Luke Messer

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Missouri for his work on this very important bill. The Constitution is clear: the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, yet time and time again, this administration has attempted to circumvent the constitutional rights of Americans to further their political agenda. Today, under the guise of protecting consumers, the Department of Justice and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are targeting payment companies to choke off credit for certain businesses they deem high risk, including ammunition and firearms stores, lending institutions, and other lawful businesses as well. Instead of protecting consumers, this initiative is restricting consumer choice and crippling legitimate businesses. This policy makes financial service providers responsible for policing their customers. That is not fair to either banks or their consumers. This commonsense legislation we are considering today will protect consumer access to banking services and restrict the administration from using the highly substantive notion of reputational risk to undercut constitutional rights and terminate the accounts of lawful businesses. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, Mr. Carney, and Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York for their leadership on this bill. What would you think if I told you that the Federal Government bureaucracy is favoring foreign bonds and corporate bonds over identically valued U.S. municipal bonds? It wouldn't make any sense. Our Federal bureaucracy shouldn't create rules that favor loans to foreign countries over loans to our own local governments and schools, yet that is exactly what is happening under our broken Federal regulatory scheme. Today's bill, H.R. 2209, would correct this problem. I am proud to have coauthored this bipartisan bill with Congresswoman Maloney. I also want to thank my good friends--Mr. Poliquin, Mr. Pearce, the chairman, and others--who helped us in working on this bill. I ask my colleagues for their support. It is really just common sense. U.S. municipal bonds are among the safest investments in the entire world. According to Municipal Market Analytics, over the last 5 years--a period, by the way, during which State and local governments struggled to recover from the recession-- high-quality State and local government obligation defaults were only four one thousandths of 1 percent. Let me repeat that. The municipal bond default rate was four one thousandths of 1 percent during the recession. That is a pretty safe investment. Public entities depend on this financing, too. State and local governments, school corporations, and public utility companies across the U.S. sell municipal bonds to finance the infrastructure and services that we all depend on. It is low-interest municipal bonds that finance new schools, hospitals, bridges, and roads, and pay for the repair of outdated and failing infrastructure. The needs are great. In fact, according to the Society of Civil Engineers, State and local governments need $3.6 trillion to meet their infrastructure needs over the next 5 years. That is what is so disappointing about recent regulatory rules from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve that will arbitrarily increase the costs for local governments and schools to borrow. Specifically, as others have described, in 2014, Federal banking regulators issued a rule requiring banks to have enough high-quality liquid assets, HQLAs, to cover their cash outflows for 30 days in case of a future financial meltdown. For the most part, liquidity set-asides protect the consumer, and they make sense. The problem is, in the same rule, they said that investment-grade U.S. municipal bonds don't count as HQLAs, while recognizing German subsovereign municipal debt and many corporate bonds as high-quality liquid assets that do qualify. That doesn't make any sense at all. By excluding all American municipal securities from HQLA eligibility, financial institutions are discouraged from holding them. The result is increased interest rates and increased borrowing costs for State and local governments and the taxpayers that pay them. This has a real impact on families when schools can no longer accommodate enrollment and local communities when bridges crumble or roads fail because repair and new construction simply isn't financially feasible. This is particularly troubling because times are tough and budgets are tight across America. Although the Federal Reserve continues to review this issue, so far the Fed's response has been partial and inadequate. The OCC and the FDIC have not addressed the issue at all. Meanwhile, our local governments remain strapped for cash and cannot wait for a bureaucratic solution. Our commonsense bill, H.R. 2209, fixes this arbitrary decision by Federal regulators. The bill directs the FDIC, the Federal Reserve System, and the OCC to classify investment-grade municipal securities as level 2A, high-quality liquid assets. Put simply, our bill requires the Federal Government to recognize the obvious: America's municipal bonds are some of the safest investments in the world, and we shouldn't have rules that give preferential treatment to corporate bonds or other countries' bonds over our own. I want to thank Congresswoman Maloney for working with me on this commonsense legislation. I urge all my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill. For those who work in the bond world, this bill ensures that a 2A asset is treated as a 2A asset and prevents federal regulators from arbitrarily under-valuing them. Lastly, let me be clear, this bill doesn't give special treatment to our local governments bonds. State and local governments remain required to satisfy their debts and live with their bond ratings. This bill is, however, a comprehensive solution that restores fairness and recognizes investment grade municipal bonds for exactly what they are: safe, reliable investments that allow local governments to serve citizens and their families. Once again, I want to thank Congresswoman Maloney for working with me on this common sense legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for offering this important amendment. Mr. Chairman, this amendment will ensure that costly, unfunded mandates are given full consideration by the commission established by this underlying bill. Over the past 10 years, unelected bureaucrats in Washington have issued over 36,000 new regulations. Think about that. Over the past 10 years, unelected bureaucrats have issued over 36,000 new regulations. That is a lot. Each of these shift the costs and burdens of this administration's Big Government agenda onto the backs of everyday working people, small businesses, and local governments. These unfunded mandates cost jobs, hurt working Americans, and place ankle weights on the U.S. economy. It is past time to slow down this runaway train. I urge my colleagues to support the Foxx amendment and the underlying bill.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I have not heard from one parent, student, or teacher who likes No Child Left Behind. Despite what may have been the best of intentions, its one-size-fits-all mandates led to Federal Government micromanagement in the classroom, overtested kids, and anxiety-ridden teachers, but, sadly, no significant improvement in student outcomes. That is why virtually everyone wants to repeal No Child Left Behind. Today we have an opportunity to do just that by supporting the Every Student Succeeds Act. It is a new approach to the Federal role in education. If you read it, there is a lot to like in the bill. By voting for this bill, we can end Federal Common Core mandates and stop the march towards a Federal curriculum. We can end high-stakes testing and abolish the unworkable adequate yearly progress metrics. Best of all, we can give power over education back to the people we trust: the parents, the teachers, and the local school administrators who are best positioned to make good decisions for our kids. Access to a quality education is the gateway to opportunity in modern America. We still have a long way to go before we can make sure every child has that kind of access, but the Every Student Succeeds Act is a big step in the right direction. I urge my colleagues for their support.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the historic meeting between Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou and China's President Xi Jinping on November 7. Included below are President Ma's insights on the meeting. Like President Ma, I agree that these are discussions which must continue. But at a time of increasing security concerns and rising tensions in the region, I believe this meeting was an important step toward improved relations and stability in the region. In my meeting with Mr. Xi, we exchanged views on cross-strait relations, peaceful development and the consolidation of peace, and the status quo of prosperity. You must all be concerned about the atmosphere at the meeting. The meeting took place in a frank and very positive atmosphere. I found Mr. Xi to be pragmatic, flexible, and candid when discussing the issues. We hope that this spirit will be reflected in the handling of cross-strait relations. Our discussions focused on several points. The first point is the consolidation of the 1992 Consensus and the maintenance of peace across the Taiwan Strait. I told Mr. Xi that the consensus reached between the two sides in November 1992 was that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait insist on ``one China,'' but differ as to what that means, and each side could express its interpretation verbally. This was the 1992 Consensus of ``one China, respective interpretations.'' The ROC's interpretation does not involve two Chinas; one China, one Taiwan; or Taiwan independence, as the Republic of China Constitution does not allow it. I also emphasized that sustainable peace and prosperity should be the common goal in the development of cross-strait relations. We will continue to consolidate the 1992 Consensus of ``one China, respective interpretations'' as the basis for relations, and maintain the status quo of peace and prosperity. The second point is the reduction of hostility and peaceful handling of disputes. We told Mr. Xi that the people of Taiwan are especially concerned about security and dignity. We wanted Mr. Xi and mainland China to understand that we hope all disputes, whether they be political, military, social, cultural, legal, or of any other form, can be peacefully resolved, allowing both sides to experience mutual good will. I made special mention of the frustrations our people have had when participating in NGO activities, as well as the interventions our government has faced when taking part in regional economic integration and other international activities. We hope to see a reduction of hostility in these areas, especially with regard to our NGOs. I told Mr. Xi that these organizations comprise elite members and specialists, who have reacted quite strongly to these issues and the treatment they received. We hope there will be fewer such occurrences. In response, Mr. Xi said he hopes these issues will be appropriately handled case by case. I also stated that many people of Taiwan are concerned about mainland China's military deployments against Taiwan, including the Zhurihe base with which we are all familiar and where missiles are deployed. Mr. Xi said that these deployments are in principle not targeted at Taiwan. The third point is the expansion of cross-strait exchanges and mutual benefits. We emphasized that given the fact that Taiwan and mainland China have different social and economic systems, the two sides need sufficient time to engage in deeper exchanges. We also reiterated Taiwan's interest in participating in regional economic integration. The issue of which side joins first and which side later should not arise. Mr. Xi expressed willingness to discuss this issue and welcomed our participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and mainland China's ``one belt, one road'' initiative. The fourth point is the establishment of a cross-strait hotline. We believe that a hotline can be set up between the Mainland Affairs Council Minister and the Taiwan Affairs Office Minister, who can then exchange views on important or urgent issues. Mr. Xi stated that this matter could be promptly dealt with. With regards to cultural and educational exchanges, I also expressed the hope that mainland China can allow more vocational college graduates to pursue higher education in Taiwan. I noted that our efforts over the past several years have met with limited success. As we from Taiwan know, our polytechnic universities have a shortage of students. I drew attention to the fact that Vietnam, Thailand, India, and Indonesia have been funding graduate studies by university lecturers at polytechnic institutes in Taiwan. We welcome these students. Before I took office, we had about 30,000 students from overseas studying in Taiwan. This year, the figure has increased to above 100,000. We intend to transform Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific center for higher education. I mentioned that mainland China has over a million vocational college graduates. Mr. Xi said he is willing to look into this matter. The vocational college graduates I refer to are like graduates from five-year junior colleges in Taiwan who then enroll in two-year programs at polytechnic colleges. The fifth and final point is joint cooperation for cross-strait prosperity. I suggested that history has left behind several issues that the two sides cannot resolve overnight. These issues must be handled pragmatically. If we deal rashly with some of the excessively sensitive issues, it will make things worse. The maintenance of cross- strait peace and stability is Taiwan's mainstream view. How cross- strait relations develop in the future will have to take into account the direction of public opinion. In particular, I reiterated that cross-strait relations should be built on the foundation of dignity, respect, sincerity, and good will, for only then can we shorten the psychological gap between the two sides. I especially expressed the hope that the two sides can turn hostility into friendship and seek peace, not war.''

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chairman, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Ignoring this simple wisdom, the CFPB issued a guidance bulletin, without public notice and comment, threatening to eliminate a car dealer's ability to discount interest rates for their customers. This so-called guidance was offered with no study of the impact on consumers or small businesses, and it was issued with no proof that current industry standard discount practices were harming consumers. Let me repeat. Despite the rhetoric, the guidance was issued with no evidence of any discrimination. This much is clear: the regulatory burden imposed by this guidance will be bad for car dealers because it eliminates a car dealer's ability to provide lower interest rates for their customers, and it is bad for consumers because they will inevitably pay more. H.R. 1737 is commonsense legislation that stops the CFPB's solution in search of a problem. It nullifies the CFPB's current guidance bulletin restricting discounts on auto loan interest rates, and it requires the CFPB to allow for public notice and comment before any further restrictions can be imposed. It also requires a study of the costs and impacts of interest rate deductions on consumers. It is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 3189, the Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization Act. We all recognize the importance of the Federal Reserve's independence when making monetary policy decisions. However, the American people rightly expect the Federal Reserve to be held accountable, too. They deserve to know exactly what the Federal Reserve does and to know that its rulemaking process is transparent and subjected to appropriate congressional oversight. As a Member who represents 19 rural and suburban Indiana counties, I know middle America is still struggling to get back on its feet after the 2008 financial crisis. Hardworking Hoosiers know they didn't cause the financial collapse, but they are frustrated because the folks who did cause the crisis--bad actors in private industry and ineffective Federal banking regulators--haven't been held accountable at all. The status quo is unacceptable. The Fed should be accountable and transparent in its decisionmaking, and H.R. 3189 is an important step towards that goal. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my prayers and deepest sympathies to the people of Paris. As Americans, we share in the shock, the horror, and the tremendous sense of loss you now feel following the ruthless, unprovoked terrorist attack against your great country. We stand with you against ISIS in defense of our shared values of freedom, liberty, and equality under the law. Mr. Speaker, the world needs America to lead with clarity and resolve in the fight against terror. Contrary to the President's assertion that ISIS is contained, the world now knows they are not. Hope is not a strategy in defeating terror. ISIS has openly declared war on America, France, and our very way of life. We must respond. This is a war, and America needs to lead, defeating ISIS before it is too late.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. I thank the chairman. I thank Mrs. Wagner for her leadership on this important issue. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Retail Investor Protection Act. Let me be clear. We all agree that investment advisers should act in the best interests of their clients, and we all want to ensure that low- and middle-income investors get good financial advice. But in life and in the world of public debate, we are not just responsible for our intentions; we are also responsible for our results. That is the problem with the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule. Whatever their intentions, the results of this administration's policy will hurt the very people they are saying they are trying to help. Here is why: The rule will increase the cost of financial advice and force working class investors to pay higher fees. The fact is that most investors can't afford these fees. As a result, millions of investors will get no advice at all. That is not good for anybody. The bill today will delay the implementation of the new so-called ``fiduciary rule'' and ensure that investors continue to have access to sound financial advice. I urge my colleagues to protect lower and middle class investors and stop this administration's so-called ``fiduciary rule.''

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of John Milton Thomas of Shelbyville, Indiana. Born in Fairland on Oct. 1, 1926 to Milton and Carris Thomas, John lived a long and full life. Last month, at the age of 88, he passed away surrounded by his loved ones. John is survived by his loving wife of 68 years Mary ``Jean'' Kerr, his children, grandchildren, great- grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. I had the pleasure of knowing John through both his work with my wife for the town of Morristown, Indiana, and my friendship with his son J. Mark Thomas. I am honored to speak of his accomplishments today. Mr. Thomas was a member of the greatest generation. He was a U.S. Army veteran and served as a first sergeant during World War II. Just last month, John came here to Washington, D.C. on an honor flight to see the World War II Memorial and pay tribute to those he fought alongside, who didn't make it home. John loved to serve his community. He was a former member of the Shelby County Council and at one time was the Shelby County Clerk. His other memberships included the Indiana National Guard and Sugar Creek Masonic Lodge No. 279 F & AM. John attended First United Methodist Church, where he also volunteered and held many leadership positions. John was also a referee for both high school and college basketball, and he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame for officiating a ballgame with a record-setting nine overtimes, a record which he still holds. John was a true friend and a great man with a big heart. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Thomas family during this difficult time. It is my hope that their fond memories of John will comfort them during this difficult time.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chair, I rise in support today of H.R. 10, the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act. I want to commend Speaker Boehner for introducing this important legislation and thank him for a lifetime of extraordinary leadership on this issue. Throughout his speakership and under his leadership as a former chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Speaker Boehner improved educational opportunities for all students. Literally thousands of kids have access to the American Dream because of his dedication to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. As chairman of the Congressional School Choice Caucus, I was honored to have Speaker Boehner keynote a rally earlier this year with hundreds of Opportunity Scholarship recipients. I have to tell you, I am amazed at some of the rhetoric that I have been hearing today, talking about it is disgraceful that this legislation is before you. I will tell you what is disgraceful. It is disgraceful that any child in America has to go to a terrible school, and it is disgraceful that anyone would say that we should do anything but make sure that every one of these kids has an opportunity to go somewhere where they will have a chance to succeed. Every child deserves equal access to a great education. Lots of kids have great public school options in America. Other families can afford to send their kids to private school if they don't have a great public school option. This debate today is about what we do for those who don't. Unfortunately, too many kids in our country have their destiny determined by their ZIP Code. These children are stuck in poorly performing schools, and their parents feel powerless to do anything about it. That is why education choice and the Opportunity Scholarship Program matter. Programs like D.C. OSP allow parents to choose the best educational environment for their child. The freedom provided by school choice levels the playing field and helps ensure all children have a chance to succeed. This legislation will continue to bring greater educational opportunities to the most underprivileged students in the District of Columbia, and it takes zero--let me repeat that--zero dollars away from D.C. Public Schools. Because of this legislation, more than 6,000 students have had the opportunity to attend a great school. Even better, an incredible 90 percent of D.C. OSP students graduate from high school. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program is clearly a success and needs to continue. Mr. Chair, I hope for a day when we will be talking about even bolder proposals on this floor, because the truth is we already have school choice in America if you can afford it. The only real question is: What are we going to do for everybody else? Our Founding Fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights. In modern America, the pursuit of happiness comes on the back of a quality education.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1315) to amend section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, to require that annual budget submissions of the President to Congress provide an estimate of the cost per taxpayer of the deficit, and for other purposes.

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first, I apologize for my voice today. My son, Hudson, and I attended the Patriots-Colts game on Sunday night, and, unfortunately, the Colts were not successful by a touchdown, but I lost my voice in the process of rooting them on. I would like to thank Budget Chairman Tom Price and Ranking Member Van Hollen for bringing H.R. 1315 to the floor. I rise today in support of this small but important measure. H.R. 1315 requires the President's annual budget submission to Congress to include the cost per taxpayer of any budget deficit in a given fiscal year. This bill is based on a simple principle: each hardworking American taxpayer deserves to know how much the deficit costs them each year. This requirement would be a powerful reminder to the President and the Congress that our decisions here in Washington have real-world consequences. Since 2010, the national debt has increased by over $5 trillion. That is unsustainable, and it is irresponsible. Rather than make some tough choices, we just spend more money we don't have and borrow some more. Unfortunately, because of out-of-control spending, we will, once again, be hitting our debt ceiling soon. That means in 2 weeks, we will have borrowed the maximum amount of money our country is allowed to borrow by law, which now is $18.1 trillion. Now, think about that for a second. We are $18.1 trillion in debt. That is approximately $154,000 per taxpayer. And instead of asking ourselves, ``How can we stop the borrow-and-spend cycle?'' we are asking, ``Should we borrow more money?'' Mr. Speaker, it is past time we get our fiscal house in order. I know this bill won't solve our Nation's fiscal problems, and it won't prevent the government from spending more money that it doesn't have; however, making this information the bill requires more easily accessible will help us and our constituents better understand the real-world impact of budgets that never balance. It is past time we get our fiscal house in order. I know this bill, again, won't solve our Nation's problems. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I appreciate the gentleman's comments. I certainly appreciate his support for the legislation. I would just suggest I don't think this is meaningless at all. I think it is important that we let the American taxpayer understand the true cost of operating our government with constant deficits. When you throw around numbers in this town like billion and trillion, it is very hard to put them into a scale that the average American can understand. When you look at a $400-billion deficit that we now have on the books--and somehow brag to ourselves, as if we are somehow serving the American people well--and you divide that by 152 million taxpayers, it is over $3,000 we are still adding to the debt. When you look at the entire national debt of $18 trillion, it is $150,000 a person. It is unsustainable. There are, of course, costs to the economy. No one is suggesting that a bill collector is going to come to an individual taxpayer's door, knock, and ask for $150,000. But it gives us a sense of the scale of debt that we are accumulating--five times, for the individual taxpayer, the average wage in this American society. It is unsustainable, and it ought to be called out. That is why we have this bill. I think there can be honest disagreements about how we solve our fiscal challenges, but no disagreement about the fact that we ought to be transparent with the American people about what we are doing. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MESSER. Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Kentucky for his remarks. I believe the most direct path towards a healthier and more secure economy now and in the future is less spending, lower taxes, a balanced budget, and a smaller debt. The first step, though, is more transparency, letting taxpayers know what is happening here. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1315. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MESSER

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) for his leadership on this important bill, and I am hoping today to join the voice vote kumbaya, if possible. H.R. 702 is a commonsense legislation that repeals the outdated ban on crude oil exports. This ban was originally implemented when America was going through an energy crisis. I was very young then, but certainly remember the gas lines in the early 1970s. The truth is things are different today. America is one of the largest oil exporters, thanks to a boom in production all across our country. Gas prices are at historic lows, and refineries are near capacity. Yet, our laws do not reflect this new reality. Producers are still held captive to the domestic marketplace. It is long past time to modernize. This bill will pave the way for a new age of energy innovation in America. It will support and create thousands of U.S. jobs, good-paying jobs, and encourage the investment of millions of dollars into our economy. America now has opportunities that would have seemed unimaginable even a generation ago, potentially even a few years ago. We could now become a net exporter of energy. Think about that. And when we do, it will jump-start our economy, create thousands of good- paying jobs, and improve our national security and economic security as well. Now, Mr. Chair, I am offering a bipartisan amendment today that clarifies language in the bill to avoid creating any unintended consequences regarding terrorist enemies of our country. I want to thank my colleague from California (Mr. Lowenthal) for cosponsoring this amendment and Chairman Royce for working with us in crafting the amendment as well. While we should all want to see crude oil exports expanded, we do not want this bill to inadvertently help our enemies. My amendment very simply clarifies the bill's language to allow the administration to retain its ability to prohibit the export of crude oil to state sponsors of terrorism. I believe this amendment is consistent with the underlying goals of the bill. I encourage my colleagues to support its adoption.

Mr. MESSER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman from Texas. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's comments. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MESSER. Mr. Chair, again, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) for his leadership on this important bill and reiterate my support for H.R. 702. This is commonsense legislation that repeals the outdated ban on crude oil exports. The U.S. is producing more oil today than ever before, and we could literally become a net exporter of energy, something that would have been unimaginable a generation ago and would have incredible results for our economy. The fact that we are the only advanced nation that prohibits the export of domestically produced oil holds us back. I believe very strongly that we should not empower our enemies unintentionally through this legislation, and this includes the Islamic Republic of Iran. My amendment today prohibits the export of crude oil, refined petroleum products, and petrochemical products to Iran. Obviously, Iran has oil. It has no need to import it from the United States. But my amendment goes beyond just crude oil. It ensures Iran will not inadvertently have access to other petroleum-based products produced in the U.S. Refined petroleum and petrochemical products are used to manufacture thousands of goods that we use every day. Things like plastics, asphalt, paints, and cell phones are manufactured in this way. It was only a few weeks ago in this very Chamber that we discussed the dangers of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal. Despite being able to enrich uranium and self- police its nuclear facilities, Iran will receive sanctions relief to the tune of $150 billion. That is $150 billion pumped into a $400- billion-a-year national economy. $150 billion of that will, no doubt, be used by Iran to bankroll terrorist organizations, further destabilize the Middle East, and continue their work to wipe Israel off the map. Things should not be made easier for them. The intent of the underlying bill is not to aid and support Iran. It is to open up the U.S. energy sector, export oil, grow our economy, and create thousands of jobs. My amendment ensures that the intention of this bill is clear. I believe the amendment is consistent with the underlying goals of the bill, and I encourage my colleagues to support its adoption.

Mr. MESSER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. MESSER. I thank the gentleman. I reserve the balance of my time.