Virginia Foxx

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the Congresswoman from North Carolina, Congresswoman Ellmers.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to our esteemed colleague from eastern North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre).

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to our colleague, Mr. Jones.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, we are here tonight to pay tribute to the dean of the North Carolina delegation and our beloved colleague of many years, Howard Coble. Howard Coble has been a dedicated public servant to the people of North Carolina and a champion for honest, effective government. For three decades, he has taken great care to represent the values and concerns of Sixth District residents. It is a profound honor to call Howard a dear friend, and it saddens me to think about coming here in the next Congress without his wisdom or signature wit. Wearing his trademark plaid jackets, Howard has been a champion for his constituents, whether in Washington or back in North Carolina. He never backed down from a challenge to do what was right for North Carolina and always pushed Washington to work better for those he represented. Always ready with a cheerful greeting and a welcoming smile for whoever crossed his path, it is clear Howard cares about the little details that mean so much to average North Carolinians. Those who met him know of his characteristic penchant for inquiring about their alma mater and then rattling off the corresponding mascot. Perhaps the most fitting summary of Howard's personality is that he is the essence of what it means to be a southern gentleman: someone who simply exudes kindness, charm, and compassion. And let's not forget that he was named the sexiest bachelor in Congress by BuzzFeed earlier this year. Howard is also known for his deadpan humor, and loves a good joke, even if it is at his own expense. However, that wit can sometimes be a two-edged sword. In 2008, his sense of humor almost killed someone. At the North Carolina GOP Convention he cracked a joke to Robert Pittenger, who now represents North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District. Robert nearly expired after choking on his meal in mid- chuckle. Reliable sources have hinted that the joke might have been a variation of Howard's ``feisty mountain woman'' one-liner that he routinely uses to describe me. Fortunately, former Presidential candidate Governor Mike Huckabee was there to rescue Robert from Howard's humor with a well-placed Heimlich maneuver. All kidding aside, Howard is a man of integrity and principle, a Representative who has stood for what is right and who has fought on behalf of what makes America a great Nation. Today, I salute Howard Coble, my friend, for his many years of service. We will miss him greatly. With that, Mr. Speaker, I now yield to our colleague, Mr. Price.

Ms. FOXX. 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 the subject of my Special Order.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield to our colleague from North Carolina, Patrick McHenry, the chief deputy whip.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to our distinguished colleague from Texas, Mr. Lamar Smith.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the upcoming anniversary of the beginning of the Wuchang Uprising. This event, which began on October 10, 1911, is commemorated every year as the National Day of the Republic of China. The Wuchang uprising led to the establishment of the Republic of China, commonly called Taiwan, in 1912. Over the years, the United States and Taiwan have fostered a mutually beneficial relationship based on interests and values that we share. This friendship has led to far reaching economic benefits and unique cultural ties. Taiwan is a trusted ally and trading partner and has acted as an example of democracy in the Asia-Pacific region. It is in our mutual best interest to continue to strengthen our economic relationship and cultural ties. I hope our trade and investment continues to grow in the years ahead. I hope that the longtime friendship between the United States and the Republic of China continues to blossom and develop for decades to come.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the underlying bill. Each year, Washington imposes thousands of pages of rules and regulations on America's private sector employers, as well as State and local governments. Buried in those pages are costly Federal mandates that make it harder for businesses to hire and cash-strapped States, counties, and cities to serve their citizens. There are some who may not understand why a bill to improve the regulatory process is also a bill about jobs. As a former small business owner, I understand firsthand the concerns job creators have about how lengthy, confusing rules affect their ability to conduct business and provide jobs and opportunities to their employees. That is why I introduced H.R. 899, the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act, which we call UMITA, and am glad to see it included in H.R. 4, the Jobs for America Act. The bill builds upon the bipartisan 1995 Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, also known as UMRA, and will ensure awareness and public disclosure of the cost--in dollars and jobs--that Federal dictates pose to the economy and local governments. H.R. 899, as included in H.R. 4, does not seek to prevent the Federal Government from regulating. Rather, it seeks to ensure that its regulations are deliberative and economically defensible. Asking regulators to thoroughly consider and understand the costs of a rule in addition to its benefits should not be controversial--it is just plain common sense. Regulators and legislators should know exactly what they are asking the American people to pay and whether the cost of compliance might make it harder for family businesses to meet payroll and stay afloat. And no government body--on purpose or accidentally--should skirt public scrutiny when jobs and scarce resources are at stake. In the nearly 20 years since UMRA's passage, weaknesses in the law have been revealed, weaknesses that some government agencies and independent regulatory bodies have exploited. UMITA makes independent regulatory agencies subject to UMRA's requirements, ending a two-tier system that allowed regulations to be implemented without the required consideration, scrutiny, or public input. H.R. 899 recognizes that the Federal Government's reach extends way beyond the taxes it collects and the money it spends. Regulations can advance government initiatives without using tax dollars. Rather than count expenses for new programs, the government can require the private sector, as well as State and local governments, to pay for Federal initiatives through compliance costs. This bill shines much needed light on the murky regulatory process and ensures the public has transparent access to proposed rules and regulations. Both Democrats and Republicans recognize that appropriate regulations don't need to be issued in the dead of night or negotiated behind closed doors. That is why the House passed H.R. 899 with bipartisan support earlier this year. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and the underlying bill.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the August jobs report is out, and it contains more bad news. The 6-month trend creating 200,000-plus jobs is over. Consider that in order to return to its previous pre-recession levels, the economy needs to add more than 380,000 private sector jobs every month. 200,000 is barely half of the needed number, and this month we dropped to 142,000 new jobs. This ``new normal'' might be okay for Washington and the booming public sector, but it is not okay with the millions of Americans struggling to find work and the millions more who have given up looking altogether. The House has passed more than 40 bills that would address our struggling economy and help create jobs. These bills are now sitting in the Senate while that body debates whether or not to gut the First Amendment. Maybe if the Senators acted on some of these House-passed bills they wouldn't have to spend so much time worrying about what people are saying about them.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer half a cheer for the recent news that the benchmark price for a ``silver'' level ObamaCare plan will drop very slightly in FY 2015. Why only half a cheer? As economics writer Megan McCardle recently noted: Contrary to optimistic early reports, that doesn't mean that everyone's costs are falling. Consumers will have to be attentive to make sure that their costs don't go up. The worse news: we won't actually know what effect the Affordable Care Act is having on insurance prices until 2017, when a bunch of temporary subsidies for insurers expire. She goes on to note that the various ``risk corridors'' and other incentives which the Obama administration created to get insurers to participate in ObamaCare are preventing us from knowing the real cost of the President's disastrous health care law. McCardle writes: Right now, it's just not very risky for insurers to write a policy that loses a bunch of money because your losses are capped at a few percent. Starting in 2017, all that changes. Insurers are going to need to price policies with the expectation of making money and the fear of losing it. Mr. Speaker, I will pause for a moment to note that socialized losses combined with private profits are a hallmark of the crony capitalism of the ObamaCare era. Sadly, even in these heavily subsidized years, Americans are still suffering from price shock on their health insurance plan. As a constituent recently wrote to me: Virginia, here we go again. I just received a letter from my health insurance carrier that my policy will no longer be available after December 31, 2014, due to not being ACA compliant. I will now be looking at $600-a-month premiums as I am not eligible for a subsidy because I could go on my wife's policy for $650 a month. $600 would be over 20 percent of my take-home pay. We need your help to keep our current plan as promised or change the ACA. ObamaCare's problems extend beyond high prices. I recently received a letter from a constituent--a middle-aged woman recovering from breast cancer--who was simultaneously dealing with the consequences of ObamaCare and the Obama economy. In 2013, I was laid off from a job I had for almost 8 years. I opened a business instead of drawing unemployment. This year, the building I was leasing was sold and the new owners would not let me stay. My life savings went into building this and now it was gone. No money to start over about the same time I find I had breast cancer. I had tried to sign up for ObamaCare months before, but because my husband and I file our taxes separately, I did not qualify for subsidies regardless of my income. So here I am, no insurance, no income, with breast cancer. I do not qualify for disability because I don't expect to be disabled for at least 12 months. I do not qualify for Medicaid because of the guidelines for that. I have paid my taxes and worked hard all my life and my government does not care about that. Is this messed up or what? Mr. Speaker, the law is messed up. The unintended consequences of ObamaCare continue to pile up for hardworking Americans across the country. When will this administration learn that it does not have the knowledge or ability to effectively, efficiently, and fairly manage the economic and health care choices of over 300 million Americans from Washington?

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, has been doing what terrorists have done for millennia: decimating villages, persecuting religious minorities, and massacring the innocent, including the brutal public beheadings of two American journalists. For the past month, as lawmakers and leaders around the country have called for President Obama to outline a plan to respond to this enemy, the President has been vacationing, golfing, and fundraising for partisan allies. The President initially admitted that he doesn't have a strategy for dealing with ISIS, a brutal group he once compared to a jayvee team. He then indicated his goal was reducing ISIS to a manageable problem. This won't do. Tonight, the President addresses the Nation. I hope he uses the opportunity to make a change. I hope he uses his speech to provide a clear strategy. I hope he provides long overdue leadership on this issue. The American people and the world are waiting.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for yielding. I know she has an important message to bring tonight, and I appreciate her sharing a little of her time with me. Mr. Speaker, at a recent event, I had the privilege of learning more about a remarkable organization in Winston-Salem, North Carolina--the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The institute was established due to the leadership and generous financial support of Richard and Judy Childress, who saw that, while trauma was taking the lives of thousands of children every year, pediatric trauma was not a focus of medical research. In 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control, pediatric trauma took the lives of 9,523 children, making it the largest cause of childhood death by a significant margin. As a comparison, cancer, heart disease, and birth defects combined take the lives of about 3,300 children every year. Tragically, 3,300 is a very similar number of children who were killed in 2010 due to traumatic injury from child abuse. An additional 6,190 children died that year from unintentional traumatic injuries. A full 52 percent of those injuries were caused by vehicle accidents, followed by drowning, poisoning, fire, guns, and falls. In addition to the nearly 10,000 fatalities, another 175,000 children were hospitalized due to injuries. Dr. C. Everett Koop, who served as U.S. Surgeon General under President Reagan, once said: ``If a disease were killing our children in the proportions that injuries are, people would be outraged and demand that this killer be stopped.'' Despite trauma being the overwhelming cause of childhood death, the Federal Government spends only about 1 cent on pediatric trauma research for every dollar spent to study pediatric cancer. The Childress Institute has been working to pick up where Federal dollars have dropped off. The institute uses its resources for research, education, and awareness about pediatric trauma and to improve the treatment for critically injured children in the U.S. Mr. Speaker, Richard Childress is a lifelong resident of the Winston- Salem area, and is a NASCAR pioneer. Richard and his wife, Judy, are civic and philanthropic leaders in the community. Through their determination to fight the number one cause of pediatric death, children worldwide are benefiting from the generosity that those of us in North Carolina have long witnessed. The remarkable people of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma work tirelessly to discover and share the best ways to prevent injuries and treat severely injured children, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all ``injured kids get the best care when they need it the most.'' Today, I thank Richard and Judy Childress for their foresight and generosity, and I thank the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem for its expertise and dedication to this mission. Finally, I want to recognize the dedicated men and women of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma for working every day to keep our children safe and to help them recover when they get hurt. Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for so graciously yielding to me this evening.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark a momentous occasion at the Daimler Trucks North America Cleveland plant in Rowan County, North Carolina. The plant, which began manufacturing Freightliner trucks in 1989, recently rolled truck number 3 million off the assembly line. This milestone is a testament to the high-quality workforce that can be found in Rowan County specifically and North Carolina in general. In 1989, the plant began building Freightliners with 124 employees. While market forces have caused fluctuation over the years, the plant currently employs about 2,600 people, making it the third-largest employer in Rowan County. All together, the company employs about 8,000 people throughout North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Daimler on its successful North American truck business, and I commend the good people of Rowan County, North Carolina, for making that business thrive.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, young children are being sent off alone or put in the hands of criminal cartels to cross vast, inhospitable spaces in the hopes of eventually reaching our border. This is a humanitarian crisis. Today we seek to address the plight of these children in a responsible fashion. There has been much discussion in the House this week about constitutional role. The President has acknowledged his constitutional role in immigration policy. In 2011, speaking to a meeting of La Raza, he said: I swore an oath to uphold the laws on the books . . . Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own. Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting, I promise you, not just on immigration reform. But that's not how our system works. That is not how our democracy functions. That's not how our Constitution is written. If the President's actions had remained consistent with these words, we would not be facing the crisis we are today. Unfortunately, though, the President did take it upon himself to unilaterally rewrite immigration law, and he did so in a way that aggravated the situation. And he knew the potential consequences. In 2010, the President said: There are those in the immigrants' rights community who have argued passionately that we should simply provide those who are here illegally with legal status, or at least ignore the law on the books and put an end to deportation until we have better laws . . . but I believe such an indiscriminate approach would be both unwise and unfair. It would suggest to those thinking about coming here illegally that there would be no repercussions for such a decision. And this could lead to a surge in more illegal immigration. Despite his clear foresight on this issue, the President still unilaterally suspended deportation to select illegal aliens. His predicted surge quickly became a reality. Now young border crossers are setting off on harrowing, costly journeys under the belief that, upon arrival, they will receive a ``permiso,'' permission to stay in our great country. The motivation for illegally crossing the border is understandable. I join my colleagues who have recognized the uniquely generous and welcoming nature of this great country. As a mother and grandmother, I am moved by the plight of these young children. As a granddaughter of immigrants, I am grateful that this country has welcomed generations of tired and poor and given them the chance to breathe free. And as a lawmaker, I recognize that the foundation of American generosity and freedom is the rule of law. Today, through a constitutionally prescribed process, we have the opportunity to pass a bill that will give the President the tools to address this crisis. Today, we can provide resources to secure the border and ensure that those who have already undertaken this journey can be speedily reunited with their families. Today, we can send a clear, compassionate message that undertaking this border crossing journey is a mistake. Today, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this rule and the underlying legislation so that we can begin to solve this problem.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. I thank my friend from Florida for yielding, and I want to commend my colleague from Michigan, Congresswoman Miller, for explaining our motivation on this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule, in support of the underlying resolution, and in support of this effort to restore every branch of this government to its proper constitutional bounds. This is not about politics. If there were a Republican President doing the same thing, I would feel just as strongly. This is about the Constitution. Our Constitution was drafted deliberately to ensure that the greatest power in our government resided closely with the people. That is why the portion dealing with Congress was placed first. In article I, the Framers placed the ultimate power of creating and changing laws with the Congress, and they particularly empowered the House of Representatives, the people's House. Every 2 years, Members of this House face the voters, and our actions in this body are judged. No other member of this government must submit to the people more regularly. For too long, this body, under the leadership of both Democrats and Republicans, has ceded parts of our constitutional authority to the executive branch and the agencies that are, at best, remotely accountable to voters. It is time for that to stop. Today, we take a step to make it stop. This lawsuit is about actions--the actions of an administration that has claimed more power than it has been given, even when we have already given it more authority than we should have. I bear no animus to this President, but I strongly disagree with many of his policies, his stated priorities, and, ultimately, his actions. This lawsuit is not entered into lightly. It is not our first response, but rather, it is our last resort. I will vote ``yes'' on this rule and this resolution, not for electoral gain, but rather to preserve our Constitution and the separation of powers enshrined therein.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the dedicated work undertaken by Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian aid group based in Boone, North Carolina. Specifically, I want to bring to your attention Dr. Kent Brantly, who has been heading up Samaritan's Purse work with Ebola patients in Monrovia, Liberia. Tragically, Dr. Brantly, along with fellow American missionary Nancy Writebol, has contracted the Ebola virus. Both are currently fighting for their lives in an isolation ward in an African hospital. Mr. Speaker, today, I ask my colleagues and all who hear this to join me in prayer for Dr. Brantly, Mrs. Writebol, and the more than 1,000 other patients who have contracted Ebola in this outbreak, which has already claimed over 600 lives. The disease continues to spread, and Dr. Brantly, true to the selfless spirit of his missionary calling, has asked that his case not be treated differently from any other. Let us keep all those affected in our prayers.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the recent decision in Halbig v. Burwell held that ObamaCare ``makes tax credits available . . . to individuals who purchase health insurance through . . . exchanges . . . established by the State.'' Supporters of the law predictably decried judicial partisanship. They claimed the reasoning of the Court was spurious because it led to an absurd result which was not in line with the intended policy of the law. Also recently, video surfaced of MIT health economist Jonathan Gruber, a prominent architect of and supporter of ObamaCare, clearly stating that States have an incentive to set up exchanges so that their citizens will have access to Federal subsidies. So much for the charge that the Court's reasoning led to an absurd result. Mr. Speaker, it is quite obvious that someone at some point in the legislative drafting of ObamaCare thought using Federal subsidies as an incentive to get States to set up insurance exchanges was a good idea, and that was the view that was codified as law. But at a fundamental level, the issue here isn't the way the statute was written; it is the way the statute was passed. The extremely partisan nature of ObamaCare's passage has made the administration unwilling or unable to seek fixes via the normal legislative process because doing so would necessitate working across the aisle and compromising. We all remember that ObamaCare was hastily passed after an election which cost the Democrats their supermajority in the Senate. They couldn't edit this law because the people of Massachusetts denied them that privilege. But that didn't stop Democrats from ramming this poorly drafted law through using some very questionable legislative tactics. Now they are asking the courts to let them make edits to the plain language of law without consulting Congress. As this case moves forward on appeal, judges should ask themselves this question: Is it my role to shield the Democratic Party from the consequences of a republic form of government? I don't recall ever reading that particular clause in my copy of the Constitution.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 5134 and yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5134.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5134) to extend the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity and the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance for one year.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working together on what I think is an important piece of legislation that will help families and students in the future. I want to give particular thanks to the staffs on both sides of the aisle. The Education and the Workforce Committee has been very active this year and last year on presenting excellent legislation to this House, and I want to thank the staff for their good work. With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4983, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to our distinguished colleague from Tennessee (Mr. Roe).