Phil Roe

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 3525, the U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act. Before coming to Congress, I was a practicing physician for over 31 years. I also served in the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea in the 2nd Medical Battalion where, at that time, we trained, we spent a lot of time in the field training for mass casualties and big events. I went to the border; I spent four days down there on two separate occasions. The last time was in June of this year, with the Medical Director of the Department of Homeland Security, as chief medical adviser, and five other members of the Doctors Caucus at the McAllen, Texas, Rio Grande Valley sector to see for myself what was going on. At that time, Mr. Speaker, there were 1,000 to 1,500 or more people a day who came across. As we stood there by the Rio Grande River, 15 people walked up and turned themselves in while we weren't there more than 15 or 20 minutes. And we looked at the facilities they had; about how they tried to screen those folks; and then how they tried to sort them afterwards. And, Congress, it was a shame on us for not providing ICE more beds so you could move those folks off of the border more quickly. With these folks, they have made--many of them have made long and terrible journeys to get to where they are. There is some good news, and I want to share this with you now. We just had a meeting today that the ranking member on the committee was there with the Acting Director of Homeland Security; and daily arrivals are now down 64 percent. Attainee numbers are way down, from 20,000 in custody at the border, to an average of 3,500 to 4,500 per day. And the best news, I think, are unaccompanied children have been reduced from over 2,700 to fewer than 150. So there have been great improvements, which will actually improve the health outcomes when you have time enough to go through and screen those folks. Can you imagine in a facility that is set for 1,000 people, and you have 1,500 or 1,800 people, you have nowhere to send them, and a flu epidemic breaks out? It is a very difficult thing to deal with. So the folks at Customs and Border Patrol I think were doing a yeoman's job based on the situation they were put in. The problem we face isn't the lack of adequate care or screening. It is due to the previously lax enforcement of our immigration laws, and our Border Patrol agents just really being overrun with people illegally crossing the border. Really, without adding new and impossible-to-meet guidelines for our Border Patrol agents, we should look for other ways to intervene with illegal crossings, and I have mentioned that. These people are often, as I said, escaping unimaginable problems in their home country. But once they reach our border, the CBP is doing the absolute best they can to help them. Now, the bill would accomplish very little but overburdening our already-taxed DHS staff with their limited resources. This bill would require the DHS to purchase and implement an electronic health record within 30 days in order to coordinate care for illegal border crossers. Mr. Speaker, I think I may be one of the only people in the U.S. Congress that has actually implemented an electronic health record in my own practice. It took us a year to do it in our medical practice, to put 80,000 charts in. Can you imagine putting over a million? And the U.S. military, the Department of Defense, right now is spending about $5-plus-billion for a million and a half soldiers. The Veterans' Affairs Committee, which I am very aware of, and I will be going to Seattle, Washington, Madigan Army Medical Center on Sunday night and Monday of next week to evaluate their system. We are spending $16 billion to implement this. Let me say this: The DOD and VA spent a billion dollars trying to implement a system where the electronic health record at DOD and VA could talk to each other, and they failed. So it is a very difficult, complex situation to put an electronic health record in. I think it is a noble goal, and it should be looked at. But it is just something not doable in 30 days. I absolutely guarantee you it will fail. These are labor-intensive, and many of them fail. I know, as I was saying a little bit ago, that the Department of Defense and VA are currently implementing this program which will--the total cost of that will be $25 billion. And this legislation gives DHS a colossal, unfunded mandate and it has no expertise or capacity to handle this, and would consume all of the supplemental that we have sent them. Further, implementing a new health record at a hospital takes a year or more, not 30 days. So it is absolute folly to think that DHS could do this, contract it, figure it out, train the people at all these ports of entry, and do that in 30 days. It can't be done. The Coast Guard, a DHS component, had a disastrous experience trying to implement an EHR in about 40 clinics between 2010 and 2015, and they spent $67 million and gave up. So if we can't deliver a modern healthcare record system to our men and women who put their lives on the line without spending billions of dollars and the better part of a decade, why would we rush to develop one that is doomed to failure for people who are knowingly breaking our laws? Until the VA and DOD have secured a fully interoperable record for our servicemembers, we should not divert scarce resources and time creating one for illegal immigrants. I do want to say that I am willing to work with the other side in any way, in all ways, to improve the health care of the people who come here. We are Americans. That is what we do, and we are the best in the world at it. So if you want to sit down and work out an issue and a problem with me, I am more than happy to do that.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Sergeant Mike McInturff who passed away September 10. I was honored to have known Mike, and I want to extend my deepest condolences to his family, especially his wife of 34 years, Debbie Nelson McInturff. From the time he was a child, Mike dreamed of being a fireman. It takes a selfless determination to take on the challenges first responders face every day, and Mike served faithfully as a volunteer and a professional firefighter for 39 years. I am grateful for Mike's work in this role, where he touched countless lives in Northeast Tennessee. I am especially thankful for him being one of the heroic boots-on- the-ground firefighters in my hometown of Johnson City, Tennessee, when it experienced its worst-ever disaster on Christmas Eve 1989. For 5 hours, fire crews worked tirelessly as the fire spread throughout the city's tallest building, the John Sevier apartment building. Our community mourned the 16 lives claimed by that tragedy. And my church, Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church, served as a morgue that Christmas Eve night. It is my honor to recognize the life of Sergeant Mike McInturff and commend him for his 39 faithful years of service. My prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. It was, indeed, a privilege to be on the trip with the group. It was a great group. I also thank our leader, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, for keeping a stiff upper lip when her clothes didn't get there for a few days. I was in Israel 10 years ago, so this was my first trip back in 10 years. I saw a dramatic change in that country. I grew up on a farm, so I am very, very interested in the agriculture in that country. One of the things that I saw that had changed in that country was they had developed the ability to desalinate seawater. Sixty percent of the water that they get in that country now is desalinated seawater. They are able to take a desert and actually sustain a fairly substantial population on it. When we visited the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias, I also noticed that the Sea of Galilee was up since the last time I was there. It had actually come up. It had a wet winter. Up on the Golan, which overlooks the Sea of Galilee, which the Israelis captured in the 1967 war, that is one of the best agricultural areas in the Middle East, probably. Let us not forget that it is still a very dangerous piece of real estate. Most people don't realize how small that country actually is. There are places in Israel from the Green Line. That is the fence separating the Palestinian Authority and Israel. It is 9 miles. One of the officials there laughingly said that when President George Bush was there, he said: We have driveways in Texas longer than that. He is almost right. You don't appreciate how small that country is and what they have been able to accomplish. From an economic standpoint, I am a former mayor, and one of the things as a mayor that you do is try to develop and sell your city and develop businesses in that city. What I saw was the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce did not exist when I was there 10 years ago. It is very new, 18 months old. I am going to introduce them to our Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. so that they can get together. You saw people--not nations, but people--working together to make life better for their community. This is their home, and they want their home to be as safe and good as it can be. I want to say this about Mr. Jaber. He is a very brave man. I told him that not everybody agrees with what he is doing in this, and he did not care. He represented a large family in that region, in Hebron, where he is and where his family resides. What they want is they want freedom. They want the ability to work. They want the ability to worship like anybody else wants. They want the same things you and I do. In this piece of real estate, there are a lot of bad actors there. If you go down to the Gaza Strip, it is the poverty that is there. By the way, we know that in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups live, Iran is funding those. Israel has to deal with that. We made a trip to Golan Heights. We looked and could see a very green Israel where it had been farmed and irrigated, and we saw a very desolate looking Syria, where there has been a war for over 10 years. Five hundred thousand people, the population of Washington, D.C., had been killed there during that civil war. It is really incredibly sad. I think one of the things I looked at was how you defend them. I am an old second infantry guy in the Army, so how do you defend this real estate? We had an opportunity to meet with some of the Israeli officials, and they showed us their defense systems. Every new home in that country built since 1998, I believe, has to have a safe room, so a room that has reinforced concrete, rebar, that you can get your family in almost immediately. We take these liberties and freedoms that we have for granted in this country, where we are safe to go wherever we want to go and drive where we want to. We saw roads in areas that are marked A, B, and C. In A area, a Jew cannot go there. You are not allowed to go there. We have, in this country, been free for a third century, and we don't appreciate that as much as when you go to a place like that and realize you can't go exactly where you want to. There is always a worry when you are on the beach or out at dinner or at a restaurant with your family: Is this going to be the night that a terrorist attack occurs? There was much improvement from 10 years ago. With the gentlewoman from Missouri, who I hope to get to see next week in Missouri when I visit there, we visited with her family and got to see some of the most amazing sights. From my standpoint as a Christian, it was incredibly uplifting to me to walk on the steps where Jesus walked, to be able to see where Abraham, perhaps, almost sacrificed Jacob. We saw a lot of those areas that we read about but had never really seen them. It really brought the Bible to life for me. That was really good. Meeting with the Prime Minister, he spent an enormous amount of time, considering what was on his plate--an election. He had that on his plate, but he was very generous with his time. He spent a lot of time considering what was on his plate: an election. He had that on his plate, but he was very generous with his time. I remember asking him, I said: What keeps you up at night? What wakes you up? And it didn't take him 2 seconds. He said: The red phone, because there is almost not a night that he is not dealing with something incredibly serious in that small country. So I wish them well, and I certainly would encourage others to study this part of the country. It is an amazing country. I will say this: There for thousands of years. And we saw artifacts and buildings that were thousands of years old. We think of our country being 300 years old or 400 years old, and this area is thousands of years old. So anything that you dig in Jerusalem, especially, you are going to find something when you dig under the ground that has been there for many years.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, just to continue with Mr. Jabari, to put this in perspective for people. He worked for the Palestinian Authority for over 10 years as one of their security people. He saw it was not working. He pointed out, when we were in his home: We had a 4-year election 15 years ago. This term of the leadership was supposed to be for 4 years, and that was 15 years ago. So they knew they had no power. They had elected these folks, and he saw his people were not improving; their plight was not improving. So he thought: I am going to do something different. And that is exactly what he struck out. And as I said, this gentleman right here on this photo is a very brave man, and I wish him nothing but the absolute best.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I think he had his people at heart and his family at heart and the Palestinians at heart, and I see nothing but good things if peace can break out. Another thing we did that I think was extremely important was go to the training center and visit there. This is a leadership training center. Some 60,000 people have been through it in Israel. The day we were there, there were a group of Palestinian Girl Scouts there team building, and it was fun to kind of watch them. I was actually much happier watching them on the ground. They were climbing up on these ropes and everything. But they were there with their Scout leader going through the leadership training. This is building bonds and friendship that will, hopefully, last for generations. I think the other thing that the Palestinian Authority, that Mr. Jabari pointed out, he said that, of all the money that the United States has given the Palestinian Authority, they have not built one school or one hospital for the people. So where did the money go? We heard that day when we were there that there is actually a bounty from the Palestine Authority if you kill a Jew, if you kill another human being, that your family that is left is given money each month. That is very difficult to get to a peaceful situation, and that is why I am so respectful of Mr. Jabari, because he put himself in harm's way to try to make the plight of his people better. And he is doing it. A couple of other things that I think we learned on this trip was how many businesses are thriving in Israel. So the next time you get in your car, Mr. Speaker, and you start driving down the road, and your car automatically brakes, your steering wheel shakes when you get out of the lane as you look at your cellphone--and you shouldn't--this driverless car technology was developed in Israel. I think Intel has now bought the company. So when you see a car driving without anybody in it, that technology began in Israel. Another thing that really surprised me that is a difference, it is a game changer in that country, was the fact that they discovered natural gas. They are now a net exporter of energy. They actually export to Egypt. So it really stabilized them from an energy standpoint where they are not so dependent. America's independence also contributes to their safety. Let me go over why that is important. Forty-plus years ago, we had an oil embargo by OPEC in this country. We had lines. Every other day we had to get in a line to get gas. I happened to be a young Army officer 11 miles south of the DMZ in Korea during the winter. We got heat 3 hours a day because of this embargo. We had to use our fuel for our tanks, Cobra gunships, Huey helicopters, and other equipment that we had. So we didn't have any to heat the place we were in, and it was incredibly miserable there. I saw oil used as a political weapon back then. The fact is that this country is now energy independent. We had three huge tankers get diverted by Iran. We had an attack that took out almost 6 million barrels of oil a day. Because of the energy policies in this country, there was hardly a hiccup. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, if we had been in the same situation 40 years ago, gas would have been two or three times what it is. It would have created great hardships in this country. So the fact is that Israel is there helping. They are making friends. They have a great partnership. I give President Carter a shout-out. Anwar Sadat died because of that partnership that occurred, and peace has broken out between the Israelis, the Egyptians, and the Jordanians. Do they still have differences? Yes. But they are civil to each other, and they are working those differences out. Saudi Arabia--who would have ever thought--I remember Prime Minister Netanyahu said: Who would have ever thought Israeli airplanes would be flying over Saudi Arabia? They are now. So you can see a change that has occurred in the last 10 years that I found astonishing.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, one of the young ladies took a lot of encouragement. I do remember that. She was having a hard time, but she made it across finally.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Wagner mentioned that I hope that the Palestinians find peace and prosperity. They have long suffered, and many in Gaza still do. In Hebron where Mr. Jabari was, peace and prosperity is breaking out there. I wish them nothing but the best, and I hope they are successful in their endeavor.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I say God bless the Palestinians and Israelis. We wish them nothing but the best.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my friend, Gary Mabrey, for his retirement after 30 years of service as the CEO and president of the chamber of commerce serving Johnson City-- my hometown--Jonesborough, and Washington County, Tennessee. After joining the Air Force during the Vietnam war, Gary returned to northeast Tennessee to continue serving his community. After earning a master's degree in city management from East Tennessee State University, he spent 10 years training government officials before joining the chamber of commerce. As CEO and president of the chamber, Gary worked tirelessly to strengthen the economy of northeast Tennessee. He attracted new businesses and supported the existing ones. He promoted education, local colleges, and regional charities. Gary's leadership was recognized when he was named to the U.S. Chamber national board. Mr. Speaker, I am blessed to call Gary Mabrey my friend. I thank Gary for his service to our community during his tenure with the chamber, and I wish Gary and his beautiful wife, Jackie, all the best in their new retired life. Mr. Speaker, I wish to offer my condolences to the Clyburn family.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4285, the Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2019. This legislation represents a bipartisan, bicameral agreement that would extend the expiring authorities impacting the lives of veterans. Swift passage of this legislation today would ensure that these programs continue. This bill would extend four authorities. First, the bill would extend through September 30, 2020, the VA's authority to provide direct loans to buyers of VA-owned residences that the VA has pooled together. It would also extend to September 30, 2020, the VA's authority to operate a regional office in Manila that provides services to World War II veterans who reside in the Philippines. Third, it would extend through 2021 the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, the SSVF program, which provides grants to organizations that provide supportive services to eligible homeless or at-risk veteran families to promote housing stability. Finally, the bill would extend through September 2020 the VA's authority to pay travel allowances to and from vet centers for veterans who live in highly rural areas. To be clear, these are not new authorities. They are in present law, and costs associated with them have been assumed in the House-passed appropriations bill for fiscal year 2020 and the 2021 advanced appropriations. In addition to extending these authorities, the bill would also make technical changes to legislation that Congress has previously passed. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4285 so that the Senate can take it up quickly and send it to the President's desk. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), an original cosponsor of this legislation. I have had the privilege of serving with Congressman Bost since he has been on the committee. He is a Marine Corps veteran, 1979 to 1982. He served in the last Congress as chairman of the DAMA, Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, and he is also on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, just to reemphasize what was said about homeless veterans, I have been on the committee for almost 11 years, my entire time in Congress. When I first arrived here, we had over 100,000 homeless veterans on the streets of this country, which was unbelievable. Then-Secretary General Shinseki made one of his priorities to try to reduce homelessness to zero by 2016. He did not succeed in that, but we have reduced the homeless veterans population now down to under 40,000, which is a 60 percent reduction, a huge reduction. I could not agree more with my colleague from California. One veteran homeless is too many. I know there are pockets in this country. I know that, in California, they have a really serious problem there, and I think they are working very hard on trying to solve this. This legislation will be one piece of the puzzle. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 397 because it is nothing more than a huge step backwards in our work to save failing multiemployer pensions. It is the government picking retiree winners and retiree losers. Our work in Congress, until now, has been bipartisan with both sides realizing that workers' retirement security is too important of an issue to play politics with. I and others have been willing to work across the aisle for a bipartisan solution that works for retirees and for taxpayers. That offer is still open. The idea that Congress should bail out union-negotiated pension plans, but not the retirement plans of millions of other Americans who have seen their companies go under and had their benefits reduced as a result, is the most unfair proposal that I have ever seen on the House floor. The Democrats are telling hardworking Americans that they should not only get stiffed in their retirement, but that their taxpayer dollars should be used to bail out someone else's retirement. To make matters worse, the bill itself is deeply flawed. It requires no fundamental changes to pension plans in poor financial shape, and no reforms to ensure that troubled plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation don't wind up in the same situation. Again, instead, the bill gives these plans a so-called loan, and then allows the loan principal to be forgiven if the plan cannot repay the loan. Simply put, this is not a loan. It is a taxpayer-funded gift. Why would anybody pay it back? This doesn't have to be partisan. In 2014, as chairman of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee, I worked with the full committee chair, Chairman Kline, Ranking Member Miller, and the Obama administration to develop a bipartisan solution to save these plans. Our plan, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act gave plans the tools they needed to avoid insolvency and continue offering benefits to retirees. If we passed such a good bipartisan bill, why are we here today? Unfortunately, the Obama administration made a political decision and refused to approve an application from the country's largest troubled plan, Central States. And while many supporters of today's bill cheered that decision, the Obama administration virtually ensured Central States retirees will receive far less in their retirement than they would have or could have, all because the Obama administration preferred politics over policy. I still have hope that the Senate will act in a more responsible manner. The concept of the multiemployer pension plan is a good one and an idea worth saving, but I would say this to supporters of this bill: By choosing to act in a largely partisan manner, you are further jeopardizing retiree benefits. Literally, every day these plans fail to act, is a step closer to bankruptcy. Today's action may be the final nail in the coffin for Central States, whose plan is in such dire straits they cannot wait another 18 months for a fix. Outside of Central States, there are many other pension plans in crisis, but all assuring that the PBGC multiemployer plan will be insolvent by the end of FY 2025. We have less than 6 years to solve this problem before retirees receive pennies on the dollar for what they have earned. I recommend voting against this bill.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. One talking point that I have heard a lot from my friends across the aisle in support of this bill is that Congress has already bailed out our Nation's financial institutions so we should bail out the pension plans. While I don't agree with that sentiment, if that is the argument, then we should treat these bailouts the same. Using this logic, my amendment would set the loan interest rates in the bill at 5 percent for the first 5 years and 9 percent after that, the same rate given to banks under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. While I wasn't in Congress at the time TARP was passed, the situation we are in today, considering a union pension bailout, is the best evidence of why we shouldn't have interfered with a bailout of our private financial institutions. Nevertheless, that decision was made, and now one bailout is being used to justify another. If we believe Congress should be in the business of bailing out privately negotiated, collectively bargained benefit arrangements of private employers, we should do so using the same terms as TARP. A key feature of TARP was the Capital Purchase Program, which provided capital to finance institutions by purchasing senior preferred shares. My amendment would set the interest rate of loans authorized under this bill to the same rate that senior preferred stock dividends paid under TARP's Capital Purchase Program. If these terms were good enough for the TARP bailout, they should be good enough for the bailout offered by this bill. The majority refuses to accept the outrageous risk associated with making loans in these plans. Instead, this bill offers low-interest loans to massively underfunded, failing pension plans and allows loan principal forgiveness if the plans can't be repaid. This is unbelievable. This proves the majority has no belief that the loans will ever be repaid and is simply looking to gift hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds to these failing pension plans. What about the retirement plans affected during the same time? What are we going to bail out next? Are we going to continue having the Federal Government come along and throw money at badly managed investments? If we do make these loans, the government shouldn't just throw the money at a problem without some guardrails. With TARP, banks were not given low-interest loans over 30 years and told it really doesn't matter if they repay them or not, that we will forgive them anyway. In fact, those loans were repaid, and the government made money doing that. Mr. Speaker, having said that, I served as chairman of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pension Subcommittee for 6 years. I worked on the bill with Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Miller to help solve this problem. It is a huge problem. My father was a union member who lost his job 30 years after World War II, so I have been down that road with my own family. I am willing to work across the aisle. As Mr. Neal stated, I was on that committee that didn't do anything. I am willing now to work on this. This bill, I disagree with him, is not going anywhere. The PBGC chairman today said that we should work in a bipartisan way, and I am sitting here today telling the gentleman that I am willing to do that. I have been willing to for the past 6 years. We did pass that bill back about 4 years ago, which will help with the plans, so I am willing to do that. This plan is not it. I urge support of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to vote against H.R. 582, the so-called Raise the Wage Act, which is nothing more than another baseless, irrational attack on President Trump's successful economic record. Just this week, House Democrats voted to condemn the President, hold his advisers in contempt, and many House Democrats voted to impeach the President. Today, they are working to undo the economic gains seen under the Trump administration's leadership and undermine the best economy in my lifetime. This legislation will arbitrarily double the Federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, despite plenty of evidence that employers are fairly compensating employees. This bill will hurt the very low-income people House Democrats claim they want to help by reducing employment opportunity and hours. In fact, the CBO estimated that this legislation will cost the American economy up to 3.7 million jobs and reduce real wages by $9.5 billion. I offered a bipartisan amendment to prevent this bill from taking effect unless the GAO could show this legislation would eliminate fewer than 200,000 jobs in rural America, where I live, but House Democrats wouldn't even allow a debate. Just in Tennessee, this bill is predicted to eliminate more than 66,000 jobs, roughly the size of my hometown, which is the largest city in my district. In 2016, Seattle's minimum wage increased to $13 an hour, $2 shy of what the House Democrats are proposing today, and it has already reduced hours for low-income jobs. If legislation like this is hurting large areas like Seattle, it will have even a worse impact on rural America. I think my colleague across the aisle said the States had raised this. I think that is a perfect thing, the States ought to. They know their local economies better than we do here in Washington. I urge my Democratic colleagues to work with Republicans to implement policies to give every American the tools to seek higher-paying jobs and, once again, encourage my colleagues to vote against H.R. 582.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Chair, I am a U.S. Army veteran who has used the GI Bill. While I strongly support being good stewards of resources expended by the Department of Defense to various educational institutions across the Nation, the amendment offered by my friend across the aisle goes too far by including the term proprietary when referring to universities. Congress and the Department of Education have set standards of financial responsibility and are already reviewing whether certain colleges and universities meet those standards. Let's continue to hold all universities accountable for these standards, not just a select few. There is no reason for this amendment to exclude any colleges because all students deserve to know that their choice of school meets Federally set responsibility standards whether public, private, or proprietary. Fortunately, this is already happening. Unfortunately, this amendment is duplicative of the work that the Departments of Defense and Education are conducting and is simply an effort to further categorize colleges and universities and hold them to different levels of scrutiny. Let's work together to make sure all students have access to a high quality, affordable education in a setting and format that works best for them.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table, H.R. 3401, with the Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment. This bipartisan bill passed the Senate with 84 votes and should be sent to the President's desk for his signature today.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, today our bipartisan group led by Dr. Ruiz is introducing Protecting People from Surprise Medical Bills Act. This commonsense piece of legislation will give patients peace of mind that an unexpected medical bill will not leave them in financial ruin, while setting up a fair, neutral process to resolve billing disputes between insurers and providers or hospitals. For far too long, costly unexpected medical bills have caused financial stress, negatively impacting patients and their families all across the Nation. That is why our bill bans the practice of billing patients for unanticipated out-of-network care. It is not fair. The patients may be incapacitated in an emergency or may have selected a facility that they believe is in network, to be met with a costly medical bill, all because one provider was out of network. Similarly, providers are between a rock and a hard place because a Federal law called EMTALA requires them to provide care regardless of their ability to pay. Our bill resolves this by setting up a baseball- style arbitration between the medical provider and the insurer to compensate providers for care. A similar New York State law has been proven successful with out-of- pocket billing records declining by 34 percent after 3 years. It is time that all States have these protections. I urge support for this approach.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to once again rise to join in commemorating June 20, 2019, as American Eagle Day and to celebrate the recovery and restoration of the bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States. On June 20, 1782, the eagle was designated as the national emblem of the United States by the Founding Fathers at the Second Continental Congress. The bald eagle is the central image of the Great Seal of the United States and is displayed in the official seal of many branches and departments of the Federal Government. The bald eagle is an inspiring symbol of the spirit of freedom and democracy of the United States. Since the founding of the Nation, the image, meaning, and symbolism of the eagle has played a significant role in art, music, history, commerce, literature, architecture, and culture of the United States. The bald eagle's habitat only exists in North America. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in celebrating June 20, 2019, as American Eagle Day, which marks the recovery and restoration of the bald eagle.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chair, I strongly support this amendment and the HHS conscience rule. As a staunch pro-life OB/GYN physician who practiced for over 31 years and delivered nearly 5,000 babies, it sickens me to think that we would force a healthcare provider to perform a procedure that violates their conscience or religious beliefs. Although it may come as a shock to some Democrats to learn that many providers are pro-life and forcing them to choose between their legitimate, sincerely-held beliefs and the law is wrong, removing this rule can't force me or other healthcare providers to violate our conscience. This is a simple concept. Doctors and other healthcare professionals should not be forced to perform or participate in abortions, assisted suicide, or any other service that would violate their conscience. Opponents of the HHS rule will tell you that the rule is about denial of care. They will tell you that the rule is intended to allow discrimination. There could be nothing further from the truth. The HHS rule protects healthcare providers from discrimination if they choose to act according to their conscience. We have a First Amendment right to practice our religion in America, and the government forcing someone to act in a way that violates those beliefs is in direct opposition to the very foundation of our Constitution. This is not about forcing a medical provider's religious beliefs or my beliefs on anyone. This is about not forcing a medical provider to abandon their beliefs due to an arbitrary government action. The HHS conscience rule is a moral rule, and I oppose efforts to block its implementation in this appropriations bill. I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my good friend from Arkansas' amendment. This bill contains a line item directing $100 million be spent on the ACA navigator program. Unless I am mistaken, just last month, House Democrats decided it was more important to play politics than consider legitimate, bipartisan proposals to address the constantly increasing healthcare costs. Madam Chair, in Tennessee, since the ACA went into effect, our premiums have gone up in the ACA silo 174 percent. We remember long ago the claim that the ACA would eliminate constantly increasing healthcare costs and included $100 million for the navigator program in that bill. How many times will we go through this exercise before my colleagues on the other side of the aisle realize this program just doesn't work? I have never heard of a government program in the history of the country that suddenly started to work without making any changes by simply throwing $100 million at it. Madam Chair, we can't do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. In plan year 2017, the navigators received $62.5 million and enrolled 81,426 people. With just over 8 million enrollees for 2019, I am not sure how in the world it makes sense to spend $768 per enrollee to sign them up. Now House Democrats want to nearly double that money for a program that has been shown to be ineffective in its sole function, just to enroll people in the ACA. With ObamaCare enrollment nearly 20 million people below the original CBO estimate this year--and over 3 million more people gaining private, employer-sponsored coverage over the last 2 years because of the strong economy and job market--we should be using this money for programs that actually work. I support this amendment that eliminates this line-item funding mandate because I offered a similar amendment that Democratic leadership decided was not in order. It would have moved the money from the navigator program to the substance abuse treatment fund, allowing additional grants to treat those suffering from substance abuse disorders, which actually would save lives. Madam Chair, let's stop wasting time and money on programs that don't work and support those that do. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I would like to associate my comments with the chairman's comments about women's suffrage 100th anniversary today. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2359, as amended, the Whole Veteran Act. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to submit a report to Congress on the implementation of the whole health initiative and include information in the report about the availability of a number of complementary and alternative treatments like meditation, acupuncture, yoga, and equine therapy. VA's whole health initiative is a component of Secretary Wilkie's plan to transform the Veterans Health Administration into a more innovative, holistic, and veteran-centric healthcare system that puts veteran patients in the driver's seat. I support the Secretary in that effort wholeheartedly, and I look forward to seeing how it will yield improved outcomes and satisfaction among veterans across the country. The dissemination of best practices and complementary and alternative approaches to pain management is particularly important, given the ongoing opioid crisis that continues to plague our Nation. I thank Congressman Conor Lamb from Pennsylvania for sponsoring this bill and Congressman Barr from Kentucky for improving it with his tireless advocacy for equine therapy. I encourage all Members to join me in supporting it. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time. I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I, too, want to encourage all Members to support this. We, in 2003, spent about $2 billion on mental health and PTSD treatment at the VA; in this year's budget, it is $8.5 billion. And we have not moved the needle at all on the number of veterans committing suicide. So I think this is a great idea to see if we can use an alternative treatment to help lower this way-too-high rate and help. When you think about 20 people a day dying of suicide, by their own hands, it is heartbreaking. So I encourage all Members to vote for this. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.