Jim Hagedorn

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, after advocating for USMCA this past year, I am excited to vote for it today. Not only will this deal expand trade with Mexico and Canada, but it is going to help us build momentum for deals with other nations, like China, Vietnam, and so forth. It is going to be great for our country. One quick example of how this helps the American people, particularly farm families: Over the summer, Farmers for Free Trade rallied in our southern Minnesota district for USMCA. We were at the Hoffman Dairy Farm, about 15 miles south of New Ulm. The Hoffmans are sixth- generation dairy farms. They said that it has been 5 or 6 years of tough commodity prices--low prices, high input cost. They needed a win. Our market for dairy has been shut out of Canada, virtually, with 300 percent tariffs. USMCA is going to knock down those tariffs, allow more exports, create more demand, help families like the Hoffmans, and help our country. I urge everyone to vote for the agreement.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, many members of this body have publicly voiced support for impeachment since before this President was sworn into office--some even skipping the Inauguration, a time-honored American tradition, because they viewed him as an illegitimate President. For a significant number of my colleagues, this will not be the first--and possibly not even the last time they vote to impeach President Trump. Several have openly admitted they are concerned if they don't vote to impeach the President, he will be reelected. Even the highest-ranking member of this body publicly stated that this process has been two and a half years in the making. The Speaker admitted this just months after she told the American people that impeachment would need to be compelling, overwhelming and bipartisan. Yet, the only thing bipartisan about this impeachment is the opposition to it. Here are the facts: Both President Trump and President Zelensky say there was no pressure. The call transcript shows no conditionality--or ``quid pro quo''-- between aid and an investigation. The Ukrainians were not aware that aid was withheld when Trump and Zelensky spoke. Ukraine did not open an investigation, and still received aid and a meeting with President Trump. The sad truth is that this has been an overtly political process from the very beginning, and an unwarranted attempt to remove our duly elected President from office. I will vote ``no'' and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote against this divisive impeachment. I include in the Record a letter from President Trump to Speaker Pelosi. The White House, Washington, December 17, 2019. Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Madam Speaker: I write to express my strongest and most powerful protest against the partisan impeachment crusade being pursued by the Democrats in the House of Representatives. This impeachment represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat Lawmakers, unequaled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history. The Articles of Impeachment introduced by the House Judiciary Committee are not recognizable under any standard of Constitutional theory, interpretation, or jurisprudence. They include no crimes, no misdemeanors, and no offenses whatsoever. You have cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment! By proceeding with your invalid impeachment, you are violating your oaths of office, you are breaking your allegiance to the Constitution, and you are declaring open war on American Democracy. You dare to invoke the Founding Fathers in pursuit of this election-nullification scheme--yet your spiteful actions display unfettered contempt for America's founding and your egregious conduct threatens to destroy that which our Founders pledged their very lives to build. Even worse than offending the Founding Fathers, you are offending Americans of faith by continually saying ``I pray for the President,'' when you know this statement is not true, unless it is meant in a negative sense. It is a terrible thing you are doing, but you will have to live with it, not I! Your first claim, ``Abuse of Power,'' is a completely disingenuous, meritless, and baseless invention of your imagination. You know that I had a totally innocent conversation with the President of Ukraine. I then had a second conversation that has been misquoted, mischaracterized, and fraudulently misrepresented. Fortunately, there was a transcript of the conversation taken, and you know from the transcript (which was immediately made available) that the paragraph in question was perfect. I said to President Zelensky: ``I would like you to do us a favor, though, because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.'' I said do us a favor, not me, and our country, not a campaign. I then mentioned the Attorney General of the United States. Every time I talk with a foreign leader, I put America's interests first, just as I did with President Zelensky. You are turning a policy disagreement between two branches of government into an impeachable offense--it is no more legitimate than the Executive Branch charging members of Congress with crimes for the lawful exercise of legislative power. You know full well that Vice President Biden used his office and $1 billion dollars of U.S. aid money to coerce Ukraine into firing the prosecutor who was digging into the company paying his son millions of dollars. You know this because Biden bragged about it on video. Biden openly stated: ``I said, `I'm telling you, you're not getting the billion dollars' . . . I looked at them and said: `I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money.' Well, son of a bitch. He got fired.'' Even Joe Biden admitted just days ago in an interview with NPR that it ``looked bad.'' Now you are trying to impeach me by falsely accusing me of doing what Joe Biden has admitted he actually did. President Zelensky has repeatedly declared that I did nothing wrong, and that there was No Pressure. He further emphasized that it was a ``good phone call,'' that ``I don't feel pressure,'' and explicitly stressed that ``nobody pushed me.'' The Ukrainian Foreign Minister stated very clearly: ``I have never seen a direct link between investigations and security assistance.'' He also said there was ``No Pressure.'' Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a supporter of Ukraine who met privately with President Zelensky, has said: ``At no time during this meeting . . . was there any mention by Zelensky or any Ukrainian that they were feeling pressure to do anything in return for the military aid.'' Many meetings have been held between representatives of Ukraine and our country. Never once did Ukraine complain about pressure being applied--not once! Ambassador Sandland testified that I told him: ``No quid pro quo. I want nothing. I want nothing. I want President Zelensky to do the right thing, do what he ran on.'' The second claim, so-called ``Obstruction of Congress,'' is preposterous and dangerous. House Democrats are trying to impeach the duly elected President of the United States for asserting Constitutionally based privileges that have been asserted on a bipartisan basis by administrations of both political parties throughout our Nation's history. Under that standard, every American president would have been impeached many times over. As liberal law professor Jonathan Turley warned when addressing Congressional Democrats: ``I can't emphasize this enough . . . if you impeach a president, if you make a high crime and misdemeanor out of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power. It's your abuse of power. You're doing precisely what you're criticizing the President for doing.'' Everyone, you included, knows what is really happening. Your chosen candidate lost the election in 2016, in an Electoral College landslide (306-227), and you and your party have never recovered from this defeat. You have developed a full-fledged case of what many in the media call Trump Derangement Syndrome and sadly, you will never get over it! You are unwilling and unable to accept the verdict issued at the ballot box during the great Election of 2016. So you have spent three straight years attempting to overturn the will of the American people and nullify their votes. You view democracy as your enemy! Speaker Pelosi, you admitted just last week at a public forum that your party's impeachment effort has been going on for ``two and a half years,'' long before you ever heard about a phone call with Ukraine. Nineteen minutes after I took the oath of office, the Washington Post published a story headlined. ``The Campaign to Impeach President Trump Has Begun.'' Less than three months after my inauguration, Representative Maxine Waters stated. ``I'm going to fight every day until he's impeached.'' House Democrats introduced the first impeachment resolution against me within months of my inauguration, for what will be regarded as one of our country's best decisions, the firing of James Corney (see Inspector General Reports)--who the world now knows is one of the dirtiest cops our Nation has ever seen. A ranting and raving Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, declared just hours after she was sworn into office, ``We're gonna go in there and we're gonna impeach the motherf****r.'' Representative Al Green said in May, ``I'm concerned that if we don't impeach this president. he will get re-elected.'' Again. you and your allies said, and did, all of these things long before you ever heard of President Zelensky or anything related to Ukraine. As you know very well. this impeachment drive has nothing to do with Ukraine, or the totally appropriate conversation I had with its new president. It only has to do with your attempt to undo the election of 2016 and steal the election of 2020! Congressman Adam Schiff cheated and lied all the way up to the present day, even going so far as to fraudulently make up, out of thin air. my conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine and read this fantasy language to Congress as though it were said by me. His shameless lies and deceptions, dating all the way back to the Russia Hoax, is one of the main reasons we are here today. You and your party are desperate to distract from America's extraordinary economy, incredible jobs boom, record stock market, soaring confidence, and flourishing citizens. Your party simply cannot compete with our record: 7 million new jobs; the lowest-ever unemployment for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans: a rebuilt military: a completely reformed VA with Choice and Accountability for our great veterans; more than 170 new federal judges and two Supreme Court Justices: historic tax and regulation cuts; the elimination of the individual mandate; the first decline in prescription drug prices in half a century; the first new branch of the United States Military since 1947, the Space Force; strong protection of the Second Amendment; criminal justice reform; a defeated ISIS caliphate and the killing of the world's number one terrorist leader, al-Baghdadi; the replacement of the disastrous NAFTA trade deal with the wonderful USMCA (Mexico and Canada); a breakthrough Phase One trade deal with China; massive new trade deals with Japan and South Korea; withdrawal from the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal; cancellation of the unfair and costly Paris Climate Accord; becoming the world's top energy producer; recognition of Israel's capital, opening the American Embassy in Jerusalem, and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; a colossal reduction in illegal border crossings, the ending of Catch-and-Release, and the building of the Southern Border Wall--and that is just the beginning, there is so much more. You cannot defend your extreme policies--open borders, mass migration, high crime, crippling taxes, socialized healthcare, destruction of American energy. late-term taxpayer-funded abortion, elimination of the Second Amendment. radical far-left theories of law and justice, and constant partisan obstruction of both common sense and common good. There is nothing I would rather do than stop referring to your party as the Do-Nothing Democrats. Unfortunately, I don't know that you will ever give me a chance to do so. After three years of unfair and unwarranted investigations, 45 million dollars spent, 18 angry Democrat prosecutors, the entire force of the FBI, headed by leadership now proven to be totally incompetent and corrupt, you have found NOTHING! Few people in high position could have endured or passed this test. You do not know, nor do you care, the great damage and hurt you have inflicted upon wonderful and loving members of my family. You conducted a fake investigation upon the democratically elected President of the United States, and you are doing it yet again. There are not many people who could have taken the punishment inflicted during this period of time, and yet done so much for the success of America and its citizens. But instead of putting our country first, you have decided to disgrace our country still further. You completely failed with the Mueller report because there was nothing to find, so you decided to take the next hoax that came along, the phone call with Ukraine--even though it was a perfect call. And by the way, when I speak to foreign countries, there are many people, with permission, listening to the call on both sides of the conversation. You are the ones interfering in America's elections. You are the ones subverting America's Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain. Before the Impeachment Hoax, it was the Russian Witch Hunt. Against all evidence, and regardless of the truth, you and your deputies claimed that my campaign colluded with the Russians--a grave, malicious, and slanderous lie, a falsehood like no other. You forced our Nation through turmoil and torment over a wholly fabricated story, illegally purchased from a foreign spy by Hillary Clinton and the DNC in order to assault our democracy. Yet, when the monstrous lie was debunked and this Democrat conspiracy dissolved into dust, you did not apologize. You did not recant. You did not ask to be forgiven. You showed no remorse, no capacity for self- reflection. Instead, you pursued your next libelous and vicious crusade--you engineered an attempt to frame and defame an innocent person. All of this was motivated by personal political calculation. Your Speakership and your party are held hostage by your most deranged and radical representatives of the far left. Each one of your members lives in fear of a socialist primary challenger--this is what is driving impeachment. Look at Congressman Nadler's challenger. Look at yourself and others. Do not take our country down with your party. If you truly cared about freedom and liberty for our Nation, then you would be devoting your vast investigative resources to exposing the full truth concerning the FBI's horrifying abuses of power before, during, and after the 2016 election--including the use of spies against my campaign, the submission of false evidence to a FISA court, and the concealment of exculpatory evidence in order to frame the innocent. The FBI has great and honorable people, but the leadership was inept and corrupt. I would think that you would personally be appalled by these revelations, because in your press conference the day you announced impeachment, you tied the impeachment effort directly to the completely discredited Russia Hoax, declaring twice that ``all roads lead to Putin,'' when you know that is an abject lie. I have been far tougher on Russia than President Obama ever even thought to be. Any member of Congress who votes in support of impeachment--against every shred of truth, fact, evidence, and legal principle--is showing how deeply they revile the voters and how truly they detest America's Constitutional order. Our Founders feared the tribalization of partisan politics, and you are bringing their worst fears to life. Worse still, I have been deprived of basic Constitutional Due Process from the beginning of this impeachment scam right up until the present. I have been denied the most fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution, including the right to present evidence, to have my own counsel present, to confront accusers. and to call and cross-examine witnesses, like the so-called whistleblower who started this entire hoax with a false report of the phone call that bears no relationship to the actual phone call that was made. Once I presented the transcribed call, which surprised and shocked the fraudsters (they never thought that such evidence would be presented), the so-called whistleblower, and the second whistleblower, disappeared because they got caught, their report was a fraud, and they were no longer going to be made available to us. In other words, once the phone call was made public, your whole plot blew up, but that didn't stop you from continuing. More due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials. You and others on your committees have long said impeachment must be bipartisan--it is not. You said it was very divisive--it certainly is, even far more than you ever thought possible--and it will only get worse! This is nothing more than an illegal, partisan attempted coup that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth. You are not just after me, as President, you are after the entire Republican Party. But because of this colossal injustice, our party is more united than it has ever been before. History will judge you harshly as you proceed with this impeachment charade. Your legacy will be that of turning the House of Representatives from a revered legislative body into a Star Chamber of partisan persecution. Perhaps most insulting of all is your false display of solemnity. You apparently have so little respect for the American People that you expect them to believe that you are approaching this impeachment somberly, reservedly, and reluctantly. No intelligent person believes what you are saying. Since the moment I won the election, the Democrat Party has been possessed by Impeachment Fever. There is no reticence. This is not a somber affair. You are making a mockery of impeachment and you are scarcely concealing your hatred of me, of the Republican Party, and tens of millions of patriotic Americans. The voters are wise, and they are seeing straight through this empty, hollow, and dangerous game you are playing. I have no doubt the American people will hold you and the Democrats fully responsible in the upcoming 2020 election. They will not soon forgive your perversion of justice and abuse of power. There is far too much that needs to be done to improve the lives of our citizens. It is time for you and the highly partisan Democrats in Congress to immediately cease this impeachment fantasy and get back to work for the American People. While I have no expectation that you will do so, I write this letter to you for the purpose of history and to put my thoughts on a permanent and indelible record. One hundred years from now, when people look back at this affair, I want them to understand it, and learn from it, so that it can never happen to another President again. Sincerely yours, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Chabot for yielding the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4405, the Women's Business Centers Improvements Act. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Representative Davids, for sponsoring this bill, introducing it, and inviting me to co-author it. I appreciate her leadership on this. This bipartisan legislation works to support women entrepreneurs nationwide by modernizing and strengthening the Women's Business Centers program. Our bill will increase access to training, counseling, assistance programs, capital, and workforce investment. All these measures are essential to create new businesses, expand enterprises, and grow our United States economy. Millions of women own small businesses in the United States, and that is a wonderful thing. Entrepreneurship and the Women's Business Center program are essential for empowering women to become business owners. By enhancing these services, we increase the ability to inspire and foster new generations of business leaders. Small business is the job-producing backbone of our American economy. Whether you are in southern Minnesota, eastern Kansas, or communities across our Nation, it is critical that we foster an environment of growth where entrepreneurs of all stripes have access to the resources they need to succeed and are not stymied by excessive regulations, taxes, and other antibusiness burdens. According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, as of 2017, more than 11.6 million firms are owned and operated by women. These firms employ almost 9 million people and generate $1.7 trillion in revenue. To keep our economy growing, we must embrace, encourage, and promote emerging enterprises, including those owned by folks who do not fit the traditional mode of business owners to get started. One of the great success stories that we have in women entrepreneurship is that of Christine Lantinen and her candy company in Minnesota's First District out of Le Center, Minnesota. The company is called Maud Borup. In May I had the opportunity to tour the 112-year-old wholesale confections company that specializes in gourmet candy, baking kits, food kits, and lots of other things, including gummy bears, the best I have ever enjoyed, to be honest with you. Maud Borup started as a woman-owned, brick-and-mortar candy shop in St. Paul, even before women had the right to vote. Today, it is a wholesale company, continuing to offer opportunities for women. Ninety- six percent of its more than 100 employees are women. Christine, an Army veteran, no less, bought the company in 2005 and has expanded the company's employment by 2,000 percent and sales by 2,500 percent. To put that into perspective, sales have gone from $500,000 all the way to $20 million in just 10 years. And for good reason. She was named the Small Business Person of the Year in Minnesota for 2019. She served her country and now she is serving her community by expanding jobs and economic opportunity for folks in southern Minnesota. This is one of the types of success stories that we are trying to emulate and replicate all across the country with our legislation, the Women's Business Centers Improvements Act. Our legislation will fund more than 100 nonprofit organizations that provide training, counseling, and technical assistance, specifically for women entrepreneurs. Our bill, as the ranking member said, expands upon the success of H.R. 1680, which was passed by the House in May of 2018, but didn't quite make it into law. Our legislation will make key improvements for the Small Business Administration's Office of Women's Business Ownership and the Women's Business Center program by raising the initial grant amount to $300,000 and increasing the authorization level to $31.5 million for fiscal years 2020 through 2023. This legislation establishes an accreditation program to strengthen Women's Business Centers by increasing accountability and raising the standards of excellence for training and counseling of women entrepreneurs and will also create a transparent and consultative process for the selection of new center locations, while also requiring an annual report to ensure transparency and measure the effectiveness of the overall program. Most importantly, the bill will help facilitate small business creation, provide much-needed reforms that will be a helping hand to women business owners, free aspiring entrepreneurs of undue burdens and barriers to entry, further economic expansion, and help hardworking Americans achieve their dreams. I am incredibly proud of the bipartisan nature of this bill. I thank, again, Congresswoman Davids for introducing and managing the bill. I am proud to stand with her to champion women-owned enterprises. And a special thanks to the Committee on Small Business, of course our chair, Chairwoman Velazquez and Ranking Member Chabot for the bipartisan support that they have offered. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4405.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, for our economy to continue growing, workers need technical skills, the right training, and education funding. Workforce development is a bipartisan goal, strongly supported by both employers and employees. Small businesses, manufacturers, trade unions, and industry groups are concerned about the shortage of skilled trade workers. Sadly, many seeking technical training are precluded from using qualified 529 education savings plans, and many apprenticeships are not eligible for 529 plans as well. To solve this problem, I am proud to have introduced H.R. 4469, the American Workforce Employment Act, and I would like to offer special thanks to my colleagues, Representatives Jeff Van Drew from New Jersey, Ron Estes from Kansas, and Paul Mitchell from Michigan, for coauthoring this legislation. Our bipartisan bill expands the application of 529 savings plans to include expenses leading to postsecondary credentials, certain apprenticeships, and the purchase of tools and equipment, which is very important. These programs have been identified as critical by trade unions and manufacturers. Empowering men and women to utilize their own pretax dollars will increase the number of highly trained individuals pursuing high-wage vocations and filling workforce gaps in agriculture, manufacturing, and skilled labor sectors. I ask my colleagues to support our bipartisan legislation so that Americans can receive education and technical training to pursue their dreams and expand our economy.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, today I rise to encourage the Speaker of the House to give expeditious consideration of the United States- Mexico-Canada Agreement. There is progress on this agreement being made. The country of Mexico, their senate just ratified it. Canada is looking to move very quickly, and it is critically important that we do the same. Along those lines, 1,000 groups in this country: manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and processing groups have written us and said: We need to get this deal done now. In Minnesota, it is not just agriculture. It is machinery. It is manufacturing. It is medicine, and people like my friends at the Farm Bureau, AgriGrowth, poultry, dairy, pork; you name it, everybody wants it done. If we can get this Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement with the United States done, we are going to build momentum for our deals with China, Japan, South Korea, Colombia, and the European Union. We should be dropping down the barriers, expanding our trade, creating economic growth, creating high-wage jobs, and helping the American people and our consumers.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, the best gummy bears I have ever tasted are made by a company right in southern Minnesota. Last week, I visited Le Center and toured Maud Borup, a 112-year-old wholesale confections company that specializes in gourmet candy, baking kits, food gifts, and more. Maud Borup started as a woman-owned brick-and-mortar candy shop in St. Paul before women even had the right to vote. Today it is a wholesale company continuing to offer opportunities for women. In fact, 96 percent of the more than 100 employees are women. Maud Borup's president, Christine Lantinen, was recently named the 2019 Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year. Christine is an Army vet and an entrepreneur who is making a difference in her community. We had the opportunity to discuss regulatory issues, healthcare reform, trade, and how Federal policies are affecting small businesses in Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I thank Christine and everyone at Maud Borup for being a valuable part of Minnesota.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Mr. Speaker, last week, the Communist Government of Cuba announced that it is launching widespread rationing of food due to the grave economic crisis in their country. Unlike citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and countless other nations, Americans know their grocery store shelves will be filled every day with an abundant supply of quality products at affordable prices, and that is thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of America's farmers and agribusinesses. For Americans who lack the means to put food on the table, our taxpayers generously provide hundreds of billions of dollars for food stamps and other welfare benefits. Private entities such as churches and nonprofit food banks rely on the voluntary generosity of their members. Yet it all starts with the supply of food. We could have fistfuls of $100 bills and EBT cards, but that wouldn't matter if the grocery store shelves were bare. As Americans, we must always celebrate our system of free enterprise and our incredible agricultural producers. We are, indeed, the envy of the world.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Winona Health. One-hundred and twenty-five years ago, Winona Health started with $4,500 to create the 18-bed Winona General Hospital. Certainly, Winona Health has grown over the years, but its focus on serving the community and providing quality health care has stayed the same. Winona Health's high quality health care is a reflection of the hard work of its doctors, associate providers, staff and volunteers. All Americans deserve access to quality, timely medical care. I'm thankful the residents of Winona and surrounding areas have a fine medical provider in Winona Health. Congratulations on 125 years.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 962, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, legislation to block fourth-trimester abortions, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, for the protection of life, I urge that the Speaker immediately schedule this important bill.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jean Bye, President and CEO of Dotson Iron Castings in Mankato, Minnesota. Jean began her career with Dotson Iron Castings in the 1970s. With her strong work ethic, commitment to excellence and keen technical knowledge, she advanced in her career and held various management positions. In 2010, she became Dotson's President/CEO; the first woman and non-family member to run this century old manufacturer. Today, over 100 tons of ductile iron castings are melted daily, with 1,500 different metal castings produced for over 150 customers across the world. In April, Jean was presented with The Manufacturing Institute's Science, Technology, Engineering and Production (STEP) Ahead Award, which recognizes women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and serve as role models in inspiring young women to pursue careers in manufacturing. Jean is known within the metalcasting industry. Since 2011, she has served on the Board of Directors of the American Foundry Society (AFS), the industry's trade association and will be concluding her successful term as AFS President at the end of April. She became the first woman in the association's over 100-year history to be chosen by her peers to serve in this role. Madam Speaker, please join me today in congratulating Jean Bye on receiving the 2019 STEP Ahead Award and completing her term leading the metalcasting industry trade association. I wish her continued success.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the New Ulm Medical Center for being named the number one critical access hospital in the United States for 2019. This medical center, part of Allina Health, serves more than 13,000 New Ulm residents and countless more folks in southern Minnesota. The New Ulm Medical Center has found positive ways to improve affordability and increase successful patient outcomes. Even when faced with serious health challenges, patients can thrive when they have access to affordable and conveniently located healthcare. All Americans deserve access to quality, timely medical care. I am very pleased that residents in New Ulm, Brown County, and surrounding areas in southern Minnesota have such a fine institution of medicine to provide them. Congratulations to New Ulm Medical Center, and thank you for serving our community.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to recognize National Agriculture Week. I grew up on a grain and livestock farm just outside of Truman, Minnesota, and have a deep appreciation for agriculture and all it does for our rural communities. Our ag-based economy is so critically important to our Nation and, of course, the State of Minnesota and southern Minnesota, which is our First District. The people in southern Minnesota really appreciate our ag producers, our ag processors, our ag equipment dealers, and all the rest. I can tell you that in Minnesota's First District, one of the top crop and livestock districts in all the country, we actually were number two for hogs in the entire Nation. Our First District is home to nearly 20,000 farmers. Considering that each farm produces enough food to feed about 165 people, the reach of our farmers goes throughout the United States and all around the world. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to commemorating and talking about the value of agriculture and our farmers during this week and throughout this Congress.

Mr. HAGEDORN

Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank the residents of Minnesota's First District for the privilege and honor of serving them as their Representative in the House of Representatives. As southern Minnesota's servant in Congress, I will work to keep America safe with secure borders and a military and foreign policy of peace through strength. I will work to make America prosperous by transforming the Federal Government and implementing regulatory reform, individual tax reform, work for welfare, patient-centered medical care, merit-based immigration, and achieving U.S. energy independence. I will work to protect our God-given U.S. constitutional rights, especially the right to life, the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, and the right to religious freedom. Lastly, I will work to sustain agriculture and our rural southern Minnesota way of life. Madam Speaker, serving this body is humbling, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to restore America's greatness and reflect the views and values of the constituents of the First District of Minnesota.