Sam Graves

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mast).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), who understands water issues.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Smith).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Gonzalez).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), who is the ranking member on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Miller).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in closing, WRDA 2020 is a good bipartisan piece of legislation that is going to improve flood control infrastructure and improve ports, harbors, and inland waterways across the country. This is infrastructure that is critical to protecting our communities and our farms and businesses in north Missouri and the rest of America. It is essential to the efficient movement of goods, products, commodities, and resources nationwide. Again, I want to thank the many cosponsors and the members of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for their hard work on this very important bill. Also, committee staff on both sides put a lot of work into this piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank them all for their hard work. Specifically, from the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, the Republican staff, I want to thank Ian Bennitt, Jon Pawlow, and Victor Sarmiento. From the Democrat staff, I want to thank Ryan Seiger, Navis Bermudez, Camille Touton, and Alexa Williams. From the Republican full committee staff, I want to thank Paul Sass, Jack Ruddy, Corey Cooke, Tara Hupman, Abby Camp, Nick Christensen, Justin Harclerode, Tyler Micheletti, Jamie Hopkins, and Shawn Bloch. In addition, I very much want to thank Kathy Dedrick, Mohsin Syed, and the rest of the Democrat full committee staff. WRDA is a perfect example of Republicans and Democrats working together to address America's infrastructure needs, as this committee is meant to do. I would urge all Members to support this legislation. I want to add, too, Mr. Speaker, the gracious work of and being able to work with Chairman DeFazio. When we work together, it actually works quite well, and I want to thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), who is the ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the remaining time?

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Keegan Yancey. Keegan is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 1138, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout. Keegan has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years Keegan has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned numerous merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. Most notably, Keegan has contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. Keegan organized a team of fellow scouts and adult volunteers to hand out informational material for the Midwest Transplant Network at a local youth soccer tournament, bringing a focus on the need for organ donors in his community. Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Keegan Yancey for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize a special member of my staff. After two and a half years of service, Joseph Daniel Hegeman will be leaving his post in my Kansas City District Office. Joe took over the field operations in 14 counties in the Great Northwest portion of my district in 2017. He has been an integral member of my field team throughout that time. Joe was tireless in making sure the people of the Sixth Congressional District were treated fairly by federal agencies and that their concerns were heard by me and his colleagues in Washington. This is especially true as many of the counties Joe represented were hard hit by floods and agricultural crises in 2019. My staff and I relied on Joe to not only assist my hardest hit constituents, but on his background and knowledge of agricultural practices and farm-to-market programs to best form Congress's response to these issues. I am honored to have had Joe on my staff and my constituents were incredibly served by his efforts. I have received many kind words from constituents praising the outstanding service Joe has provided. His professionalism and dedication to this office and my constituents was a great example of how government should work. While I am losing a valuable member of my team, I am excited for Joe to begin the next chapter of his life. Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in thanking Joseph Daniel Hegeman for his years of service to the people of the Sixth Congressional District. I know Joe's colleagues, family and friends join with me in thanking him for his commitment to others and wishing him the best of luck in all his endeavors and many years of success to come.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Jakob F. Mullins, Jakob is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 1357, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout. Jakob has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years Jakob has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned numerous merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community, Most notably, Jakob has contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. Jakob helped clean over 250 military markers at New Hope Cemetery in Liberty, Missouri. Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Jakob F. Mullins for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Zac Kerns upon his promotion from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel in the United States Army. Zac is a peerless example for hard work, dedication and excellence not only for the United States Military, but also to his home town of St. Joseph, Missouri. After graduating from Missouri Western State University and being commissioned as an officer through their ROTC program, Zac was selected for the demanding Special Forces Qualification Course. This led to a sixteen year career as a Green Beret. During that time, he led an element of Special Operations forces from four NATO nations. Zac then spent three years as Deputy Chief of Special Operations for the Middle East Operation Command Central. When Zac returned to the states, he did so as an instructor at the Command and General Staff College, where he began passing his real world knowledge to the next generation of officers. Since 2018, Zac has commanded the Assessment Squadron of the Asymmetric Warfare Group where in addition to training future experts in asymmetric warfare, also advised the army on establishing the Battalion and Brigade Commanders Assessment Program. Currently, Zac is a Fellow at the School for Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. During his career, Zac has also earned three Bronze Stars, five Meritorious Service Medals, the Special Forces and Ranger Tabs, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Expert Infantry Badge, Senior Parachutist and Air Assault Badge. Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in recognizing Zac Kerns for his promotion to Colonel in the United States Army. I would also like to recognize Colonel Kern's family for a moment. His lovely wife, Rosemary, and sons, Kaiden, Kale and Liam, for their support of Zac as he's served the United States of America. I want to thank Zac and his family, on behalf of the Sixth Congressional District, the State of Missouri and the United States of America for their ongoing service to each of us. I am proud to represent them in the United States Congress.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to en bloc E. Of the 171 amendments in this bill, or in this bloc that we are considering, it contains 27 individual amendments carefully selected and grouped by the other side of the aisle with absolutely no input whatsoever from Republicans. Unfortunately, this is par for the course for the way the majority has managed its my-way-or-the-highway bill. These 27 amendments were picked so the majority could falsely claim that their bill includes bipartisan provisions, when in reality this bill is still nothing more than a partisan wish list. Mr. Speaker, if a car is a lemon, putting a nice cup holder in it isn't going to make me buy it. Regardless, we should at least have adequate time or an adequate amount of time to consider and debate each of these amendments individually, because, frankly, there are a number of amendments in here that I do support. But this process has not been open. It should be open. But, instead, we have been dealt a poor hand from a stacked deck. It would be an understatement to say that I am disappointed by how the majority is rushing this bill, which spends $1\1/2\ trillion of the taxpayers' money through a sham legislative process. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, can I inquire as to the time left on both sides?

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I would like to lend my support for the gentleman's thank-yous for the staff. We all know that staff works very, very hard on these pieces of legislation, and they put in a tremendous amount of time and effort, regardless of which side that they happen to be on. Madam Speaker, I want to continue to note how much of a missed opportunity that this is and this was. I support this amendment, but unfortunately, it doesn't fix the overall bill for it to make really too much of a difference. The sad thing is, is we know we could have come together and written an infrastructure bill that would easily gain bipartisan support, which it needs to become law. In 2 weeks, the T&I Committee plans to mark up the bipartisan Water Resources Act, and I hope and I expect that it will pass. It is bipartisan at this point because it is a bill that both sides continue to develop together. We have worked together on it. That bipartisan process stands in stark contrast to the process that has been used today. The water resources bill absolutely has a chance of becoming law, whereas this $1.5 trillion wish list won't go anywhere after today. I congratulate my Republican colleagues for their work on these particular amendments, and I would urge Members to support this amendment. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I don't have any other speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.