veterans by regularly inviting veterans to visit and share their stories to help make history much more relevant to his students. In addition to being an educator, Matthew has proudly served our country in the Illinois National Guard's 445th Chemical Company since July 2011, and has enrolled in officer training school at Camp Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. Far too often, our Nation's educators do not deserve the credit and recognition they deserve. So I am proud to stand here today to congratulate Matthew Maddox for the work he does in the classroom, and also to thank him for his service to our country.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is humbling for me every single day to walk onto this House floor knowing that I represent the former district held by Abraham Lincoln in central Illinois. In 1863, during his Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln spoke of our democracy by saying that it is ``a government of the people, by the people, for the people.'' Yet what we have seen over the last 48 hours is nothing close to a government for the people. Does a government of the people target specific groups of individuals, especially groups that oppose the President's viewpoints? Does a government by the people obtain the phone records of reporters in what appears to be a violation of First Amendment rights? And does a government for the people refuse to accept responsibility and instead place blame wherever they can? The answer, of course, is no. Public trust in government is at an all-time low, and partisan actions by this administration will continue the deterioration of that trust. We have been called to Washington by our constituents to work together in a bipartisan fashion for the best interests of our country. So I ask that we put politics aside, Mr. Speaker, lead by example, and work together to keep the trust of the American public.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of National Nurses Week and to support one of the most important nurses I know, my wife, Shannon. Shannon is the mother to our three children and has been a nurse for 18 years. She now teaches our next generation of nurses in Springfield, Illinois, at St. John's College. It's important for us to recognize the more than 3.1 million nurses across this great country. They are truly the backbone of our Nation's hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices. I know firsthand that nurses work every day to ensure that their patients are receiving the quality care they need and deserve. In fact, most of the time, they are the first and last contact patients and their families receive. This is not always an easy task, but one that has greatly contributed to making our health care system one of the greatest in the world. This week we celebrate all of our nurses who work long, hard hours and go the extra mile to provide safe, high-quality care to their patients and pave the way for a more innovative and efficient health care system. Thank you, Shannon, and thank you to all the nurses who care for our families each and every day.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this piece of legislation. This Sunday is Mother's Day. It's a very bittersweet day for me. As a father of three children, I am constantly reminding my wife how important this day is and how important her job as a mother is. But it's 14 years ago this month that I lost my mother, my inspiration, my teacher, someone that I think about every single Mother's Day. I ask myself what would my mom, Sally Davis, say when we give the option to provide more flexibility to working mothers. In Illinois alone, my home State, there are over 1 million single parents that need this flexibility to be able to make the decisions they need to raise their families. As a father of three school-aged children, I've coached baseball games, I've watched my daughter cheer, and I've shuttled my kids to doctor appointments. It's part of raising kids and being a parent. However, more than 60 percent of employees feel they do not have enough time to spend with their families. Why not give these families the same flexibility that those in the public sector--many of my constituents in Springfield, Illinois, and throughout have the same opportunity to use? Why not to give them that flexibility? Just last year, employees at the IRS took more than 246,000 hours of comp time instead of additional government pay. No legislation is perfect, Mr. Speaker, but this legislation gives families, gives mothers, gives fathers the opportunity to choose and work with their employers to do so. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to think of their mother and ask them what would they do.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today without prepared remarks but to join my colleague, Ann Wagner, in honoring a great friend, Chip Gerdes. Chip, a 41-year-old who leaves behind a beautiful wife and a beautiful daughter and is someone who was larger than life in Illinois and in Illinois politics, died this morning way too young. With Chip Gerdes, you never knew what that phone call was going to bring when his name popped through on your caller ID, and it's a phone call that I sadly stand here today to say I will never be able to take again. But it was my friendship with Chip and friendship that he had with others like Ann, and many throughout Illinois and Missouri, that made us stand here today and honor him and honor his legacy. Chip Gerdes, you were a friend to many and a foe to none. Chip Gerdes, rest in peace, my friend, and I will say this on the floor today in your honor: ``Roll Tide.''

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Bishop King James Underwood who is a pastor at New Free Will Baptist Church in Champaign, Illinois. Born in Mississippi, Bishop Underwood came to Champaign as a child. He has a Doctorate of Ministry and Doctorate of Divinity. He has been heavily involved in the local community groups, including helping to form the Free Will Baptist District as well as leading the Ministerial Alliance of Champaign- Urbana and Vicinity, the local NAACP, N.C.N.W. and the Champaign County Urban League. Today, Bishop Underwood will be celebrating his 75th Birthday with friends and family. I am proud to honor Bishop King James Underwood today and would like to wish him a very happy birthday and thank him for his service and dedication to the entire community.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you to the gentleman from Iowa. I'd like to first thank the Senate for sending this piece of legislation over to us to provide a fix, a fix that isn't necessary to provide, but the administration through a lack of leadership is proving that we have to do this now. We are here today because this administration has decided to put politics over passengers. From the very beginning of sequestration, this administration and its departments have claimed that they did not have the flexibility to avoid cuts that would affect Americans the most. The proposed tower closings and the FAA furloughs that were announced this week, they're not just wrong--they are irresponsible and indefensible. The bottom line is the FAA already has the flexibility that we are granting them today, yet they are unwilling to take advantage of that. So, today, we are here because it is time to put an end to the excuses and political gimmicks, and we owe it to the American people to govern like statesmen by passing this bill in order to get the FAA to implement spending cuts responsibly in order to protect the traveling public. Mr. President, I urge you: tell your administration to grow up.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, this week, the Chicago Tribune published an editorial that stated what many of us have known for months: the administration is playing political games by attempting to make the sequestration as painful as possible on Americans, especially traveling Americans. The FAA furloughs announced this week, they're not just wrong, they're irresponsible. The bottom line is the FAA has the flexibility to find money and minimize the impact to the traveling public. Even more concerning is that the FAA has chosen not to implement the furloughs in a way that could protect the most critical air traffic control operations and facilities. They are indiscriminately furloughing everyone in the FAA. Air traffic controllers are being furloughed at the same rate as noncontrollers, and furloughs are being applied at the same rate regardless of the airport size. Waterloo in Iowa is not Chicago O'Hare. The FAA needs to manage better, and they need to do it now. There is still time for the administration and the FAA to reverse course on these decisions and start making the right decision instead of trying to simply score political points by playing the political game of chicken.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on the evening of Monday, April 15, 2013, I joined Bishop Thomas Paprocki and Father Alan Hunter to celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation of my daughter and her classmates from St. Mary's Parish in Taylorville, St. Rita's Parish in Kincaid, and Holy Trinity Parish in Stonington, Illinois. Had I been present in Washington DC on Monday April 15, 2013, my votes would have been as follows: For rollcall No. 103, on suspending the rules and passing H.R. 1162, the Government Accountability Office Improvement Act, which confirms that the GAO has the authority to go to court to force departments to hand over records, as well as generally assures that the GAO has the proper tools to monitor agencies, I would have voted ``yes.'' For rollcall No. 104 on suspending the rules and passing H.R. 882, the Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2013, which states that it is the policy of the United States that no government contracts or grants should be awarded to individuals or companies with seriously delinquent federal tax debts, I would have voted ``yes.'' For rollcall No. 105 on suspending the rules and passing H.R. 249, the Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act, which prohibits any person who has a serious delinquent tax debt from serving on an executive agency, working for the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and an employing authority in the legislative branch, I would have voted ``yes.'' It is an honor to serve the people of the 13th Congressional District of Illinois.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. I'd like to thank the gentleman from Kentucky for doing this Special Order tonight, and it's an honor for me to also follow my colleague from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon), who talked about his hometown of Kincaid, Illinois, and talked about the importance growing up of coal mining in that community. I represent Kincaid, Illinois, right now in the 13th Congressional District of Illinois, and just over 20 years ago, these miners lost their jobs because of deliberations and the eventual stroke of a pen here in Washington, D.C. It became cheaper to import coal from the western United States to burn at the power plant across the street from this coal mine where these miners worked than it was to dig it out from underground, ship it on an electronic conveyor belt across the street, and burn it. Over 1,200 miners that day lost their job. Those were Congressman Bucshon's friends. Those were my friends' parents. It hit our local economy harder than anything we had seen. Our local economy has since recovered, but we cannot forget that these deliberations in this great body have an impact on all of America's families. And these coal miners of 20 years ago are no different than the coal mining families of today, and we need to make sure we think of them every single time we see this war on coal, that we stand together, Mr. Barr, and fight. Thank you.