Kevin McCarthy

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of the rule and the underlying legislation. Since the beginning of this Congress, we have devoted ourselves most prominently to a single goal: making Washington work for the people again. There is one thing here in Washington that consistently stands against our people, our economy, and our Constitution: the Federal bureaucracy. These agencies, bureaus, and departments--so numerous that nobody even knows how many there are--spend their lives thinking up new rules, and the rules they produce weigh down businesses, destroy jobs, and limit Americans' rights. Career bureaucrats who can't be voted out of office wield punishing authority with little to no accountability. They are agents of the status quo, and the revolving door of Federal employees moving to lobbying arms and consulting firms breed thousands of regulations that enrich the connected and powerful, sometimes at the great expense of the average American. This is the swamp. This is what opposes the people, and we are draining it. In recent weeks, this House has already started its two-part plan to strip the bureaucracy of its power. We started to change the structure in Washington by passing the REINS Act and the Regulatory Accountability Act. This week, we begin part two: targeting specific rules and stripping them from the books. There has been no industry in America that has been more regulated than energy. We are going to use the Congressional Review Act to repeal the stream protection rule that could destroy tens of thousands of mining jobs and put up to 64 percent of our country's coal reserves off limits. Then we will take on President Obama's 11th hour BLM methane emissions requirement. The oil and gas industry in America has already drastically reduced methane emissions even while increasing output, and the EPA already has the authority to regulate air emissions. Instead of helping the environment, this rule could cost America's energy industry up to $1 billion by 2025 and force smaller operations, especially out West, to shut down and lay off employees. So, this Friday, the House will get rid of it. We will also take the ax to the SEC disclosure rule, which--now, if you can believe it--targets publicly traded American energy companies with even more regulatory compliance while it lets foreign companies off the hook. Washington should put American companies first, not put them at a disadvantage to their foreign competitors. Mr. Speaker, it is not just energy, which would be bad enough; but under President Obama, the bureaucracy has even threatened our basic constitutional rights. A new rule from the Social Security Administration would increase scrutiny on up to 4.2 million disabled Americans if they attempt to purchase firearms. For the completely unrelated circumstance of having someone help manage your finances, Social Security recipients could be kept from exercising their Second Amendment rights. In an affront to due process, the bureaucracy has even attempted to blacklist from Federal contracts any business that is accused of violating labor laws, and that could be before the company has a chance to defend itself in court. Every single one of these will be gone. With a vote in the House, a vote in the Senate, and President Trump's signature, we will get rid of every one of these job-killing and destructive regulations. The House is always at the service of the people. Now we are making the bureaucracy serve the people, too.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the chairman for his work. I would also like to highlight a few Members whose work is inside this bill. First, Congressman Marino, Congressman Ratcliffe, Chairman Chabot, and Congressman Luetkemeyer have all done a tremendous amount of work to make this bill here today, and I appreciate that. Mr. Chairman, we have a grave problem in our Federal Government. It undermines our Constitution, it contradicts the will of the people, and it is a deadweight on our economy destroying American jobs and costing billions of dollars per year in paperwork and lost opportunities. I am talking about the duplicative and unforgiving Federal bureaucratic state. But before I discuss the dangers that an overzealous bureaucracy poses to our country, I want to be clear that the House has already made great progress. We are engaged in a two-step approach: first, to change the structure of Washington that deprives the people of their power; and second, to repeal specific harmful regulations. We will get started on the second part early next month. We have already passed two bills last week to change Washington's structure, the Midnight Rules Relief Act and the REINS Act. Today, we will pass the third, the Regulatory Accountability Act. This requires agencies to choose the least costly option available to do what they are charged to do and prohibits large rules from going into effect while they are still being challenged in court. It also ends something called Chevron deference where courts automatically bend to the agency's interpretation of the rules. Under the current standard, that means the agency will win almost every single time in the courtroom and the people lose. These three bills are about more than stopping bad regulations from being made. They are about changing the process in Washington that systemically prioritizes government over the common good instead of making government serve the common good. Mr. Chairman, our Nation is based on a principle that power ultimately comes from the people. Elections are the great foundation of our Republic, and, as we saw so clearly this last November, through them, the people can make their voices heard. But something has changed. Some of the most significant decisions in Washington, those that most affect the lives of the public, are made by those who don't stand for election. What happens when the EPA imposes rules that deprive people of their property rights, when the Department of Health and Human Services tries to force nuns to violate their religion, or when the VA perpetuates a system that lets veterans die while they wait for their care? The people can't vote out bureaucrats who write rules at the EPA or the Department of Health and Human Services. They can't vote out bad leaders of the VA. These bureaucrats know it. They know they aren't accountable to the people even as they exercise great power. Without elections, the people lose. Washington is brimming with executive employees devoted to preserving the status quo. Then there is a revolving door of high-level Federal employees who head to major consulting firms and lobbying arms to influence the very agencies they came from. This breeds thousands of regulations that further enrich the connected and powerful--sometimes at the great expense of the average American. It is our economy and the American workers who suffer the most. Federal regulations written and enacted by these bureaucracies impose a burden of about $1.89 trillion every year. That number is hard to make sense of or to even imagine. It comes to, roughly, $15,000 per U.S. household, or 10 percent of the American GDP. The Obama administration alone has written regulations that require over 583 million hours to comply with. That is an average of nearly 5 hours of paperwork for every single full-time employee in America. The Federal Register is now the length of 80 King James Bibles. When bureaucrats and agency heads cannot be held accountable and when they keep their jobs regardless of corruption, incompetence, waste, fraud, abuse, or the backroom deals they make with special interests, that is the problem. That is the swamp, and we need to drain it. There is a reason the House is restructuring Washington first. It is that we made a commitment to the American people that we would drain the swamp. Now we are today.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, the government is many things. It is large, it is complicated, and it is ineffective. I don't think anyone would call it modern. While the world is rushing forward with things like voice-based interfaces, autonomous vehicles, online retail, and data analytics, government is stubbornly years, or even decades, behind. We do not have to accept it. One of the purposes of the Innovation Initiative, our effort here in the House, is to bring government into the modern age. Right now, it can still take hours for citizens to get the IRS on the phone to ask the most basic questions. Parents and students still deal with the clunky user interfaces when applying for tuition assistance. And the VA still uses a scheduling system that is a quarter century old. It doesn't have to be this way. We have a program right now, the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, that brings in highly talented professionals from across the country to help upgrade our government's use of technology. Now, these are engineers, designers, innovators, and thinkers. They challenge the old ways of thinking and introduce new approaches to make our government work the way the American people deserve it to work. I sponsored the TALENT Act to make sure this innovation program continues into the future. By drawing on the great talent of the American people, we can make government effective, efficient, and accountable.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, when we as Members of Congress are first elected, before we are sworn in, before we introduce our first bit of legislation, the first thing we do is begin to hire, to form a team, and much of the success that happens on this floor is a lot of work that is done behind the scenes by our staff. They do a tremendous job for this country in the public service they provide. I personally count myself blessed to have had Tim Berry as my chief of staff for the whole time I have been in leadership. Today is his last day on our floor. Tim has had 18 years of service in this institution. He has been in other leadership offices. He went into the private sector, but when I got elected majority whip, I asked him if he was willing to come back. Tim has always demonstrated political wisdom, personal resolve, dedication, but, most importantly, distinct moral clarity. He has been here in some of the most difficult times in this institution. He was in the office when people were actually shot when an intruder came and took lives in this institution. He has worked on legislation, he has worked on friendships, and he has worked across the aisle. But if there were one thing I would define this man as, it is a family man. Today, we are lucky to have his wife, Lisa, and daughter, Maeve, in the gallery with us. And to his other children, Ella and Chris, I want to thank you for your sacrifice on loaning your father. For every dinner he has missed, or every phone call he had to take, or maybe that one or two lacrosse games he couldn't coach, I want to thank you. But to Tim, I want to thank you for your dedication, I want to thank you for your friendship, and I want to wish you the very best on behalf of a very grateful nation and institution. Thank you.

Mr. McCARTHY. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland, my colleague, the minority whip.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, our Constitution lists few, if specific, qualifications for the office we now hold. Article I, section 2 states that we must be at least 25 years old, we must have been a citizen for the past 7 years, and we must live in the State we represent. In ``The Federalist Papers,'' Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wrote that ``Under these reasonable limitations, the door of this part of the federal government is open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith.'' In a phrase, our body is to represent the American people in all of its opinions, complexities, and riches; and I believe we do. For in a free nation such as ours, no single person can represent the people as a whole. In this body, I proudly work with colleagues on the left and the right, from every region and State, people who profess different faiths, have had different careers, and embody the experiences of the American people. No gathering in this Nation is more like its people than in this House. We are joined together in representing not only our constituents but our country. Mr. Speaker, we now have a high and honorable task set before us. First, we must take our practical principles that we have built up by the hard experience of generations who have come before us, and we must apply them to a changing future. Our mission is not to return to the past, nor to destroy it, but rather to build upon it. And then we must direct the desires of the people into action. Millions of Americans long ignored have rejected a future of limits and slow decline. We have heard their voices. But history will not judge us by how well we hear but how well we act. The unemployment rate has steadily declined and ticked down to 4.9 percent, but what is more important is that our labor participation rate is only 62.7 percent. Outside of the Obama years, that is the lowest labor force participation rate since 1978. The reason our unemployment rate is dropping isn't because people are finding jobs. They have no prospects for stable and meaningful work. The American people have unrivaled talent and ability, but it is not being used. If we are looking for a reason behind the message that the American people sent us in November, this is a good place to start. And for so many who have work, things aren't much better. Millions of Americans, especially those in the heartland and struggling neighborhoods in our big cities, aren't sharing in America's prosperity. In fact, the bottom half of the economic distribution in America hasn't felt any of the economic growth from the 1970s on. These people spend their whole lives working and never have the chance to move up. We have had the wisdom to listen to all of the American people, especially those being left behind. Now let us have the courage to lead. Let us have the courage to define the people's desires in law. And as we go about our daily business, Mr. Speaker, we should remember not only that we have great purpose, but we also have great power loaned to us directly from the American people. Our Republic, and the liberties we hold dear at this time, are threatened by bureaucracies, subject to no authority but their own will. They cannot be controlled by the people and are increasingly unrestrained by the people's representatives. This is not a partisan concern. Congress has a duty to act as a unified body in defense of our Article I powers because, unlike the bureaucracy, we are accountable to the people. That is why I have scheduled this House to tackle this problem starting today through a two-step approach. First, as I have long said, structure dictates behavior. We need to fix the structure in Washington that deprives the people of their power. Second, we will repeal specific regulations that are harmful to the American people, costing us time, money, and, most importantly, jobs. To begin to get to the root of this problem, we will pass the REINS Act that will require Congress to approve every major regulation produced by the administrative state. And unlike the bureaucracy, if the people don't like what they see, they can vote us out of office. Then next week, we will take a look at the Regulatory Accountability Act, which will require agencies to choose the least costly option available and will end judicial deference to agencies, which puts the American people at a disadvantage in the courtroom. But it is not just how rules are made. It is what rules are made too. The President continues to unilaterally impose regulations on his way out the door. So while we haven't yet determined what needs to be repealed first, I expect to start with swift action on at least the stream protection rule and methane emissions standards, both of which limit our energy production. This process won't be completed quickly, but as we remove harmful regulations and change the structure of Washington, draining the bureaucratic swamp that undermines the will of the people, we can rebuild trust between the people and their government again. And not only that, within the renewed and responsive structure of a truly representative government, we can restore that hope held by so many generations before, that hope that has defined America's character since before our Nation was founded. It is the American Dream so that we and our children can find more meaning, security, purpose, and success than those who have come before us. Restoring that dream is the purpose of this body in the 115th Congress. The American people expect this country to be great again. Here and now, we will move us toward that greatness.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to thank the chairman for his hard work on this bill and his bipartisan effort in putting it together. Mr. Speaker, Americans understand intuitively that governments are set up for the benefit of the people. Those who are civic-minded, who pay their taxes, live according to the law, and treat their fellow citizens with respect deserve certain guarantees: their government will keep them safe from enemies at home and abroad; their government will defend their most basic constitutional rights; and their government will ensure that people have access to basic necessities fundamental to life. I ask this body, Mr. Speaker, what could be more fundamental to life than water? America is not some Third World country--we are a wealthy nation--and we will not let any American go without water. I am proud we are voting on legislation today to deliver water to the people across the country by updating our water resource projects and changing outdated water policies. But, Mr. Speaker, we cannot treat each community facing a water crisis in isolation. In my State of California, we are enduring the worst drought in over a century. Farmland has been fallowed, families are forced to cut back on water consumption, and some are out of water completely. They have to travel to community centers for drinking water or to even take showers and brush their teeth. With each passing day, month, and year, our situation becomes more desperate. As we all know, the drought is an act of nature. It is one of those troubles that we can respond to and prepare for but not prevent. Yet our own government, the Federal Government, has not only failed to prepare for this drought, they have exacerbated it. Water that could have been used in homes or on farms has been sent out to sea. Water that could have been stored by building new reservoirs was lost. Water, our most precious resource, has been wasted. The drought may be our biggest challenge, but its destructive effects have been compounded by stubborn regulatory and legal restraints. In California, rather than strive to bring people water, the State government is taking it away. This is more than incompetence. Government has failed in its primary duty to make sure people have that which is necessary for life. The people of California have put into the system, and they are not getting what they deserve, are due. But today, and in large part thanks to Members on both sides of the aisle in this Chamber and the senior Senator of our Golden State with their good faith negotiation and partnership, water is coming. We now have a bipartisan water bill. It is not the holistic one that this House wants to pass, but it is a bill that helps deliver water to our communities, potentially enough to supply the annual needs of almost 450,000 households in California. It will increase pumping; it will increase storage; it will fund more desalinization, efficiency, and recycling projects; and it will do all of this in accordance with the Endangered Species Act and without costing the taxpayer one additional cent. Our work to bring California water is by no means complete, but this deal shows that we have a path forward to fulfill our obligation to the American people. Once we pass this bill today, I urge Senate Democrats and Republicans and the President to join with the House and enact this bill and help our communities in California, in Flint, and across this country get access to the water we desperately need.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues that, upon completion of our work today, the House will no longer be in session next week, and these will be the last votes expected in the 114th Congress. Additionally, I would like to recognize those Members who will not be returning next Congress. To those Members, we wish to say thank you for your hard work and for your service to this great body. Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. To those Members who are returning next Congress, I would say this: You can expect a very busy legislative schedule. You need to get your rest because in the House we will be working to make America great again.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a resolution and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman knows better than I--he has been here longer than I--that we can always set a date, but Congress sometimes has a problem making that date. It is our hope that we can be finished by December 8, but no one can predict what happens on this floor, whether we have to be here longer. It is always my intention that Members understand, if the work is not done, we will not leave. So we will not leave until we get a continuing resolution done and get WRRDA done. I believe that the prior work that we have done working together--and knowing where both of them are right now--that we can finish this up and be done on time.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment and congratulate the gentleman from Maryland on his reelection to whip. Hopefully, this is our last colloquy for the year, but you know as much as I know.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, it is the highlight of my week. I look forward to the next Congress. I do enjoy working with the gentleman from Maryland, even when we disagree, because the gentleman is honest and forthright with his disagreements. The gentleman is willing to work where we do find common ground. We are going to have philosophical differences, but we are going to have the same commitment that we are going to try to find a way to move forward. At times, we are going to disagree; but those times that we do agree, we work very well together. I admire the gentleman. The gentleman works very hard when he disagrees, and that is just part of what I think the American people expect. We have got a lot of work to go before us. The election is over. I think it is time that this country comes together. We are going to have a lot of work. As the gentleman from Maryland knows, with the new schedule, Members are going to be here much more than they have been in the past, and we are probably going to be on this floor with legislation a little more than we were last year. I look forward to that and look forward to working with the gentleman on ways that we can work together. I wish the gentleman from Maryland a very Merry Christmas.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, as soon as it is finished, we will be able to put it out. But it is our intention, on the work that we agreed to with Members on your side of the aisle--and I know Speaker Ryan has had discussions with him as well, and he feels very comfortable about where we are and with funding on that--as soon as we are able to finish that up, I think everybody will be quite happy with the outcome. I think this is a work-on-both-sides-of-the-aisle compromise to find common ground to actually solve a problem.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the gentleman that we should go through regular order and get our appropriation bills done. It is our intention, as the gentleman knows from the new schedule coming out, especially loading more days in, to make sure, as we come back into the next Congress, that we start with appropriations and get that work done.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I do want to thank the gentleman from Maryland for his work with his staff on this issue of the Flint crisis when we were dealing with WRRDA and the continuing resolution just short months ago. The Speaker and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are continuing to talk. It is our intention that it gets solved inside WRRDA, and we are hopeful that we can close out on that even today. As soon as it is finished, it will be posted as well.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, the Appropriations Committee is continuing to work on the CR, including the length of time and when. As soon as it is done, it will be posted. It is our intention to have it done next week, and it would be our hope that we could finalize it on Thursday.

Mr. McCARTHY. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business, and no votes are expected in the House on Friday. Mr. Speaker, the House will consider a number of suspensions next week, a complete list of which will be announced by close of business today. The House will also consider H.R. 5143, the Transparent Insurance Standards Act of 2016, sponsored by Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer, which specifies U.S. objectives regarding international insurance standards to ensure that our State-based system is preserved. Additionally, the House is expected to consider the final Water Resources and Development bill as well as the continuing resolution to fund the government.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, the Appropriations Committee is continuing to work on the CR, and that would be including the length of time. The gentleman is correct that March was the date we were looking at. I believe that date will change. But as soon as discussions have ended and we are able to post, it will include the date of the length of the CR.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet on Monday, December 5, 2016, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and achievements of Dr. Tom Larwood, who passed away on September 6, 2016 at the age of 90. He was a devoted community leader in Kern County, California, a pioneer in Valley Fever research, and a good friend of mine. Doctor Tom--as he was known in Bakersfield--served in the Navy Hospital Corps and went on to graduate from the University of Southern California's School of Medicine. Active in his local Methodist church, Tom went on a missionary trip to South Korea in 1955 where he provided medical assistance and was instrumental in the construction of a new hospital in Wonju. Currently, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital is the largest university hospital in central Korea, a lasting marker of Tom's desire to help others. Despite contracting polio during his time in South Korea, Tom continued to lead a life of profound professional accomplishment and remained fiercely dedicated to community service. Tom settled in Bakersfield in the 1950s. During this time, he practiced medicine at Kern County General Hospital, now the Kern Medical Center, where he rose to the position of Chief of Internal Medicine. Over the course of his career, he became a respected leader and expert, both locally and nationally, on Valley Fever. He worked closely with others, including Dr. Royce Johnson and the late Dr. Hans Einstein, to raise awareness of this disease, educate health care professionals on how to diagnose and treat it, pioneer treatments and other therapies to combat Valley Fever, and promote the development of a Valley Fever vaccine--an endeavor that continues today. Valley Fever--formally known as coccidioidomycosis--is a disease caused by a fungus that is found in soil mainly in the American southwest and is contracted by inhaling spores into the lungs. This disease has long been a threat to our community and is particularly dangerous to individuals with compromised immune systems and the elderly. Tom and his wife, Pauline, whom he married in 1972, worked tirelessly with the Valley Fever Americas Foundation for more than two decades to spread awareness of Valley Fever and raise money to fund critical research designed to stamp out this disease. In fact, I was honored to recently present the Larwoods with the Hans Einstein Lifetime Achievement Award for their work on Valley Fever. After retiring from medical practice in 1991, Tom remained an active participant in an array of local medical boards and was an enthusiastic volunteer with the American Lung Association, Boy Scouts of America (he was an Eagle Scout), Bethany Homeless Center, and the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, among others. I considered the advice Doctor Tom gave me--whether on Valley Fever, health care issues, or how to better serve our community--as invaluable. He is survived by Pauline, his children, David, Don, Dean, Debbie, Diana, Mike, and Scott, and his eight grandchildren. I will miss Tom's great sense of humor and constant optimism, and I know he will be fondly remembered in the hearts and minds of the countless patients and their families that he served in Kern County.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Before I speak, Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the gentleman. He has seen a problem, he has listened to his constituents, and he is doing something about it--exactly what we expect from our statesmen. Mr. Speaker, ObamaCare is collapsing all around us. Insurers are backing out, people can't afford the premiums, and even heavily subsidized CO-OPs are crashing. More than $2 billion were funneled into 23 CO-OPs across the country: 16 have gone under or are about to go under; the other 7 are just treading water. Now, what does that mean? That means people who had insurance, who purchased it just as ObamaCare forced them to do, were left in the lurch when the CO-OP they got and the insurance failed. Now, that is bad enough. This is just another way the promise that all of us were told ``if you like your plan, you can keep it'' was broken. So these people are left without insurance through no fault of their own, insurance they were forced to buy. What is the response? What does ObamaCare say? Tax them. Tax them for not having insurance. Now, I don't know about you, Mr. Speaker, but isn't that a little crazy? How can you punish people for not having insurance when the CO- OP they bought their insurance from goes under? It is bad enough people are left without insurance because of the failures of ObamaCare; but why should we have the IRS punish them on top of that? Frankly, you don't solve problems by kicking people when they are down. Representative Adrian Smith's bill would stop this. Government shouldn't be in the business of taxing people when they lose their insurance, especially when the CO-OP they used failed. Nothing less than replacing ObamaCare will stop all of the havoc it is causing. In the meantime, we have an obligation to offer relief to the people hurt by this law.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. I thank the gentleman for yielding and, most importantly, for his work. It is not just the work today, but it is the work every day for almost all Americans. When we talk about medical devices, they are so important to keep people alive. Well, there is one person in this House who led the charge to make sure that tax was repealed so that more medical devices and more jobs could be created, and that is the author of this bill. This bill is giving more Americans the opportunity for ownership. Isn't that the American Dream? It is interesting, Mr. Speaker. I hear a lot of words on this floor. I heard just recently words about values. You know what is interesting? The record doesn't lie. I hear on this floor about values and I hear on this floor about Zika. Do you know what? That is one of the greatest threats to the citizens of America. That is why this House did not delay in acting. We passed not once, but twice, funding for $1.7 billion. But, Mr. Speaker, the sad part was that one side of the aisle got into another fight and tried to punish Americans, so they all voted ``no.'' And then it goes back, but it passes--thank God--because the majority took it up and sent it to the Senate. Do you know what happened over in the Senate? The minority party has voted not once, not twice, but three times, not against the bill, but even allowing the bill to be brought up. While those Americans sit back and are very fearful about Zika, it was one party denying the bill to even come up in the Senate to get to the President. So, yes, Mr. Speaker, when we talk about values, values matter. That is what we are talking about today. The House is considering two important pieces of innovation initiatives. The values. The values of creating jobs. The first is by Representative Will Hurd to improve government IT systems. The second is by Representative Erik Paulsen to help startups attract and retain the best employees they can. These bills go right to the heart of the innovation initiative's two goals: to bring innovation into government and enable innovation in the private sector. Now, I am not breaking any news here, but too many of our technology systems in government are increasingly outdated. So here are the facts. Last year alone, the Federal Government spent 80 percent--get this right--80 percent of the $80 billion directed to IT just maintaining old legacy systems. That is 80 percent of $80 billion. Representative Will Hurd's bipartisan legislation will help bring government technology systems into the modern age, allowing the government to do its job more effectively, save taxpayers money, and keep public information secure. However, even as we use innovation to improve the way government functions, we can't ignore the importance of innovation in the private sector. You see, an innovation economy is a fundamental part of the American success story. Today we have these businesses we call gazelles. Gazelles are small startups that grow 20 percent every year or double every 2 years. Gazelles make up 4 percent of all new startups. But do you know what? They make up 70 percent of all new jobs. We have not reached America's full potential. Not even close. We need to update our laws to enable further innovation so that those with good ideas can create even more opportunity for Americans. The idea of innovation producing growth is why we are voting today on Representative Erik Paulsen's Empowering Employees through Stock Ownership Act. The truth is, when the startups are funded and founded, they can't offer potential employees the same salaries and benefits of those companies that have already become household names, but they can offer partial ownership. That is the American Dream. Offering stock options not only allows startups to attract the workers they need, it also gives employees a greater stake in the success of the company. But, unfortunately, the current Tax Code punishes many employees who own stock, taxing them before they even have the opportunity to sell the stock to pay the bill. Representative Paulsen's bill allows workers to actually own a piece of the company that they work for. It defers the tax they owe on the stocks for a time so that they have the opportunity to work for a young company that may not have the most resources, but does have a vision of a future that they can believe in. By giving companies the chance to hire and retain the best employees, do you know what happens? We will have more innovation, more growth, and more success for the American people. As you grow in America and get older and have children, you no longer worry about what you will do. You worry about what opportunities your children will have. Don't you dream that one day maybe your children can even own a piece of their company? But don't you hate to wake up and have the government punish you so that you can't be that owner? Why wouldn't you want government to work for you? Why wouldn't you want government to enhance? Why wouldn't you want innovation? You want a government that is more effective, more efficient, and more accountable. You want a private sector that is able to spur growth and create more jobs. And you want a country that can protect you from the Zika virus. Well, you know what? This Congress has acted on all of those and will act on the rest of them today. I hope that it is a bipartisan vote to represent all Americans.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, the exploration of space has long united this country. Every American, rich or poor, living in the cities or in the great rural areas that make up our country, can look to the moon knowing that American astronauts planted our flag there. Every time we look up into space, we have something to be proud of, but we know our journey has only just begun. Mr. Speaker, not too long ago, commercial spaceflight was disregarded as some distant pipedream of the future. But today, thanks to innovation in places like Mojave, California, commercial spaceflights and the spaceports they take off from are the epicenter of space exploration. These are the places leading in our journey to the great unknown. But as commercial space has ventured into the future, government policy has not kept up. We need to ensure government allows commercial spaceflight to succeed by updating laws to reflect changing circumstances. Similar to airports, for our spaceports to function, we need to prioritize safety and minimize the risk of structures interfering with the flight path of spacecraft on launch or reentry. The legislation I introduced today that we are voting on gives the FAA the authority they now lack to examine whether structures being built near spaceports will obstruct spaceflight. With this, those leading our journey into space can remain confident that nothing back on Earth will be slowing them down.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 2 p.m. on Monday, September 19, 2016, and that the order of the House of January 5, 2016, regarding morning-hour debate not apply on that day.