David Scott

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, during the votes held on May 17, 2018, I unintentionally voted No on the Foxx amendment to H.R. 2. I am fully committed to reforming the sugar program and increasing access to the world market for our food manufacturers and lowering food costs for all Americans.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, let me make it very clear at the very beginning, that this is a racist farm bill. Make no mistake about it. The good Lord said: Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And the truth is that this is, unfortunately, a racist farm bill. Let me tell you why. After the Civil War when the South was utterly destroyed, they established land-grant colleges, and then 30 years later, because there was so much struggle without adequate freedom for my people--African Americans--they established the 1890 land-grant colleges because they had Plessy v. Ferguson, the separate but equal doctrine. Yeah, they were separated already, but never equal. These 1890 colleges have never gotten the financial support that they have needed to even come close to the White 1860s that were there. And so we tried to make amends in this farm bill to come up with a very noble idea. With the shortage of younger people not going into agriculture, not going into science and technology and research to feed the future, we established scholarships to go to the 1890s. But you know what? When they took our bill, put it into the farm bill, they took the money out--just like they did back in the 1890s. Black people in this country have suffered too long, and we need to put a stop to it. I am here. I know that this House will not put the money back in. It was just $1 million a year for each of the 5 years to try to get people in. And these land grants knew.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Every Black man does not necessarily want to play football or basketball. They want to feed the future. This is a terrible bill.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. * * *

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. * * *

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman, well, my friend, you got that right. Zell Miller was my friend, my partner, and my mentor. I got into politics quite a little bit early, just as I graduated from the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania, and landed in Atlanta. Two years later, getting down there--you mentioned Andy, getting in his campaign. And then 2 years later, there I am winding up in the Georgia House of Representatives. So my story intersects on so many different angles and ways with that of Zell Miller, and I can truly stand here and tell each of you that I truly loved this man, and I still do; and I would not be standing here as a Member of Congress if it weren't for that friendship, that partnership, and that mentorship with Zell Miller. Let me, perhaps, I think, as I tell you about this, I am thinking of a scripture that best sets the story for this great man; that evolves everything, the history and the steps, the many positions, all that he had done. Before I get to that scripture, Zell Miller helped me. I mean, I got there as a young person. I got over in the Senate. My two Senate officemates, one was Paul Coverdell, the other Julian Bond. And with us three, Zell Miller called us three his three horsemen. It was then that he was laying the foundation for that vision, for the HOPE Scholarship. Zell Miller appointed me to be chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee; first African American at that position. But more than that, he appointed me at that position at a time when he was giving birth to one of the greatest public affairs programs in Georgia history, the HOPE Scholarship. And for me to be there as the chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, in that pivotal position, and then to be able to go across Georgia in churches and schools and help sell the HOPE Scholarship and what it meant, and then that paved the way for me to later become Rules Chairman with Zell's endorsement. So there I was, as Rules Chairman; as you know, Buddy, nothing gets on that calendar if it don't get through the Rules Committee. And I was there to make sure none of those bills--because you know it was tough. They had other bills coming to try to remove the HOPE Scholarship. So let me just conclude by sharing with you what his life meant to me and, I think, to the Nation and the world is best captured in God's first psalm. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, or sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in the law of the Lord he does meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, bringing forth his fruit in his due season. And none of his leaves will ever wither, and everything, everything, whatsoever he does, shall prosper. Such a man was Zell Miller. God bless you, Zell Miller, and I thank God for sending Zell Miller our way.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, during the votes held on April 13th, 2018, I was away handling important matters related to my District and attending my 15th Annual Jobs Fair held in Atlanta. If I had been present I would have voted ``yes'' on H.R. 4790--the Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act. personal explanation

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Hensarling and my distinguished ranking member, who has some very serious concerns. I want to take a moment to explain that the bill is basically my bipartisan amendment that Mr. Zeldin and I worked on that passed in committee, and I think it is very important for me to work through this to explain how it will not affect as my ranking member has stated. However, I want to make sure that people know we have got things in here to address. It keeps intact the essence of what we were trying to accomplish with stress tests in Dodd-Frank. Now, my amendment essentially rewrote this bill, as I said, so that we are left with just three simple things, tweaks that we are making. The first one is, in today's CCAR test, banks are now required to run stress tests that have, one, a baseline, adverse, and severely adverse scenario. My amendment simply removes the adverse requirement. And why is that? Because, in talking about how we can stimulate more growth for our banks while at the same time maintaining the proper stress test, we heard that the adverse scenario rarely proved or shed any light on the health of the bank that isn't already shown when testing a bank for a severely adverse scenario. So we didn't need the other one if one is doing it, and so we eliminated that. Secondly, my amendment eliminated the Fed's ability to reject a capital plan solely on what we refer to as the qualitative portion of the test. Now, Mr. Speaker, we did this because stress tests are tests of both the bank's books, which is the quantitative side, and a test of the bank's internal controls, which is the qualitative side. So rejecting a capital plan solely on the qualitative portion of the test generates a lot of uncertainty within our banking system for banks, and it is something that the Federal regulators already, earlier last year, stopped requiring the banks under $250 million from having to do. So we simply removed that. And then, lastly, my amendment eliminated the midyear tests that banks are required to do internally. Why did we do that? Because right now, if you are a bank above a certain asset size, you are required to do internal tests. My amendment just changes this so that the tests are done.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to urge my colleagues who are looking at this that I very carefully listened to my ranking member, and I have made sure, when we worked it in the process, that we adhered to that. No phase of this stress test is eliminated. And the thing I want to add, over in the Senate, in the reg bill, S. 2155, two of the three parts of this bill and my amendment are already captured in S. 2155, which received 67 bipartisan votes. So it is with gracious affection to my ranking member, because oftentimes we have to work together, and respect to my chairman that I urge all our Members, both Democrats and Republicans, to support this very important and worthwhile legislation.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an extraordinary Georgian and a great American, Lasa Joiner. Lasa has been involved in Georgia legislative issues for over thirty years, and is well known throughout the State of Georgia and around the country for her interest and expertise in mental health issues. Lasa Joiner first began serving as an advocate for and advisor to the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association during the 1988 Session of the Georgia General Assembly and became their Executive Director in 2003. So respected for her leadership, the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association awarded her with the 2008 Dancing Elephant Award for excellence in administrative leadership. Lasa was the first woman to Chair the Board of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, the largest department in state government. She also chaired the Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Committee and the Rehabilitation Services Committee. Lasa Joiner's years of outstanding advocacy for psychiatric professionals and their patients and her tireless efforts to improve access to quality mental health care in Georgia, have undeniably made our state a better place for all of its residents. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Lasa Joiner on her retirement, and extend my sincerest wishes for her continued health and happiness. God bless Lasa Joiner.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I stand to anchor this special hour because this Nation is faced with a very serious threat. As a matter of fact, it is a devious threat to the labor unions, our great labor unions that have played a most fundamental role in establishing the greatness of the economy of our great Nation. Mr. Speaker, this evening, first I want to thank the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Mr. Cedric Richmond from Louisiana, for his great leadership. I appreciate him giving me this opportunity to anchor this special hour. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the staffs of the CBC, Ms. Caren Street, who has worked very closely with my staffer, Ms. Seema Ibrahim, who has done a remarkable job. Our whole team of many Congressmen from every sector of this country, every part of this country, is going to come before this House of Representatives in these next 60 minutes to explain and expose to the American people two important things. First of all, we want to illustrate our deep understanding of the great value of the labor unions to this great country. We also want to expose the great threat that is now being faced by our labor unions. The first group of our labor unions that is facing this threat are the public sector unions, most pointedly because in a matter of a few weeks, the Supreme Court will take up a case, Janus v. AFSCME. This Janus case is designed to remove what has already been established as the constitutionality of public service unions to be able to mandate fees and dues for their membership, which will be a catastrophic threat to the survival of these unions. So we want to explain that. We want to also share the greatness of this. So this is where we are. I want to ask those who are listening over C-SPAN tonight all across this country to call a neighbor, call a friend, tell them to tune in and listen to these Members of Congress pour out the truth about what is at stake with this Janus court case that will be coming up before the Supreme Court. The first union that will be dealt with is AFSCME, but it is far more than just AFSCME. It is the public sector unions that will be ruled as to whether it is constitutional or not for them to have dues to be able to play. This case comes from an individual, Mr. Janus, in Illinois who disagreed with political endorsements. What is important to understand going forward, Mr. Speaker, is that the constitutionality has already been upheld. On top of that, if there is any union member who does not agree with those political endorsements, he has a right to get a financial rebate for that part of the dues that will go to political endorsements. So if Mr. Janus' concerns have been dealt with, then why this case? That is the Achilles' heel that will prove the deviousness of what is before us. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I bring on our first speaker. This gentleman, Representative Bobby Scott, is the ranking member of our Education and the Workforce Committee. On top of that, he is a fierce fighter for working families and he is a leader in making sure that labor unions will continue to have the rights that they fought so hard for. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. It is very important, as he has mentioned, to note that we are talking about not just AFSCME, as I said, but we are talking about nurses unions, educators, the teachers that teach our children, our police, firefighters, everyone. It is very important that the people of this country really get informed about this. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Representative Dwight Evans, who normally anchors this hour and does a great job.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), a leader and a fighter from the very State where Mr. Janus is from.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased that the gentleman mentioned the important fact of the fantastic role that labor has played. Without organized labor, there would be no middle class in America. There would be no 40-hour workweek. Child labor laws would not be on the books. The role that organized labor has played cannot be communicated better than our next speaker, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who is a legend in standing up and fighting for working people and labor unions. I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is so right that the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) mentioned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., because this year is the 50th anniversary of his assassination. And what was he doing? As you pointed out, he was in Memphis helping the garbage workers. It was Local 1733 that had just got their charter. And when the threats were out about him, they wanted him to leave. He said: ``No. I don't know what would happen. We have got some difficult days ahead, but I just want to do God's will.'' Mr. Speaker, that is what we are doing here tonight. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I yield to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver), a dear friend, a leader in the fight for unions and working people who loves this Nation immensely, and who works with me on the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Reverend Cleaver for his comments. Mr. Speaker, there are 7.1 million members of just the public sector unions. Thirty-four percent of all of the employees in public service belong to unions, and this Supreme Court case would be devastating to these 7.1 million families. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke), who serves on the very influential Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it was so good of the gentlewoman to mention the why in all of this because, Mr. Speaker, in 1977, 41 years ago, in the Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, it was ruled constitutional, and now they want to come back 41 years later and say it is not constitutional. That is the big why we are going to get to answer as we move with these great speeches from our Members from across the country. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison), a tireless fighter for working people, who is also the vice chairman of our Congressional Progressive Caucus as well as the vice chairman of our Democratic National Committee and a good friend. We work together on the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ellison for his comments. Well done. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee). And you talk about a fearless fighter, Mr. Speaker, Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee for her comments. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the Congressman from the great State of New Jersey (Mr. Payne), who is a strong fighter on behalf of unions.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I really appreciate that. I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), who is a leader on the Judiciary Committee and who knows full well how wrong it would be for the Supreme Court to reverse itself and take away a right that was given to labor unions just 41 years ago and then switch it back. That is not fair.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. I thank the gentleman so much for his comments. It is with great pleasure that I yield to the gentlewoman from Delaware (Ms. Blunt Rochester), who also served as the former secretary of labor of Delaware, whom I have worked with on our Agriculture Committee.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it is very important to recognize that Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee is a senior member of the Judiciary Committee as well and has vowed to lead this fight in the committee, and we appreciate that. It gives me great pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from Orlando, Florida (Mrs. Demings). And may I say, Mr. Speaker, that Mrs. Demings is the former chief of police of Orlando. Who better to speak to the damage that this Supreme Court Janus decision could have on our police officers than the former chief of police.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck), a strong fighter for labor unions.

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).