Bill Flores

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate the second athletics team from Texas A&M University to win a national championship in the past month. The Texas A&M Women's Equestrian Western Squad recently took home their third straight national title with a 5-3 victory over Kansas State in the finals of the Varsity Equestrian National Championship in Waco, Texas. Including the overall national title in 2002, the A&M Equestrian Team has won nine national championships since it was formed in 1999. These lady Aggies, who hail from various parts of Texas and numerous States around the country, glided through a near perfect season and had their eyes set on another national trophy to add to an already filled trophy case. This team is a shining example of how hard work and perseverance pays off. I would also like to applaud Coach Tana McKay and her staff for an outstanding job in guiding the Aggie Women's Equestrian Team throughout their success. Congratulations, Aggies, on a job well done, and gig' em.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the rule and of H.R. 1231, the Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act. When gas prices hit $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008, Congress and President Bush lifted a decades-old ban on drilling, allowing for exploration off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. However, these plans were postponed or cancelled by the Obama administration, and we are now back in the same situation of high gas prices, of squeezing the budgets of American families and small businesses. The facts are clear: The current administration is blocking American energy production and is hurting middle class America. On the other hand, they are also using American tax dollars to help offshore drilling in Brazil. Since President Obama took office, the national average price of gasoline has nearly doubled to $4 a gallon in most States, and the energy policies of the Obama administration have resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of barrels of domestic daily oil production. To make matters worse, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, offshore energy production is expected to drop 13 percent in 2011. It is not too late to change our country's course of action and to begin to undo the damage done by these policies. The energy reserves off our coasts and under our public lands belong to the American taxpayers, and should be utilized in an efficient and environmentally safe manner to create jobs, to grow our economy, to lower energy prices, and to enhance our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. The Federal Government also has the ability to realize substantial revenues through the leasing of these areas, which will help pay down our $14 trillion national debt. According to the CBO, enacting H.R. 1231 would increase receipts to the Federal Treasury by about $800 million over the next 10 years. This important legislation will require the Obama administration to expand access to areas offshore that contain the most oil and natural gas reserves. When we do so, we will improve our energy security and grow American jobs. I want to thank Chairman Hastings for his efforts in bringing H.R. 1231, along with two other American Energy Initiative bills, to the floor. I also would like to offer my special appreciation to Chairman Hastings for his support in allowing me to offer an amendment to H.R. 1229, which includes language from a bill I recently introduced, which extends certain leases affected by the administration's moratorium for 1 year. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying legislation.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Baylor University women's basketball team on an outstanding 2011 season. I don't believe that there are many Members of this body who have the honor to represent two great schools that made it to the NCAA Elite Eight in this year's NCAA Women's Tournament. This trip to the Elite Eight is part of their winning tradition that includes a national championship in 2005. Coach Kim Mulkey and the Lady Bears deserve high praise on winning this year's Big 12 Championship and advancing to the Elite Eight for the second straight year. Sophomore post Brittany Griner was also named as a first-team All American. Congratulations to the Baylor Lady Bears on a great season, and Sic'em Bears.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Chairman, coming from the private sector to Congress, I know that America can and will become prosperous again and millions of new private sector jobs will be created if we just go back to our founding free market principles. We must also end big government and wasteful spending. We're faced with two very distinct and different directions in which we can lead our country. It is clear that we cannot continue on the misguided and irresponsible path endorsed by the other side of the aisle of higher taxes, reckless spending, and bigger government, explosive debt and deficits, and unacceptably high unemployment. They've had their chance to make things right, and it has not worked. Over the past 4 years that the Democrats had control of Congress, they lost 7 million jobs and raised our Federal debt by over $5 trillion. Now, it's our turn, and we will do better. That's why this Republican budget plan comes at just the right time, because we can no longer afford to accept what has unfortunately become status quo. Rather than locking in reckless spending sprees that have cost our government, our budget plan cuts $6.2 trillion in wasteful Washington spending over the next decade. The Democrats' plan, which if left unchecked, will raise the deficit by over $9 trillion over the next 10 years. We will put the Federal budget on a path to balance. The President's own fiscal commission said that we need to lower tax rates and broaden the tax base in order to stabilize our Nation's finances and help grow our economy. The Democrats' plan ignores these recommendations and would impose job-crushing tax increases on our economy. Nearly 1 million new private sector jobs will be created under our plan to lower taxes and expand the tax base, and our total employment will grow by an annual average of 1.2 million jobs per year over the next decade. We have a clear choice, Mr. Chairman. We can take Obama's odyssey to American oblivion, or we can adopt a plan that restores America's promise and prosperity and security for our children and grandchildren.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Texas A&M University Women's Basketball team on their remarkable run in the 2011 NCAA tournament and their victory over Notre Dame to claim their first ever national championship in school history. I have the privilege to represent both Baylor University and Texas A&M. I don't think there are many Members here in this House who have the opportunity to represent two schools that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women's tournament. However, I do, and one of them went all the way and won the national championship. Also, as a member of the Texas Aggie Class of 1976, I am especially thrilled that the final score was 76-70. Coaches Gary Blair and Vic Schaefer and their staff should be commended for their leadership in guiding the Texas Aggies to their sixth straight NCAA tournament and to their first ever national title. Let me add that Danielle Adams, the Aggies' all-American senior, scored 30 points, the second highest total in championship game history. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand before my colleagues and say that there is no other coach, no other team nor any other fan base that deserves this more than Coach Blair, the Texas Aggie Women's Basketball team, and the loyal fans at Texas A&M University. Gig'em Aggies and great job.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, unemployment is still at nearly 9 percent, $4 gasoline is on the way, and the Obama administration still doesn't get it. They've locked up our domestic energy resources through the recently issued Wild Lands order, which had no congressional authority, and they continue to pursue regulatory drilling moratoria. Every developed country in the world looks to their own resources to fuel their economies. We have access to resources that dwarf the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and we can finally put our country on a path to energy independence. The United States has vast energy resources on our public lands and off our coasts that belong to the taxpayers. This is why I've introduced the Lease Extension and Secure Energy Act of 2011. This bill would extend offshore leases impacted by the Obama administration's drilling moratorium for an additional 12 months. This legislation would return time lost during the drilling moratorium, adding certainty so domestic producers can continue exploration without a looming lease expiration. We need the stability that comes from an all-of-the-above energy approach. We need a commonsense energy policy that brings stability to the marketplace, creates good paying American jobs, grows our economy, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and raises trillions of dollars to help pay off our growing $14 trillion national debt. We owe this to our children and to our grandchildren.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, one of the top concerns I am hearing from my constituents is the state of our economy and jobs, and that is why I rise today in support of this resolution directing the committees of the House to examine and exercise oversight of Federal agency regulations and their impact on the economy. The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that we currently have the highest gas prices in this country that we have ever had during the month of February, and it makes no sense for the Department of Interior to continue to resist access to our own sources of American energy. This is critical, because our country's economic health is tied to having a robust energy sector. Obama administration officials estimated it would cost roughly 23,000 jobs if they enacted the deepwater drilling moratorium, but it went ahead anyway. And to add further insult to Americans, it also included a shallow water regulatory permit slowdown. Recently a judge held the Department in contempt for administration's drilling moratorium. Congress and this administration can and should encourage private sector job growth, not hinder it with unreasonable regulations. We risk losing more scarce jobs and more investment capital every single day due to the ever-increasing weight of our Federal bureaucracy. Many of these regulations place significant burdens on manufacturers and small businesses at a time when our economy can least sustain them. According to the Small Business Administration, Federal regulations cost American businesses between $8,000 and $10,000 per year per employee and between $15,000 and $37,000 per American household each year. One of the worst offenders of this regulatory epidemic under the Obama administration is the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately, the expansion of their power is not without cost. To name a few of EPA's pending egregious actions and estimated consequences: One, a ban on the pesticide Atrazine, which will result in a potential loss of 45,000 ag-related jobs; Two, a mandate requiring the use of expensive and/or economically unsound renewable energy sources, causing a $5.2 trillion cut in our GDP, a $2,400 cut in household incomes per year, and the loss of more than 1 million American jobs; Number three, new unsubstantiated ozone standards costing $1 trillion in compliance costs and 7.3 million jobs lost.

Mr. FLORES. And to add insult to injury, when asked if their regulations had a cost benefit analysis, they said that they didn't need them, that their rules were the most cost-effective in government. I strongly beg to differ. I think that the arrogant nature of the EPA and the administration is not doing American business any favor or American jobs any favors. Something has to be done to stop this epidemic. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Speaker, back in September of last year, one of the owners of a small Waco, Texas, software company showed me a notice he had just received from his health insurance provider. This notice showed that as a result of ObamaCare he was faced with a 30 percent increase in his health insurance premiums. Now he has to deal with the harsh reality of cutting the size of his workforce to deal with this increase, or worse, to cancel coverage altogether. What is even more disturbing is that this is just the beginning of what is to come under ObamaCare. All across our Nation this cost- increasing, job-killing, tax-hiking bill is inflicting irreversible damage on American employers and families. Rather than learn from this in the outcome of the midterm elections, Democrats choose to oppose and dismiss Republican efforts to repeal ObamaCare and to replace it with something better. There are solutions and clear alternatives to improving our health care system, and the first step is to repeal ObamaCare.

Mr. FLORES

Mr. FLORES. Amendment Eight: ``Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.''