Trent Franks

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Chairman, this amendment will empower America to identify those heroes within the Muslim world who are working so bravely to counter the odious violent ideology which continues to use Islam to justify the murder of tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. It will save American lives, it will save Muslim lives, it will save lives across the world, and I would encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes.'' Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, it has been 15 years and 10 months since the attacks on September 11, which killed nearly 3,000 people and wounded nearly 6,000 others. Since then, America has fought five operations in eight countries, prosecuting wars against those responsible, their allies, and sympathizers, and the foundational ideology that fomented it. And 5,400 American heroes have given the last full measure of devotion in service to their country to combat this vile enemy. Yet, in spite of all of this, there are those who continue to oppose any attempts to study the ideological roots of this enemy. Their zealous commitment not to understand our enemies' motivations would almost be impressive if it weren't so harmful. As my friends across the aisle were so eager to point out, this is not a war which can be won with bombs and bullets alone. Despite the peerless capability of our warrior class, we cannot kill our way out of this problem, nor is this a war which can be won by increasing the State Department's budget for providing ``jobs programs'' for jihadists. It has to be noted by even the most intransigent of those who would oppose my amendment today that so many of the young men who buy into this destructive movement come from families who are more than comfortable financially. Osama bin Laden's family was not going hungry when he declared war on America, twice. Many of the significant leaders of the various groups and factions are men with postdoctorate degrees in Islamic studies from some of those most prestigious universities in the Muslim world. Yet we are told by countless talking heads and politicians that men and women who carry out these terrible attacks and cry, Allahu Akbar, in that moment when they detonate bombs in the midst of the crowds of innocent men, women, and children, have nothing to do with Islamist ideology. Mr. Chairman, to embrace that flagrant fallacy means we will never be able to address this evil on a strategic level, and our noble men and women in uniform will be forced to combat it on a tactical level only. This present struggle against the vast majority of terrorism in the world is fundamentally one of ideas, and it will be won on the battlefield in the hearts and minds of human beings. Mr. Chairman, I know that there are many brands of violent extremism, and I eagerly would join my colleagues in any effort to combat them all. If the FBI does not have enough resources to combat neo-Nazis or White supremacists, then I want to know about that, and I want to help. There is no desire in my heart whatsoever to single out any group of innocent people or denigrate their faith in any way. However, the reality remains that there is one spectrum of Islamic ideology whose variants are responsible for the 9/11 attacks, feeling the insurgency in Iraq, the countless attacks on civilians in Europe, and the boundless evil of the Islamic State. In 2017 alone, there have been 1,134 attacks in 49 countries, in which more than 8,000 people have been killed and 8,000 more were injured. Our allies across the world, including in the Muslim world, have now begun to study and analyze the ideology that foments Islamic terrorism so they can begin to resist it on a strategic ideological level. If we in America do not also address this on a strategic level, this underlying ideology that catalyzes the evil of jihadist terrorism across the world, then its list of victims will only grow longer. Mr. Chairman, my amendment will help us to categorize those perpetrating violence in the name of Islam and help us to identify our allies within the Muslim world who can assist in countering the Islamic message of global jihad. Those who would oppose this amendment choose to continue the status quo, that is to say, no strategy at all. So, Mr. Chairman, I would just implore the Members of this body to pass this amendment and join this sincere effort in finally identifying our enemies, empowering our friends, and ending this evil destructive ideology once and for all. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chair, how much time remains on this side?

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I also want to sincerely thank Chairman Kevin Brady and the members of the Ways and Means Committee for their continued and invaluable work to protect America's children and strengthening our child welfare policy, as is in evidence in these five bills we are considering today. Mr. Speaker, foster care issues rarely drive our national media headlines, yet, to the children who are in the child welfare system, the importance of finding solutions and eliminating the barriers that would ensure better futures, better outcomes, and a permanent connection to a loving family can make fundamental, lifelong differences to those who are some of America's most vulnerable children. The goal of the Family First legislation, of which these bills are components, is to respond to the devastating data pertaining to the outcomes for foster youth who age out of care, often without any permanent connection and without the life skills and support systems necessary to thrive as independent adults. Mr. Speaker, we have heard so many times from the States that there is a need to make our Federal child welfare funding flexible enough so that we never incentivize the placement of children into foster care who would safely receive care in their homes or with safe, loving relatives. This bipartisan package of child welfare system improvements makes important steps toward improving our child welfare system to better protect children and families, and I am certainly delighted to support its passage. I want to thank, Mr. Speaker, again, those colleagues that have worked on this for their invaluable work on this critically important legislation.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Walker for this opportunity. It is so appropriate on People's Night to talk about the very littlest people in America, isn't it? Mr. Speaker, the United States of America is a unique nation that is premised on that bedrock foundation that we are all created equal, and that each of us is endowed by our Creator with the unalienable right to live. That is why it is so important for Members of Congress to remind ourselves from time to time that protecting the lives of all Americans and their constitutional rights is why we are really all here. It is our sworn oath before God and the people of this Nation. Yet today, a great shadow looms over America. More than 18,000 late- term abortions, very late-term abortions, are occurring in America every year, placing the mothers at exponentially greater risk and subjecting their pain-capable unborn babies to torture and death without anesthesia--this, in the land of the free and the home of the brave. It is the greatest human rights atrocity in the United States today. Almost every other major civilized nation on Earth protects pain- capable unborn babies at this stage, and every credible poll of the American people shows that they are overwhelmingly in favor of protecting them. Yet we have given these little babies less legal protection from unnecessary cruelty than the protection we have given farm animals under the Federal Humane Slaughter Act. But thankfully, Mr. Speaker, the winds of change have finally begun to blow, and the tide of blindness and blood is finally turning in America. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act has already once passed in this body, and it will again, Mr. Speaker; and these little babies now have a new and very powerful friend and protector in President Donald J. Trump. No matter how it is shouted down or what distortions, deception what- ifs, distractions, diversions, gotchas, twisting of words, changing the subject, or blatant falsehoods the abortion industry hurls at this bill and its supporters, it will remain a deeply sincere effort, beginning at the sixth month of pregnancy, to protect both mothers and their pain-capable unborn babies from this torturous atrocity of late-term abortion on demand. Ultimately, it is one all humane Americans can support if they truly understand it for themselves. So the question that now remains is whether the Republican leader in the Senate will find the courage to prevent pro-abortion Democrats from once again using the Senate filibuster to prevent this bill from even coming to the floor in the Senate for debate. Mr. Speaker, it is time for all Americans to open our eyes and our souls and recognize the humanity of these helpless little babies and the inhumanity of what is being done to them. Protecting these little children of God and their mothers is not a Republican issue; it is not a Democratic issue; it is a decisive test of our own humanity and who we are as a human family.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Victor Marx is a man dedicated to spreading the great truth that even in the face of hate and violence, the love of God can heal even the most wounded among us. Victor's full life story has been chronicled in the book ``The Victor Marx Story'' and in a film by the same name. Victor's animating, faith-motivated, moral imperative to help the suffering has fueled the mission of All Things Possible to free children from abuse and the effects of its trauma. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and to commend Victor Marx and All Things Possible Ministries for the work they do to reach out and embrace traumatized individuals across the world. In 2015, All Things Possible launched high-risk missions to bring hope to those suffering abuse at the hands of evil in the Middle East. Victor and his team, including Dave Eubank of Free the Oppressed, visited Iraq to help over 300 young women and children who were previously held captive or traumatized by the violence of ISIS. In an effort to provide children with tangible comfort, ATP launched the Lions and Lambs project. More than 11,000 little boys and girls have received stuffed animals that play cultural songs and prayers in a language native to their region. These signs of huggable hope remind them that they are not forgotten by the outside world. In 2016, Victor and his team initiated efforts to find persecuted Christian families in northern Iraq and move them to safe havens in neighboring countries. To date, ATP has relocated more than 40 individuals specifically targeted by ISIS for elimination, giving them hope for a safer, better life, and restoring their faith in the human spirit. Last year, ATP launched the third option with the goal of offering concrete alternatives to those vulnerable to ISIS recruitment. ATP unites with moderate leaders of the Islamic faith to pursue this goal. Recognizing Victor as a man of the book, a key leader of the Sunni Endowment is now working with ATP to craft a common narrative designed to prevent men of military age from being assimilated into ISIS. Mr. Speaker, the prophet Isaiah said: The wolf also shall lie down with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. Victor Marx and All Things Possible Ministries have brought this powerful ministry to life in a very touching way. It should encourage all of us to relentlessly pursue that day when the light of hope will fall across all of the lonely faces of God's children all over this world and to that time when future generations, of those whom Jesus called the least of these our brothers and sisters, will be able to walk in the sunlight of liberty for as long as mankind inherits the Earth. Mr. Speaker, I commend Victor Marx and All Things Possible, and I thank them for trying to make a better world. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, it is a new day in America. I am very gratified that we now have a President that looks differently upon the innocent unborn than did the last one. Mr. Speaker, protecting the lives of all Americans and their constitutional rights is why we are all here in this place. The bedrock foundation of this Republic is that clarion declaration of the self- evident truth that all human beings are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights: the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Every conflict and every battle our Nation has ever faced can be traced to this core commitment to this self-evident truth. It has made us the beacon of hope for the entire world, Mr. Speaker. It is who we are. Yet, today, another day has passed and we in this body have still failed to honor that foundational commitment. While we move in the right direction, we have still failed our sworn oath and our God-given responsibility, as more than 3,000 additional American babies died today without the protection we should have already given them. So, Mr. Speaker, let me just say, in the hopes that we will finally embrace the truth that abortion really does kill little babies, that it is time we looked up together again and looked to the Declaration of Independence and that we remember that we are the same America that rejected human slavery and that marched into Europe to arrest the Nazi Holocaust and that we are the courageous and compassionate nation that can find a better way for mothers and their unborn children than abortion on demand. It is a new day in America, Mr. Speaker, and we all have a glorious new opportunity to make a better world and for America to be the one that leads the rest of the planet, just as we did in the days of slavery, from this tragic genocide of murdering more than 3,000 of our own children every day. So now, Mr. Speaker, as we consider the plight of the unborn after 44 years under Roe v. Wade, may we each remind ourselves that our own days in this sunshine of life are all numbered and that all too soon each one of us will also walk from this Chamber for the very last time. But if it should be that we are allowed to convene again on yet another day, may that be the day, Mr. Speaker, when we finally hear the cries of these little babies. May that be the day when we find the humanity, the courage, and the will to embrace together our human and our constitutional duty to protect these, the least of our tiny little brothers and sisters, from this murderous scourge called abortion on demand. It has been 44 years, Mr. Speaker, since Roe v. Wade first stained the foundation of this Nation with the blood of its own children. But, thankfully, it is a new day in the land of the free and home of the brave. By the grace of God, help is finally on the way. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I came to this building some 30 years ago. Christopher Smith was here fighting the battle for these little babies, as he is tonight. I hold him to be a grand hero of humanity. Words fail me to express to him the honor, the respect, and the affection that is due him for his relentless, faithful commitment to these little babies that could never vote for him. All I can say to Mr. Smith is that one day he will step over the threshold of eternity and God will say: Welcome home, Chris. You did a good job. You protected those who couldn't protect themselves. I can't think of anything that I think points to a greater manhood, a greater honor, a greater stewardship of life than protecting those who cannot protect themselves. I just want to express that in the deepest way possible. Certainly, Keith Rothfus, I love him. He is a wonderful man. We have so many here. But Chris has been here forever and he has stayed with it. He is getting to be an old guy, but he is not quitting. I am so honored just to be in the same room with him. Mr. Speaker, as I often do around the 22nd of January to commemorate and to remember the tragic Roe v. Wade decision, I come with a sunset memorial because another legislative day has come and gone in Washington, D.C., and sunset approaches fast. So I stand here in this House with what I call a sunset memorial. You see, Mr. Speaker, before the sun sets today in America, over 3,000 more unborn children will be killed by abortion on demand in the land of the free and the home of the brave. That is more than the number of innocent lives lost on September 11th in this country. It happens every day. As much hope as there is in the day in which we stand in this place, in this new moment in American history, for these 3,000, hope will never come in time. I mourn that, Mr. Speaker, because it wasn't necessary. It has now been 44 years since the tragedy called Roe v. Wade was first handed down. Since then, the very foundation of this Nation has been stained by the blood of almost 60 million of our own unborn children. So many of them, Mr. Speaker, cried and screamed as they died, but because it was amniotic fluid going over the vocal cords instead of air, we couldn't hear them. All of them had at least four things in common, Mr. Speaker. First, they were just little babies who had done nothing wrong to anyone. Each one of them died a nameless and lonely death and each one of their mothers was wounded. Whether she realizes it or not, she will never quite be the same. All the gifts that these children might have brought to humanity are now lost forever, Mr. Speaker, and that is worth mourning. Yet, even the glare of such tragedy brings a ray of hope because this generation, even though it still clings sometimes to a blind, invincible ignorance while history repeats itself over and over again, there is, again, a new beacon of hope breaking over the horizon. Mr. Speaker, not so long ago I heard Barack Obama speak some very noble but poignant words that, whether he realizes it or not, applies so profoundly to this subject. So I am going to quote some excerpted portions of his comments. Let me just say at the outset that I agreed with the words that he spoke. I am going to say that upfront. No one was a greater critic of the policies of Barack Obama than myself because I thought he missed the moment. I thought he missed his moment in history. He could have been a great and powerful friend to the helpless, yet he chose to be the one to oppose their chance to walk in the light of life. He said: ``This is our first task--caring for our children. It's our first job. If we don't get that right, we don't get anything right. That's how, as a society, we will be judged.'' I agree, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Obama asked: ``Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence that is visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of freedom?'' The President also said: ``Our journey is not complete until all our children . . .'' are ``cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.'' ``That is our generation's task,'' he said, ``to make these words, these rights, these values of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every American.'' Mr. Speaker, never have I so deeply agreed with any words ever spoken by President Barack Obama as those I have just quoted. Yet, when he was President, in the most merciless distortion of logic and reason and humanity itself, he refused to apply his incontrovertible words to the helpless unborn babies in this Nation. How I wish, Mr. Speaker, that Mr. Obama could have somehow opened his heart and his ears to his own words and asked himself in the core of his own soul why his words that should apply to all children could not have included the most helpless and vulnerable of all children. Nine million American unborn children died under the policies that Mr. Obama relentlessly supported. Now, Mr. Speaker, that moment when President Barack Obama could have heard and responded to the silent cries of these little forgotten souls has passed forever. Mr. Obama takes his place as the undisputed abortion President. While I mourn that reality, Mr. Speaker, I take great hope in a new reality that Donald Trump is now President of the United States and that the winds of change are beginning to blow. I believe Mr. Trump will be a protector of these little babies that have waited so very long for someone to come along and help them. So now I pray that the Members of this body and those in the United States Senate will remember the words of Thomas Jefferson when he said: ``The care of human life and its happiness, and not its destruction, is the chief and only object of good government.'' That phrase in the 14th Amendment that capsulizes our entire Constitution says: ``No State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.'' Mr. Speaker, protecting the lives of all Americans and their constitutional rights is why we are all here. Mr. Speaker, there is hope now. We wait for that new day that has come to manifest and the sun to break through the clouds and shine once again on the faces of these little babies.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Congresswoman Black for this bill. It seems like whenever we talk about this issue, we always talk past each other. But the real question before us is: Does abortion kill a little baby? If it doesn't, I am ready to quit talking about it. But if it does, then those of us sitting in the seat of freedom are also standing in the midst of the greatest human genocide in the history of humanity. And although we may not agree on all of the vicissitudes of abortion, one thing is certain: Some day, we, as a society, will look back, we will recognize the humanity of these little children of God and the inhumanity of what was being done to them, and we will regret these days. Until then, at least can't we get together and say that we shouldn't force taxpayers to pay for the killing of innocent little human beings? I pray that we can open our eyes to that truth.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, one of the most important elements of this Republic is the ability of the people to understand and to remember the public actions and record of those they elect. This is vital to government accountability, to historical accuracy, and to the future direction of the future generations of this country. So, Mr. Speaker, what follows is the record and legacy of President Barack Obama. Last night, Mr. Speaker, President Barack Obama gave his farewell address to the Nation. In his speech, President Obama praised American exceptionalism for the very first time since his Presidency began. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, much of the remainder of the President's speech was far removed from reality. Mr. Obama implied that his Presidency had increased trust and respect for America. Yet, the truth is that under Mr. Obama's Presidency, the trust and respect that both friend and foe alike previously had for America has been demonstrably diminished across the world. Mr. Obama, in fact, weakened our economy and led the most anemic military campaign in our history. So, Mr. Speaker, let us now recall the grand promise of candidate Barack Obama, bedecked with Greek columns and the rhetoric of bipartisan unity as it was, and let's compare it to the actual legacy of President Barack Obama, the partisan heckler at home and the lead from behind, apologize for America, academic abroad who was evermore eager to force Catholic nuns to buy birth control than he was to fight the ruthless butchers of the Islamic State. Mr. Speaker, President Barack Obama has taken credit for a growing economy, but, after his failed stimulus, his was the worst economic recovery in the history of America. And his Presidency will be the first in modern times whose 8 years in office will fail to include even 1 year of 3 percent economic growth. Under Barack Obama's Presidency, the number of long-term unemployed eclipsed 15 million for the very first time in history. Today, 95 million Americans, the highest number in history, are now not in the workforce in America. And according to the latest numbers from the Census Bureau, household income fell by more than $2,100 in inflation-adjusted terms; and 45.3 million Americans, the highest number in history, now live in poverty. More than 43 million Americans were receiving food stamps under Barack Obama, the highest number in history. Barack Obama single-handedly added almost as much deficit to the national debt as all of the other Presidents in the 240-year history of the United States of America combined. And Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. Government from its AAA credit rating for the very first time in history. Mr. Obama's signature policy achieved what was called the Affordable Care Act. As we have learned year after year, essentially nothing Mr. Obama said about the Affordable Care Act was true. ObamaCare contained over $1 trillion in new taxes, which was the largest tax increase in history. Yet, millions remain uninsured. Healthcare costs have never been higher, and the entire debacle called ObamaCare is now catastrophically collapsing before our very eyes. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Obama engineered the sequester on the military which had devastating consequences on our men and women in uniform and our ability to fight and win wars when necessary. Mr. Obama's was the opposite of a commitment to peace through strength. When it came to justice at home, Barack Obama told us that adult male transvestites had the moral right and the legal right to go into the bathroom with little schoolgirls whether their parents liked it or not. He fundamentally sought to abrogate religious freedom in America. He weaponized the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Attorney General's Office, and the Justice Department against America's own citizens. It was and is the epitome of tyranny. Mr. Obama unconstitutionally ignored and selectively applied America's immigration laws and illegally suspended immigration enforcement. He released 19,723 criminal illegal immigrants from prison into every State of the Union. These nearly 20,000 criminal illegal aliens were collectively convicted of over 60,000 crimes, including over 12,000 drunk driving convictions, and over 8,000 violent crimes such as assault, rape, and murder. Mr. Obama's actions endangered Americans and denied justice to the victims of their crimes. Mr. Obama bears a share of the responsibility for every crime that these criminals have committed or will commit against Americans since he released them from prison into American society. But, Mr. Speaker, perhaps Mr. Obama's most egregious broken promise to all Americans is when he said: ``I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will execute the Office of President of the United States faithfully, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.'' Since then, he has shown complete and open contempt for the Constitution. Barack Obama blatantly stoked racial tensions in America, and, in the process, he painted a deadly target on the backs of the noble men and women in blue who risk their lives every day to protect the innocent citizens of this Nation. Barack Obama consistently subjected Americans to condescending lectures. If we opposed ObamaCare, we didn't want people to have health insurance. If we opposed wasteful stimulus spending, we hated schoolteachers and firemen. If we opposed the nuclear deal with Iran, we were compared to terrorist-sponsoring Iranian mullahs. If we believe in God and exercised our Second Amendment right, we were bitter. If we didn't believe in open, unsecured borders and vetting those who came into this country, we were un-American. If we believed in protecting unborn baby girls from being killed simply because they are little girls, we were waging war on women. And Mr. Obama was also fond of using politically correct euphemisms and constantly using them to distort nearly every issue. Evacuation of our Embassy in Yemen was ``a reduction in staff.'' Terror attacks are ``man-caused disasters.'' The global war on terror is an ``overseas contingency operation.'' An Islamic terrorist murdering 13 American soldiers is ``workplace violence.'' Terrorists beheading children, crucifying women, and burning men alive in the name of Islam are ``individuals from various religions'' who practice ``hateful ideologies.'' Veterans, pro-life groups, and States' rights advocates were listed as ``at-risk'' to become domestic terrorists. Mr. Speaker, from day one, Barack Obama considered the cold war a giant misunderstanding. He did his famous reset with Russia and then turned and caved into everything that they wanted. Mr. Obama's policies of weakness and appeasement yielded Crimea, the South China Sea, the rise of the Islamic State, the return of Iran, and the unspeakable desecration of thousands upon thousands of innocent people in Aleppo where the result to date is now where 4 million refugees and 400,000 people are dead. And during the so-called Arab Spring, the Obama administration sided with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. At the end of the Obama administration, the only countries in the world that we have better relations with are Iran and Cuba--and even that has been entirely on their terms. Mr. Speaker, the average number of innocents killed by terrorists before the Obama Presidency was approximately 3,000 per year in the world. Now, under Barack Obama, it is probably 30,000 every year. Mr. Obama labeled the Islamic State a junior varsity team, and then stood by with a golf club in his hand while ISIS raped, butchered, and beheaded its way across Iraq, selling little, 6-year-old girls into slavery, burning people alive, and perpetrating a genocide against Christians and Yazidis. The Islamic State now keeps an estimated 3,000 girls and women in sexual slavery while Mr. Obama runs out the clock on his term of office and hands the fight against ISIS off to the next President. Because of his delusional negotiation and acquiescence, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the number one sponsor of terrorism in this world, may place the finger of jihad on the launch button of an entire nuclear arsenal; and America's children and future generations may thereafter be forced to live their lives in the shadow of nuclear terrorism. Mr. Obama stood before a group of thousands of supporters of Israel and proclaimed: ``When the chips are down, I have Israel's back.'' But then as President, he blatantly refused even to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel's capital and consistently expressed more open rebuke toward Israel than he did toward Iran for building an entire nuclear effort to some day threaten the world. I am going to say that again, Mr. Speaker. As President, Mr. Obama blatantly refused to even acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel's capital. And he consistently expressed more open rebuke toward Israel for building houses in its capital city than he expressed for Iran's efforts to build nuclear weapons with which to existentially threaten Israel along with the peace and security of the entire human family. In the political safety of his lameduck, he orchestrated and failed to veto a resolution that undermines Israel's very right to exist. Mr. Speaker, it was a cowardly act of political treachery that disgraced the United States, and it will send Barack Obama's name down the corridor of history as on overt traitor to the State of Israel. When the Security Council Quartet meets on January 15 and the full United Nations Security Council meets on January 17, I am gravely concerned that Barack Obama will overturn U.S. precedent going back to Lyndon Johnson and use the opportunity to stab Israel in the back one final time by allowing the anti-Semites at the U.N. to attempt to redraw the map of Israel to indefensible pre- 1967 borders, which would leave the only Jewish state less than 9 miles wide. Mr. Speaker, no government leader has any greater responsibility than that of protecting the innocent. Yet, Mr. Obama stood by and allowed not only ISIS, Boko Haram, Russia, and Syria, but also Planned Parenthood to brutally desecrate the innocent on a horrific scale. President Barack Obama went to great efforts, against taxpayers' wishes, to give billions of taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood to expand abortion on demand in America and throughout the world and to proactively promote policies to allow the indiscriminate killing of these, the most defenseless of all human beings. As President, he appointed an empire of radically pro-abortion judges and government bureaucrats. When he was in the State legislature, Barack Obama actually voted ``no'' four times on a bill that would have protected babies after they were born alive. In the U.S. Senate, Mr. Obama voted ``no'' on a bill that would have prohibited someone from taking a minor child out of State for an abortion without even notifying the child's parents. He vowed to veto the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, which would prohibit discriminating against an unborn baby girl by subjecting her to abortion simply because she is a little girl instead of a little boy. He promised to veto the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that would have protected both mothers and their little pain- capable babies between the beginning of their sixth month of pregnancy from the unspeakable cruelty of Planned Parenthood and evil monsters like Kermit Gosnell. Mr. Speaker, perhaps most astonishingly, Barack Obama, the President of the United States and the leader of the free world, wrote a letter to Congress and said he would veto the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to protect breathing, crying, kicking, born-alive human babies if it ever reached his desk. Mr. Speaker, could not the President have agreed that little human babies who survive abortion and are born alive should be protected? President Barack Obama's record is crystal clear. For his entire political life, he has strongly supported the full legalization of abortion on demand throughout all 9 months of pregnancy, for any reason or no reason, including sex selection, throughout all 9 months of pregnancy, and forcing American taxpayers to pay for it whether the taxpayers liked it or not. Under Barack Obama, nearly 9 million innocent, defenseless little American babies were aborted before they ever saw the first smile of their mother. Ironically, President Obama was in the unique position, perhaps among all other Presidents in history, of bringing this country together to protect these helpless little children. Yet, as the most powerful human being in the world, Mr. Obama chose to become the most powerful enemy of the most helpless human beings in the world. And nothing will stain his legacy or his claims of looking out for the little guy with more shame than going down in history as the ``Abortion President.'' Mr. Speaker, it gives me no pleasure to lay out this record. I truly and sincerely hoped for God's best for Barack Obama when he took office. I wrote him a letter, hoping that he would be remembered as someone who stood up for the Constitution and stood up for the innocent. But in a Republic like ours, where the people are the final arbiters of our public policy and where those who would subvert this Republic consistently resort to deception and historical revisionism, an accurate record is vital to our Nation's survival and its future generations. So, alas, Mr. Speaker, I am afraid Barack Obama tragically wasted his precious and historic opportunity. However, this is the true record of President Barack Obama and, to paraphrase William Wilberforce: We may choose to look the other way, but we can never again say that we did not know. Mr. Speaker, Under President Obama, as of 2015, Democrats lost 900+ state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, 13 Senate seats. Mr. Obama lost more U.S. Senate and U.S. House seats than any president since FDR. I would suggest this was not caused by a lack of political skills. It was Mr. Obama's policies and his attitude toward democracy and the Constitution that were so devastating to his Democrat party. From the beginning of his presidency it was President Obama's theological conviction that America needed to be transformed into something far afield of the founding fathers dream. Last night the President gave his farewell address to the country. In his speech, President Obama praised American exceptionalism for the first time in his presidency. Unfortunately Mr. Speaker, much of the remainder of the president's speech was far removed from reality. Mr. Obama implied that his presidency increased America's wealth and power and respect. The truth is that under Mr. Obama's presidency, the trust and respect from both friend and foe for America has been demonstrably diminished across the world. Mr. Obama in fact weakened our economy and led the most anemic military campaign in our history. One of the most important elements of this Republic is the ability of the people to understand and remember the public actions and record of those they elect. This is vital to the future direction of future generations of this country. So I come before the House today in order to lay out, and call for the American people to reflect upon, the true record of Barack Obama's Presidency. During this crucial moment of self-reflection happening in our great Republic, it is incumbent upon us to look back over the past eight years to fully comprehend what are the wages of two full terms of Progressive governance under President Barack Obama. Because Mr. Speaker, if Hillary Clinton had been elected president, the left-wing, mindset to ignore the foundations of this nation, the Constitution, and so many millions of those it was designed to protect, would have continued unabated and this Republic may have been lost. Mr. Speaker, I solemnly wonder if America as a nation and Americans as individuals truly comprehend how close we came to actually losing this Republic and the founding fathers dream during the last election. As Americans soberly reflect on that reality, let us now recall the grand promise of candidate Barack Obama, bedecked with Greek columns and the rhetoric of bipartisan unity as he was, and compare it to the actual legacy of President Barack Obama--the partisan heckler at home and the lead-from-behind, apologize for America, academic abroad who was ever more eager to force Catholic nuns to buy birth control than he was to fight the ruthless butchers of the Islamic State. So Mr. Speaker, what follows is the record and the legacy of Barack Hussein Obama: Economic Growth Obama's presidency will be the first in modern times whose eight years in office will fail to include at least one year of 3 percent economic growth. Mr. Obama has taken credit for a growing economy, but after his failed stimulus, his was the worst economic recovery in history. Using the broadest measure of economic progress, growth in output, the growth rate over the first 25 quarters under Reagan was 34 percent versus 14.3 percent under Obama. Yet, Under Barack Obama, the growth of a ravenous Leviathan called the federal government, grew larger and larger in scope and in power every single year he was president.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on January 5, 2017, during the vote on roll call 11, on H. Res. 11, I inserted my voting card believing that my YEA vote had been recorded. It was my intention to vote YES on H. Res. 11.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, Commissioner John Koskinen took over the Internal Revenue Service in the wake of the IRS conservative targeting scandal ostensibly to reform the agency internally. Instead, he continued his predecessor's legacy of stonewalling justice. After Lois Lerner, Director of the IRS' Tax Exempt Organizations Unit, invoked the Fifth Amendment when she appeared before Congress, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a subpoena for IRS documents, including all of Lois Lerner's emails. The IRS' Chief Technology Officer also issued a preservation order instructing employees not to destroy any emails, backup tapes, or anything relevant to the investigation. But, Mr. Speaker, despite a congressional subpoena and a do-not-destroy order, the IRS inspector general found that the agency had erased 422 backup tapes containing as many as 24,000 emails. All the while, Commissioner John Koskinen knowingly and deliberately kept Congress in the dark. Commissioner Koskinen was clearly aware that the emails were lost, but he knowingly and deliberately withheld that information from Congress for 4 months and stonewalled the entire investigation. Mr. Koskinen testified under oath four times before Congress during that 4-month period, saying he would turn over all of Lerner's emails, making no mention of the fact that the bulk of them had been ``lost.'' Mr. Koskinen provided false testimony and swore under oath that the information on the bulk of the backup tapes was unrecoverable. The inspector general found that approximately 700 of those emails had not, in fact, been erased and were, in fact, recoverable. Mr. Speaker, John Koskinen then failed to protect citizens against the same type of future discrimination. A General Accounting Office report found no significant measures had been implemented under Mr. Koskinen's watch to ensure that civil servants at the IRS do not continue in the future to unlawfully target Americans based on their political or religious views. Mr. Speaker, this entire matter is absolutely counter to everything a Republic like ours was meant to be. In a constitutional Republic like the United States of America, we are fundamentally predicated on the rule of law; and there are very few things that break faith with America and the American people or that undermine their trust in their government more than witnessing those who are given the sacred responsibility to enforce tax collection equally and according to the law using the Federal Government's power of taxation unlawfully to economically destroy and deliberately oppress American citizens based on their religious or political views. Such a tyrannical abuse of power and the betrayal of their sworn oath to the United States Constitution by Commissioner John Koskinen and Barack Obama will be writ large in their shameful legacy because it is something that goes to the very heart of the rule of law in this Republic and that so many lying out in Arlington National Cemetery died to preserve. Mr. Speaker, the United States Congress has a duty to impeach Commissioner John Koskinen. The impeachment power is a political check that, as Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 65 of 1788, protects the public against abuse or violation of public trust. And Commissioner John Koskinen, appointed by Barack Obama, has unequivocally violated public trust. A taxpayer would never get away with treating an IRS audit the way the IRS officials have treated this congressional investigation; and the Congress of the United States owes it to the American people, to future generations, and to our sworn oath to the Constitution to hold the perpetrators of this tyrannical abuse of power accountable and to make sure that this never happens again.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 487, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate this evening to have some precious friends in the gallery, and I am grateful that they are here. Their commitment to protecting the innocent unborn and their commitment just to America in general gives me great encouragement. My friends are Josh Decker and Rudolph Margraff. I am grateful that they are here. Mr. Speaker, sometimes in the area in which we live, we can become very dispirited; but once in a while, a medical marvel comes along and revives us all. Recently, the Pediatrics Journal of the American Medical Association reported on the progress being made in saving the earliest babies born prematurely. In a study conducted over 5 years in Cologne, Germany, the authors reviewed 106 cases of babies born from just under 22 weeks down to 20 weeks after fertilization. The authors found that with active prenatal and postnatal care, two-thirds of these extremely premature babies survived until they were discharged from the hospital. Now, Mr. Speaker, these are much higher percentages than other recent studies have shown, and they demonstrate what active care, at what the authors call ``the border of viability,'' can accomplish. Mr. Speaker, I would just ask the Members of this body to consider and to absorb this encouraging and very enlightening news. This issue is real, Mr. Speaker, and it was torn from the abstract in my home State of Arizona, recently, when a 21-week-old baby--that is, 21 weeks after fertilization--was born alive after surviving an abortion. This happened in a Phoenix abortion clinic. Unfortunately, the baby was not transferred to the hospital in time, and the baby died. Mr. Speaker, if the American people knew how often tragedies like this occur, they would be so desperately outraged. I would call upon the Democrats in the United States Senate to allow a vote on the Born- Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. That bill passed this body overwhelmingly months ago, and it protected these, the tiniest of our little brothers and sisters. Mr. Speaker, protecting born-alive children is supported by 80 to 90 percent of the American people, and if the United States Senate has become so dysfunctional that they can't even pass a bill to give effective Federal protection to innocent, born-alive children, then maybe it is time to board up the doors and windows of this place, go home, and hope the barbarians of this world will show more courage and mercy than we do. It is no wonder the American people are so fed up with the dysfunctional gridlock in the United States Senate. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about protecting our born-alive little fellow human beings. The survival of these little babies is not a measure of their intrinsic and priceless value. It is a measure of our skill and will to help them live. I just hope that we can remind ourselves of our profound responsibility before God and to our oath of office to protect these, the tiniest of our little brothers and sisters. Mr. Speaker, I truly hope the United States Senate will pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. It deserves a vote. Democrats should allow it to come to the floor, and the Senate leadership should have the courage to put it on the floor for a fair up-or-down vote. If it gets a vote, it will pass. We have not lost our humanity completely, but have we lost the courage to make sure that something like that gets a vote? There are a lot of little voices that we can't hear that I think would ask that question if they could. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I thank Congressman Fortenberry especially for his leadership and courage on this issue. I thank Congresswoman Eshoo not only for her personal courage, but just for the perspective that she brings to this House given her ancestors and the family history that she has with some of the challenges that are so parallel to what we are talking about tonight. Mr. Speaker, I believe the United States of America has been the greatest national force for good the world has ever known. Our Nation has made sacrifices to the extreme to extinguish some of the worst evils that have plagued humanity across the decades. I am honored to stand here with my colleagues who have led this fight to call the Islamic States' insidious campaign of terror against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious communities what it is: genocide. For months, noble organizations like the Knights of Columbus and countless valiant individuals have worked tirelessly to document evidence of genocide against ancient faith communities in Iraq and Syria. Hundreds of pages containing accounts of massacres, unimaginable brutality, and uncovered mass graves have been delivered to world leaders, including the Obama administration, in an effort to condemn ISIS violence as the genocide that it most certainly is. Recognition of genocide with the passage of H. Con. Res. 75 is due in large part to the conviction and commitment of these organizations and individuals--and for that humanity owes them great and profound gratitude. Yet today, despite all of the overwhelming evidence, this administration remains stunningly silent. Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, who said: ``Silence in the face of evil is evil itself: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.'' Mr. Speaker, we are now witness to some of the most glaring and brutal attacks against the universal human right of religious freedom in history. ISIS has been the very face of evil. We have seen hundreds of thousands of civilians flee the land of their spiritual heritage. We have seen mass executions and beheadings. We have seen the destruction of ancient places of worship and sacred sites. We have seen women and children assaulted and sold as commodities in a modern-day slave market--sometimes little girls for as little as 50 cents. We have seen the Islamic State desecrate, violate, humiliate, and strip innocent men, women, and children of their God-given human dignity. And why? Because there is no place for Christians, Yazidis, and other religious communities in the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate. The message of this metastasizing cancer is clear: those who do not conform to their abhorrent ideology will be destroyed. Mr. Speaker, this administration has been fully aware that Christians, Yazidis, and other religious communities have been subjected to the most extreme kind of brutality and barbaric attacks. The Islamic State has publicly declared their intent to annihilate those who do not submit to their caliphate, stating, ``it will continue to wage war against the apostates until they repent from apostasy. It will continue to wage war against the pagans until they accept Islam.'' Mr. Speaker, justice demands that this be condemned as genocide. Today, the cries of the innocent should compel us to act. Refusal to acknowledge and specifically name Christians, Yazidis, and other religious communities in a designation of genocide would be one of the more disgraceful chapters in the Obama administration's shameful and abhorrent response to the insidious evil of the Islamic State. The conspicuous silence of this administration and its failure to act decisively not only has the gravest of implications for thousands of innocent fellow human beings, but it also sends a message to the world that the United States of America, which has long served as an impetus for freedom and justice, has either lost the moral conviction to defend the lives of the innocent or the political will to crush the evil that desecrates them. Not to speak is to speak, Mr. Speaker. Not to act is to act, Mr. Speaker. And the world is watching what we will--or, shamefully, will not--say or do. Mr. Speaker, I would adjure the President of the United States and Secretary Kerry not to callously continue to stand by in silence and let this evil relentlessly proceed. With that, I thank the gentleman.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, Thomas Jefferson, whose words marked the beginning of this Nation, said: ``The care of human life and its happiness, and not its destruction, is the chief and only object of good government.'' Yet, Mr. Speaker, 43 years ago, our Supreme Court mandated abortion on demand in America, and 57 million innocent little American babies have since been slaughtered before seeing the light of day in this, the land of the free and the home of brave. Mr. Speaker, this House passed the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act months ago to protect helpless children who survive abortion and are born alive. Yet at this very moment, that bill to protect born-alive children languishes in the United States Senate for lack of six Democrat votes and a veto threat by Barack Obama. It is time for the President of the United States and each Senator and all of us, as Americans, to ask ourselves in our own hearts if this is who we truly are.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express concerns regarding a particular provision in the bill before us today. The provision in question retroactively increases a Federal statutory cap on liability to cover one railway accident that occurred earlier this year. Mr. Speaker, retroactive legislation is not always unconstitutional, but it is clearly disfavored. The Supreme Court outlined in a case called Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel, and I quote: ``Retroactivity is generally disfavored in the law, in accordance with the `fundamental notions of justice' that have been recognized throughout history. In his `Commentaries on the Constitution,' Justice Story reasoned: `Retrospective laws are indeed generally unjust; and, as has been forcibly said, neither accord with sound legislation nor with the fundamental principles of the social compact.' '' Mr. Speaker, while recognizing that retroactive legislation is constitutional in some instances--limited instances, I might add--none of those instances would clearly appear to apply to the provision in question. The Supreme Court further stated, ``Our decisions . . . have left open the possibility that legislation might be unconstitutional if it imposes severe retroactive liability on a limited class of parties that could not have anticipated the liability, and the extent of that liability is substantially disproportionate to the parties' experience.'' In the case of the provision in question in the bill before us today, the retroactivity imposes severe increases in liability--almost a 50- percent increase, in this case--on a limited class of parties who could not have anticipated that liability. While I support reasonable compensation for those who have been done legal injury, I am concerned that this particular provision may not pass constitutional muster. For that reason, I would register my concern.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the chairman more than I know how to say, and I hope that it comes to fruition as it should. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.