Keith Rothfus

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to paint a picture of the incredible progress of an industry that is making my district in western Pennsylvania a better place to work and live. For many years, the coal industry has been an important part of the economy in Pennsylvania. Historic mining activity, unfortunately, left behind large piles of coal refuse. These piles consist of lower-quality coal mixed with rock and dirt. For a long time, we did not have the technology to use this material, so it accumulated in large piles in cities and towns, close to schools and neighborhoods, and in fields across the region. This has led to a number of environmental problems: vegetation and wildlife have been harmed, the air has been polluted, acid mine drainage has impaired nearby rivers and streams, and problems compound when these piles catch fire. The cost to clean up all of this is astronomical. Pennsylvania's environmental regulator estimates that fixing abandoned mine lands could take over $16 billion, $2 billion of which would be needed for the coal refuse piles alone. We needed an innovative solution to this tough challenge. A commonsense compromise was necessary to get the job done and protect the environment. That is where the coal refuse to energy industry comes in. Using advanced technology, they have been able to use this previously unusable fuel to generate electricity. This activity powers remediation efforts that have, so far, been successful in removing over 200 million tons of coal refuse and repairing formerly polluted sites. I visited the Nanty Glo waste coal site, in my district, earlier this week and witnessed the massive transformation this area has undergone. In this picture, you can see an example of the progress that has been made across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the foreground are the remnants of a coal refuse pile that is up to 40 feet deep. In the distance, you can see what used to be a coal refuse pile that is almost completely restored. A little bit of work remains. This hillside has been restored, and, soon, it will be covered with trees and wildlife. This is an example of the environmental progress that is being made. The Nanty Glo site is one of the many examples of the good work being done by the coal refuse energy industry in Pennsylvania and in historic coal sites across the country. We can all agree that we want to be good stewards of our natural resources and to use them as efficiently as possible. We also want to ensure that regulations do not hamper job creation, the economy, and opportunity for our families. Unfortunately, expanding EPA regulations threatens to bring much of the waste coal industry's activity to a halt. That would leave billions of dollars of vital cleanup unfinished and hurt jobs and Pennsylvania's energy security. A lot of people in Washington like to offer up a false choice between protecting the environment and economic opportunity. The success of the coal refuse industry shows that that does not have to be the case. This week I am introducing a commonsense approach to keeping these facilities open while holding them to tough standards. We are calling this bill the Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act, or SENSE Act, for short. The bill addresses problems arising from two of the EPA's more expansive rules: the mercury and air toxin standards and the Cross- State Air Pollution Rule, known as CSAPR. Under CSAPR, which relies on allocations to limit emissions, we are requesting that the status quo remain in place with regard to sulphur dioxide emissions for bituminous coal refuse-fired power generators. Due to the nature of the coal refuse, these facilities would be unable to comply with a new standard that is expected in 2017. Under the mercury and air toxin standards rule, we are proposing to hold the industry to alternative limits for hydrogen chloride or sulphur dioxide emissions. Consistent with this legislation, Senators Toomey and Casey recently offered an amendment in the Senate exempting these plans from both the MATS and CSAPR requirements. While this proposal was supported by a bipartisan majority of Senators, it failed to achieve the supermajority required to pass. This shouldn't be a controversial or partisan issue. We want to hold this industry to high standards, but standards that they can actually achieve. My bill will help keep the coal refuse industry in business so that the local community, economy, and environment will continue to reap the benefits. The fact that this industry performs such a vital environmental function means that we owe it to our communities to recognize these circumstances and do everything we can to allow them to keep up the good work. Dennis Simmers, an engineer with Colver Power Project in Cambria Township and a long-time resident of the area, told me why he hopes my legislation is signed into law and the waste coal industry can go forward. ``It's personal,'' he said. ``Three generations of my family lived in Nanty Glo. Unfortunately, they died without ever seeing this environmental catastrophe corrected. There is a real shot now that I will see that in my lifetime.'' With my legislation, I am working to ensure his vision becomes a reality.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate an outstanding student scientist in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, Amulya Garimella. She is one of 10 finalists from across the Nation in the 2015 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. The challenge posed to student scientists across the country was to develop an invention that positively impacts the community. Amulya's proposal for a distraction-monitoring system that alerts users to distraction by measuring EEG brainwaves earned her a place as a finalist, and her selection is well deserved. Amulya worked directly with a 3M scientist during a summer mentorship program to transform her concept into an actual prototype. She will present her invention during the competition's final event, which will take place next week at the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. As an ardent supporter of STEM education in western Pennsylvania, I am very glad that one of our own students is representing us in this exciting competition. I know Amulya has made her family and teachers proud, and Pennsylvania can be proud of her as well. She stands out as one of tomorrow's brightest leaders in science and technology. Her accomplishments serve as an inspiration for other young people. It is students like Amulya that will help keep America a leader in scientific and technological innovation in a global economy. I wish Amulya all the best in the rest of the competition and congratulate her again on everything she has already achieved.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank my colleague, Mr. Meehan from Pennsylvania, for introducing this very important piece of legislation. The President's nuclear agreement with Iran provides them with billions in frozen assets and sanctions relief. One needs only to look at recent history to know exactly what Iran will do with this financial windfall. While pursuing a nuclear bomb, Iran has been engaged in a decades- long campaign of terror that resulted in the deaths of many, many Americans. They continue to bankroll proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi rebels. Atrocities like the Beirut marine barracks bombing, the murder of Bobby Stethem on TWA flight 847, Khobar Towers, and the kidnapping of CIA Agent William Buckley, are just a small taste of what Iranian state-sponsored terrorism has wrought. This bill is about everyday Americans getting justice. Americans like the family of Beaver County native Major John Macroglou, the highest ranking officer killed in the attack on the Beirut marine barracks. Victims of Iranian terrorism have successfully brought suit in U.S. courts, yet billions in judgments remain unpaid. The Obama administration failed to secure restitution for the victims of Iran in its negotiations with this country, but this legislation can rectify this wrong. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for hosting the first-ever Kraft Hockeyville USA game this week and the Pittsburgh Penguins for their 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the game. The Kraft competition to choose America's Hockeyville was conducted in partnership with the National Hockey League Players' Association and the National Hockey League. Towns across the country submitted stories showing their passion for hockey, and more than 20 million votes were cast. But as the contest results revealed, few places in America love hockey like Johnstown does, and Johnstown rightly deserves the title, ``Hockeyville, USA.'' Johnstown was the home of the fictional hockey team the Charleston Chiefs in the 1977 movie, ``Slap Shot.'' Scenes from the movie were filmed at Cambria County War Memorial Arena. We also can't forget the Johnstown Jets, who played here from 1950 to 1977 and won five Eastern Hockey League championships from 1951 to 1962. As Penguins coach Mike Johnston said after the Penguins' victory: ``It's a great arena. The excitement in the building, the excitement in town, I just think it's special.''

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Madam Speaker, to reflect on what the gentleman from California was saying, recalling the testimony last week of survivors of abortion, their stories are remarkable. They show the deep appreciation that they have for their lives, and they are so grateful to have survived the attacks on their life. So many others who did not survive will never have the chance to express such gratitude. We also know that ultrasound technology allows us to see how unborn children grow and develop; their humanity is abundantly clear and so should be their right to life. Our Declaration of Independence recognizes that the right to life is inalienable. It is given by our Creator. Indeed, President Kennedy, 54 years ago, pushed back against those who would undermine this fundamental precept of our Nation when he recognized that ``the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.'' Giving abortion survivors the same care and legal protection that any other child born at the same level of gestation would receive at birth is humane and essential. It also complies with the equal protection bedrock of our country.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Madam Speaker, what we have learned about Planned Parenthood through these videos is appalling, barbaric, and indefensible. Here are some of the quotes: We've been very good at getting heart, lung, liver . . . so I'm not gonna crush that part. Using a ``less crunchy'' technique to get more whole specimens. We're going to procure brain . . . so what you do is you go through the face . . . And when discussing the sale of body parts, a Planned Parenthood official asks: Well, why don't you start by telling me what you're used to paying? Madam Speaker, our Nation is so much better than this. The cold indifference shown in these videos is the inevitable result for an organization that does hundreds of thousands of abortions every year. Federally funded clinics that serve women's health and do not perform abortions outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics by between two to one. Let's send the funds to those clinics. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, in just a matter of days, we will welcome Pope Francis to the Nation's Capital. Pope Francis is the 266th Bishop of Rome, following a line of succession that goes all the way back to St. Peter 2,000 years ago. The sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew teaches that Jesus told Peter that he would be the rock on whom Jesus would build his church. Now, for the first time in history, Peter's successor will address Congress. Here is an interesting perspective: America remains a young Nation compared to the 2,000-year-old Catholic church. While we have had 44 different Presidents--President Obama is the 45th President because count Grover Cleveland as the 22nd and 24th President--just 16 of the church's 266 popes have governed the church since 1776. The Pope's visit offers all Americans, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, a chance to reflect on the great issues of the day, including the sanctity of life, threats to the family, religious freedom, economic justice, care for the less fortunate, war and peace, and stewardship of the Earth. Pope Francis' visit is an invitation to dialogue, and I look forward to his address.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the brave men and women lost on September 11. Last week, I visited a windswept meadow in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, just outside my district, which, until 14 years ago, had little meaning for this country. At 10 a.m. that day, the quiet of that field was shattered as 40 Americans successfully thwarted an attack on the Nation's capital. They, like 2,700 other individuals that day, lost their lives as a result of acts of raw evil. Quiet has returned to that field, but, today, there exists at the site a memorial and a new visitor center that opened yesterday. I visited the site last week, and it amazed me how fresh the memories of that horrible day remain. The remembrances are unforgettable, from the timeline embedded within the walk that follows Flight 93's path-- 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m.--to the words of the passengers from phone calls that were made that day. Let's draw inspiration from the brave sacrifices made by so many Americans that day; and let's, today, renew the commitment we all felt in the days after September 11 to reinvigorate, heal, and strengthen our Nation.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this resolution and against this disastrous nuclear agreement with Iran. The actions that Iran will be allowed to pursue under this agreement are a direct threat to the United States and to our allies, and it falls far short of the commitment the President made to the American people, which is to verifiably prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Under the deal, Iran will maintain a robust nuclear infrastructure. They will be able to conduct research on advanced centrifuges that are capable of rapidly enriching uranium and developing ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying a bomb to Israel, Europe, or the United States. Instead of anytime, anywhere inspections, the bureaucratic process ensures lengthy delays, which will allow Iran to cover its tracks. This troubling deal will provide billions of dollars to fund Iran's international terror enterprise even as they call for Israel's annihilation and chant ``death to America.'' It is time to lead the world to a better deal that will result in Iran's forever abandoning its threats to the world. Mr. Speaker, while this House actually votes on the merits of this deal, I know what happened today in the other House of Congress--the Senate. There, almost all Democrats have joined to block a vote on this deal. One Democrat who wanted to vote was Senator Schumer of New York. Senator Schumer released a statement last month that showed he understands the serious defects of this deal--from the inadequate inspections to the billions that will flow into Iran's terror enterprise. Because of these defects, Senator Schumer concluded, we will be worse off with this agreement than without it. But there is another choice, Mr. Speaker--a better deal--one negotiated with a clear understanding of the nature of our enemy. I ask my colleagues to reject this deal, to encourage the President to go back to the negotiating table, and to vote ``no'' on this resolution.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the VA Accountability Act. In his recent remarks at the VFW national convention in Pittsburgh, Barack Obama discussed the outbreak of Legionnaire's disease at the Pittsburgh VA that killed six veterans and sickened many more. The Office of the Inspector General concluded that systemic failures and mismanagement at the VA were to blame for the outbreak, and the President stated unequivocally: ``Whenever there are any missteps, there is no excuse.'' Mr. Chairman, that is the essence of the VA Accountability Act. With the enactment of this important legislation, there is no longer any excuse for chronic dysfunction at the VA. There is no excuse for the VA keeping bad employees, placing them on indefinite paid leave, or rewarding them with lavish bonuses. There is no excuse for the VA looking the other way when there is retaliation against courageous whistleblowers. Simply put, this legislation ensures that there is no excuse for the VA failing our veterans and their families anymore. I thank the committee for its hard work on this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the REINS Act. For far too long, Congress has allowed unelected Federal bureaucrats to take responsibility for the policymaking in this town. Too often, these unaccountable individuals in Washington make decisions that affect the daily lives of western Pennsylvanians with little regard for how they impact one's livelihood and family. For instance, we learned a month ago in a Supreme Court decision that one agency, the EPA, failed to appropriately consider the costs and benefits of its MATS proposal, which is estimated to cost $9 billion, with a benefit of only $4 million to $6 million. Solid, middle class jobs like those in some parts of the energy industry and in my district are being regulated right out of existence. More broadly, consider that in 2015, thus far, more than 150 regulations have been finalized, with total costs exceeding $60 billion and more than 10 million hours of paperwork. It is this unaccountable culture that hinders the very job creation and economic growth we need in cities and towns across America that will provide opportunities for Americans to get back in the game and to get this country back on track. There is a bigger issue here, Mr. Chairman, and that is what is represented in this bill. It goes to the constitutional structure of our government, where we are supposed to have an executive branch that is supposed to enforce the law, a legislative branch that makes the law, and a judicial branch that adjudicates the law. For close to 100 years, this body has ceded responsibility for making laws to the executive branch. This bill is a start towards restoring the proper structure of government and accountability. When regulations are passed that people don't agree with, there is no way to hold those regulators accountable; but if Congress had a say, you could hold Congress accountable. This is what self-government is all about. I reflect on 34 years ago, when a certain gentleman spoke on the west front of this Capitol and had these words to say: ``From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?'' I thank Mr. Young and the committee for its work on the REINS Act. I urge my colleagues to support this bill as a means to restoring the original, proper constitutional structure of who is responsible for the laws that come out of this town. You would think that Members of Congress would want to take credit for good regulations and protect people from bad regulations. Again, that is what this legislation does.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, it is painful to hear the words in the recently released video showing Planned Parenthood trafficking in body parts. At one point, the doctor talks about a customer wanting ``lower extremities,'' that is legs in everyday language. ``I don't know what they are going to do with it. Maybe they want muscle,'' she says. These are legs that will never run to a mom or a dad, never run to a brother or a sister, never run to a spouse, never run to protect another child. It has been 42 years since the Supreme Court did what Justice White called an exercise of raw judicial power. Since then, we have seen more than 55 million abortions in this country; yet we are still shocked by what these videos show. This is a teaching moment, Mr. Speaker. There is a lot of pain implicit in these videos, pain for kids, pain for moms, pain for dads and families. Perhaps these videos can become the moment where our Nation can begin to heal that pain. Stopping taxpayer dollars flowing to organizations responsible for this horror is a good place to start that healing.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, this week, President Obama announced a nuclear agreement with Iran that falls far short of the commitments he made to the American people. This agreement simply does not stop Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. It lifts an arms embargo against the world's number one state sponsor of terror. It also opens the possibility for Iran to acquire ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in the world. The President's agreement ends sanctions, frees up hundreds of billions to help Iran's economy, and will allow an unrepentant Iran to finance terrorism around the world, undermining the safety and security of the United States, Israel, and our allies. Never forget Iran is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American servicemembers, from Beirut to Baghdad, and beyond. The initial ``anytime, anywhere access'' standard for monitoring Iran's nuclear program is replaced with ``managed access,'' where we have to ask permission before entering suspected facilities. This deal does not make the world safer. Far from ending the potential of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, it all but guarantees one.

Mr. ROTHFUS

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

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This summer, thousands of Americans will load the kids into the car and set out on a trip to visit one of our country's historic national parks. Whether it is to see the stunning valleys of the Grand Canyon or the towering stone faces etched into Mt. Rushmore, tens of millions of families arrive at national park destinations each year. As some may know, the National Park Service has implemented a policy allowing parks to ban the sale of bottled water, and only bottled water, at park concessions. I understand that the Park Service is concerned about waste left behind by visitors. We all agree that protecting our national parks is a laudable goal. However, banning the sale of bottled water is not the best way to go about it. In blocking the sale of bottled water at our parks, we are depriving millions of Americans access to a healthy and necessary beverage that park visitors rely on. This is especially true in the hot summer months. Families who don't own expensive camping equipment and aren't experienced hikers and climbers will be surprised to find out that they can't buy their child a bottle of water at one of our national parks. Nineteen national parks have adopted or plan to adopt a bottled water ban. This includes the Grand Canyon National Park. Temperatures at the Grand Canyon just this week will top 100 degrees. Visitors who may have forgotten or have run out of water could be put at risk of dehydration. Banning bottled water defies common sense. Even the Park Service admits that the ban ``could affect visitor safety'' and ``eliminates the healthiest choice for bottled drinks, leaving sugary drinks as a primary alternative.'' The policy runs counter to the Park Service's own Healthy Parks Healthy People initiative, which urges visitors to make healthy food choices because, remember, bottled water, and only bottled water, is banned from being sold at concessions. Some argue that the ban is necessary to reduce waste. But the National Park Service has confirmed that participating parks haven't been able to determine if the policy works. To start, we know parks don't separately analyze recycled waste visitors leave behind. Parks simply can't say whether the ban has worked. It is also worth noting that studies conducted on similar water bans show that they aren't effective in reducing waste. A study in the American Journal of Public Health found the bottled water bans on college campuses had unintended consequences. Eliminating bottled water did not, in fact, reduce waste, but actually led to a spike in sales and increased shipments of packaged beverages. Mr. Chairman, we all support efforts to protect our parks. All we ask today is that the National Park Service carefully consider its policies. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire how much time is remaining?

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers).

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment for the convenience of consumers and also in light of the fact that studies show that it is not having an impact. I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert).

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I heard the discussion going on about today's Supreme Court decision, and I, too, am very troubled by what I read today. To me, there are a couple of big issues at play here. One is accountability and how this Congress 5 years ago rammed through legislation without reading it. We all remember the famous line: ``Pass it to find out what is in it.'' The American people continue to find out what is in it. I heard the President talking today about this law's being woven into the fabric of the country. What is being woven into the fabric of the country are higher premiums, higher deductibles, less choice, more Washington, more bureaucrats, more forcing people to violate their consciences. That is not the way we need to be going. Now we see how the Supreme Court for the second time has allowed, really, a lack of accountability. When we saw in the NFIB case how they said, ``Oh, it is not a penalty; it is a tax,'' there were people in this Chamber who argued for the Affordable Care Act in saying there are no taxes here. Then the Supreme Court absolved them of that responsibility by saying, ``Oh, it is a tax. We will keep it in place.'' Here today is clear language that subsidies would go to only those exchanges that were established by the State. There is a serious problem here, and it is not just with Congress' not being held accountable for the laws it passes; there is a separation of powers issue here as we see another branch of the government invade the lawmaking responsibility that this Congress has. Again, I want to talk about Justice Scalia's dissent here. ``The Court's decision reflects the philosophy that judges should endure whatever interpretive distortions it takes in order to correct a supposed flaw in the statutory machinery. That philosophy ignores the American people's decision to give Congress `all legislative powers' enumerated in the Constitution.'' That is what the Constitution says. ``They made Congress, not this Court, responsible for both making laws and mending them. This Court holds only the judicial power--the power to pronounce the law as Congress has enacted it. We lack the prerogative to repair laws that do not work out in practice, just as the people lack the ability to throw us out of office''--that is, the Supreme Court--``if they dislike the solutions we concoct.'' This is the Congress' responsibility to amend the laws, not the Supreme Court's. The dissent continues: ``Rather than rewriting the law under the pretense of interpreting it, the Court should have left it to Congress to decide what to do about the Act's limitation of tax credits to State exchanges . . . The Court's insistence on making a choice that should be made by Congress both aggrandizes judicial power and encourages congressional lassitude.'' Mr. Speaker, it is the Congress' job to make law. It is the Court's job to interpret the law, not to rewrite the law as it did in the NFIB case and not to rewrite the law as it did today. I thank the gentleman for raising these very serious issues as to what happened with the Court today.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, this evening, I would like to take some time to remind the American people of the nature of a sworn enemy of the United States, whose leaders to this day, as they have for the past 36 years, continue to chant, ``Death to America.'' That enemy, Mr. Speaker, is Iran. Mr. Speaker, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council--the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China, plus Germany, this group known as the P5+1-- have engaged in negotiations with Iran in an attempt to halt Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Of significant note, unlike the negotiations that we had with North Korea years ago regarding its pursuit of nuclear weapons, those negotiations included the United States and North Korea's neighbors-- China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan. Iran's regional neighbors and closest targets, however--Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel--were not invited to participate in these talks. A framework for an agreement with the P5+1 and Iran was reached in April, but that framework is simply inadequate to halt the regime's march to a nuclear weapon. Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. Such an event would set off a destabilizing arms race in a region of the world that is already afire with sectarian hatred. It is a real threat that Iran would use such a weapon against Israel, Europe, or with its continued development of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles against the United States. Iran's surface-to-surface missile expansion is a threat typically left out of discussions over its nuclear program, but we cannot ignore that Iran has now built itself the largest and most sophisticated long- range missile arsenal in the Middle East. The current nuclear framework agreed to in April represents a significant shift in U.S. policy regarding Iran's nuclear program. Under the agreed upon framework, Iran's nuclear centrifuges will be allowed to keep spinning for the next decade. This is the first Presidential administration to agree to a deal that allows Iran to continue enriching uranium, thereby legitimizing Iran's entire nuclear program. Importantly, the administration's notion that oversight from international atomic inspectors can keep Iran from developing a weapon is simply not true. For over a decade, Iran has evaded the very oversight body tasked with conducting inspections and monitoring its nuclear stockpiles. If the past 15 years are any indication, we know that Iran will incur enormous financial costs and wreck its domestic economy, all to continue enriching uranium and developing and testing nuclear weapons at secret facilities and undeclared sites. In light of the past 15 years, we know Iran will continue to evade the international community just as it did when building and operating its Natanz and Fordow facilities in complete secrecy, concealed from international atomic inspectors. Those who choose can ignore the writing on the wall and whitewash Iran's previous violations of numerous international treaties while continuing to operate its covert nuclear program. Those who choose can ignore the hostile rhetoric that still spews from the mouths of Iran's so-called reformers, including so-called moderates, like President Rouhani, who publicly brags about Iran's ability to deceive the West, using stall tactics at the negotiating table when, all the while, Iran continues making progress behind the scenes on its nuclear program. Mr. Speaker, many of us have grave concerns about the deal being negotiated in that it will leave Iran on the path to nuclear weapons while allowing for the complete relief from the sanctions that forced Iran to the table. I suggest that, even if Iran abandons its path to the bomb, it is completely reasonable to leave the sanctions in place until Iran stops the terror campaign it has been on for the last 36 years. I simply ask fellow Americans to be skeptical of any assurances that Iran has stopped or will stop pursuing a nuclear weapon. Just 6 months ago President Obama used these Iran negotiations to silence critics who oppose his foreign policy. In an interview with CNN, the President suggested that the year-and-a-half of ongoing negotiations with Iran is probably the first time that Iran ``has not advanced its nuclear program in the last decade.'' President Obama didn't stop there. He went on to assure people that this freeze on Iran's nuclear program had been verified by the U.N. and the international atomic inspectors, who acknowledge that Iran has not made progress. Yet, we know now that the opposite is true. In the last 18 months of negotiations, Iran has not frozen its nuclear program, by any stretch, but has actually increased its nuclear stockpiles by 20 percent. Iran's nuclear program is a very serious problem. But it is only one of the dimensions of the threat that Iran poses to the world. It remains only one part of an overall program of terror that has been carried out by Iran for a very long time. I wanted to offer this Special Order about Iran today because it is a very important anniversary. Thirty years ago today Navy Seabee diver Robert Stethem was singled out and murdered by Iranian-backed terrorists because he was a United States servicemember. He was only 23 years old at that time, the same age that I was. His murder was at the hands of Hezbollah, an Iran-funded militant terror group aboard the hijacked TWA flight 847. We can never forget the barbaric way in which he was murdered and his body subsequently dropped from the plane onto the Beirut runway. Master chief constructionman Stethem, we will never forget the sacrifice you gave for our country, and together we pray for your family. Robert was born in Connecticut to parents Richard and Patricia Stethem. Just as his mother and father had done, Robert followed his family footsteps and signed up to serve in the U.S. Navy shortly before he would celebrate his 20th birthday. He was returning from an assignment in Greece aboard TWA flight 847 headed to Beirut when the aircraft was seized by militants. Bobby Stethem never got to pursue the hopes and dreams that every American has: settling down, raising a family, and contributing more of himself to this wonderful, exceptional Nation. His parents lost the comfort and grace of seeing a son grow old, and his siblings lost a lifelong friend and companion. And lest we forget, it was Iranian- backed terrorists who put an end to this young life. Bobby Stethem was one victim of Iran's reign of terror. There have been many more. Iran's hostility toward America emerged in full force in 1979 when it failed to protect the American Embassy in Tehran and allowed radical Islamist students to seize the Embassy and take American diplomats and marines hostage, holding 52 of them hostage for 444 days. The attempted rescue of the hostages in April 1980 resulted in the deaths of eight Americans, and Iran bears full responsibility for those deaths. Throughout the 1980s, Iran funded terrorists in Lebanon who were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans. To recall some of the events: Between 1982 and 1992, Iranian-backed Hezbollah systematically kidnapped 96 foreign nationals, 25 of them Americans. At least eight died in captivity. Some were murdered, while others died as a result of inadequate medical attention. On April 18, 1983, Hezbollah bombed the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63, including 17 Americans. Six months later, on October 23, 1983, a Hezbollah suicide bomber drove a truck laden with more than 15,000 pounds of explosives into the U.S. Marine barracks at the Beirut airport, killing 241 marines and wounding more than 100 more. Fifty- eight French paratroopers were also killed. On September 20, 1984, Hezbollah struck again with another bombing, this time carrying out an attack on the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, killing 24 people, including two Americans. The reign of terror moved from the 1980s to the 1990s, when Iranian- backed terrorists attacked the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, killing 19 airmen of the United States Air Force. Iran continued its attacks on Americans throughout the 2000s and the 2010s with its backing of terrorists who killed American servicemembers using IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan. An article from March 2015 quotes a former U.S. war general who served in Iraq and estimates that Iran was responsible for about one-third of U.S. casualties during the war, which amounts to approximately 1,500 sons and daughters of America who never came home alive. In addition to its attacks on Americans, Iran-backed terrorists attacked other nations around the world. In March of 1992, Hezbollah detonated a truck bomb at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people and injuring 240 others. On July 18, 1994, Iran bombed a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which took the lives of 85 innocent civilians and injured more than 300. Again, in July of 2012, Hezbollah operatives claimed responsibility after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb on an Israeli bus in Bulgaria, killing five Israelis and wounding 30 people. Until Iran stops its export of terror and stops its threats to Israel, the United States, and other nations, no sanction relief should be granted. If Iran does not abandon its nuclear ambitions, sanctions should be increased. I am privileged this evening, Mr. Speaker, to be joined by some colleagues. I would like to yield to my colleague from New York, Congressman Lee Zeldin, who represents a part of Long Island. Congressman Zeldin is a great addition to this House, serving in his freshman year, and also a veteran of the U.S. Army. I yield to Congressman Zeldin.

Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank my colleague for his remarks and reminding us of the stakes. Also, Mr. Speaker, in a recent hearing held by the newly formed Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing, one expert we heard from described the threat posed by just one of the many Iranian- backed terror groups. He told us: Hezbollah remains one of the most capable terror organizations in the world. The group's original aims were to establish a radical Shia Islamist theocracy in Lebanon and destroy Israel. However, in recent years Hezbollah has ``established cells and infrastructure in places across the globe, from Latin America and Africa to Europe and Asia.'' As a former Hezbollah leader confirmed years ago, ``Hezbollah has been receiving since 1982 all kinds of moral, political, and material backing from the Islamic Republic of Iran.'' We must consider the implications that lifting sanctions could have on Iran's ability to export terror and finance military operations around the world. To this very day, we know that Iran remains the most active and largest state sponsor of terrorism. The wide array of terror activities Iran either supports financially or militarily include but are not limited to Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, the Houthi in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq, and militants in Afghanistan, while also maintaining its own terrorism apparatus, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Notably, many of the terror financing experts we have heard from throughout our terror task force hearings have emphasized their concerns over the Obama administration's willingness to lift sanctions and free up billions of dollars for the Iranian regime to use at large. Many experts agree that these sanctions have, without a doubt, diminished Iran's ability to support terrorism and proliferation. It is shocking to think that the current administration would provide billions of dollars in a windfall for the Iranian regime in return for promises that Iran will limit its nuclear weapons pursuit without stringent mechanisms that can guarantee Iran will not use that money to send paychecks to militants or the family of militants who plan to use it for attacks against innocent civilians. Sanctions relief will provide money Iran can continue to use to set up and enhance militant training groups for Hezbollah and Hamas and groups in northern Africa. It is money Tehran can continue to send for covert weapons shipments and support terror operations across the globe. Lifting economic sanctions will allow Iran to again use the international banking sector and make it more difficult to prevent them from conducting transfers and finding ways to support illicit terror groups. Mr. Speaker, we must wake up and recognize that the Iranian threat is much greater than the administration would have us believe. The threat is complex, multifaceted, and we must be combating the Iranian regime on multiple fronts instead of providing the regime billions of dollars in bonus money, all for agreeing to cooperate and pretend, if only for a short time, that they will act in good faith and adhere to international law and norms. I am also joined this evening by my colleague from Florida, Congressman Ron DeSantis, himself a veteran of the Navy JAG Corps. He has been outspoken on these issues. I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. DeSantis).

Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank my colleague. There is plenty to consider as the negotiations continue between the P5+1 and Iran as we look forward to what deal will be produced. Again, with the concerns that have been expressed by my colleagues from Florida and New York, we must be vigilant, particularly when you look at the context of what has been happening with Iran over the 36 years. Again, today we mark the sad anniversary of the murder of Bobby Stethem at the hands of Iranian-backed terrorists. Bobby is one of many victims that this Islamic regime out of Iran has been responsible for over nearly four decades. Going forward, an agreement where Iran would not even be required to actually stop enriching uranium merits our grave concern. In light of a final agreement's far-reaching implications for the security of both our allies in the region and our own national defenses, we must be extremely vigilant. As a Member who sits on a House committee that has been tasked with investigating the financial backers that keep international terror groups well-armed and operating, we cannot ignore Iran's leading role in international terror financing. As many experts have warned our Committee, once the administration agrees to lift all economic sanctions and free up billions of dollars to the Iranian regime, there is no guarantee that deepening the regime's pockets will not result in increased financing for acts of terror that will kill innocent people. In addition, contrary to what has been publicly suggested by the President, it will be all but impossible to simply slap those economic sanctions back into effect should Iran break the terms of a final nuclear weapons deal. We must look to the past and consider the present situation. We owe as much to all those who were murdered at the hand of the Iranian regime and by terror groups who would use Iranian money and weapons to take the lives of innocent men, women, and children. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROTHFUS

Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I would just urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important amendment to prevent the premature transfer of Apaches out of the National Guard until the Commission has had the opportunity to do its work. This Congress created the National Commission for the very purpose of studying the impact of transfers such as Apaches out of the Guard after spending billions of dollars, as my colleague from Pennsylvania has said. This was an investment on the part of the taxpayers to build an operational reserve. We should not take this step until the Commission has completed its work. I yield back the balance of my time.

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