Alexander Mooney

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my warmest congratulations to a staffer at my district office in Charleston, West Virginia. On June 6, 2015, Madison Brunetti will marry Logan Neeley. I am overjoyed that these two people have decided to commit to one another for the rest of their lives, and uphold the sacred institution of marriage. I join with their families, friends, and loved ones in congratulating Madison and Logan on this momentous occasion. I wish the soon to be married couple the best of luck, and long, happy lives together.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, it has now been more than 5 years since President Obama signed his landmark achievement, which he called the Affordable Care Act, into law. At that time, the President and the Democrats in Congress promised that their massive Federal takeover of our healthcare system would lower costs on American families. Affordability was its central selling point. But 5 years later, they must face the facts. Their law, which they forced on the American people, is a failure. According to yesterday's much-anticipated Congressional Budget Office reports--an independent agency--insurance premiums are expected to increase even more significantly next year than they did this year. One insurer in New Mexico, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, called for a 50 percent increase in premiums. And New Mexico is just the tip of the iceberg. Tennessee is also seeking an increase of 30 percent. The average West Virginia family--the State I am blessed to represent--pays about the same as the residents in the State of New York, which is $17,105 a year on their health insurance. That is $271 above the national average. We cannot pretend that the Affordable Care Act is anywhere close to ``affordable.'' ObamaCare adds taxes, regulations, and unfunded mandates onto the American consumers. The limited choice in health insurance plans is harming families and their budgets. In my district in West Virginia, there is only one insurance provider through the exchange. And this one plan is asking for a rate increase as high as 21.6 percent. President Obama has routinely and blatantly forced his failed policies on the American people. According, again, to the independent Congressional Budget Office report of February 4, 2014, ObamaCare has killed 2.5 million jobs a year. Who are these 2.5 million Americans who have lost their jobs thanks to ObamaCare? They are disproportionately low-wage workers. The people who are hurt the most by ObamaCare are the same ones who ObamaCare was supposed to help. What we really should call it is the ``Non-Affordable Care Act.'' West Virginians who get their healthcare insurance through their work are paying some of the highest rates in the United States for premiums and deductibles, according to a report from The Commonwealth Fund. The 33,421 West Virginians who are currently enrolled in ObamaCare cannot afford to have their rates hiked yet again. Many Americans are left wondering how much more will we have to pay each year because of the Non-Affordable Care Act. To make matters worse, the Non-Affordable Care Act has added $1 trillion in tax increases. This is money taken out of the pockets of hard-working American families. The top Democrat leader here in Congress famously said on March 10, 2010: ``We have to pass the Affordable Care Act to find out what's in it.'' You should know what it is before you vote on it--come on. Well, it has been 5 years since the bill was shoved through Congress, and the American people deserve better. We must halt ObamaCare's takeover of the U.S. healthcare system and pass commonsense reforms that lower costs for hard-working families and expand access to health care. The State of West Virginia and the Nation need lower costs and personal control over healthcare decisions, not more Federal Government intervention. The budget that was recently passed by the House and the Senate repealed ObamaCare--including all of its taxes, regulations, and mandates--and ObamaCare's outrageous requirement that the taking of unborn human lives be covered as so-called ``health care.'' Republican healthcare plans pave the way for patient-centered healthcare solutions. We need to focus on reform that will help reconnect doctors and patients and give patients better care through more options. The goal of patient-centered healthcare reform is to empower the patients. Republicans in Congress have multiple proposals to address the healthcare issue. Republicans propose increasing competition and transparency in the health insurance market and stopping frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals. Americans should not be forced to buy into something that simply doesn't work. The Non-Affordable Care Act does not work. The estimated premium increases that were announced yesterday are yet another example of the failings of this bill and this President.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my warmest congratulations to six exceptional students from Musselman High School for winning scholarships from the H&R Block Budget Challenge; Shelbi Fisher, Mitch Anton, Kirsten Campbell, Vanessa Beddow, Taylor Stocks, Sarah Muskett, and their teacher Mr. Chad Spencer. In this challenge, these students managed a budget based on their current and future cash needs, as well as learn a number of important financial concepts. The reward for winning this challenge is a $20,000 scholarship, which will help send these bright students to college. As a Member of the United States House of Representatives, I am particularly pleased when I see young people take initiative to learn about fiscal responsibility. The excellence these Musselman High School students have demonstrated by winning the H&R Block Budget Challenge Scholarships is an example of the promise that young West Virginians and Americans show. I join with their families, friends, and loved ones in congratulating the winning students from Musselman High School on this impressive accomplishment. I urge them to continue their hard work, and wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, America is a beacon of hope and opportunity to the world for a reason. Our military veterans, whom we honor this Monday during Memorial Day, put their lives on the line for our freedoms and constitutional rights. Our Founders put in place a Constitution that is inspired by the fundamental Judeo-Christian belief that men and women are created in God's image, with the right to life, property, freedom to worship, and carry out their religious convictions without government interference or persecution. We may take this idea for granted today, with 250 years of history at our backs, but at the time of our Nation's founding, the idea of religious freedom was radical. The world was a different place then. God-fearing, peaceful citizens around the world were commonly persecuted for their beliefs. They were tortured and thrown in prison without a fair hearing. In short, they did not have freedom. These are rights and freedoms that many in our country take for granted. They were denied what our Founders held to be basic human rights. So at a great risk to themselves and their families, but with deeply held optimism for a new and better future, they sailed the Atlantic Ocean for the shores of the New World, for America. Here they planted a new society based on freedom. Centuries later, we in this legislative body, are the guardians of this legacy. We are here to advance freedom and protect liberty. But we must be vigilant in this task. President Ronald Reagan once said: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. I agree with President Reagan, and that is why I rise today. Our basic freedoms are under attack. We must stand up and fight. We don't need to search long to find the wreckage of a society that does not value freedom. I recently met with a group of constituents, Syrian Americans who live in Charleston, West Virginia. Many of them have family members and loved ones in Syria. Their stories provide a strong warning to us. In Syria, a cruel and brutal dictator, al-Assad, is attempting to silence opposing views. He has resorted to chemical weapon attacks on his own people. He has gunned down his own citizens. He has bombed hospitals and apartment complexes full of women and children. We can learn an important lesson from Syria: once tyranny grabs hold, it will grow and expand its reach. And the consequences can be drastic. In Syria, 4 out of 5 people live in poverty, more than 200,000 have been killed, a million wounded, and more than 3 million have fled the country. But we should not be so arrogant as to think that our liberties here at home in the United States are safe. The evidence that our basic freedoms are under siege is growing, and I would like to share just a few stories that have recently come to my attention. For example, an 8- year-old second grade student in a New Jersey public school wanted to sing ``Awesome God'' at her after-school talent show, but she was told she couldn't because of the song's religious lyrics. The Arizona Republic reported in July of 2012 that the pastor of a church in Phoenix, Arizona, was jailed and fined $12,000 for hosting a Bible study meeting in his private home. They outrageously claimed it violated zoning and fire code ordinances. Five men in Richmond, Virginia, were threatened with arrest by local police officers for sharing their faith on a public sidewalk. The University of Missouri threatened to withhold a student's diploma because she refused to participate in a class assignment that required her to write a letter to the Missouri legislator in support of homosexual adoption. In a New York hospital, a pro-life nurse was coerced into providing a late-term abortion, even though her workplace had agreed in writing to honor her religious beliefs. And in the beautiful Second Congressional District of West Virginia, which I have the honor of representing, Joe Holland, a businessowner, is currently being pushed to violate his religious views and values by an ObamaCare regulation that requires him to provide abortifacient drugs to his employees as a part of so-called health care. A regulation commonly known as the HHS mandate requires him to provide the drugs or face a penalty of $100 per day per employee. For a company of 150 employees, that is about $5.5 million a year, or about $36,000 per employee. These are just a few of the alarming stories about the religious freedoms of peaceful, God-fearing Americans being snatched away by a government that has lost its way. It is no coincidence that the very First Amendment to the United States Constitution says: ``Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.'' Religious freedom was protected in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Our Forefathers valued that. They knew what could happen if we didn't protect our religious freedom. We must take action and recommit ourselves to this basic right. Congress actually has taken action in the past on a bipartisan basis. In 1993, Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by President Clinton. The law says the government should not force anyone to violate their sincere religious beliefs, whether those beliefs are considered widely shared or not. This legislation unanimously passed this Chamber, United States House of Representatives, and it passed the Senate by a vote of 97-3 on October 27, 1993. The broad support is because the legislation simply affirms our constitutionally endowed rights. But now support for this formerly bipartisan, widely supported law is eroding to the point that it has come under attack around the country, the recent events in Indiana being the recent highest profile example. I believe that this Congress must be a Congress of action in defending religious freedoms. I understand that my good friend and colleague from Idaho, Mr. Labrador, is working on a bill to protect institutions and individuals who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. I support this effort, and I look forward to being an original cosponsor when he introduces the bill. I am also a proud cosponsor of the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, which will ensure that adoption and foster care providers are not excluded by States for offering their services based on their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, some States have already begun punishing faith- based organizations that provide these services because of their religious beliefs. These religious freedom protections are needed now, and I hope they will be allowed a vote in this Chamber. We can't do this alone. We do need the President, President Obama, to join with us to protect religious freedom. The President said on June 26, 2013, regarding the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act the following about religious freedom: ``On an issue as sensitive as this, knowing that Americans hold a wide range of views based on deeply held beliefs, maintaining our Nation's commitment to religious freedom is also vital.'' If the President really believes that religious freedom is ``vital,'' he must back his words up with action. That hasn't happened. In fact, just the opposite has occurred, with the administration's attack on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which attacks those who believe in religious freedom, through its HHS mandate and its attack on the Defense of Marriage Act. He is not protecting religious freedom. We have to do that here. We have a sacred obligation to pass on to our children and grandchildren a country that has the same love for liberty and religious freedom as the one we inherited, but this won't happen on its own. We need to stand up and fight with courage and conviction, fight right here and right now. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, President Ronald Reagan once observed that the government's view of the economy is pretty simple: ``If it moves, tax it.'' Well, today, more than ever, President Reagan's words ring true. Taxes are prohibitively high. We can take a step in a new direction by passing H.R. 880, the American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2015. This legislation is simple; it will make the R&D tax credit permanent. By doing so, we reduce the amount of taxes that America's innovators pay by providing a 20 percent credit on research expenses. According to a recent study, this policy will increase overall investment in research by $33 billion and result in 300,000 research- related jobs. In practical terms, this means that a small business in the beautiful State of West Virginia--which I represent--or where you live that spends $5 million a year on research could be eligible for a $500,000 tax credit. That is enough money to hire 10 new employees at $50,000 a year. We are talking about 10 new, hard-working American taxpayers. We are talking about men and women who are given the dignity of work. They will pay taxes rather than possibly take government assistance. When I ran for office, I promised West Virginians that I would fight for policies that create jobs and bring economic freedom back to America. This bill takes us a step in that direction. I encourage my colleagues to vote for it.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about an issue that I care deeply about: protecting unborn babies. Later today, this body will vote on H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This legislation should not be controversial. It simply protects unborn babies that a preponderance of scientific evidence has proven can feel pain. We are talking about the sixth month of pregnancy. This bill is an important step in protecting the unborn. I am a proud cosponsor. I look forward to casting my vote in favor of the legislation later today. Recently, a group of students at West Virginia University made news for courageously speaking out in defense of life at an abortion clinic near Morgantown. I know firsthand that it is not always politically correct to stand for your values, but we should never back down from protecting the unborn. I applaud these brave WVU students for their actions. Their willingness to stand for life reminds me of my days at Dartmouth College, when I served as the president of the Dartmouth Coalition for Life. I remember standing in the cafeteria and handing out educational materials about protecting the unborn and the development of life. While I may not have won any popularity contest by standing up for my beliefs that life is precious and abortion is wrong, I sure got my fellow students thinking about the pro-life issue. My pro-life commitment was cemented even further when I became a father. I have three children. And actually today, my youngest daughter turns 7 months old. I am pleased to represent the State of West Virginia, where the pro- life movement is thriving, and the rights of the unborn are being restored. In fact, just this past February, our West Virginia State Legislature passed our own Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act by wide bipartisan margins. In the State Senate of West Virginia, the exact same bill banning abortion after 20 weeks passed the State Senate of West Virginia by a vote of 29-5, with 11 of 16 Democrat State senators in my State--that is 68 percent of the Democrats--voting for the bill. In the West Virginia State House of Delegates, the vote was 88-12; again, with two- thirds of State house members that are Democrats voting for the bill. This is a bipartisan issue. I am hopeful today that a strong bipartisan majority in this Chamber will follow the example of my home State of West Virginia and pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act so these protections are extended to unborn babies in every State in the United States. I am honored to also be the lead cosponsor of the Life at Conception Act, which simply clarifies that human life begins at conception. There is no question that we, in the pro-life community, have our work cut out for us. President Obama and most Democrats in Congress refuse to protect life at any stage. One of the best examples of how out of touch the other side on this abortion issue came just a few weeks ago across the aisle in the Senate, where Democrats were willing to block a bill aimed at protecting victims of human trafficking simply because it included a provision that prohibited taxpayer funding of abortion. They are the extremists on this issue. Look at President Obama, himself. In 2008, when he was running for President and he was in a debate against John McCain in the Saddleback Church forum moderated by Rick Warren, the moderator asked President Obama when life began, and the President's response was: ``Whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.'' The President of the United States said it is above his pay grade to say when human life begins. That is a shame. When I ran for Congress, I made the commitment to the people of the Second District of West Virginia that I would do everything in my power to defend the unborn. I continue to be guided by my faith, my values, my education, and my constituents on this issue. I look forward to working with my colleagues to defend the innocent and give a voice to the voiceless unborn babies.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend a voice to the people of Syria, many of whom have been silenced by a cruel and oppressive dictator. This very moment, 5,500 miles from this Chamber, in the country of Syria, innocent people are suffering under a regime bent on crushing freedom. I met recently with a group of Syrian Americans in Charleston, West Virginia, my congressional district. Many of them have family members and loved ones in Syria. The stories I heard are alarming. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is waging an all-out war against his own people, with one goal in mind, to muzzle any voice that speaks out in opposition to his regime. People are suffering. Four out of five Syrians live in poverty. More than 200,000 people have been killed; 1 million have been wounded, and more than 3 million Syrians have fled the country. Assad has shown that he will use any means necessary to maintain his dictatorship. He has rained down chemical weapons from the sky onto neighborhoods. He has dropped cluster bombs and barrel bombs into residential buildings occupied by women and children. He has placed entire communities under siege, starving peaceful residents into submission. He has even bombed hospitals full of people recovering from his attacks. I would now like to share a few stories that I have heard from my constituents, with whom I met just this previous Monday. First, Dana Ashbani has family that lives in Syria. Several of her cousins were brutally killed by the Assad regime. One summer night, in 2013, gunfire rang out in the streets of the neighborhood in which Dana's cousin lived. Fearing for her life, she grabbed her husband and her three young children and rushed toward a nearby basement for safety; but they were met by Assad's thugs and mercilessly gunned down, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. Dr. Rhagda Sahloul is an endocrinologist in Charleston. Her sister Dalia lives in Syria with her husband and their two children, Shahed and Omar, aged 7 and 11. Their town fell under siege by the Assad military in 2013. The residents are running low on food and are surviving on a diet of dry noodles and, if they are lucky, vegetables that they grow on their rooftops and balconies. Without electricity, they have stripped their streets bare of trees to keep themselves warm on cold nights. No one even wants to think about next winter. Recently, a foreign humanitarian organization dropped relief materials for the town, and Dalia's husband set up a marketplace in his home to facilitate the bartering of goods, but it didn't last long. The Assad regime bombed their home, destroying their little market and killing three people. Dr. Khaled was an orthopedic surgeon in Aleppo before the conflict in Syria began, but he was forced to flee to Idlib, as he was targeted by the government. In Idlib, he worked in several field hospitals and witnessed numerous aerial attacks. One of these attacks occurred on a new orthopedic center on the day of its opening in March 2013. The missile struck the hospital, killing one patient, injuring several people, and forcing the facility to shut down. In June 2012, government forces entered Douma, a suburb of Damascus, and ordered everyone out of their apartments. Citizens were lined up and told to face the wall. Mattessem, an 11-month-old baby at the time, was held by his mother, with his father and 10-year-old sister Fatima by her side. Fatima asked the soldiers to spare the life of her baby brother, offering $2, all the money she had in her pocket. The soldiers shot anyway. As Fatima's father was shot, he fell onto Fatima, protecting her from the bullets. One bullet went through Mattessem and killed their mother. In a family of 25, only four survived. These are just a few of the stories that I have heard, but they should be a call to action. The Commander in Chief of our powerful military, President Obama, appropriately recognized the severity of the situation in Syria, drawing a red line at chemical weapons; but Assad has crossed that red line repeatedly, with impunity, and the President has failed to rise to the challenge. According to press reports, Assad's regime launched another chemical weapon on the Syrian people just this past week. We need leadership from the President in the face of grave human rights violations in Syria, not faux red lines and empty threats. President Obama is not providing that leadership, and people in Syria are suffering because of it.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. I thank the gentleman from Colorado for the opportunity to rise and speak on this important issue. Mr. Speaker, I have some serious concerns about the future of the Export-Import Bank, particularly with this administration. In the past, the Bank has been used to push extreme environmental policies from the President to guide how it awards their loans. We all know that the President has declared a war on coal; and through his administration, he is doing everything he can to prosecute that war on coal. We have seen the EPA and other departments in this administration, through regulation--not through Congress, but through regulation--attempt to shut down the coal industry and bankrupt the coal industry. The President, himself, said his goal was to bankrupt the coal industry. This, of course, along with the Export-Import Bank, is hurting coal companies and costing American jobs as they try to compete in the global market. I know that American coal has been hurt because the Export-Import Bank has awarded loans in countries that do not have to adhere to President Obama's leftwing environmental regulations. They don't have an EPA in many of these countries, yet we are financing deals there. Our current President has proven time and again he will use any means necessary to circumvent Congress and the Constitution to promote an agenda the American people just don't want. So let me give you some specifics on the Export-Import Bank and some of their investments: For example, in 2013, the Export-Import Bank approved a loan in the amount of $694 million in financing for U.S. equipment to develop an open-pit iron ore mine in Australia. The mine is owned by the wealthiest woman in the country of Australia. Do you really think she needs U.S. tax dollar support for this project? According to public officials, unions, and the Iron Mining Association, these subsidies threaten to displace nearly $600 million worth of U.S. iron ore exports and cause a reduction of approximately $1.2 billion in U.S. domestic sales. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted a $641 million deal the Export-Import Bank made with a Turkish company to build a new fuel- producing plant. According to the CEO of Valero, a company that exports American diesel and gasoline to foreign countries, ``The new Turkish refinery will be a direct competitor of U.S. refineries in the global market.'' ``It takes away potential export markets.'' Valero, I might mention, has operations in my district, in my State, and in many other States throughout the country. Lastly, according to The Heritage Foundation, the Export-Import Bank made a $500 million deal with a copper mine in Mongolia that competes with excavations in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and Montana. The American people elect Congress to write the laws and make the laws, not the President. The President is the executive branch. He needs to figure this out. The executive branch enforces laws. They don't make the laws. That is what we do here in the legislative branch. The American people gave Republicans majorities in both Chambers to put a stop to the President's radical agenda. One other concern I would like to point out is I don't believe the government should be in the business of picking the winners and the losers. Private investors, you, when you choose to shop, individuals, can pick who you want to support. We have a vibrant and highly functioning private banking system. We should let them determine which loans are made to which companies. When the Federal Government inserts itself into the process, you end up with a system where Washington special interests drive decisionmaking, not free market principles. The Export-Import Bank has become the competitor to this private capital and investment. And I am a conservative. I believe I support Federal policies that encourage free enterprise and entrepreneurship, not to enter the arena as a competitor to the private sector. The Federal Government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. Let's let the marketplace decide who wins and loses. This is the way free markets are supposed to work. What has made America great are the traditional values, hard work, and free markets. The ability to create jobs in this country, that is what has made America great. We support businesses. Those businesses that create jobs, they have raised more people out of poverty--the businesses and the jobs they create have raised more people out of poverty than any other government program can or ever will. So I wanted to bring these concerns to the attention of the American people and this body. This is a serious issue that may or may not come before Congress. If we don't act at all, the Bank expires; and it is clear from what I have detailed here, there are serious concerns with moving forward with the Export-Import Bank. Again, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this issue.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, thank you to Congressman Todd Rokita for arranging this Special Order to talk about the House budget released today titled: ``A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America.'' As a freshman member of the House Budget Committee and the Representative of West Virginia on the committee, I worked to deliver on West Virginia priorities in the House budget. The first of these priorities is to balance the Federal budget. It is totally unacceptable for West Virginia--and all Americans--to live within their means while the Federal Government allows spending and debt to run rampant. While the House budget released today is not perfect, it balances, unlike the President's budget. As you can see right here, it is a 10-year budget cycle. Our budget balances in year nine. Not only does the President's budget not balance, it creates more debt and deficit each and every year as you go along. We don't have a partner to work with at the administrative level in the President's office to balance the budget. We had to do this on our own because the American people demand and deserve a balanced budget. It is the right thing to do, and that is a bipartisan statement. As I traveled my State and my district last year, I heard from everybody, Republican and Democrat, that they wanted a balanced budget. This puts us on the path to do so. I also successfully led three budget proposals through the committee process, and each are now included in the final House budget released today. The first two will stop the President's war on coal in its tracks, and the third cuts unnecessary Federal spending. The first proposal stops the administration's efforts to close coal- fired power plants. We simply did this by eliminating any funding for the development and implementation of new ozone standard regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA. The coal industry has already spent billions of dollars over the last few years coming into compliance with previous ozone standard rules, but the President's EPA is expected to release new ozone standards anyway, designed intentionally to shutter coal plants. The President and his radical environmentalist allies fail to recognize that many States still rely on coal to provide energy at affordable household prices. Over 90 percent of West Virginia households rely on coal for affordable, reliable energy. Recent estimates say implementation of the President's new rule would cost over 10,000 jobs in West Virginia. The second proposal I secured in the House budget to stop the President's war on coal was to prevent funding for a new stream buffer rule from the Department of the Interior. The administration has already spent over $7 million writing this rule, which is designed to allow the administration to claim regulatory jurisdiction within 100 feet of anything they deem to be a stream. That dubious proposition would allow Federal regulators to shut down surface mining operations in almost every region of West Virginia with the stroke of a pen. That is not how we make laws. Some studies estimate that Federal and State governments will lose $4 billion to $5 billion in tax revenue if it is enacted, and the coal industry would lose $14 billion to $20 billion in revenue and as many as 85,000 jobs in our region. Stopping the War on Coal is good policy for hardworking West Virginia taxpayers and good policy for our Nation. We must continue to pursue an all-of-the-above energy approach to secure energy independence and grow our economy. I am proud of this budget's rejection of discrimination against certain forms of energy production, such as coal, which the President deems to not be politically correct. To cut Federal waste, my third proposal defunds the Legal Services Corporation, an agency which operates far outside its original mandate after decades absent of any congressional oversight. Defunding the Legal Services Corporation is a proposal supported by both the Congressional Budget Office and The Heritage Foundation. Instead of providing legal services to the poor, as is its mandate, the organization has been used to advance pro-abortion and politically ideological policies, as well as increase spending on welfare. Defunding this organization would remove a Federal agency operating outside of its mandate and would also save taxpayers millions of dollars. I am proud these proposals were included in the House budget to stop the President's assault on energy jobs and cut waste from the Federal Government. I look forward to continuing to fight for West Virginia priorities as the budget process continues. With real solutions, we can restore fiscal conservatism to Washington and foster economic prosperity for our Nation.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Sure. We burn clean coal and we see the use of coal. As I mentioned, 90 percent of our State uses coal for their energy. It is the cheapest, most affordable type of energy, electricity, that can be created, so it is a blessing to have that in our State and other States that have it as well. We already burn it clean. The coal industry has dealt with regulations under previous administrations for many years. We are burning it clean. It is not an accident. It is an intention of this administration because they stated it when they said they want a war on coal. They stated they are going to make it--the President himself said he is going to make it so expensive that it would bankrupt the coal production companies and shut down coal that way. So it is their goal to make standards that aren't just reasonable, but that are intended to stop an agency from producing. I would like to also point out, we ship coal to other countries. We ship coal to China, for example. Well, guess what? There is no EPA in China. They burn the coal there much, much dirtier than we do in this country. So it is cleaner to burn it here anyway than to ship it to other countries and have them burn it. So it makes no sense. In fact, they are harming the environment. These very policies that are intended to help the environment are actually harming the environment. It makes no sense. It is harming every taxpayer, every family who wants this affordable form of energy.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Yes. Thank you for yielding. I would say tens and really hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line with these coal policies that prevent people from having good- paying jobs and feeding their families. And both parties can agree--it is a bipartisan proposal--the best way to help the poor or to help anybody not get on government assistance is to get a good-paying job, and that is what we are trying to provide here, good-paying jobs, the dignity that you mentioned, Congressman, in your earlier remarks about the dignity of having a good-paying job. Folks in my State and, I am sure, others, want those good-paying jobs because they want that dignity. They want to work. They don't want to have to be relying on government programs. So the assault on the coal industry and the energy industry in general is something that is particularly harmful to our State. And anyone listening across this country, I would be careful, because if they can discriminate against one form of energy, which is coal, what is next? There is an agenda here that exists to discriminate against various types of energy production. Look, we just want to be fair. We want an all-of-the-above energy policy. We want these jobs here at home that are going to happen anyway because they are doing it in other countries, so we want these jobs here at home. They are good-paying jobs.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the special friendship between the United States and Israel and to welcome Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu before his address on the challenges facing our two nations. In their campaign of unparalleled savagery, the radical Islamic terrorists known as ISIS have made the slaughter of innocent Christians a priority. In the face of this senseless violence, Israel stands as a beacon of safety. To end this barbarism, the United States, Israel, and all our allies should develop a long-term strategy to wipe ISIS off the Earth. The United States and Israel are also confronted with the potential emergence of a nuclear Iran. Like Israel, our government should keep all options on the table to prevent this outcome. In facing these and future challenges, our Nation is fortunate to call Israel a friend. Israel and the United States share common ideals of freedom, justice, and fair elections by the people in a republic. I welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu back to Congress, and I look forward to his remarks on protecting our shared values against terrorism and a nuclear Iran.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, with his veto of the Keystone XL pipeline, the President has again decided to stand with radical environmentalists at the expense of the American people. Republicans and Democrats came together in both Houses of Congress to pass this commonsense bill, yet the President has seen fit to deny the American people the new jobs it would create. The President has a demonstrated record of picking favorites in the energy industry. We all remember how the President steered billions in taxpayer dollars to Solyndra, only to see the flawed solar company collapse. In 2014 alone, the Department of Energy directed over $1.9 billion in taxpayer dollars to investments in alternative energy. At the same time, the President has waged war on West Virginia energy jobs. This year, the administration is expected to ratchet up that war with new ozone standards and a new stream buffer zone rule. These overreaching regulations are intentionally designed to kill coal, with devastating outcomes for West Virginia and our entire Nation. Coal supplies over 90 percent of energy consumed in West Virginia. An escalation of the President's war on coal would cause families in West Virginia to see huge increases in their home energy prices. The escalation would also have a terrible impact on jobs in our State. The American Mining Association has projected that the new stream buffer zone regulation would destroy as many as 85,000 jobs in the Appalachian region. The administration has also held up permitting for natural gas exports and proposed damaging regulations on the exploration of new natural gas deposits. The Keystone veto further confirms the President's commitment to continuing his obstructionist agenda. With so much at stake for West Virginia families, we must strengthen our resolve like never before to fight for an energy policy which allows the free market and consumers to choose, not government to discriminate.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Madam Speaker, on a variety of issues, from the Environmental Protection Agency's war on coal jobs in West Virginia to the designation of ANWR in Alaska as permanent wilderness, the President has used unilateral executive action to stifle domestic energy production. It is time for the President to stop pandering to radical environmentalists and do what is right for hardworking American families. The business community, organized labor, partisan majorities in Congress, and a clear majority of the American people support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The President's own State Department concluded that the project is in the best economic interest of our Nation and that the project would have no impact on carbon emissions and no negative impact on the environment. Mr. President, enough is enough. It is time to create 42,000 jobs and reduce energy prices for hardworking families. Sign this bill into law. It is time to build the Keystone XL pipeline. I ask that you do this not only for the hardworking taxpayers I represent in West Virginia but for all Americans struggling in this economy.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Congressman Jim Jordan and Congressman Barry Loudermilk, for arranging this special session tonight to address a critical issue looming before our Nation. Senator Harry Reid and the President are currently risking the full funding of our national security to protect the President's unilateral and unconstitutional executive action on amnesty. On 22 occasions, President Obama himself said he did not have the authority to grant executive amnesty before flipping and denying the will of the American people and taking unilateral action anyway. This attitude follows a pattern of unilateral action, executive action, including the President's war on coal, and it must be stopped. Now, Senator Reid and his allies continue to block any consideration of the bill passed by the House to fund the Department of Homeland Security. This obstruction is intended to protect the President's unconstitutional executive amnesty. Sadly, no one is surprised that this President would use this unlawful, unilateral action to pursue his own radical agenda. But now Senator Reid and the President are edging closer to putting the American people in danger to protect that agenda. The Constitution clearly gives the power of the purse to the United States House of Representatives--this Chamber right here. And the American people said clearly last year that they expect us to use our authority over spending to keep government operating in a responsible manner. I call upon Senator Reid, President Obama, and their Democrat allies to end this political gamesmanship. Instead, bring up the bill to fund Homeland Security for consideration and passage.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the great honor of addressing the Nation as a newly-elected Representative for the people of West Virginia's Second District. My name is Alex Mooney, and I grew up in a home where the American ideals of personal freedom and limited government were cherished. My mother was born and raised in Cuba where, at age 21, she was thrown in jail for 7 weeks as a political prisoner by the communist regime of Fidel Castro. After her release, she fled here to the United States where she was welcomed with open arms to restart her life in freedom. My father was a feisty Irishman from New York and a Vietnam veteran. He was an ardent conservative and had great pride in leaders like Ronald Reagan. Through the hard work of my parents, my three siblings and I had the chance to live the American Dream. My older brother, Vincent, is a professor of electrical engineers at Georgia Tech. My younger brother, Patrick, is a successful businessman. My younger sister, Margarita, is a professor of sociology at Yale University where she conducts research on happiness, virtues, and the common good. I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend Dartmouth College where I played football and rugby and graduated in 1993. In 2001, my father suffered a stroke and was dying. There was one doctor who was particularly compassionate in her efforts to comfort my family and me through that difficult time. She also happened to be very pretty. One year later, that neurosurgeon, Dr. Grace Gonzalez, agreed to marry me. My wonderful wife and I have been blessed with three beautiful children. My son, Lucas, is 11; my daughter, Camille, is 9; and we were pleasantly surprised on October 13 of last year with a third child, Gabrielle. My wife and I have been doing the hard work of homeschooling our older children, imparting on them an appreciation for the special place America holds in the world, just as my parents did for me. My parents also taught me personal responsibility enshrined in the Constitution must always be protected. Their example showed me we must never cower in the face of tyranny, never give up on the God-given rights we are entitled to, and never stop fighting for the American Dream. They taught me the importance of serving one's Nation and community. I knew early in life I wanted an opportunity to fight for the values which have made our Nation a beacon of freedom and prosperity around the world. As a young State senator, I fought for relief for hardworking taxpayers, for more personal responsibility, for the right to life of unborn babies, for a prosperous business climate, and to protect our Second Amendment rights. Last fall, the people of the Second District of West Virginia afforded me the tremendous honor of representing them in Congress. Our Nation faces great challenges. Our President and his liberal allies on the left would see us lose the values which make us who we are, lose the values my father fought for and my mother escaped despotism to enjoy. West Virginia is blessed to be abundant in natural resources. I will fight so that West Virginians and all Americans are able to seek prosperity from our natural bounty. I expect to spend much of my time at my home in Charles Town and crossing the district, listening to the citizens I serve. During my first week in office, I didn't wait to begin delivering on West Virginia priorities. I cosponsored legislation to gut onerous provisions of ObamaCare, to audit the Federal Reserve, and authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. I also cosponsored bipartisan legislation to protect the unborn after 20 weeks when they are capable of feeling pain. I am fortunate to serve on the House Natural Resources Committee, where I will focus on policies which contribute to the energy security of our Nation and the expansion of our production here at home. I have also been selected to serve on the important House Budget Committee, where I will fight to fulfill my commitment for a balanced Federal budget. It is totally unacceptable for West Virginians and all Americans to live within their means while the Federal Government continues to allow its spending and debt to run rampant. We are a nation whose values are emulated around the world by people seeking freedom, justice, and constitutional self-government defined by the rule of law. This legacy faces great challenges today, and I am proud to stand here on the floor of the United States Congress, vigilant in the defense of our defining principles and West Virginia priorities.

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. I want to thank Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for arranging this important Special Order to show solidarity with the Cuban people as they continue to live under an oppressive regime. Mr. Speaker, President Obama has senselessly yielded ground, with no stipulations for reform, to the Cuban regime, with the announcements of a secret deal going around Congress to ``normalize'' relations. This misguided grab for a legacy item has cost our country and the Cuban people a valuable bargaining chip for their freedom. Of course, this is yet another foreign policy failure or, more accurately, unilateral surrender from this administration. From the bright red line in Syria, which was crossed with impunity, to sending a secret message to President Putin that, ``After the election, I will be more flexible,'' to now rewarding tyrants in Cuba who continue to deny basic human rights to their oppressed citizens, President Obama has chosen wrong policies. The despotic government the President would normalize relations with has, for decades, sought to subjugate the Cuban people's appetite for freedom. The many realized American Dreams of Cuban refugees, including my mother, are a great testament to the greatness of the United States and our constitutional rights. As the beacon of freedom in the world, America must continue to use sensible policy to protect our values around the world and in our own backyard.