Cory Gardner

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. I think I know that if I stub my toe, it's going to hurt before I do it. We ought to be able to check out whether or not it's going to cost jobs before we do it.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 150th anniversary of Larimer County, Colorado. The first settlers arrived in 1858; and Antoine Janis, who led the party, declared the area of present-day Larimer County to be ``the loveliest spot on Earth.'' Larimer County captures what outsiders envision as Colorado's true beauty. The county is named after General William Larimer, an early Denver settler and founder who was made the county's namesake as a tribute. From the farmlands, to the majestic mountains, to the robust business sector, to the kind people, Larimer County is Colorado. It is the sixth most populous county in the State. While other areas of Colorado were settled and founded at the prospect of gold and mining riches, Larimer County was different. It attracted many settlers because of fertile lands and reliable water sources. Larimer County started as an agricultural area and continues to flourish in agriculture production today. Aside from ag, Larimer County has a thriving business and health industry, a strong education system, picture-perfect scenery, wonderful locations for outdoor recreation, and a top-tier research university at Colorado State University. In my humble opinion, Rocky Mountain National Park in Larimer County is one of the most beautiful places in the entire country and is the crown jewel of our National Park System. It is my honor to recognize Larimer County's 150th anniversary on the House floor and acknowledge all that it has to offer.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 150th anniversary of Weld County, Colorado. Weld County takes its name from Lewis Ledyard Weld. Weld was appointed by President Lincoln as Colorado's first territorial secretary. On November 1, 1861, the Colorado Territory's General Assembly officially organized Weld County. This November marks the 150-year anniversary. As with most Western settlements during the 1860s, Weld County had an extremely sparse population. Today it's got over 250,000 people. From a humble start as an area based predominantly on coal mining, Weld County has flourished with a thriving business sector and strong agricultural economy. In fact, Weld County is the eighth-leading agricultural county in the entire United States and the only county outside of California ranked in the top 10. From small businesses, great land for farming, Weld County is also home to the University of Northern Colorado and the Pawnee National Grasslands. It's home to over 19 different towns, each one with a unique identity that makes this area of Colorado distinctive. And it's home to thriving energy interests and some of the Nation's leading water pioneers. One of my favorite events every year is the Fourth of July Greeley Stampede and Parade. It reminds me of what it means to call Colorado home. Weld County embodies everything that is great about heading West, and I am proud to recognize their 150th anniversary.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. I thank the gentleman for yielding. My constituents have a very simple question for people participating in this debate today: What part of broke don't you understand? What part of the fact that we are borrowing 42 cents of every dollar don't you get? Do you know what happens to the everyday American if they borrow 42 cents of every dollar time after time after time? It's bankruptcy. They lose their homes. They lose their ability to provide food for their families. They go broke, just like this country is going broke today. Only Congress doesn't have to pay an overdraft fee. When we write checks for more money than we have, we're not paying an overdraft fee. You know what we're paying, we're paying interest. We're passing the buck. We're putting our future into great debt that they cannot sustain for current-day spending. We shouldn't be passing the buck. We should pass the BBA, the balanced budget amendment. I come from the State of Colorado, served in the Colorado State Legislature where we have a strong balanced budget amendment. And you know what that forces us to do? It forces us to make tough choices, to make the right decisions for the people of Colorado and to make sure that we are, indeed, balancing our budget. Sure, it means that there are some very difficult decisions that have to be made, but that's exactly what we were sent here to do. We weren't sent here to fiddle while the Treasury burns. We were sent here to solve one of the greatest challenges that this country faces, and that is growing, insurmountable debt and deficits. I would urge my colleagues to pass this resolution. This Congress cannot make choices on its own. We need the guidance of a balanced budget amendment to restrain the unrestrained fiscal mess that we have right now. In 1995 when we passed the balanced budget amendment, the debt has grown $9 trillion since then. Our experience in Colorado and the 49 States that have a balanced budget amendment show that when we have a requirement forcing us to balance the budget, we will do just that. Don't pass the buck; pass the BBA.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. I thank the gentleman from Kansas. One of the most common things I hear at town meetings is the issue of uncertainty in our economy, and the issue that regulations are forcing businesses to make decisions not to hire new people, but to actually either prevent them from growing or to actually reduce in size. With that, I would yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. GARDNER. Reclaiming my time, I yield to the gentlelady from Alabama.

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Speaker, tonight I am joined by several of my colleagues from the freshman class to talk about some of the greatest issues facing our country and what we are going to do in this country to get our job creators back on their feet so we can do something to address the unacceptably high levels of unemployment. For the past 11 months in this Congress, we have been focused on what it would take to get government out of the way and let job creators do what they do best, and that's put people back to work. How can we restore the economic growth of this country? Obviously as part of that, you look at so many of the policies that this country has--whether it's regulations, whether it's overspending, whether it's our tax policy-- but it all starts right here in the House of Representatives of what we are going to do, the policies we are going to pass to get this country hiring again. Over the past several months, this is the 32nd month in a row, actually, where unemployment has exceeded 8 percent. For 32 consecutive months, the unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent. Remember back when the stimulus was passed, they said if it was passed, the unemployment rate would never exceed 8 percent. But we're in the 32nd month in a row of unemployment over 8 percent. Fourteen million people, the number of Americans who are unemployed. The number of net jobs the economy has shed from February 2009 when the stimulus was signed into law, 2.2 million people losing their work. The unemployment rate among job-seekers between the age of 16 and 19 is 24.6 percent. This country faces a crisis. It's a crisis of jobs, and that's what we have risen to the task to accomplish, to find jobs and to make sure that we are creating policies to get this country back to work. The House of Representatives for the past 11 months has worked hard to pass legislation to find ways to get the private sector moving again. I would start with a number of bills that we've called the forgotten 15. The forgotten 15 are a number of bills that this House has passed, many with strong bipartisan support, to get job creators going again and to get the private sector invigorated and hiring once again. One bill is Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act. My bill, H.R. 2021, No. 7 on the list, this bill, if signed into law by the President, would create 54,000 jobs around the country, creating opportunities to develop American energy and American energy security. There are actually more bills. This is just the beginning, and we've gotten 15. The question I hear in town meeting after town meeting is: Where are those jobs? Well, I want to show you another chart that shows where those jobs are. You see the forgotten 15. We did a little Google search and the Google search showed us those jobs are right here in the United States Senate. They are waiting to be passed by the United States Senate. Where are the jobs? The forgotten 15 are piling up in the Senate. The bills that we have passed, bills like the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act that would create jobs--54,000 jobs waiting in the United States Senate; waiting to be acted on; waiting to be moved; waiting to be signed by the President of the United States. We have got a great conversation tonight, and I hope participation from colleagues around the country will shed light on our efforts.

Mr. GARDNER. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. GARDNER. I thank both the lady from Alabama and the gentleman from Illinois who rightfully pointed out that with the addition of the bills that passed the House just today, we have added to the forgotten 15 bills that are creating jobs, that have passed the House, many with strong bipartisan support, that number now reaching 22, the bills that would create thousands and thousands of jobs around the country, recognized by people on both sides of the aisle as bills that would do what it takes to create jobs in this country. I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. GARDNER. I thank the gentleman from New York. You bring up some great points in terms of what the American people are facing when they look at Congress and see the number of bills that we have passed with bipartisan support to create jobs. They see them passing the House with bipartisan support and going over to the Senate and are asking, Where are the jobs? Right over in the U.S. Senate. I will share with you some of the uncertainty that our constituents are facing. Consumer confidence has plunged. A measure of Americans' optimism about the economy and their personal financial situations recently dropped to its lowest level in 2\1/2\ years in October. CBS News had a poll this past month. Americans say they feel worse about the economy than they have since the depths of the Great Depression. The Great Recession that we are in now, the fact that Americans feel worse about this time than they did about the Great Depression is simply unacceptable. And we have addressed legislation. We have passed legislation to deal with the uncertainty and to put people back to work. I now yield to the gentlelady from Washington, one of the ladies who has worked very hard in this House to get people back to work.

Mr. GARDNER. And thank you for the points that you raised. Talking about the EPA and the regulations they've issued, I had the opportunity at a committee hearing several months ago, the Energy and Commerce Committee, to discuss with the assistant administrator of the EPA--one of the assistant administrators, Mathy Stanislaus--where we were asking a very simple question: Does the Environmental Protection Agency actually take into account jobs, the impact on jobs when they do an economic analysis? And the answer we got was, no, he didn't take into account jobs when they did the economic analysis. And I find it hard to believe that anybody could actually have an adequate analysis of a rule or regulation's impact on the economy if they're not even taking a look at jobs and what it means for our economy.

Mr. GARDNER. I yield to the gentlelady from Washington.

Mr. GARDNER. I thank the lady from Washington and yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. GARDNER. I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois for his comments because when he started talking tonight he talked about his great hope and optimism for this country, the fact that we really do live in the greatest Nation on the face of this earth. But we face tremendous challenges. The unemployment that you spoke about for your State, the unemployment in Wisconsin, the unemployment levels in Colorado and across this country are significant. Fourteen million people who are out of work, and if you start looking at the people who are underemployed or who've simply given up looking for work, that number increases even more. I want to share with you something that I think is very difficult for all of us to realize is happening, and that's the fact that there's more fear about our future than at many other times in our history. According to a recent newspaper account, a resounding 69 percent of respondents said the country is in decline. But yet we know this country is better. We know this country is great. We know that the bills that we have passed, the leadership that we have provided will restore the greatness of this country and get this country working again. I have worked with my colleague from Colorado for many years in the State legislature. He is a small businessman, somebody who knows how to sign a check to employees, to work under regulations that he has had to deal with, and in the State legislature he stood up for jobs, and I know he's doing the same thing here. I would yield to my colleague from western Colorado, and thank the gentleman for being here tonight.

Mr. GARDNER. I thank the gentleman from Colorado. I was speaking to a pharmacist the other day. You mentioned the issue of regulations, what it's doing to business, and they actually wanted to create a little different business model for their pharmacy by placing a pharmacist instead of behind the counter within the pharmacy, they wanted to move them up in front of the counter so as customers came in, they could go and talk to the pharmacist about what they needed help with. They actually had to change a regulation to allow that pharmacist to sit in front of the counter instead of behind the counter. I now yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin who has been working hard to create jobs as well.

Mr. GARDNER. I thank you. I'd be curious to hear from my colleagues tonight. Over the 55 town meetings that I've held, I've never heard somebody come up to me and say, hey, when is the government going to start creating all of these jobs to replace 15 million unemployed, to give them jobs, 15 million unemployed. I don't know if you're hearing the same thing.

Mr. GARDNER. The statistics speak for themselves. Two million people, the number of net jobs the economy shed from February of 2009 when the stimulus was passed. Are you hearing the same thing in the great State of Washington?

Mr. GARDNER. America's job creators, the plan that we have come up with to get this economy moving forward again, it's embodied in the forgotten 15, and the other bills that we have passed to join the forgotten 15 are piling up in the United States Senate, all these bills with the simple goal of empowering small businesses and reducing government barriers to job creation. Fix the Tax Code to help job creators. Nobody opposes these ideas. Nobody opposes these ideas. If you go to Americans around this country and ask them, should we be encouraging entrepreneurship and growth, they're going to say ``yes,'' and that's exactly what these bills do. I'm sure that you're hearing the same thing in your meetings.

Mr. GARDNER. I want to thank everybody for participating in tonight's discussion about our plan for jobs, about what we're going to do to get this country back to work. For 32 months, this country has faced unemployment of over 8 percent. I want to share a story that happened just a couple of weeks ago when I had the opportunity to sit down with some employers around the State of Colorado. We were in a restaurant, and had the opportunity to discuss what regulations are doing to our economy--overregulations, as mentioned here tonight. We all believe in smart regulations, in those regulations that make sense but that aren't overly burdensome to job creators. As we had this conversation, we talked about what burden we were placing on future generations, the high unemployment rate, with nearly 14 million people who are out of work, and what we were going to do to help America's working families make ends meet once again. We had a waitress who was coming in and helping everybody, taking orders and working very hard that morning. After we were done, we walked away, walked out. The conversations were going, and I was the last one to leave this meeting. Just then, the waitress who was working in that room came up to me and grabbed me by the shoulder. She said, Hey, I liked what you guys were talking about, because this is my second job. This isn't my only job. I'm trying to start a business, and I'm trying to work here while that business gets off the ground. We're trying to make ends meet so that I can get that business going, and I'm trying to work here. As to what you talked about, the regulations that are hurting businesses, the taxes that are giving an uncompetitive advantage to people right here, that's hurting her ability to get her job going, and there she is, working a second job, and there are people out there with third jobs and trying to make ends meet. I want to thank everybody for participating tonight, and I encourage people who may be interested in the Republican jobs plan to visit jobs.gop.gov. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GARDNER. I have a question for the gentleman, if he would entertain it. You're talking about, what you're holding in your hand, that is this week, that's just 1 week, 1 day of regulations?

Mr. GARDNER. I thank the gentleman from Illinois. I know in Colorado that my neighbor the gentleman from Kansas has done tremendous work on getting this country back economically and what he's doing to create jobs. I yield to the gentleman from Kansas.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the charitable contributions and achievements of OtterBox, a business located in Fort Collins, Colorado. This business manufactures and develops coverings for tech products, like cell phones and iPads, and it employs 350 people in my congressional district. Aside from their great products and innovation, OtterBox received national recognition by being named an honoree for National Philanthropy Day in Colorado. Last year OtterBox created a new wing to their business, one devoted to altruistic values to help the surrounding community. This wing was appropriately named OtterCares. OtterCares has participated in many service projects, like providing school supplies to low-income children and by donating 600 toys to less fortunate families during the holiday season. Their work also includes volunteering at local food banks, youth centers, and animal sanctuaries. In addition, the company gave all 350 employees a $200 grant to give to a charity or foundation of their choosing. The $200 was just a start. They encourage their employees to raise and donate more. To this day, OtterBox has raised over $74,000 for 70 different organizations. The business utilizes this slogan: ``Throw a stone in the water, and watch how far the ripple can spread.'' The ripple started by OtterBox is helping the entire Fort Collins area. It is with great pride that I recognize OtterBox on the House floor.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. I thank the gentleman from Arkansas and my colleagues for joining us to talk here today about this important issues. Eastern Colorado, the district that I represent, is about 32,000 square miles. It's bigger than the State of South Carolina. And one of the greatest privileges that I have in representing that district is meeting with the people at the local coffee shops, talking to business owners at the car dealerships, talking to people who are really making our economy run, what I call the front line of our economy, ground zero for economic development. The challenges that they face are no different in Colorado than they are in Wisconsin or New York or Arkansas because we have people who expect this Congress and this administration to work together to create jobs and to create opportunities to get people back to work. This morning when I left the house, I drove by some farmers who were picking corn out in the field. The pile of sugar beets is getting bigger right outside of town as people are digging sugar beets. Then you head up to northern Colorado a little bit further; and early in the morning, you see the drilling rigs leaving town, going out to find a new place to start their drilling operations. Closer to Fort Collins, Colorado, you see the trucks hauling the blades of new wind turbines. People are working each and every day to make ends meet in order to put food on the table for their families. They're wondering what's happening in Washington, D.C., and they're wondering what's going on: Why can't you guys do what we do? That is, when times get tough, we find a solution; we find an answer; we do the right thing. The forgotten 15 is our way to do just that because we have passed a number of bills to get this country back to work and to make sure that our country's job creators have the policies that they need to expand their businesses, to grow their opportunities, to put people to work. I had a chance the other day to meet with a number of businessowners and with a number of employees at a coffee shop in my district. There were probably about 15 people around the table. We were talking about what's happening to this country from a debt perspective, from an economic perspective, about the fact that we are now in the 32nd month where unemployment has exceeded 8 percent, and about what we could do as a country to move forward again. The waitress was coming in and out, helping people at the table--taking orders, putting food on the table. As we began to leave and I started to walk out, she came up, and she grabbed me by the shoulder. She says, Hey, I heard what you said in there. Who are you? I said, Well, maybe I haven't done the best job of getting around and letting people know what our message is but, I said, Thanks for stopping me. Who are you? I said, Well, I represent the eastern plains of Colorado in Congress. She said, How can I help get the message that you were talking about--how can I help get that message around town, around the district? What can we do to get your message out of job creation? of freeing up small businesses? to do the right thing? I said, You know, it's going to take everybody to send those letters to the editor, to make sure that we are talking to all of our elected officials--the city councils and the other Members of Congress in our States and our delegations--about the fact that regulations when they go too far can hurt job creation, that taxes when they increase can hurt small families' and small businesses' abilities to grow and expand. Make sure that you're expressing that. Make sure you're telling them that. Make sure you're talking about America's job creators, about our idea--the Republican plan--for job creation, what we are going to do to get this country's job creators moving again. One of the forgotten 15 is a bill that I introduced/passed. It's the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act. It's H.R. 2021. This bill passed back on June 22, 2011, to be exact. It passed with 255 votes in support. There aren't 255 Republicans in the House of Representatives. It took both Democrats and Republicans to get to 255 votes. That bill, if it were to become law, would create 54,000 jobs around this country, 54,000 good-paying jobs around this country. It has been introduced in the Senate with a bipartisan group of sponsors, but it hasn't been acted on yet. The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, H.R. 872, which is something that farmers in my district are very concerned about, passed with 292 votes on March 31, 2011. It's a bill that would make sure that our farmers, our ranchers, our communities can continue to grow and flourish in their economies; but it hasn't seen the light of day over in the Senate. Yet those farmers who are picking corn, the people putting together the wind turbines, the men and women out on the drilling rigs don't wonder why the forgotten 15 haven't passed. They wonder why Congress can't get its act together, why this President can't work with us to find the solutions this country needs. That's why we are here tonight, talking about our commitment to this country, about our commitment to our country's job creators, to the men and women who have struggled far too long in looking for work. It's so that we can find opportunities for them and their families so they can get back to work with the jobs that they need to survive.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. This past weekend, I volunteered at the fifth annual Colorado Mission of Mercy, a 2-day free dental clinic held in a different Colorado community each year. This year it was in Brush, Colorado, an appropriate name for a dental clinic. The Colorado Mission of Mercy brings more than 100 portable dental chairs into a Colorado community and provides dental services to children, adults, and elderly who cannot afford them on their own. The group has nearly 200 volunteer dentists from across the State and hundreds of dental hygienists, assistants, and lab technicians. This year there were approximately 175 dentists, 947 volunteers, and nearly 1,500 patients who were served over the 2-day period. Helping people avoid dental discomfort that can interfere with school and work was a life-changing experience for many at the clinic. One person commented that now he doesn't have to be embarrassed because he doesn't have any lower teeth. This person now felt confident to go out and look for a job. Rural communities, in particular, face tougher challenges when it comes to getting proper dental care because there are so few dentists, and people often have to drive long distances to see them. Proper care is vital to our overall health, and I commend the Colorado Mission of Mercy for sponsoring this event.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. Speaker, last month Americans around the country commemorated the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. I had the honor and privilege to spend the day with some of the brave police, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and first responders that put their lives on the line every day to protect us from harm. In Berthound and then in Fort Collins, Colorado, I had the opportunity to speak with local firefighters and police as we remembered the tragedy of 10 years ago and the sacrifice and loss of so many lives. The lapel pin that I have on this morning was lent to me by a friend of mine, Ed Haynes. It's a pin given to New York Police Department police officers in the wake of September 11. An officer gave it to Ed in 2004. The pin is a reminder of that day and the understanding that police officers and firefighters around the country share, the understanding that every day they go to work willing to give their own lives to save the lives of others. As the 10-year anniversary of September 11 passed, we remembered the victims and the devastation, the fear and the anger of that time. But we also remember the unity, the sense of understanding that existed across the Nation in the days after that horrible tragedy. The people that have observed September 11 over this past month, September 11 through today, the people that I saw that weekend, the firefighters, the police and the citizens, remember those days as well. And in today's political environment, we could do well to focus on how it should not require a national tragedy to bring us together.