Vicky Hartzler

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize C.J. and Dave Dunklee, founders of The Healing Box Project. Mr. and Mrs. Dunklee are serving our Nation's veterans through providing guitar lessons at the Truman VA Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. The Healing Box Project came to life at the Truman VA Hospital a couple of years ago. C.J. and Dave provide guitars, picks, and lessons to disabled veterans in order to help them ease the wounds that so many of them are facing. These weekly lessons provide an outlet for veterans to use the joy of music to heal their souls. Weekly, they provide these lessons for up to 50 veterans. C.J. and Dave provide the fundraising through their 501(c)(3) nonprofit to pay for the supplies and lessons needed to help this project succeed. I am thankful for their efforts to provide services to our Nation's heroes who have so graciously given service to our great country. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to take this opportunity to recognize C.J. and Dave for their efforts on behalf of our Nation's veterans. I am blessed to represent them in Congress and wish them continued success with this very special project.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, today, North Korea is plotting the next ballistic missile test, Russia is threatening the NATO alliance, ISIS is spreading evil, and China continues their expansion in the South China Sea in defiance of the international community. Our military has never been in such high demand, yet our readiness to confront these threats is at a dismal level. We must confront these challenges by ensuring our defense dollars maximize the military's readiness and lethality. That is why I am offering an amendment to advance these goals by prohibiting taxpayer dollars from funding gender reassignment surgeries and related hormone therapy treatment for members of the military and their dependants. There are many problems with this policy, but funding transition surgeries with tax dollars is especially problematic because the surgery is very costly. Surgical recovery time decreases deployability of our soldiers, and there is lack of medical consensus on the effectiveness of gender transition treatments. Funding transition surgeries means diverting money from other defense priorities. Surgical costs alone can top $1.3 billion over the next 10 years. These resources could fund 13 F-35 aircraft to fight near peer adversaries like China and Russia; 14 F-18 Super Hornets to fight ISIS; or 8 KC-46 tankers needed for long-range strike missions to North Korea. Our spending priorities must match our threat mitigation priorities. We must have soldiers who can deploy if called upon. Military members undergoing transition surgery are nondeployable for up to 267 days. Similarly, regular hormone treatments renders individuals nondeployable into the future. It makes no sense to create soldiers who are unable to fight and win our Nation's wars, and it is unfair to nontransitioned individuals who must leave their families and deploy in their place. For all these reasons, Mr. Chair, I offer this amendment as a responsible member of the House Armed Services Committee who has studied the threats and heard from each servicemember about the need for increased funding and readiness. Prohibiting funding for transition surgery is the right policy for our military, our budget, and it is the right policy for the American taxpayer. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself 30 seconds. First of all, this does not preclude service by the transgendered. This simply says that we are not going to have taxpayers pay for this surgery. This is different than somebody going in and having a cold, because this is a major surgery that requires a medical diagnosis that is going to render someone nondeployable. Just the recovery from the surgery alone is 287 days, and then the ongoing treatment precludes them from certain abilities to serve overseas. So we need to take a look at all of this and make sure that we are addressing the threats, and we are spending every dollar that we can to go after the threats. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), Army National Guard Brigadier.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself 15 seconds. Mr. Chair, I just want to point out that this amendment doesn't address any of the full healthcare that every soldier is entitled to; it just says that in this particular instance, we are not going to pay for the gender reassignment surgeries and related hormone treatment. And there is a high cost for it, there is a reason for doing it, and that is why we are addressing that today. Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left?

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter).

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, this is about addressing Korea, Russia, ISIS. We need every defense dollar to go to meeting those threats, not anything else, and we need to make sure our troops are ready and can be deployed. Mr. Chair, I ask my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask for support for H.R. 2480, the Empowering Law Enforcement to Fight Sex Trafficking Demand Act. I would like to thank Chairman Goodlatte and Ranking Member Conyers for their support, as well as Congresswoman Karen Bass, Congressman Steve Chabot, and Congressman William Lacy Clay from Missouri, my friend, who have all co-led this effort with me. The Empowering Law Enforcement to Fight Sex Trafficking Demand Act expands the authority of the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grants Program, or Byrne JAG, to enable law enforcement agencies to compete for Federal funding specifically to develop and execute sex trafficking demand reduction programs. Adding this provision provides State and local agencies more flexibility in balancing precious resources to address sex trafficking. Today, when many Americans hear the term ``sex trafficking,'' they might envision a young woman in Eastern Europe being abducted or a far- away brothel in Thailand. While both of these instances, sadly, happen, Americans must realize that sex trafficking happens in thousands of neighborhoods and cities all across our great country. As recently as May, in the city of Springfield, Missouri, there were two young girls, ages 13 and 14, that were recently rescued. Those two innocent girls were locked in a neighborhood home and forced to do drugs and engage in sexual acts for money. After some heroic police work, the man responsible was caught, but not before he robbed these two young girls of their innocence and confined them to years of mental torment. This type of event occurs all too often and serves as a stark reminder that this horrendous crime can occur anywhere. It is a domestic problem that we cannot ignore. Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has reported 22,191 sex trafficking cases in the United States, and countless cases remain unreported. According to leading researchers and law enforcement agencies, one of the primary causes of sex trafficking is consumer-level demand for commercial sex. Sex traffickers have discovered that illicit support of commercial sex is a lucrative business. In 2014, the Urban Institute estimated that the underground sex economy ranged from $39.9 million in Denver, Colorado, to $290 million in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite the fact that demand is the ultimate cause of commercial sexual exploitation of women and children, buyers are frequently overlooked as offenders in crimes of domestic sex trafficking. Recently, leaders in the law enforcement community have discovered that the only effective practices for combating sex trafficking are those that include combating demand for commercial sex. There are two primary ways to directly influence actual and potential buyers of commercial sex, and these are termed ``demand reduction programs.'' They are: education of actual and potential buyers of commercial sex, and law enforcement interventions aimed at deterring those who might buy sex and punishing those who do. Many law enforcement agencies execute demand reduction programs, such as reverse sting operations, john schools, and community education. However, resource limitations preclude them from expanding these efforts. This bill provides law enforcement expanded funding opportunities to support demand reduction efforts. This is a huge step in the right direction because the Byrne JAG grant is the cornerstone Federal crime-fighting program, enabling communities to target resources to their most pressing local needs. Byrne JAG's hallmark is its flexibility; thus, States and localities are able to deploy Byrne JAG funding against their most pressing public safety challenges, such as sex trafficking. This allows communities to design complete programs, fill gaps, leverage other resources, and work across city, county, and State lines. The crime of sex trafficking rips through the fabric of our communities and our country. We as Members of Congress must shed light on this horrendous epidemic and provide our law enforcement agencies with adequate resources to attack this problem at its source. H.R. 2480 will do that. It is a bipartisan solution to a nationwide problem. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this effort.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. I would like to thank Chairman Thornberry and Ranking Member Smith for bringing this important bill to the floor. As Members of Congress, it is our responsibility to provide support for our men and women in uniform while they selflessly serve our Nation. This bill takes significant steps to address our military's severe readiness crisis by ensuring that our troops have the resources, training, and capabilities needed to face the growing threats of today. As chairwoman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I am proud of the provisions included in this bill to reform the Foreign Military Sales process, provide funding to address the critical infrastructure needs of the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and protect our Nation's highly sensitive U.S. military information-- information that our adversaries are actively seeking to exploit. This bill is good news for the warfighter. It authorizes 22 additional F-18 Super Hornets to help fill the Navy's strike fighter shortfall and fully funds the B-21 Raider--a critical platform needed to deter and defeat future aggression around the world. I am proud to represent Missouri's Fourth Congressional District, which is home to Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leonard Wood. This bill funds modernization programs for the B-2 Spirit and authorizes phase one of a new hospital facility at Fort Leonard Wood. Since arriving to Congress, I have been fighting to address the infrastructure needs of our Army ammunition plants, like the one at Lake City, which is the sole source for our Army's small caliber ammo. These plants are in dire need of modernization, and this bill authorizes much-needed funding to help improve these deteriorating facilities. Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Thornberry, the Armed Services Committee increased defense spending to meet the needs of today's warfighter. I appreciate the opportunity to work with Ranking Member Seth Moulton and all the committee members on this bill. I am proud of the bipartisan fashion in which we work, and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this irresponsible amendment that allows the construction of facilities in the U.S. to house detainees, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' We are still at war with terrorism, and the law of war affirms that detainees can properly be held off the battlefield for the duration of the hostilities. Both Republican and Democrats have repeatedly rejected bringing terrorists detained at Guantanamo Bay to the United States. It would be a negligent act to transfer highly dangerous terrorists, such as mastermind of 9/11, to U.S. soil to be housed near our neighborhoods and near our families. The gentleman said that these, they are not the worst of the worst, that some people are just, you know, caught up perhaps, and they are there. That is not true. I have been there multiple times. At this point, we only have 41 left, and they are the worst of the worst. There is no one left who you might even claim was just caught up and accidentally arrested. That is false. Like I said, I have visited multiple times to see firsthand the threats facing our country, and the detention procedures carried out at that facility. It does not make sense to build a new facility to spend our precious defense dollars here to house terrorists when we already have adequate, very safe facilities at Guantanamo where they are being treated humanely. It is legal and transparent. It is a remote location. It is away from the battlefield and away from our loved ones. So I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho).

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Kelly), my friend and colleague.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time to close.

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have?

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment. It is not a wise use of our tax dollars to build new facilities here like the gentleman wants to do to detain terrorists when we already have adequate facilities that are doing a great job right now at Guantanamo Bay. We need to keep our terrorists there, away from our families, away from our communities. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment and to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H. Res. 353.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of today's legislation to advance our country's career and technical education programs. These programs help students learn the skills needed to be competitive and set our young people on the path to success. I have visited with our manufacturers regularly, and they have repeatedly told me that more skilled workers are needed. As a former vocational teacher, I have seen firsthand the fulfillment a student can find from getting real-world training in a useful skill, and I am encouraged by the positive steps this bill takes to address this skill shortfall. There are many paths to success, and the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act helps us pave the way for a high-skilled workforce of Americans to have successful, fulfilling careers.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. George E. Windsor, a family physician in Windsor, Missouri. George has been a physician for 47 years and has decided to retire from his practice at the age of 74. I hope all of you can join me in congratulating him on his retirement and wishing him continued health and happiness in this new phase of life. I am honored to share my gratitude and respect for Dr. George E. Windsor. His dedication and care for the people of his community are an inspiration to us all.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Molly Nelson and her entire Veterans Affairs staff. Lt. Col. Nelson is a Doctor in the Missouri VA Clinic and has dedicated her life to healing and helping veterans who have risked their lives for our country. Lt. Col. Nelson and her staff continuously go the extra mile for our veterans to make sure they get immediate and effective care. I am honored to share my gratitude and respect for this Missouri Clinic and their dedication and compassion are an inspiration to us all.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. George R. Dunlap, a U.S. Navy and Coast Guard veteran from Kansas City who served in both World War II and the Korean War. As one of four brothers to serve in active duty, George enlisted right after high school graduation on his eighteenth birthday in 1945. After his years of service, George moved to Kansas City where he devoted twenty-five years of his life to the Kansas City Police Department. George's example of lifelong service to his country and community deserves our utmost appreciation. I am honored to share my gratitude and respect for this wonderful Missourian and applaud George for his dedication to serve and protect our country. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Mr. Dunlap and all those who serve our great nation.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Betty Helms, a World War II Navy Veteran who turns 95 today. Betty's life has been full of hard work and accomplishments as she was in the first group of enlisted women allowed in the U.S. Navy. Her tenacity to overcome adversity and eliminate barriers truly shows her character and life's work. Continuing with her lifelong theme of removing roadblocks to pursue her goals, she went on to earn an accounting degree from the University of Missouri in 1950. She later started her own consulting business and did not retire until age 85. I am honored to share my gratitude and respect for this accomplished Missourian. Her dedication, determination and service are an inspiration to us all. I ask all my colleagues to join me in thanking Betty for her years of service and wishing her the happiest of birthdays.

Mrs. HARTZLER

Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in praise of a good Missourian and a good friend who has done a great deal to honor our men and women in uniform. For 18 years, Bud Simmons has hosted a Troop Hero Appreciation Day at his Pier 31 Marina and Restaurant on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where he treats military families to a delicious meal, boat rides on the lake, numerous prizes, and a day together as a family away from the stresses of military life. If you ask Bud why he does it, he will tell you that freedom is not free and that he wants to honor our heroes who are pledging their lives to protect ours. He remembers how many troops returning from Vietnam were never thanked for their sacrifices, and he doesn't want that mistake repeated. This year's event on Saturday, June 10, is the last time that Bud will host this event. I want to thank Bud for his efforts to honor those who serve. He has made a difference in countless lives of servicemen, servicewomen, and their families, and we are all grateful for his example, his leadership, and his patriotism. God bless you, Bud.