J. Hill

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the Days of Remembrance and pay tribute to all those who were affected by the enormity, the calamity, and the horrors of the Holocaust. On April 11, 1945, at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, General Patton's Third Army liberated Buchenwald concentration camp, with the help of my father-in-law, Bill McKenzie, then a young 22-year-old U.S Army officer, fresh from the corps at Texas A&M University. Bill said of that day: ``I will not describe the horrible sight of our entry into Buchenwald, but I will tell you this--that the crematorium was still burning, dead were stacked like cordwood on large trailers, and the living dead were starving.'' Some 65 years later, I would deliver the eulogy at Bill's funeral and read a condolence letter sent to our family from the nephew of a survivor he rescued that day. As a member of the Greatest Generation, Bill will always be remembered by us as a hero, and his role liberating innocent people from the Nazi Germany death camps is a proud distinction for our family. His story serves as a reminder that these atrocities have no place in our world.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today to honor the life and legacy of one of Arkansas's great leaders--Congressman Jay Dickey, who passed away last week after a battle with Parkinson's disease at the age of 77. Jay represented the 4th District of Arkansas after becoming the first-ever Republican to hold the seat. He was a great public servant who made many contributions to Arkansas and our Nation as a whole. I have always admired his irrepressible enthusiasm for lower Arkansas and his dedication to his constituents. We are all fortunate to have had someone with such a strong character be a leader for our state. Jay leaves behind a legacy of warmth and passion, and his contributions to the Natural State will continue to live on for generations to come. I extend my respect, affection and prayers to his family and loved ones.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the Quapaw Area Council, which, for the first time, was recognized by the Boy Scouts of America's Journey to Excellence program as a Gold Level Council, the highest award possible. The Boy Scouts of America's Journey to Excellence program is designed to encourage excellence and reward success at all levels of scouting, measuring several indicators that include fiscal management, fundraising, youth advancement, youth camping, and membership recruitment. As a fellow Scout, I am proud of the high standards our Scouts in Arkansas are setting. This achievement is a credit to the dedication of members of the council, countless volunteers, devoted parents, and committed Scouts. On behalf of all Arkansans, congratulations. We look forward to following your continued success for generations of Scouts to come.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support today of H.R. 1219, the Supporting America's Innovators Act, introduced by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry), the chief deputy whip. I am proud to have his leadership in promoting capital formation in our country. Yesterday, as he has noted, marks the fifth anniversary of the JOBS Act, which has had a positive impact on easing capital formation woes for small businesses and startups. I am proud to represent and have the opportunity to work every day with The Venture Center in Little Rock and its FinTech Accelerator program, and the innovation hub in North Little Rock and its medical technology innovation hub. These high-tech innovations, combined with angel funds, give good-paying job opportunities to people out in the heartland and not just on the East and West Coasts. But in order for these innovative startups to grow, they have got to have access to greater sources of angel capital, and raising capital in rural America is a challenge. Having helped design and offer private placements for emerging companies during my whole career, and participating in angel funds in 2 decades prior to coming to Congress, I know firsthand the importance of having a multitude of options for our small businesses to raise capital, no matter what their stage of formation. This bill builds on the success of the JOBS Act by providing an update to a limit set in 1940, Mr. Speaker, limiting the number of accredited investors that can participate in a qualified venture fund. I am glad we are rushing to a change since 1940. And this simple change from 100 to 250 really allows more angel investors to participate in funds of this nature across the country and gives particular advantage off the East and West Coasts. I thank the chairman for the time and my good friend from North Carolina for his leadership. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this worthy measure.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the impending crisis in Africa. More than 20 million people in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria face starvation and famine, according to the U.N. Secretary-General. At a time when the mainstream media and the Washington press corps is obsessed with President Trump, they remain silent when there is a mounting disaster that could make the Syrian refugee crisis look like child's play. All four of these countries have weak or failing governments, and each is in the midst of a seemingly endless conflict perpetrated by evil terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram, al Shabaab, and al-Qaida. Pouring the billions of needed dollars into the region will help stop the coming famine, but it will take American leadership working with partners in the region willing to take a stand to rid their continent of these terrorist threats. I will continue to bring light to the imminent crisis in Africa, and I urge my colleagues to focus on this critical issue.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Michigan, the distinguished chairman of the Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments Subcommittee, for yielding the time. Mr. Speaker, what we are here talking about today is opportunity. We are not talking about the money interests. We are not talking about waving the bloody shirt of the Enron debacle. What we are talking about here today, Mr. Speaker, is in the interest of innovators. It is in the interest of talented Millennials who have huge student loans, who have a great idea to benefit themselves, their community, their economy. We are here to be in the interest of hardworking workers who have no big investment dollars, but have an abundance of sweat equity. We are here in the interest, Mr. Speaker, of building businesses and growing this economy. If we do that, we are growing jobs and opportunity for our citizens. And we are in the interest, Mr. Speaker, again, not of the money interest, but of efforts all over this country, led by people like John Delaney of Maryland and Stephen Case of Virginia, to build out venture capital and entrepreneurship in places other than Boston, Massachusetts; Menlo Park; places like Detroit; Flint; Little Rock; St. Louis; and Chicago. That is why we are here today. This bill is a simple, commonsense, small step in that effort. For many years, in my private sector life, I helped young companies form and raise capital for them. In my own business, I extended stock options and opportunities to buy stock to those very people who did not have the excess cash to invest. Many companies issue stock to compensate their employees, but it is especially important to startup businesses and private businesses. It is especially important to those businesses that are trying to compete with big private enterprises that have a public stock to offer as an incentive. And structuring competitive compensation in private businesses is very challenging. Further, for employees, this stock ownership is a huge source of pride, allowing individuals to participate in the growth and prosperity that their hard work and sweat equity have helped build. Through rule 701, the SEC allows private companies to offer up to $5 million in their own securities without additional regulatory bureaucracy. My friend from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren) and my friend from Maryland (Mr. Delaney) have simply made a small change, Mr. Speaker; and that is to raise that commensurate with inflation to $10 million to reflect the world we live in today. This is not rocket science; this is something we need to do for building our economy. As we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the signing of the JOBS Act by President Obama and the successes this legislation has yielded in capital formation for small and emerging growth companies, I urge my colleagues to support this effort by my friend from Illinois in this bipartisan, commonsense job-creating proposal.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Captain John Joseph Kearney, who passed away on Pearl Harbor Day last year at the too-young age of 62. After graduating just 2 years before me at Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, John received a Presidential appointment to the United States Naval Academy. Upon graduation and commission, he followed in his father's footsteps and pursued a lifetime career in the Navy, ultimately retiring at the rank of captain. Captain Kearney dedicated his life to his distinguished military career and received numerous honors and medals for his service, which included work here in Washington and on the 7th Fleet staff in Japan. John leaves behind a legacy of warmth and passion, and his example is one all Americans and Arkansans can admire. I extend my respect, affection, and prayers to his fine family and loved ones.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 202. Personal Explanation

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, the distinguished minority leader from Maryland certainly knows my great affection for him and his leadership of the opposition. We are the opposition here. I have to say that should he not have access to C-SPAN, like all of us, we invite him to tune in to C-SPAN and the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and enjoy this long markup, Mr. Leader, and it is quite the contrary.

Mr. HILL. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. HILL. I thank the gentleman. Reclaiming my time, I recognize that. But the American people, Mr. Leader, want us to work to correct the deficiencies in the Affordable Care Act, to repeal and replace it, make it better for the American people, to lower premiums, give more access, let people choose the plan they want. I would remind the leader that there was no C-SPAN camera in Ms. Pelosi's office when the original Affordable Care Act was cobbled together over Christmas break, certainly not in the light of the American people. So I urge people who are watching C-SPAN today, go to readthebill.gop, understand what is going on to repair and replace the Affordable Care Act, engage with your Member of Congress, and let's make health care available for all of our citizens. Let's make it truly affordable. Let's take care of the least of these, but let's do it in a patient-centered, market-based approach. Mr. Speaker, today I come to the House floor to honor my friends at Philander Smith College in Little Rock. They celebrate their Founder's Day, commemorating the 140th anniversary of their founding in 1877. Philander Smith is a Historically Black College and an early higher education institution built and created by former African-American slaves, the first such institution west of the Mississippi River. Graduating thousands of students over its 140-year legacy, the college is particularly important to Arkansas' history, economy, and higher education community. Currently, approximately 760 students are enrolled at Philander Smith, and the college continues to play an integral role in preparing predominantly minority and low-income students for careers and employment in Arkansas and throughout our country. I always enjoy my opportunities to be on campus, engaging with their bright, dedicated young minds. The college's president, Dr. Roderick Smothers, recently joined his HBCU colleagues here in Washington to meet with the White House and leadership in Congress and talk about the challenges facing our Historically Black Colleges and their students. I appreciate Dr. Smothers' dedication to his students and their education at Philander Smith. I am proud to represent such a historic and valuable institution. I congratulate Philander Smith on its 140th anniversary. I look forward to many more decades of their success.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, on March 7, 2017, I missed the vote for H.R. 1362. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on Roll Call No. 127.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, as we gather tonight in the historic House Chamber, where so much of our Nation's history has been debated and dispatched, it is good to hear my friend from Georgia talk about the challenges that face our country with the failure of the Affordable Care Act and his thoughtful presentation on just precisely what we need to do to save Americans from the failures of this bad law. It is an honor to be in the historic House Chamber where every day the distinguished lawgivers in our history look down on this Chamber. George Mason, who wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, looks down on the Speaker's dais, as does Thomas Jefferson, the author of our Declaration of Independence. No speaker stands at the dais and addresses the people's House without the steely gaze of Moses, the ultimate, most revered lawmaker, Mr. Speaker. He looks down on you and on this Chamber for truth and justice. Mr. Speaker, we Americans work hard. We work hard every day of the week, and we love Friday. We love Fridays so much that we say: Thank God it's Friday. Over the years, TGIF has become not only something that everyone in our country who works hard recognizes, but it became the name of a popular restaurant. In the autumn, we love our Friday nights watching high school football. In the winter, maybe it is catching a movie and eating a pizza with our friends or family. In the spring, Friday can find us catching a baseball game, the American pastime. Mr. Speaker, last Friday night, I was in Cairo, Egypt, and what I saw was that same joyous, happy experience of families sharing their successes of the week; celebrating a great soccer victory; clapping to wonderful, warm local music; and witnessing the squealing of their kids running around their parents, celebrating a birthday or just a good week at work or school. The streets of the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar in Cairo were chock-full last Friday, Mr. Speaker, with the living and the loving, just going about that weekly experience pursuing their own version of happiness and TGIF. Friday night in Cairo, the land of the Pharaoh, the land of the beginning of much of human education and civilization, there was dining and bargaining in the bizarre that has been the centerpiece of trading and manufacturing and merchandising for half a millennia. Mr. Speaker, my trip to Egypt was marked not just with witnessing the joy of Egyptian family life and seeing and sharing what we have in common. It was a reminder that the 91 million Egyptians are on the front line of the global war on terror, a war that unites the leadership of Egypt and the United States arm-in-arm to design and implement the most effective strategies we can to defeat the malevolent evil enemy of ISIS, al-Qaida, Boko Haram, and their bloody cohorts across the globe. In my view, after the approach of the past 8 years, our enemies are stronger and engaged more broadly than ever before. Nothing has driven this point home more than a visit in Cairo to the St. Peter and St. Paul's Coptic Church. Located on the plaza adjacent to the offices of His Holiness Coptic Pope Tawadros II, there was joy there last Saturday morning, Mr. Speaker, listening to the chants of the priests, the reverence of the families in the pews, the kids again squealing and smiling in their parents' arms. But, Mr. Speaker, on the periphery of that joy was a stark reminder of the destruction there on December 11, when a male ISIS jihadist suicide bomber entered that church disguised as a woman and detonated his vest, murdering 25, mostly women, splattering the walls and the floors of God's House with their blood. As I walked through that same entrance last Saturday, Mr. Speaker, the church has developed a reverent shrine to those who were lost. The pockmarks in the marble are there from the shrapnel from the vest. But that church is a symbol of unity in Egypt, not division, as it was visited by President el-Sisi, a devout Muslim leader of all Egyptians, who came to share his concern, his affection for Egyptians no matter what their religious background. Best summarized by the wise Pope of the Coptic church--Mr. Speaker, we have to remind ourselves that the word ``Coptic,'' of course, comes from the Greek word ``aigyptios,'' which means Egypt. The Coptic church is as old as St. Mark's arrival in Alexandria in the first century. That wise old Pope told us, and I think really, Mr. Speaker, captured the whole spirit of the Egyptian people and the resolve that is taking place in that country under President el-Sisi when he said, Egyptians take two things from the Nile River on which they have lived some 5,000 years. They take water, and they take moderation in their beliefs. Mr. Speaker, tonight I wanted to come to the House Chamber and pay tribute to the Egyptian people for being on those front lines in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism, pay tribute to the Christian and Muslim people of Egypt working together to defeat this ideology. I want to commend President el-Sisi for his courageous leadership in the Muslim world. Coinciding with the birthday celebration of the Prophet Muhammad on New Year's Day 2015, President el-Sisi went to the Islamic world's most respected institution, Al-Azhar University, and called upon the world's 1.6 billion faithful Muslims and the faith's imams to support a religious revolution. He called on the leaders to reject the mindset of death and jihad. Mr. Speaker, in both Egypt and America, we come from dust and to dust we shall return. We are made in God's image, and God has granted us such unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While we are breathing, each of us has an obligation to serve our fellow man, work to value our societies and make them the best that they can be. In January, we witnessed a change in leadership here in the United States. We had a former President who grew up in Hawaii and grew up riding the waves in Hawaii. He rode a wave into the White House and then drifted along, bobbing on top of those waves for 8 years. Now, Mr. Speaker, we have a President in the White House who is not riding the waves; he is making waves. It is my hope that he will execute a new direction and take new actions to win the global war on terrorism. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, whether it takes 3 months or 30 years, I won't rest until we unify the civilized world to reject jihad, reject the terror we saw at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Cairo. Mr. Speaker, we need to condemn those who condone it. We need to condemn those who finance it. We need to reject it when we see it taught in the mosque. We need to reject it on Facebook. We need to reject it in the media. We must condemn those who say it is wrong but stand silent. Mr. Speaker, there are no bystanders in this fight, and there is no substitute for victory. Mr. Speaker, all across the world tonight, we Egyptians, we Americans, we want our Fridays back. TGIF, Mr. Speaker, TGIF. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Ducks Unlimited on its 80th anniversary. Over the past eight decades, Ducks Unlimited has partnered with local communities and Members of Congress to support conservation of millions of acres of waterfowl habitats across North America. As a lifelong outdoorsman, I know the value of these habitats and the benefits that they provide to countless Americans who enjoy these areas for a wide array of recreational and scientific activities. We must ensure the preservation of these habitats for future generations, and I know that Ducks Unlimited will work to ensure this goal for another 80 years. I would like to extend my thanks and congratulations to DU and wish them continued success for many generations to come.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, this weekend I had the opportunity to visit the exceptional exhibit of Ansel Adams' photography, from his early years, at the Arkansas Arts Center, and it made me reflect on the life of Townsend Wolfe, the ultimate southern gentleman and truly a cultural visionary. Townsend passed away earlier this month at the age of 81. Townsend served as the director and chief curator of the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock for 34 years, until his retirement in 2002. That year, he was honored with the Governor's Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Arkansas Arts Council. During his tenure, the Arts Center experienced unparalleled growth in numbers of annual visitors and in its exceptional collection. Townsend's love of art extended beyond the walls of the galleries, bringing beauty into the lives of countless Arkansans. Townsend leaves behind a legacy of warmth and passion, and his contributions to ``The Natural State'' will continue to live on at the Arkansas Arts Center.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the achievement of a true Arkansas leader, my colleague and friend, Representative Steve Womack. Early this year, Steve was awarded the Department of the Army's Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service, which is the highest award the Secretary of the Army may bestow upon a civilian. Before being elected Representative for Arkansas' Third Congressional District, Steve dedicated most of his adult life to the Arkansas Army National Guard where he retired as a colonel after 30 years of service. He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Legion of Merit. His example is one all Americans and Arkansans can admire, and I treasure our work together here in the 115th Congress representing our State of Arkansas.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the importance and impact of mentoring in our society. I recently heard from a constituent, Karissa, who works with the Boys & Girls Club in my district in Bryant, Arkansas. One of her mentees was struggling, having trouble in school, finding it difficult to build friendships with her fellow students. Karissa's guidance and encouragement helped build confidence, which led to participation in the school's JROTC program and improving her camaraderie with her fellow cadets. At-risk youth face many difficult challenges, and life is infinitely more challenging without the support of caring adults. With mentors, at-risk youth are less likely than their peers to skip school or use drugs and are more likely to go to college, play sports, and volunteer in our communities. Whether it is through a mentoring organization like Scouting or the Boys & Girls Clubs, a nonprofit, a religious institution, or school, being a positive influence for our young people goes a long way in strengthening our communities and serving the best interest of our children.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 41. As you have heard today, it has an immense cost to our economy. The SEC estimates, as you have heard from other Members, up to $590 million per year, Mr. Speaker. Now, think about that. That is $5 billion over 10 years. And if we put a 10 multiplier on it, that is $50 billion of investable capital that could be put out for productive use helping the world have more mineral resources. Instead, it goes to this ill-advised rule. In the past two decades, the United States has lost more than 50 percent, Mr. Speaker, of its public companies, in large part due to the costs and regulatory burdens of being associated with being a public company. Dodd-Frank's resource extraction rule piles on even more harmful red tape for those publicly traded companies in the United States that are global energy providers. As this rule only applies to publicly traded companies, this increased burden puts U.S. companies at a disadvantage. Over 75 percent of the extracted minerals are owned by state-owned enterprises, Mr. Speaker, that are not covered by this rule. That puts our companies at a competitive disadvantage. It requires our companies to reveal confidential information, putting our companies at a competitive disadvantage. And if, Mr. Speaker, the people want transparency, the best way to handle that is through self-disclosure through global transparency and accountability. There are important public policy goals, and 51 countries have entered into the Extractive Industry Transparency Institute, which is self-reporting and publishing, by country, by company, both public and private, these important issues about mineral extraction. Finally, Mr. Speaker, if it is about corruption, our friend, Senator Proxmire from Wisconsin, long ago, in the 1970s, passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. There is no more act feared by global corporate America than complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and ensuring that our companies, our shareholders are not prone or party to bribery. I support this resolution.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of one of Arkansas's great leaders and a dear friend, former State Senator Stanley Russ, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 86. Born and raised in Conway, Arkansas, Stanley served in the U.S. Army during the Korean war before becoming a State senator for 25 years. Stanley received numerous awards for his work, including being named of one of the Ten Outstanding State Legislators in the United States by the Assembly of State Governmental Employees. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Conway Chamber of Commerce and was elected into the Arkansas Tech University Hall of Distinction as well as the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. Our State and Faulkner County will miss Stanley's smile, his enthusiasm and ability to get things done to enrich the lives of all Arkansans. I extend my respect, affection, and prayers to his family and loved ones.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding me the time. Today I rise in support of H.R. 78, the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act. One can cut the hyperbole on the other side of the aisle with a knife today because we are not here talking about gutting enforcement. We are not here talking about exceptionally benefiting Wall Street operators. What we are talking about is enhancing the SEC's cost-benefit process. The Commission has made many positive strides toward its economic analysis in the past few years. This bill will enhance their efforts at ranking and providing resources to the rules that will in fact provide investor protection and provide efficient, competitive U.S. markets. Too many of their resources have been deviated on wild goose hunts related to the Dodd-Frank mandates. During this same time, we have experienced a sharp decline in initial public offerings and public companies generally. Largely, in my view, that is as a result of the regulatory burden and the costs associated with being a public company. This should be a concern to every Member of this body. This bill would make the SEC's rulemaking process more accountable by enhancing its cost-benefit analysis requirements and would require the Commission to revisit its rules after implementation to ensure they are actually achieving their intended purposes. This bill does away with the notion that congressional mandates are exempt from cost-benefit analysis and requires the Commission to evaluate these rules as well--a good thing; Congress doesn't always get it right--in addition to identifying alternatives which might even include no rule at all, in short, using common sense. Requiring this sort of more robust economic analysis will also help the SEC set priorities. Chair White testified before our committee in the past Congress that they have 50 front burners. They can't decide what their most important agenda item is. Let's fix it, Mr. Chairman, by passing this bill.

Mr. HILL. This bill will focus attention where attention is needed to benefit investors, our capital markets, and the economy the most. H.R. 78, along with the HALOS Act that we passed in the House on Tuesday, will help ensure that the SEC regulations do not unnecessarily impede consumer and business access to capital. I thank the chairman for the time. I appreciate Mrs. Wagner for her work on this bill.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. I thank the chairman for yielding and for his leadership to set aside for us to visit with the American people and talk about empowering patients, not politicians. For 6 years, we have witnessed the failed rollout of the ObamaCare program. We didn't get to keep our plan that we liked, and we didn't get to keep our doctor that we had such a good relationship with. We have seen physicians leave the business. We have spent billions on duplicative, unnecessary exchanges that are now failing across this country. So I commend the Republican Study Committee, and I am proud to be a part of this group to talk about how to bring relief to the American people on the failed ObamaCare law. I still hear from constituents--even now, 6 years later, from this rolling evolution of ObamaCare--who have seen their coverage lost and their increases in healthcare costs skyrocket. This healthcare regulatory burden that we are talking about tonight has led to droves of part-time jobs instead of full-time jobs and unaffordable group plans for the people who were in a good small business group plan. This regulatory burden is on top of what has been a 6-year to 8-year crushing burden on business from many different agencies from the EPA and beyond. One constituent wrote my office after he was forced to accept an insurance plan to meet the affordable healthcare law that cost him $1,300 a month, Mr. Speaker, and he still has to meet two $2,500 deductibles before the insurance coverage kicks in. Now, that is $20,600 a year. Mr. Speaker, I was a small businessman before I joined Congress, and we had employees that made $20,600 a year in our small business. So what is left for the family budget when you are going to spend $20,000 for health care? That is typical now after the rollout of ObamaCare for a family of four. This is in a place in our country where healthcare costs $20- or $30,000 a year in out-of-pocket expenses? Obviously, this system is broken. Now, in Arkansas, unlike much of the country where people are definitely seeing large, double-digit, or, in some cases, larger increases in the ObamaCare premium, Arkansans, on the exchanges, are seeing lower than those average increases. In my view, this is largely because our Governor and our State legislature are working hard to make the best out of a bad situation and fighting to pursue innovative measures that work best for our small State. The Arkansas Works program has helped to prevent skyrocketing premiums on the exchanges, and the State is still subject, though, to duplicative reviews by Federal and State agencies and costly and burdensome regulations that have nothing to do with trying to lower the cost of health care for Arkansans. This week, Governor Hutchinson wrote the House leadership decrying the individual and employer mandates and stressing the need for healthcare reform that provides our States more flexibility--more flexibility, Mr. Speaker--to design programs that fit the needs of people in our State while increasing predictability and affordability. Some of the points Governor Hutchinson made in his letter to our leadership include calling for States having the option of receiving Medicaid funds through a block grant enabling them to tailor the program in the Medicaid population under health care in what fits Arkansas, what Arkansans can afford. In fact, that is our Better Way approach, Mr. Speaker, for the Medicaid population. He calls for the elimination of the Federal health insurance exchanges. We had exchanges before ObamaCare that can be operated by States in the private sector without Federal interference. Governor Hutchinson called for restricting the duplicative reviews of rate and plan filings by CMS. They are already being done by our individual State insurance regulators. Of course, the thing that drives up costs not only for the Medicaid population, for people on the ObamaCare exchanges, and for people out in the group health plans is the essential health benefits requirement. Governor Hutchinson says that this has driven up costs for everybody, for government, for families, and that elimination of these requirements would provide flexible options for insurance providers to offer cheaper plans to younger and healthier individuals. That is key to choice, Mr. Speaker. In some counties, Arkansans now only have one insurance option. I don't think one option is an option. There is no choice. This monopoly or oligopoly pricing combined with the mandates are demonstrating the unaffordability of the Affordable Care Act. With the recent election, we now have a unique opportunity to recognize these flaws of this one-size-fits-all, Big Government- mandated, top-down approach to health care, reverse course, and, again, bring relief to the American people of this failed law put forth by the Obama administration. Chairman Walker and the Republican Study Committee have put together a comprehensive plan to repeal ObamaCare and replace this failed law with conservative principles. Mr. Speaker, Americans want change. We are asking that we design those changes with patients in mind and that we, in fact, in this group--Mr. Walker, I know you agree--we will read the bill before we pass it. So the RSC proposal and the Better Way framework outlined by Speaker Ryan are going to bring relief, change, and opportunity that fit with the principles that have guided the Republican Party and the Republican outlook, the Republican Study Committee, which is we will bring competition and we will bring efforts to lower prices and increase access for the American people. With that, Mr. Walker, I commend you again.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to our Nation's law enforcement men and women. I respect and appreciate the important work of our police throughout the Nation who are charged with the critical work of protecting the people in our States and our local communities. The heartbreaking violent targeting of our Nation's police officers, recently, demonstrates the dangers these men and women face every day. Every American is so proud as our many neighbors and fellow citizens get up every morning, put on their local law enforcement uniform and badge, kiss their families good-bye, and go out and serve us, keeping our cities and towns safe, trying to build trust and faith among all of our citizens. Monday was National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, and our law enforcement men and women in Arkansas and throughout the country deserve our gratitude and respect. I proudly displayed a blue light in my office window to honor our law enforcement men and women, and I thank them for their selfless service.

Mr. HILL

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in strong support of this resolution. We need to close ranks in the House of Representatives. We need to, as colleagues, support what for decades has been the cornerstone principle of American diplomacy towards Israel and Palestine, and that is direct negotiation between these two countries. That is the only way that peace can be achieved. The fact that our Ambassador to the United Nations went against decades of precedent by abstaining from this vote is appalling. It is another vote for tyrants and terrorists. All of us need to close ranks to support a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. I am proud to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle tonight, Mr. Engel and Mr. Royce, in opposing this mistake that has been made by our U.N. Ambassador and by the U.N. resolution itself. Both are wrong. Both our decision to abstain and the drafting have been destructive. I am proud to have this resolution in the House to once again undo this harm and support our ally.