Pat Tiberi

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, it has truly been the most remarkable honor to serve the people of Ohio's 12th Congressional District in central Ohio. It all started in 1999, on my parents' front porch, the house that I grew up in, in a middle class neighborhood in Columbus called Forest Park. There, as the son of Italian immigrants, I learned how blessed I truly was to be an American; first in my family to graduate from high school, to go to high school, work my way through college at The Ohio State University. See, my mom and dad believed that America was an incredible opportunity. With hard work and a good education, you could do anything. With their sacrifices and their hard work, I am here before you today, and for their sacrifices, I am forever grateful. Leaving this Congress was not an easy decision. The speech that I made in 1999, on their front porch, still holds true today, the reason why I ran, to help those constituents, not only help them here in Washington, but help them cut through the red tape, to help that veteran, to help that widow on Social Security. But leaving was important for my family. It was important to support them, to be with them more. My colleagues understand that. The sacrifices that we make, they make more. We put our names on the ballot, our spouses don't, our children don't. To my colleagues, thank you for your friendship, your mentorship, and, certainly, your wisdom over the years. I will miss you. To my supporters, who spent countless hours knocking on doors, putting up signs, going on bus tours, I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you. To my team, both back in Ohio and here in D.C., both past and present, thank you for helping me serve and succeed for the people of Ohio's 12th District. The late, great Woody Hayes said: ``You win with people.'' You are my people, and we have won together so many battles. I could not have done this without you. Forever Team Tiberi you all will be. Most importantly, for my wife, Denice; our four daughters, Angelina, Cristina, Daniela, and Gabriela, thank you for all your support over the years. I will look forward to seeing you much more. Finally, to the constituents of the 12th Congressional District, what an honor, a humbling honor, to serve you for the last 17 years. For a kid who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, in a middle class family, it has truly been an amazing journey. This speech is not good-bye; this speech is see you soon around the corner. And to that, I wish you all the best here in the United States Congress. God bless you, and God bless America.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the St. Francis DeSales High School Boys Soccer Team for winning the Ohio Division II State Soccer Championship. This victory caps a tremendous season and adds to the great legacy of the St. Francis DeSales soccer program. While most student athletes endeavor to capture one championship during their high school career, the young men on the DeSales Boys Soccer Team have won three championships in four years. This accomplishment truly exemplifies St. Francis DeSales High School's commitment to academic and athletic excellence. These young student athletes have set a new standard for future Stallions and demonstrated that success is attainable through diligence and countless hours of practice. Everyone at St. Francis DeSales can be extremely proud of their accomplishment. On behalf of the citizens of Ohio's 12th Congressional District, I congratulate the St. Francis DeSales Boys Soccer Team on their state championship. I wish them continued success in both their athletic and academic endeavors.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, this is a historic day. I am reminded that 17 years ago, I got elected to Congress, campaigning on tax reform and campaigning on the fact that it is not our money, it is our constituents' money. Today we are giving the money back to our constituents. To Bob and Betty Buckeye in Ohio, it is more wages in their pockets. The bill also includes an initiative that I worked on with Mr. Kind that is bipartisan, called the Investing in Opportunity Act, cosponsored by Mr. Neal. This bill, authored by my friend in the Senate, Tim Scott, will help areas that haven't seen economic recovery to allow private investment in poor rural and urban areas. Thanks to Mr. Scott, the bill was in the Senate version and in the conference committee. Mr. Neal knows that incentives like that, the low-income housing tax credit, the new markets tax credit, and the historic tax credit will help those in communities that have been left behind with more money in working families' pockets. I urge adoption of the conference report.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the career of Elaine Roberts, who is retiring from her service to the Ohio aviation community this month. Elaine has been a leader for Columbus, for Ohio, for the aviation industry, and for women in leadership roles in the transportation industry everywhere. Fourteen years ago, Elaine was recruited to serve as the first ever CEO of a combined aviation authority--the passenger facility serving Columbus and Central Ohio, a dual-use freight/military facility outside Columbus, and a general aviation field. Over the last decade and a half, she led all three with distinction and has been a catalyst for growth at Port Columbus, overseeing a major renovation and life extension of the facility. At Rickenbacker, our dual-use facility, she has worked with government partners at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as the private sector, to transform the area into one of the country's leading intermodal facilities. International and domestic freight operations--served by rail, highways, and international activation--help provide a livelihood to 20,000 plus residents in our area. Elaine has been an inspiration to her fellow executives in aviation and transportation, and the region as a whole. She was nominated and selected by the White House in 2015 as a ``Champion of Change'' for her work at Rickenbacker. Elaine will be missed in the region, but I join the entire Ohio community in wishing her well.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen), a senior member of the Joint Economic Committee, as well as a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, we are making a choice today about the kind of future that we want. We can choose a future of more deficits and more debt piled onto our children, or we can continue having a weak economy where people in their prime working years can keep leaving the job market. Or we can choose a future where America's job creators, people who go to work every day, decide that they will be better off starting or moving their business overseas. Or we can choose the future of more of the same, and it is not the wealthy who will suffer more of the same. It is the most vulnerable, low-income Americans trying to climb out of poverty. It is the middle class families who find it harder and harder to keep up, to get ahead-- people like my dad, a machine operator who is now retired as a United Steelworker. It is our children and our grandchildren who will have to pay tomorrow for the mistakes that we make today. But we can instead choose a better future, Mr. Chair, where the government learns to live within its means and move forward toward balanced budgets; a future where job-creating small businesses aren't punished by our Tax Code when they succeed; a future where we stop losing jobs and businesses to foreign countries with lower tax rates, when workers can finally get the pay raises they deserve, more money in their pockets, and more prosperity is widespread, not just concentrated on our coasts and a few large urban cities. We will be voting soon on a budget that restores fiscal responsibility and paves the way for a world class Tax Code built for growth and a better future for our kids and our grandkids. Yesterday, at the Joint Economic Committee, Mr. Chair, we held a hearing on the decline in business startups, the engines of job growth and innovation in America, and the role tax reform could play in reversing this downward spiral. Among other things, here is what we heard yesterday at the hearing. First, simplify the Tax Code. Entrepreneurs spend way too much time and way too much money complying with the Tax Code instead of focusing on growing their businesses. Second, lower the tax rates that our companies and employers pay. That is something that foreign governments around the world, both friends and foes, have already done to attract more jobs, more businesses. Third, let companies of all sizes write off the cost of their growth- producing investment immediately, this is called expensing, instead of deducting them slowly from the taxes over many years under very complicated depreciation rules. Fourth, stop punishing our businesses for investing overseas profits by bringing them back home to America. Move away from the system that double taxes American companies that do business overseas. These steps will boost economic growth. Growing markets will give entrepreneurs the confidence to risk starting a business, which many won't even do today, as we have seen more and more startups not making it to the starting line. More startups create more jobs, an average of six new jobs per startup, and more economic growth means continuing to spread that prosperity. I am happy to report that these recommendations are a large part of our tax reform framework that has just recently been unveiled: simplicity, lower tax rates, expensing, stop double taxing our American businesses that do business abroad, reward investment in America, and boost economic growth. We need a Tax Code that makes America the best place in the world to do business and grow your business and keep your business. Our job creators who are corporate taxpayers now face the highest tax rate in the developed world. While other countries aggressively lower their tax rate, Mr. Chair, to attract new businesses, we left our businesses standing still. Mr. Chair, the tax reform framework would slash our corporate rate from the highest in the world, at 35 percent, to a competitive 20 percent. Instead of the worst, we get much better. In a global economy, that is just not a luxury, that is a necessity. Our tax reform framework will not only help American companies compete with foreign ones, but also bring capital back to America to invest and grow jobs here at home. Let's look at how the Tax Code is punishing our small businesses who pay individual taxes as pass-throughs, not just with complex taxes but also high tax rates. When Main Street businessowners went to sleep on December 31 of 2012, their highest tax rate was 35 percent. When they woke up the following year in January of 2013, Mr. Chair, their top rate spiked to 44.6 percent due to Obama administration policies. Many on the other side of the aisle will say that most small businesses don't pay the top rate, but taxpayers who do pay the top rate, those small businesses, in many cases, are responsible for much of our economic activity and our employment as pass-through businesses. Every small business owner dreams of being successful, and the high top rate punishes the very success that we want them to achieve in America. Adding to the Federal rate, the tax rate, the local rate, many of these small businesses pay over 50 percent in taxes. The tax reform framework not only slashes rates for American employers but our small businesses as well. The top rate for pass- throughs will be 25 percent. Another feature of the tax reform framework, Mr. Chair, would allow businesses of all sizes to deduct their business expenses, their investments, immediately through expensing. This would encourage companies to make the kind of investment like buying state-of-the-art equipment that would lead businesses to grow, create more jobs, pay better wages, higher economic growth, and the best part of all, larger paychecks for workers. Mr. Chair, we have a choice to make. We can turn our backs on the most vulnerable Americans and doom them to more of the same, subpar growth, stagnant wages, more debt, less opportunity, a complex and outdated Tax Code that punishes job creation and investment in America, or I hope we choose a better path forward, a better future for Americans, bigger paychecks, and it starts today with the passing of this budget. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Francis Rooney).

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chairman, I would again like to point out this little chart that shows facts. At the bottom of the chart, if the viewers can see, is the United States with our corporate tax rate. All of these other countries, most of whom are our friends, even France, is lower than the United States, Spain, Canada, Netherlands, Austria, Turkey, Italy, New Zealand, Japan--you can go on and on. Mr. Chairman, we have the highest corporate rate in the industrialized developed world. Facts are a stubborn thing to deal with, Mr. Chairman. This budget, as Congressman Paulsen said, is the first step into dealing with something that we haven't dealt with in 31 years. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), who represents the central part of Illinois, and is a new member of the Joint Economic Committee.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway), who is the distinguished chairman of the Agriculture Committee.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, America is at a crossroads, and this budget is about choices. Mr. Chairman, there are moms and dads, single moms and elderly folks sitting at the kitchen table every night making choices on what to buy and what to pay for. They have to live within their means, Mr. Chairman. The Federal Government, for too long, hasn't lived within its means, and this budget is about that. This budget is about tax reform. This budget is about growing our economy. We haven't seen the growth in this recovery that we have seen in others. Mr. Chairman, I remember when I got my first job at McDonald's. My immigrant mother and my immigrant father sat me down and talked to me about the taxes that I would pay coming out of my first paycheck. I clearly remember my dad saying to me: Don't let the taxes that you pay stop you from saving most of this money, because in America, not only do you get taxed when you earn it, you get taxed when you save it, and if you save enough, you will get taxed when you die. That was my immigrant father with a fifth grade education. He was a steelworker. Mr. Chairman, it is incredibly sad in America today when a successful entrepreneur will pay over 50 percent of what he or she makes in taxes at the Federal, State, and local levels. Mr. Chairman, it has been 31 years since we reformed our outdated Tax Code, and now is the time--now is the time--at this crossroads to change the direction of America for our kids and our grandkids. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this responsible budget to live within our means, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 542 (passage of H.R. 3823), and 543 (passage of H.R. 2792) I did not cast my vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Yea'' on both these votes. personal explanation

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 540 (motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 311), I did not cast my vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Yea'' on this vote.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, on Roll Call Nos. 530 (motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended H.R. 3823), and 531 (motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended H.R. 2061), I did not cast my vote. Had I been present, I would have voted Yea on both these votes.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, on roll call No. 537 (Passage of H.R. 2824-- Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act), I did not cast my vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on passage of this bill. personal explanation

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 517 (On Passage of H.R. 3697), 528 (On Passage of H.R. 3354), and 529 (On Passage of H.R. 3284) I did not cast my vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on all three votes.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, on Roll Call No. 485 (motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended H.R. 2611), I did not cast my vote. Had I been present, I would have voted Yea on this vote.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my friend, and long-serving member of the Westerville Community, Jim McCann who celebrated his 80th birthday on August 18, 2017. Jim McCann has dedicated his life to service; to his nation as a soldier in the United States Army, to his students as an educator, and to his neighbors as an indefatigable community leader. After years of teaching at Columbus South East High School in subjects such as journalism and psychology, he was selected in 1975 to become the Assistant Principal at the newly created Westerville North High School. For almost thirty years, he invested himself into fostering academic rigor and community pride in the students, faculty and staff of Westerville North. He served fourteen years as Assistant Principal before taking on a subsequent fourteen years as Principal. During Jim's tenure, he created the Warrior Way--a hallmark of the high school and a philosophy he developed in collaboration with students and faculty. Upon graduation, students receive a card printed with the Warrior Way as a constant reminder to respect themselves, fellow students, their school, their family, and their community. Jim's Warrior Way can be seen displayed proudly throughout the school, both in writing and in the actions and achievements of students. In recognition of his tremendous impact, his friends and neighbors renamed Westerville North Stadium in his honor. As a testament to Jim's continued service to his community, the Jim McCann Award for Excellence in Journalism is given to a handful of seniors across the school district who exemplify his selfless style of leadership and passion for reporting. Time and again, Jim's friends and colleagues have leaned on his wisdom and vision. He has brought these traits to the benefit of the many civic organizations with which he's involved, including the Westerville Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, the American Legion Young Budd Post 171, the Westerville Kiwanis, the Westerville Symphony advisory board, and the Westerville Parks Foundation. In addition to all of this, Jim serves as the chairman of my service academy selection board, helping advance dozens of students into the ranks of our military officer corps. I am honored to recognize my dear friend, and fellow Buckeye, for his lasting friendship and innumerable contributions to the city of Westerville and Central Ohio. It is with great pride that I join the residents of Ohio's 12th Congressional District to wish Jim a very happy 80th birthday.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I stand in this Chamber today in strong support of H.R. 3178, a package of bipartisan policies centered on improving care for Medicare beneficiaries across several areas. In particular, H.R. 3178 includes a bill that I introduced with my friend and colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Bill Pascrell, that provides a temporary transitional payment for home infusion providers. The 21st Century Cures Act created a new reimbursement benefit for home infusion therapies beginning in 2021. This new temporary transitional payment will bridge the potential gap in care for beneficiaries, and home infusion providers will continue to administer these therapies without going bankrupt. This legislation includes other good public policies that further encourage giving seniors the choice to receive more care in the comfort of their own homes, as well as expanding access to providers, particularly in rural and in needy areas. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee for their support. I would also like to thank my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee for their commitment to working on this issue, especially Michael Burgess, as well as Chairman Emeritus Fred Upton, who helped pave the way for these policies with the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act. Madam Speaker, I would like to conclude with a commitment that this is not an end for policies encouraging care--especially drug infusion-- in the home for patients who choose to do so. We look forward to working with the administration and clarifying current rules to ensure we successfully implement both this legislation and future policies to ensure inclusion of payment for all drugs needed by the home infusion patient community. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIBERI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee and a leader on healthcare issues.

Mr. TIBERI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins), a valuable member of our Health Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Black), a valuable member of the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means and who, as you have already heard from previous speakers, has an important provision in this bill and who, more importantly, brings her valuable training as a nurse who practiced before she came to Congress.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.