Tim Huelskamp

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, this year marks 25 years of KJIL and Great Plains Christian Radio in Meade, Kansas, providing Christian music, weather, sports news, and inspiration to farmers, ranchers, businesses, and into the homes and vehicles of thousands of Kansas families. The process of going from dream to reality took nearly 10 years; but within 24 hours after completing their transmission tower, KJIL took to the air September 5, 1992, at 99.1 FM. In 2001, they added another station in Abilene, Kansas, at 105.7 FM. Since then, their story is one of God's constant faithfulness and provision. What started as a small dream for a rural county and my home county of southwest Kansas now includes nearly 40 translators, including the neighboring States of Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado. Nearly my entire congressional district receives radio signals from Great Plains Christian Radio. Not only has KJIL served our region so faithfully for 25 years, they have also done so with excellence. The Kansas Association of Broadcasters has awarded them Station of the Year twice. They have also been the recipients of a trio of awards from Focus on the Family Station of the Year--the list goes on and on. Any opportunity to commend KJIL and their history of humbly serving Kansas requires recognition of the people who made it happen, such as Don Hughes, Jim Fairchild, and my good friend, Michael Luskey, who is currently the CEO and GM. I sincerely hope and pray that KJIL will have service for another 25 years.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, this year my parish, Holy Cross Catholic Church in Hutchinson, Kansas, is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Sixty years ago, then-Bishop of Wichita, Most Reverend Mark K. Carroll, proclaimed Holy Cross Parish to be the third parish in Hutchinson. On June 23, 1957, the church celebrated their first mass in a 4-H building. Holy Cross Parish has come a long way from that first mass held on the Kansas State Fairgrounds. Now a beautiful church adorned with holy images, the parish serves Christ's people from the moment they are born with the Sacrament of Baptism, to feeding them with the Word of God and the Holy Eucharist, to couples exchanging marriage vows, to those seeking forgiveness in the confessional, and, finally, to when we prepare to meet our Lord at the end of our earthly lives. At each milestone of a Catholic's life, Holy Cross Catholic Church is there to guide us toward the truth: to know, love, and serve the Lord in this life so as to be with Him in the next. The work of the Holy Cross community certainly extends outside the church walls. The parish is present in the community, serving meals to the needy, visiting inmates in prison, working to save the lives of the precious unborn children, and comforting those who grieve. Additionally, education has always been a high priority for the Holy Cross Parish. Hundreds upon hundreds of boys and girls, young men and women, have received a superb Catholic education at Holy Cross Catholic School and Trinity Catholic High School. Dedicated teachers, administrators, coaches, committed families, holy priests and nuns, and supportive parishioners have worked together to prepare each of these students to serve as Christ's light to the world. The families that make up Holy Cross Catholic Church are a living example of individuals who live out their faith in their work and their daily lives. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of conscience. It is my sincere hope that, as America moves forward, our leaders will place the issue of religious liberty at the forefront of their political and legislative agendas. On this 60th anniversary of Holy Cross Catholic Church, it is my prayer that the parish will continue to grow and thrive, welcome new members, and share the Gospel with the world.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here tonight and tomorrow. This House will have a chance to redeem itself a bit, or at least remain relevant for now. Hopefully, we will be voting on something of great consequence for a change. Tomorrow we in this body will be asked to vote for or against removing the IRS Commissioner. Make no mistake, however. This is not just a vote to remove one man from office. It is a vote for or against the rule of law itself. It is a vote for or against maintaining our system of internal checks and balances. It will be a vote for or against accountability for public officials and transparency in our government. For months, myself and other House Freedom Caucus members have been pushing for this accountability. Those who might oppose this measure most likely believe they are doing the right thing by defending the IRS. In fact, they are defending a toxic status quo in which our Nation's most powerful agency, the IRS, can legitimately be used to thwart one's political enemies. This is a status quo in which one party gains power in one branch of government, then uses the resources of that branch of government to depress the power of all other branches of government. This is something we would expect to see in an emerging democracy, not the greatest Republic in the history of man. Let's take a look back at how this all came about. During President Obama's reelection campaign, the IRS systemically prolonged consideration of applications for nonprofit status from hundreds of conservative organizations--in some cases, as we heard this evening, indefinitely. Many of those organizations were never able to recover from this denial; others were effectively neutralized for the duration of the 2012 election. This, of course, is a matter of fact and not of opinion. Eventually, the discriminatory practice was exposed, and Mrs. Lerner was removed from her position--although, I might note, she retained her full retirement pension from taxpayers. John Koskinen was imported as Commissioner to sort the mess out. Then, as the President promised, to restore our faith in the Federal Government, he would act in the best interest of all of us and not abuse his power ever again. But after Lerner refused to testify before Congress, the IRS casually mentioned that some of her emails had gone missing, despite the subpoenas and orders to preserve them--again, casually mentioned. In fact, we found out later, the IRS had erased 422 backup tapes containing as many as 24,000 emails. Now, think about that. If every email was one single page and you stack those all up, that would be 8 feet worth of erased emails. When the Commissioner told Congress under oath that many emails had been accidentally destroyed, he was lying. And when the Commissioner told Congress under oath that his agency would provide investigators with all of Mrs. Lerner's remaining emails, he was lying. And when he told Congress under oath that the IRS would fully comply with any FOIA request and otherwise assist our investigation into the practice of unfairly targeting organizations for their First Amendment beliefs, he was lying. And then when he and his boss, the President of the United States, told the American people, under the sacred trust vested in all public officials, that he would reform the IRS, make it more transparent and less hostile to families, faith organizations, and small businesses, he was not telling the truth. The Commissioner blatantly lied under oath on multiple occasions because he thought he could get away with it. Just like so many other administration officials, the Commissioner believed he was above the law and beyond reproach. Tomorrow we have a chance to resoundingly prove Mr. Koskinen's audacious assumptions wrong. These Articles of Impeachment--four for each lie he told--represent the negative consequences that the average American would face if he lied under oath. Some have called this effort petty. There are even some who believe there are other officials more deserving of removal. Perhaps they are right. However, in this case, we have someone whose violations of the law and the public trust cannot be disputed. And I would hope, in light of the indisputable evidence, this body could perhaps move beyond the partisan divisions so that justice can be served. I encourage my fellow Members to do the right thing and vote for accountability, vote for the rule of law, and vote for a government that has checks on its own power. I thank the Congressman from Ohio for his leadership. He is a true friend. This is a very serious issue. This is not a political issue. This is an issue of principle and rule of law for our government.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman, and appreciate his strong, effective leadership in the Veterans' Affairs Committee. At a committee hearing last year, the VA publicly admitted to me it was too difficult to fire bad employees. The situation is so dire that dozens of blatantly negligent employees and convicted criminals continue to work at the VA with zero consequences for their behavior. I was a quick cosponsor of this bill when introduced by the chairman because it provides necessary solutions to a problem that has persisted far too long. This bill will expand the VA Secretary's removal authority to include all VA employees and speed up the process. It will put in place additional whistleblower protections and give the Secretary the authority and responsibility to rescind bonuses and expense payments for corrupt employees. And it reforms the current broken claims process by providing veterans more choices when it comes to appealing VA claims. It might not be talked about much around here, but inside Washington everyone knows there is almost no accountability in the Federal civil service. In fact, a recent nonpartisan GAO study found, on average, it takes 6 months to a year, and often longer, to remove a bad bureaucrat. In the VA, we have seen example after example of Federal employees more concerned with defending a couple of bad apples than caring for our veterans. It is not unreasonable to demand VA employees be held accountable for their performance, just like our veterans were during their military service and how millions of hardworking Americans must do in their jobs every single day. It is my hope this bill will begin a long-overdue cultural shift within the VA. Until that happens, we will continue to see headlines about employees dealing heroin to patients, operating on patients while drunk, keeping their job despite an armed robbery charge, and giving years of paid leave to bad doctors. We can all agree: our veterans deserve better, and the VA should be held accountable for this obligation. I urge my colleagues in the House to support passage of this very important bill.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, in 2009, President Obama, told Notre Dame University graduates: Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our healthcare policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics. Over the course of the ensuing 8 years, however, what the President has said and what he is doing now are completely opposite. Instead of protecting the conscience of those who disagree, the President and his administration have discriminated against Americans because of their views on abortion. No American should be forced to participate in an abortion or be coerced to purchase a healthcare plan which includes abortion. Yet today, that is exactly what is happening. In California, churches are being forced to purchase healthcare plans and pay for abortion. Yes, churches. In America, respecting the freedom of conscience is a long-held American tradition. Let's continue that tradition today and pass the Conscience Protection Act.

Mr. HUELSKAMP

Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, on June 21, 2016, I was not present for rollcall vote number 334, 335, and 336 due to weather- related travel delays returning to Washington from Kansas. If I had been in attendance, I would have voted yes on roll call votes 334, 335, and 336.