Phil Roe

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 198, I call up the bill (H.R. 1181) to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the conditions under which certain persons may be treated as adjudicated mentally incompetent for certain purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. How much time do I have remaining, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 1181.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz), the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a fellow classmate.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Mr. Taylor for his service to our country and to our Nation. I am appreciative of him and his staff for working with us on the amendment. The amendment has, as chair, my full support.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time. Basically, the accountability provisions are the same. I, once again, urge all Members to oppose the Walz amendment and support the underlying bill. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Banks), a new member of our committee who is also in the Reserves serving our Nation in the military.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker: ``If you engage in an unethical practice, if you cover up a serious problem, you should be fired. Period. It shouldn't be that difficult''--Barack Obama at the Veterans Choice Act signing in August of 2014. That is who said that. Yesterday, I had breakfast with the Secretary of the VA. We know that accountability and the VA needs reform. The first thing he said to me when he was there was he needs this accountability act to better manage the VA. What does this bill do, in a nutshell, very quickly? It simply shortens the process instead of taking as much as a year or longer to terminate someone. And we have had people in egregious things they have done. The Phoenix VA issue was mentioned. It took 2 years to get rid of anybody out there. The Secretary says he needs these authorities. It maintains the due process rights of the employees, which is important. It simply shortens the length of time for as much as a year for some people. The VA said it would take 6 months to a year to fire a government employee--or longer. It also has accentuated whistleblower protections, allows the Secretary to recoup bonuses from people who have gotten them illegally. It allows the Secretary to hire people. We have many VA facilities out there that do not have CEOs at this time. Mr. Speaker, I would recommend that we oppose the MTR, and I would strongly encourage my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, in a bipartisan way, to support the underlying bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chair, I agree with my friend on the other side of the aisle that you cannot fire your way to excellence, nor can you grieve your way to excellence. You have to perform your way to excellence. I certainly appreciate his passion for the committee and the hard work that he has done on numerous bills, but, in this particular case, I will urge all Members to oppose the Takano amendment and support the underlying bill in which the Secretary has asked for the authority. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, the amendment would allow a whistleblower who is alleging prohibited personnel practices, as defined in title 38, from being disciplined under the bill until the whistleblower complaint is resolved. The committee has always favored strengthening protections for whistleblowers. My bill already protects whistleblowers, but I am not opposed to Ms. Kuster's amendment and suggested changes, and I appreciate her offering it. The bill has my full support. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, this is an excellent amendment, and I urge support. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I missed Roll Call votes 89, 90 and 91 on February 14, 2017. I missed these votes while attending the swearing-in ceremony at the White House for VA Secretary Shulkin. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 89, YEA on Roll Call No. 90, and YEA on Roll Call No. 91.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 66, a resolution that uses the Congressional Review Act to roll back the Department of Labor's harmful so-called safe harbor rule. This rule allows States to automatically enroll employees in government-run IRAs without the important consumer protections provided by ERISA. This bureaucratic regulation restricts working families' access to essential plan information required to make wise investments, while also increasing the risk for financial mismanagement of State-run IRAs which would ultimately fall on the backs of the taxpayers across the U.S. Mr. Speaker, there is a retirement crisis occurring in this country. The Government Accountability Office reports that 29 percent of Americans age 55 and older have no retirement savings--zero--and no traditional pension plan. Further, nearly 40 million working families also haven't saved a dime for retirement. This is a serious problem, and we must work together across the aisle to pursue policies that make it easier, not harder, for families to save. Unfortunately, the Obama administration's answer to the retirement crisis was less consumer choice and more financial risk. This all started with the Department of Labor's misguided decision to pursue a fiduciary rule which, if implemented, will be a disaster for low and middle class savers. The DOL published a rule that is nearly 1,000 pages to define the word ``fiduciary.'' Let me say that again, a 1,000- page rule to define the word ``fiduciary.'' I hold in my hand Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, which has a few more pages than that to define every word in the English language. This dictionary defines every word in the English language, and it takes a thousand-page rule to define fiduciary. Does anybody think that is going to be better for savers? I seriously doubt it. Thankfully, the President is working to delay its implementation. Here we are today trying to keep yet another misguided rule from the waning days of the last administration from taking effect. It should be no surprise that the Obama administration's safe harbor rule continues to trend toward a lack of consumer choice and more Federal involvement through a patchwork of bureaucracy. Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve the opportunity to choose their retirement savings vehicle and not to be thrust into a government-run IRA that could eventually fall on the backs of their fellow taxpayers to fund. I have worked tirelessly with my colleagues in the House to overturn these harmful regulations, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Trump administration to do just this. I agree with my colleagues across the aisle wholeheartedly that we need to work together to encourage and create policies that encourage the American people to save for their retirement. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today and urge all Members to support H.R. 512, as amended, the WINGMAN Act. First, I want to say a special thanks to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), our colleagues, for introducing the WINGMAN Act. This bill will help Members cut through the red tape and help constituents who have applied for benefits from VA. Isn't that why we are here, to help our constituents? The problem is that when a constituent calls one of our offices to ask about the status of a claim for benefits, the only thing we can do is write VA and wait for the VA to respond. I know I get very frustrated, and I am sure my colleagues do as well, with how long it takes for the VA to get back to us. The WINGMAN Act provides a simple solution. The bill allows designated, permanent, full-time congressional staffers to look up the status of a claim on VA's database, but only if the veteran has given the staffer permission. Staffers would have read-only access to VA databases, meaning they wouldn't be able to add or remove any information. Passing H.R. 512, as amended, would allow Members to help constituents who simply want to understand the status of their claim for benefits. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 512, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 512) to title 38, United States Code, to permit veterans to grant access to their records in the databases of the Veterans Benefits Administration to certain designated congressional employees, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) control the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I think this is an amazing story that Mr. Kelly shared before us. I had a history professor in college who survived the Bataan Death March. He spent 3\1/2\ years in the same--I wonder if these two men knew each other. He, indeed, too, was a remarkable man. I can think of no better honor in Butler, Pennsylvania, than to honor his memory by naming this medical center. Once again, I encourage all Members to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), my friend and colleague.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 609) to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as the ``Abie Abraham VA Clinic''.