Ben McAdams

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. McADAMS. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, the bill before us is a strong measure to support economic development and to support job creation throughout our country. The legislation improves the agency's ability to support exports, and it supports small businesses in my home State of Utah. It is supported by businesses and labor, and it does this all at no expense to the taxpayer. Miles Hansen, who is the president and CEO of the World Trade Center Utah, said that the Export-Import Bank plays an important role in supporting Utah's economic growth and Utah's companies' ability to compete with countries such as China, Brazil, the U.K., and Germany: ``Direct access to the Export Finance Agency's finance and risk management programs provide Utah's small businesses with critical tools for international growth.'' I agree with Mr. Hansen, and I am a strong supporter of the agency and the underlying bill, which strengthens and reauthorizes Ex-Im for 10 years. My amendment is a commonsense addition to the bill to ensure that we are not doing business with opioid traffickers overseas. I urge adoption of the amendment, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on final passage. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McADAMS. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, parents, teachers and students in the Murray City School District are celebrating the 2019 National Blue- Ribbon Schools award to McMillan Elementary School. This award brings public attention to the best schools in America. Fittingly, it was the brainchild of a former Utah Commissioner of Higher Education--Terrel H. Bell--who served as Education Secretary under President Ronald Reagan. Dr. Bell believed that through the real action of teaching and learning, families and educators could work together to articulate a vision of excellence. He believed that by holding everyone to high standards, local schools could become the best at preparing their students for academic success. The 498 students of McMillan Elementary, their teachers, Principal Joy Sanford, and parents, have risen to the challenge. The school is named for a family who formerly owned the property around the school. It is the only school in the Murray School District to be named after a local family. Education is vitally important to this community. Home to the Murray District Gifted and Talented Program, McMillan Elementary held its first Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Night, featuring local business professionals who spoke about rewarding careers in those fields. Public schools nominated for the National Blue-Ribbon Schools award must be top-performers in the state on English and math assessments and must meet their state's performance targets such as attendance and graduation rates for all student groups. The National Blue-Ribbon School award acknowledges and validates the hard work of students, educators, families and communities. McMillan Elementary now serves as a model of effective school practices. Others will look to them for how to achieve academic success. Dr. Bell would be very proud. Principal Sanford should be very proud. Everyone associated with education in Utah salutes McMillan Elementary School's success and congratulates them on receiving this prestigious award.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, lowering prescription drug costs is the public's top health priority for Congress. Most Americans say that prescription drugs have made their lives better, but for so many the cost is unreasonable and unaffordable. Insulin, which keeps more than 7 million Americans alive, is an extreme example. We have had insulin for nearly 100 years, yet my constituents, Utah mothers whose kids have type I diabetes, tell me that skyrocketing costs have put this lifesaving medicine nearly out of reach. My hometown newspaper recently carried a story about volunteers crisscrossing Utah to pick up leftover insulin--because a family had extra or a diabetic family member died--and delivering that medicine where it is needed. They call it ``Diabetic Christmas,'' a sad commentary on just how badly our system is failing our patients. We need actions to offer relief that bring down costs so that people don't have to celebrate Diabetic Christmas in order to stay alive and stay healthy. This week, we passed a bill with unanimous bipartisan support that makes drug pricing more transparent and makes it easier for seniors on Medicare drug plans to understand their benefits and their costs. It is a good step forward, but we have more work to do.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, Utah native Marriner S. Eccles is one of the giants in the history of America's free enterprise banking system and the father of the modern Federal Reserve. He was born in Logan, Utah in 1890 and as a child, worked in several of his father's businesses. He created a family holding company, the Eccles Investment Company, in 1916 to manage various enterprises. By the mid-1920s, he, his brother George and others had organized the First Security Corporation, believed to be the first multibank holding company. Before entering public service, he successfully prevented the collapse of the family bank in 1931. In 1933, Congress invited him to give his analysis of the Great Depression. He delivered a five-point program to fix the economy that formed the basis of the New Deal. When Marriner Eccles was named Chair of the Federal Reserve in 1934, he was just 44 years old. Time magazine wrote at the time, ``Many believe Marriner S. Eccles is the only thing standing between the U.S. and disaster.'' Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich has stated that any list of the most influential individuals on America's thinking in the post-war era must include Marriner S. Eccles. Historians note that one reason America was able to win World War II, which took a great deal of money, is the advice President Franklin D. Roosevelt received from Marriner Eccles. Eccles was known as someone who thought deeply about problems and then acted without concern for the political consequences. When Congress passed the Banking Act of 1935, which sought to clarify the powers and responsibilities of the Reserve Board in matters of national monetary policy, and to increase the autonomy of regional Reserve Banks, he said, ``The function of banking and money is perhaps the most important of all in our entire economy.'' He then congratulated the Congress for working ``tirelessly and conscientiously to reconcile different points of view in accordance with what they believed to be in the public interest.'' After his Fed service, Eccles returned to the banking business in Utah. He died in 1977. In 1982, the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C. was renamed in his honor. His descendants continued to carry out his legacy of public service. The Marriner S. Eccles Foundation has given generously to higher education, hospitals and medical research, arts and culture and family and social services, including programs supporting the elderly, the disabled and the homeless. As a community, as a state and as a country, we continue to reap the benefits of Marriner Eccles' intellect, dedication, compassion and commitment to American values and ideals.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Wasatch Front Regional Council on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, celebrated this year on March 28, 2019. WFRC is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the majority of the Wasatch Front Region in Utah. It is a collaborative body comprised of city and county officials, transportation agencies, and other stakeholders, who work together to plan for the future of the Region. As a convener, WFRC works with its partners to build consensus and enhance quality of life by developing and implementing visions and plans for a well-functioning multi-modal transportation system, livable communities, a strong economy, and a healthy environment. The Region's geography is unique. Bounded east and west by mountains and lakes, the linear metropolitan area extends 100 miles north to south, along the Wasatch Mountains. The majority of Utah's population lives in the Region. Since 1969, Utah's population has grown from just over 1 million to over 3 million today, and it is projected to top 5 million by 2050. This growth presents challenges, but also tremendous opportunities, on which WFRC seeks to capitalize through proactive, collaborative planning and implementation. Utah is widely referred to as the Crossroads of the West. The multi- modal transportation system that distinctively serves the broader Wasatch Front Region--and the nation--found its birth in the WFRC plans. These plans were also fundamental in development of Utah's Unified Transportation Plan, the first comprehensive, coordinated, multimodal statewide transportation plan in the nation, which has received recognition as a national best practice from the U.S. Department of Transportation and others. On transportation and other quality of life issues such as land use, housing, and economic development, WFRC and its partners have kept an eye to the future and a cooperative spirit. This has been instrumental to developing and maintaining one of the top-rated economies and most enviable places to live, work and play in the nation. The Wasatch Front Regional Council is a fine example of how collaborative efforts will continue to shape plans looking ahead to 2050 and beyond, helping to ensure high quality of life for Utah's current residents and generations to come.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, public health departments have long provided a line of first defense, protecting the well-being of local communities. From monitoring air and water, to inspecting food safety in restaurants, to offering life-saving vaccines, public health department employees serve tirelessly. Utah's largest public health department is now getting well-deserved national recognition for its service. The Salt Lake County Health Department has been honored as ``Health Department of the Year'' by the voice of the nation's nearly 3,000 local government health departments--the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). Judges scored award applicants on their innovation and creativity, implementation, impact in the community and engagement of community and diverse partners. The Salt Lake County Health Department stood out on several fronts, including its response to the county's hepatitis A outbreak from 2017 to 2019; innovative use of real-time public health data; and a new public health center in downtown Salt Lake City that features co- located clinical services provided by Community Health Centers, Inc. The award comes the same year that the health department celebrates the 50th anniversary of its current form as a combined city-county health department, its 120th anniversary as a county agency and its 170th anniversary of providing public health services to the Salt Lake Valley. Utahns can go about their daily lives, secure in the knowledge that behind the scenes, public health department professionals are on the job. Whether it is designing innovative programs to improve air quality or providing flu vaccines to prevent illness, the Salt Lake County Health Department is an important partner in keeping Utahns safe, healthy and able to enjoy an excellent quality of life.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, two sisters who immigrated from Argentina to Utah as children turned hard work and a dream into a remarkable business success story in just 12 years. In 2007, Vivien and Fernanda Bohme first opened in a temporary space in Fashion Place Mall, to sell their clothing during the approaching holiday season. Their fashion hit turned out to be what they dubbed ``sexy, modest'' denims and tees. After a strong start, they opened a permanent store in Orem's University Mall, just ahead of what became the Great Recession. Like many small businesses, they struggled, but they persevered. Next, they started a location in Salt Lake City's Gateway Mall, which they remodeled themselves to save money. Vivien stopped work one night to go to the hospital and deliver her baby, but soon returned to finish the space. Profits were used to pay off debt and expand into new areas. ``Bootstrap was our middle name,'' Vivien told a local news reporter. Their entrepreneurial success earned them a mention in Inc. magazine's list of 5,000 fastest-growing companies. They now operate 16 stores in five states and are known for making themselves available to their 225 employees at all levels. Every Bohme employee is given three paid days off to volunteer at a charity of their choice. In 2018, the company experienced record profits and revenue growth. Last May, during National Small Business Week the U.S. Small Business Administration honored Vivien and Fernanda jointly as ``Utah Small Business Person of the Year.'' Their inspiring story is one example of how Utah's economy and our communities thrive thanks to the drive, determination and dedication shown by diverse individuals willing to chase their dreams here in America.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, passage of the Affordable Care Act nearly a decade ago, while not a perfect bill, helped thousands of Utah families gain insurance coverage, many for the first time, and I am working in Congress to ensure we meet the law's goals to improve access to care and protect all Americans' coverage, particularly those with preexisting conditions. Utah's hardworking families struggle with the rising costs of care, fueled to a large degree by skyrocketing prescription drug prices. Everywhere I go, people talk about how the cost of an illness or an accident sparks the fear of being one health crisis away from financial ruin. That is why I have voted for a dozen bills to seek to lower the cost of prescription drugs and strengthen consumer protections, and I urge my Senate colleagues to act, too. I continue to meet with Utahns about their healthcare concerns, and I recently had a conversation with moms of kids with type 1 diabetes, who explained to me how the high cost of insulin is affecting their child's treatment. We have a bipartisan consensus that our healthcare system needs work, so it is past time that we act on bipartisan solutions that lower Americans' costs and ensure their access to quality, affordable healthcare.

Mr. McADAMS

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Case for organizing this Special Order today, and I thank him for his outstanding work as the co-chair of the Blue Dog Task Force on Fiscal Responsibility and Government Reform. I am lucky to serve alongside him as co-chair, and I also want to thank Stephanie Murphy for her tireless leadership in Congress and with the Blue Dogs. Madam Speaker, Washington has an addiction problem. It is hooked on deficits, and it is hooked on debt. Our entire Nation, our children, and their children will pay the price for this addiction. On March 2, 2019, the debt limit was reinstated as $22 trillion as Representative Case so appropriately outlined. To operate the government at this limit, the Treasury Department deployed extraordinary measures, accounting maneuvers, allowing government operations to continue. But if those measures run out and our cash reserves are depleted, the Federal Government would reach the unprecedented day on which our Federal Government cannot meet all of its obligations in full and on time. The consequences of defaulting on our obligations are unknown, but could be economically devastating, not only for the United States, but globally. As Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said recently about the prospect of not raising the debt limit: ``It is beyond even considering that the United States would not honor all of its obligations and pay them when due. It is just something that can't even be considered,'' he said. We know that the costs of barreling towards this fiscal cliff are already mounting. American taxpayers foot the bill for additional borrowing costs that come from delays in extending the debt limit. In previous years, uncertainty has caused interest rates on some Treasury bills to spike in anticipation of going over the fiscal cliff, resulting in many millions, if not billions of dollars in added interest costs. As we have done more than 100 times, we are now preparing to vote to raise the debt limit. Raising it does not authorize new spending. It enables the government to pay its bills and avoid the sorry reality of becoming an untrustworthy borrower. What better time to pair that vote with a plan to reform government spending? It is not as if we woke up this morning to suddenly face this fiscal calamity. It has been building for decades, as we just saw. Both parties in Republican and Democratic administrations have contributed to the problem. The question is: What are we going to do about it? And when will we start to get our borrowing and our spending addiction under control? The Blue Dog Coalition, of which I am a proud member, has a well- deserved reputation for talking the talk and walking the walk when it comes to fiscal responsibility. Look at the Blue Dog priorities on fiscal responsibility and you will see a comprehensive list of pragmatic steps that we can take, some of which we have already taken. For example, Blue Dogs support the House paygo rules. It is one of the first things the Blue Dogs fought for when we got sworn in this year. And I was pleased to see the House keep paygo rules. We don't want those rules to be waived, but if they are, there should be a vote held on a waiver. Blue Dogs support a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget every year, except in times of war, in times of national emergency, or recession. I was proud that my first bill introduced in this Congress was this exact balanced budget amendment that the Blue Dogs have endorsed. We want to return to regular order. Passing a budget every year and on time and avoiding omnibus appropriation packages that do not align with that budget. As a former mayor myself who had to balance a budget every year and do so in a bipartisan fashion, I was then, as I am now, accountable to the taxpayers for every dollar we spent. Do elected officials face tough tradeoffs? Yes, absolutely. That comes with the job. Just as hardworking families and small business owners must do, you must work together, and we, in Congress, must work together to set priorities and make sure the checkbook balances at the end of each month. It is important that we fully offset the cost of all new spending or reductions in fiscal revenues with spending cuts or revenue increases. We must make those tough choices. We need strict, enforceable spending caps to ensure a fiscally responsible budget. The Blue Dogs also support better oversight over our government spending. The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, and the inspectors general are important entities throughout the Federal Government that hold Federal agencies accountable to taxpayers and recommend improvements. We believe that Congress should know what it is voting on by having every conference report and bill that comes to the floor of the House accompanied by a cost estimate prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and that should be done at least 24 hours in advance of the floor vote. We believe that committees should identify proper and related offsets before the legislation is reported out of committee. A $22 trillion debt burden is a heavy lift to eliminate, for sure. But at the very least, we should be able to agree not to take on new policies that add to that debt. We teach our kids that if they want something badly enough, they need to figure out how to pay for it. Tax reform should be deficit neutral. Spending plans should be fully paid for. Even emergency spending, which should be passed quickly to respond when our communities need it most, should include a plan to pay for it, and we can think ahead and plan ahead for those emergencies. We should get away from the ad hoc emergency spending and figure out how to establish a rainy-day fund which 45 States currently have. Every man, woman, and child in America owes $68,000 as Representative Case has highlighted as their share of the national debt. We will all be morally bankrupt, as well as financially bankrupt, if we don't stop kicking the can down the road and make future generations liable for our lack of fiscal discipline today. And so my colleagues often ask me why deficits matter? My answer is because future generations will be forced to bear the burden of our failure if we don't act today. And the longer it takes for us to act, the more difficult those decisions become. The cost of paying interest on our debt is the fastest growing part of the budget. We will spend more on interest than on defense by the year 2025. That is 6 years from now. Let that sink in. The government is projected to spend $383 billion on interest payments for its debt this year alone. This year, $383 billion. So why do I care about the debt and deficits? It is because a strong fiscal house means we have a stronger country. That $383 billion spent on interest payments in our debt is $383 billion we can't spend on other priorities, such as clean energy and transportation, and affordable healthcare. The interest we pay on the debt is simply going on to our credit card. It is becoming part of the debt. So if you care about healthcare, if you care about climate change and building a 21st century infrastructure system, if you care about affordable housing and any other investment that the government can make, then I urge you, care about the debt, and care about our deficits. Because every dollar spent on paying down the debt and its deficits or interest on that debt is one more dollar that could have been invested in priorities that strengthen our country, that strengthen our national defense, and strengthens the American people. It is clear that we are on a dangerous and unsustainable course. The decisions will not be easy. But our children and our grandchildren are counting on us to make this right. We were elected to make tough decisions. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.

Mr. McADAMS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. McADAMS. I would be happy to.

Mr. McADAMS. Yes, absolutely. We recognize that there may be emergencies that are unforeseen and unplanned for. And in those cases, the language of my proposed amendment would allow for deficit spending to help our communities in times of need, in times of national disasters or other emergencies. And I think that is important.

Mr. McADAMS. That is correct.

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, that is correct. In my own State of Utah that has a balanced budget requirement, and has established a rainy-day fund, as I mentioned, such that when those emergencies arise, they have funds available to account for that. I would urge us to not only have that flexibility built into the language of the amendment, but to plan ahead. While we don't know what the next emergency will be or where it will strike, we know that dark days are ahead of us, and that there will be natural disasters and other emergencies and we should plan ahead for those.

Mr. McADAMS. Well, one thing, I had a council of nine members: five Republicans and four Democrats. And one thing I know from experience is balancing a budget is hard. We have to make really tough choices. There are certainly things that may not be meritorious expenses that are easy to say no to, but by and large, we have to make some really tough decisions. We can't do it all, even though we might want to do it all. You cannot do it all. And what it takes is, first of all, have a bipartisan relationship where people put their priorities on the table, discuss what they want to accomplish, and how they want to get there. And then everyone has to continue to work together to refine proposals, to make sure that you cut the fat out of proposals and make sure that they are well refined, and every dollar spent is justified. Ultimately, we have been able to balance a budget. We have to make tough decisions, but we are able to balance a budget, because there is that expectation, that requirement that we must get there, and so we do get there.

Mr. McADAMS. Madam Speaker, we did have that experience, and I would add, it made us better. The county that I presided over as mayor, we had a AAA bond rating. The faith in our ability to pay our debts meant we paid lower interest rates. People knew that we would not default on those debts, and we saved tax dollars because people knew that we could balance our budget. I would like to add one point to the gentleman's consideration. Fiscal responsibility is important. It is important for our States. It is important for this country. But another element that I found in the process of balancing a budget, when we had to make those tough choices, when, at the end of the day, the ledger had to balance, what we were forced to do was go back and look at every expenditure we made and ask ourselves: Can it be done more effectively? Can we stretch our dollars further? Is the program or endeavor that we are engaged in the lowest-cost alternative? Are tax dollars being spent wisely? Are programs invested in our citizens, whether it is a program to reduce recidivism or to improve early childhood learning? We were expected to look and evaluate the effectiveness of each and every program because we were having to make competing choices. We were choosing between one good and, hopefully, a better good, and that required us to quantify empirically the outcomes we were receiving from our programs. That was good for fiscal responsibility. More importantly, it was good for the people we were serving because the programs we were delivering were expected to improve. We held those programs to a high standard on behalf of the citizens who we served.

Mr. McADAMS. Waste in plowing snow or fixing streetlights is one thing, but in programs that serve our residents, there is a human cost to programs that aren't held to a high standard. It takes a toll on individuals and on families--on people--who were promised one outcome. If a program fails to deliver on that, there is a human cost.

Mr. McADAMS. The rules of the House require that any legislation that would have a fiscal impact has to be paid for. We can't simply add that on to the tab and put it on the taxpayers' credit card. Every legislation has to be paid for upfront.

Mr. McADAMS. That is exactly right. I describe it as saying that the first rule when you find yourself in a hole and are not sure how to get out is to stop digging.

Mr. McADAMS. That is right. Every activity, whether it is reducing revenues or increasing spending, should be neutral as it relates to the Federal deficit.

Mr. McADAMS. Exactly. That is correct.

Mr. McADAMS. One of my concerns is the willingness with which both sides, both parties, will waive paygo. It takes a simple majority to waive paygo. We have seen that happen from time to time, whether it is exigent circumstances like emergencies, but other things that we can plan ahead and should look ahead for.

Mr. McADAMS. Yes.