Michael Turner

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, due to my mother's health, I was unable to vote on Roll Call votes 207, 208, and 209. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 207; YEA on Roll Call No. 208; and YEA on Roll Call No. 209.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. I thank Chairman Thornberry and all of the members of the committee and certainly the group known as the defense hawks in this body, who fought so diligently on increasing the top line so that this number will make a difference and change the direction of our national security. I also thank our subcommittee ranking member, Ms. Niki Tsongas, for her support and contribution to this bill. The bipartisan partnership she and her staff demonstrated in helping to craft this bill is much appreciated. Niki has also served with me for the last 7 years as the co-chair of the Military Sexual Assault and Prevention Caucus. Although this will be her last National Defense Authorization Act, her work on the subcommittee and the caucus on sexual assault prevention will be a strong legacy. Within the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Force's jurisdiction, this bill recommends authorization of over $97 billion in needed modernization funding that is necessary for our comparative and competitive advantage against strategic peer competitors. The bill again recognizes the importance of fifth-generation strike fighter capability and supports the President's budget request for 77 Joint Strike Fighters. This bill also authorizes the Department to procure additional F-35 aircraft if funds become available through cost savings and program efficiencies. I also want to take this opportunity to highlight the many foreign partners that compromise the F-35 program, which often gets overlooked by many. These foreign partnerships strengthen our ability to better operate with our allies in future conflicts. The bill includes several oversight provisions to facilitate mitigation efforts for physiological episodes occurring in military aircraft, to include requiring the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Air Force to certify that any new aircraft procured will have the most current technological advancements available to mitigate future physiological episodes. However, much work remains to be done to improve overall aviation readiness and safety. Going forward, our subcommittee will conduct a more detailed review of the investigative and governance processes related to aviation safety mishaps. The bill provides an additional $623 million for the JSTARS recap program. Based on our analysis resulting from extensive committee oversight activity, we have concluded that completely walking away from this program imposes an unacceptable level of risk to our warfighters. The bill recommends funding to modernize 1.5 armored brigade combat teams, which is absolutely necessary for our Army. For the seventh consecutive year, this bill addresses sexual assault in the military. The bill requires the Department to create a single office responsible for sexual offender registration; expands expedited transfer rights for victims of sexual assault; and further empowers the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces. This bill also protects our servicemembers and their families by closing a gap in the way the Department prescribes controlled substances. The bill requires the Department to share more information with State prescription drug monitoring programs to combat the opioid epidemic. Finally, I would like to recognize the role small businesses plays. The Small Business Innovation Research Program is highlighted and is bolstered in this. Mr. Chairman, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise to speak in favor of my amendment to the farm bill. Mr. Chairman, I had a great conversation today with Secretary of Agriculture Perdue in which he spoke very highly of the students, faculty, and the president of Central State University during his visit to the university. Central State University is in my congressional district, and I want to thank Secretary Perdue for his leadership. I am committed to working with the Secretary's office and all of the Historically Black Colleges to find a solution during the appropriations process to stop the disparate funding treatment currently in place. All 1890 land-grant institutions should be treated equally. My commonsense and revenue-neutral amendment evens the playing field of Federal funding qualifications for all 1890 land-grant Historically Black Colleges, as it is currently written now. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the chairman for his support for my work on this amendment. I specifically want to thank Joyce Beatty, who supports the amendment and who is the only alumnus from Central State University. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, on February 9, I was unable to vote on Roll Call votes 67 and 68. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: Roll Call 67--Yes. Roll Call 68--Yes.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, on January 29, I was unable to vote on Roll Call votes 45 and 46. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: Roll Call 45--Yes, and Roll Call 46--Yes.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, on January 10, I was unable to vote on Roll Call votes 005 through 013. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: Roll Call 005--No; Roll Call 006--No; Roll Call 007--No; Roll Call 008--Yes; Roll Call 009--Yes; Roll Call 010--Yes; Roll Call 011-- Yes; Roll Call 012--Yes; and Roll Call 013--Yes.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate two pieces of history from Dayton, Ohio. Firstly, last week marked the 22nd anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords. The Dayton Peace Accords brought an end to years of bloodshed and created a framework for lasting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovnia. I served as mayor of Dayton during those Accords and witnessed firsthand American diplomacy bring adversaries to the negotiating table. Recently, however, I fear the peace found in Dayton is threatened. Now is a critical time for the region. I wrote this week to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson encouraging him to host a Dayton Peace Accords II. The United States has an obligation to lead and support the peace we helped create in 1995. The second piece of history I proudly recognize today is the anniversary of flight. This Sunday marked Wright Brothers Day, the 114th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' invention of flight. The Wright Brothers did the bulk of their research in Dayton, Ohio, eventually leading to their creation of flight. Dayton continues to maintain the Wright Brothers' spirit of innovation.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for working diligently to create the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that will give a tax break to the middle class. After speaking to both Speaker Paul Ryan and Ways and Means Committee member Tom Reed, I believe that an unintended consequence of this bill would hinder middle class Americans pursuing a higher education degree in an attempt to better their lives. These consequences will affect the education of employees of universities, graduate students, and employees receiving employer-provided education benefits. Madam Speaker, under current law, higher education institutions can provide tax-free tuition waivers or reimbursement to employees, spouses, and dependents. Secondly, many universities provide graduate students, including Ph.D. candidates, with tuition relief and stipends, which they can utilize while pursuing their degree. Several of my constituents, including my niece, Sarah Schiavone, who is a Ph.D. student, would be impacted by this. Thirdly, employer-provided education incentives are currently not taxed. I offered two amendments, amendments 20 and 21, to H.R. 1 that would have kept these qualified tuition reduction benefits and currently would have provided for them to continue.

Mr. TURNER. I know the Senate is working on their version of the tax reform package, and, as of today, the Senate bill does not include the repeal of these vital education permits. Mr. Chairman, I would like your assurances that the current status of these education benefits will be protected during conference debate. I am requesting you continue to work with my office as we, together, address this issue.

Mr. TURNER. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. TURNER. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Madam Speaker, today I rise to thank and honor an integral member of my community, Director Glenn Costie of the Dayton VA Medical Center, and congratulate him on his retirement. Director Costie turned the Dayton VA into one of the top medical facilities for our veterans in the country. Director Costie's success as a director of the VA Medical Center in Dayton has gained him national recognition. He has been sent throughout the country to save multiple VA medical facilities plagued with issues, particularly including veteran patient backlogs. Furthermore, Director Costie has worked tirelessly to integrate the Dayton VA into our community to serve our veterans in a way that it hadn't in several decades. Director Costie's time at the VA has been dedicated to bettering the lives of our veterans. I was very honored to work with Director Costie on the issue of bringing creative housing options for Dayton's veterans, a place known as Lyons Place II. We also worked together on the successful campaign to bring the VA National Archives to Dayton. Director Costie's leadership and expertise will be deeply missed at the Dayton VA. I wish to thank him, give him all the best, and look forward to what he will be doing in his leadership in the future in our community, and I thank him again for everything he has done for Dayton veterans.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. I strongly support this bill, and I want to personally thank our chairman, Mac Thornberry, for his work in trying to get a higher top line for defense. This bill comes in higher than the President's budget request, but it is in line with both the appropriations and the budget document that came out of the House. This bill authorizes $634.2 billion in the base budget, a much-needed increase over the original budget request, and fully supports many of the unfunded requirements identified by the Department that totaled more than $30 billion. The $634.2 billion authorization is essential. Anything less dramatically handicaps our ability to restore military readiness over nearly a decade of neglect. This increased base budget funding for fiscal year 2018 begins the long process to rebuild our military's full spectrum readiness from years of deferred modernization brought on by the failed assumptions from the previous administrations's Budget Control Act and sequestration. Within the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee's jurisdiction, this bill authorizes over $12 billion in additional funds to address unfunded modernization requirements and critical capabilities gaps. If we do not begin, with this budget, to set favorable conditions to start to reverse the high-risk defense posture we currently have, we will significantly jeopardize our military's advantage that we have taken for granted in past conflicts and steady-state operations. As such, the bill recognizes the importance of land forces in current and future operations and authorizes over $2 billion to accelerate armored brigade combat team modernization, to include additional Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The bill authorizes strike fighter capability and capacity shortfalls and authorizes over $3 billion in additional funding to procure new fifth-generation aircraft and modernize our fourth-generation fleet. These projects address unfunded requirements for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The bill also continues to address the needs of the National Guard and Reserve components by authorizing an additional $250 million for their equipment and modernization. This bill prevents the Air Force from reducing critical ISR capabilities. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I first want to welcome Steve Scalise back to this House floor. The strength of his message shows why he is such a hero to us all. I also want to tell the story of another hero, one from my congressional district in Dayton, Ohio. On April 5, 2016, letter carrier Donte Cotton saw an overturned car that had collided with a pole. The driver told Donte her child was inside the car. Acting on immediate instinct, Donte crawled through broken glass to rescue the baby from the car. Both the mother and the child were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries. In August of last year, Donte again found himself in the right place at the right time; again, on his letter carrying route. While on his normal mail delivery route, an elderly woman, whose home had just been invaded, ran up to Donte seeking help. Donte drove the woman to a nearby police cruiser, ensuring her safety. His courage is being rewarded this week by the National Association of Letter Carriers, which has given Donte its 2017 Central Area Hero Award. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Donte for his acts of true heroism in our community.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, I join with Chairman Wittman in expressing opposition to this amendment. As he has indicated, the Navy has no indication that they have a military requirement for icebreakers. Right now we are trying to reverse the effects of sequestration. We are fighting against budget cuts. When you use money for something other than what it was intended for, it is a budget cut, and that is what this would be. No one is talking about raising the top line of the overall defense budget, but they are talking about using the funds otherwise for something that is not defense. I want to join with everyone who is speaking on this issue of the importance of the Coast Guard and certainly its impact and certainly the issues of icebreaking, but shipbuilding for the Navy and for our military should be concentrated on our military. Certainly the funds that we are appropriating to the Department of Defense should remain in the Department of Defense, and, therefore, I rise with Chairman Wittman in support of the opposition. Mr. Chair, in closing, I want to say that--going to Admiral Richardson's words--Admiral Richardson clearly states that the mission of icebreaking is a Coast Guard mission. There is not a disagreement there, but the disagreement is using resources that are within the Defense budget in order to do that. If you are going to put the responsibility for building icebreakers and maintaining and operating them with the Coast Guard, yet you are going to put the money in the Department of Defense budget where there is no control, there is no oversight, that is a catastrophe waiting to happen. If this is going to happen, it should happen within the Department of Homeland Security's budget or there needs to be a debate about where, ultimately, the Coast Guard needs to be located. But to put money in one area of the budget and expect that it is going to be managed properly and applied properly with someplace where there is not even jurisdiction, I think is problematic. Again, it is clear where the missions are. It is clear where the responsibility lies between the Homeland Security Department, the Coast Guard, the Navy, and the Department of Defense. I want to make sure we are building more cutters and icebreakers, and if we are going to do that, let's make sure we do it in the proper way. I think there are ways to construct language to make that happen, but this is not the way to do it. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. I have the privilege of serving as the chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, and I want to particularly thank my subcommittee's ranking member, Ms. Tsongas, for her support in completing the markup of the bill, as well as for her hard work and for the bipartisan work that we have done together on the issue of sexual assault in the military. I appreciate her leadership in that. I strongly support this bill and can't emphasize enough Chairman Thornberry's steadfast leadership in raising the top line in this bill. This bill recommends $631 billion, a significant and needed increase over the original budget request that supports both the base and unfunded requirements, which totaled over $30 billion. Without Chairman Thornberry's leadership, this number would not be sufficient. We are presenting a budget that helps rebuild the readiness of our forces. This increased base funding will begin to rebuild full-spectrum readiness from years of deferred modernization brought on by the previous administration. Within the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee jurisdiction, this bill authorizes over $12 billion in additional funds to address critical unfunded modernization requirements identified by the services. The bill recognizes the importance of land forces in current and future operations and authorizes over $2 billion to accelerate armored brigade team modernization, to include additional Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. The bill addresses strike fighter capability and capacity shortfalls and authorizes another $2 billion in additional funding to secure additional F-35 Strike Fighters and F-18 Super Hornets to address unfunded requirements for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. I am also pleased that this bill supports the European Deterrence Initiative, using OCO and addressing the needs of our European allies. This bill contains language from the BE HEARD sexual assault bill that I worked with Representative Tsongas on, that we introduced in June, and I am very proud that we continue to advance for the cause of protecting our servicemembers from sexual assault. I am also pleased to note that Evan's Law is included in this bill. This bill will ensure that the that Department of Defense implements military residential window safety measures to protect against unintentional falls by young children. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the National Defense Authorization Act.

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is not about fiscal security. It is arbitrary. It is arbitrary cuts without any reference whatsoever to our security risks, without any assessments to the needs of our military, and it is incorrectly stated that we are giving things to our military that they do not want. In fact, they needed more. There is a whole category called unfunded requirements that they put before the House Armed Services Committee. And I want to say that again: unfunded requirements. It is not unfunded wishes, unfunded needs--unfunded requirements. And they are based on the mission that we have assigned the military and their inability to do so as a result of that gap, and many of which we were unable to fund in this bill. What would some of those relate to? We could take a tour around the world and we know the risks that we are facing: China, Russia, North Korea, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, ISIS, terrorism. These are not issues that you take up lightly and then say we can undertake an arbitrary cut. By the way, if this was really about fiscal security, it would be a 1 percent cut across all spending, but it is only going to apply to the military. This doesn't apply to the IRS. It doesn't apply to the EPA. This is only saying that the military should be cut as a result of some concept of fiscal savings. But the savings that we have taken have damaged our military already. The Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, General Stephen Wilson, at HASC, testified in February of this year, `` . . . we have become one of the smallest, oldest equipped, and least ready forces across the full spectrum of operations in our service history,'' the entire history of the Air Force. In 1991, we went to Desert Storm. Our Air Force was 500,000 people and 134 fighter squadrons. Today we find ourselves at 317 in our active force, with 55 fighter squadrons. The Navy is the same. It is the smallest since World War II. Deployments continue to increase, and training and maintenance periods have been shortened, eliminated, or deferred. The number of Marine Corps infantry battalions have been reduced by four since 2010, going from 28 to 24. Admiral William Moran, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, has also indicated that of the Navy aircraft, 60 percent are unable to operate.

Mr. TURNER. At the end of this amendment, it incorrectly states that there should be no cuts to military personnel, and it incorrectly states that because the rest of the cuts actually apply to our military personnel. It applies to what we ask them to do and what we give them to do the job. Our military should be honored. It should not be faced with additional cuts. We should honor what is in this bill. We should satisfy their requirements, and we should support our men and women in uniform.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, while I had been granted a leave of absence during the time these votes occurred on June 26, 2017, Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 323 and YEA on Roll Call No. 324.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, sometimes out of loss, a cause arises and the lives of others are saved. I rise today to ask for my colleagues' support of a bill I introduced today, Evan's Law. My bill would require the Department of Defense to make windows in military residential housing safe for military families and their children by equipping housing units with fall protection and prevention devices to protect against unintentional falls by young children. We ask our servicemembers to go into harm's way to protect our Nation and our way of life. Our servicemembers deserve to live in residential housing properly equipped with window fall prevention devices to make sure their children are safe in their own homes. Mr. Speaker, joining me today in the balcony is Commander Jason English; his wife, Ami; and their children, Jason, Luke, Lydia, and Joshua. Commander English and his family have been tireless advocates for residential window safety requirements in the Department of Defense. They lost their son Evan. Commander English and his family have worked to raise awareness about the danger young children face in residential housing. I thank the English family for their hard work. I am hopeful that Evan's Law will become a part of the National Defense Authorization Act. I urge my colleagues to join me in their support.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to welcome Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to our Nation's Capital, and I look forward to personally meeting with him this evening. Two days ago, President Iohannis placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Arlington National Cemetery, honoring the memory of our service members. Tomorrow, he is meeting with President Trump and other American officials. Romania is a stalwart U.S. partner and an important member of the NATO Alliance. It hosts the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System at Deveselu military base, which protects NATO members from ballistic missile threats originating from the Middle East. Romania has also been a staunch American ally in global counterterrorism operations against ISIS and Al Qaeda, collaborating on intelligence-sharing initiatives to support U.S. and NATO operations. The Romanian armed forces have supported U.S. and NATO missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters for over a decade, contributing more than 30,000 total combat and support personnel. With over 600 troops currently serving in Afghanistan, Romania maintains the fourth largest NATO contingent protecting vital U.S. security interests and the safety of Afghan communities and international forces. I join all my colleagues in welcoming a true friend, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the CEO of United Airlines, Oscar Munoz, apologized to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for his company having dragged a passenger off of one of their aircraft. Mr. Munoz highlighted the policy changes the airline has made since the wake of the incident. Mr. Speaker, I believe that Congress should hold the airlines accountable and ensure that the events like what happened to Dr. Dao are prevented. When United Airlines had Dr. Dao forcibly removed on April 9, the airline more than just created a disruption for him and other passengers; it sparked a national outrage. Dr. Dao was bumped from his flight by a crew member of United in line with the then-airline's policies that crews could book seats on United flights until flights departed. An airline's lack of preparation for its own staff's travel should not result in the disruption of the lives of its paying customers. Now crew members of United are required to make must-ride bookings at least 1 hour prior to departure, and they are not able to displace customers who are already on board. However, today, I believe that we need to go further. This still has travelers at risk. So today, I am introducing the Hands Off Passengers Act or the HOP Act. This bill requires the Secretary of Transportation to modify a regulation regarding the involuntary deplaning or the denial of boarding of a flight by any passenger on an oversold flight merely to accommodate a member of the airline flight crew or staff. In other words, it prevents an airline from bumping ticketed passengers of an overbooked flight merely for the travel of one of the airline's crews. Airlines should be better prepared on the movement of their crew to avoid the disruption of the lives of paying customers.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Honorable Michael J. Newman, Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and who is president of the Federal Bar Association, for his achievements in piloting a special veterans court in Dayton, Ohio. With Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Dayton VA Medical Center both located in the Dayton community, and with the large number of veterans residing in my 10th Congressional District, southwest Ohio is a prime region for establishing a court that concentrates on veterans' issues. Judge Newman's veterans court appears to be the first of its kind in the State of Ohio, and it aims to address an area of need in the Miami Valley, assisting military veterans who have been charged with relatively minor offenses get their lives back on track. In many cases, treatment and strong guidance is a better course of action to remedy misdemeanor Federal offenses than jail time, which can lead to a cascade of negative unintended consequences, such as difficulty in obtaining employment. Thanks to Judge Newman's efforts to cooperate with the United States Attorney's Office and the Federal Public Defender's Office, veterans in the Dayton, Ohio, area can receive treatment for mental health and substance abuse issues, which so often underpin these minor offenses, rather than sitting in jail. Veterans who decide to participate in Judge Newman's 6-month-long pilot program are required to work closely with a Veterans Justice Outreach coordinator, who acts as a mentor and caseworker, providing guidance, facilitating treatment, and helping secure housing and employment. Besides meeting with their veterans officer, veterans must also attend medical appointments, receive recommended treatment, and not reoffend in order to graduate. Upon successful completion, the misdemeanor charges are frequently dismissed, allowing former servicemembers to truly earn themselves a second chance at life. Of the more than 33 veteran participants thus far, 20 have successfully completed the program, and several others are continuing to make progress as we speak. I commend Judge Newman for instituting an innovative Federal veterans court program that addresses critical needs within our community and resolves programs by rehabilitating rather than simply punishing the brave men and women who have served our country. I also would like to congratulate Judge Newman for his work in implementing a civics program for students to learn about the Federal courts. Developing a partnership between the Federal judiciary and the Federal Bar Association, these interactive court camps invite elementary, middle, and high school students into the Federal courts to learn about the third branch of government. During court camp, Federal judges meet with the groups of students in school classrooms, as well as Federal courtrooms, to teach them about the selection process for Federal judges, explain how decisions are made in both criminal and civil cases, and offer an insider's view on how the Federal court system works. Under Judge Newman's leadership, the Federal Bar Association's partnership with the United States Courts will give thousands of young people across the country the opportunity to meet with Federal judges and explore the judicial branch of government. In Dayton, Ohio, alone, where Judge Newman sits, over 1,000 students will participate in the civics program, learning more about the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the separation of powers, the role of the Federal judge, the structure of the Federal court system, and how to become a judge or lawyer themselves. The Federal Bar Association has also added a civics page to its website to make educational materials available for lawyers and judges who choose to serve as mentors in the program. In an effort to encourage direct involvement by American government teachers and students alike, the Federal Bar Association, again under Judge Newman's leadership, is holding a national essay contest for middle and high school students on the subject ``What Does an Impartial Judicial System Mean to Me?'' In addition to honoring the student essay winners, the Federal Bar Association and United States Courts will also recognize a select group of top-notch civics teachers from across the United States. As president of the Federal Bar Association and a United States magistrate, Judge Newman has spearheaded this effort, publicly urging the association's 19,000 members to join him in engaging the next generation of attorneys, judges, and legislators. I commend Judge Newman on his tireless work to connect our young people to the best and brightest in the field of law, and for reemphasizing the critical importance of civics in American society.

Mr. TURNER

Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, as Members of Congress, we know that the key to a successful congressional office is to recruit the best and brightest people to serve the people we represent. Today I want to recognize a valued staff member, Andy Sigmon, who is leaving my office after 6\1/2\ years of faithful service to me, and to my constituents in Southwest Ohio. Andy graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the city where he was born and raised. He moved to my congressional district to attend law school, and earned his law degree from the University of Dayton. He joined my office as an intern in 2010, and quickly moved up the career ladder to legislative assistant. For the past 16 months he has served as my legislative director. Andy has had a direct role in the success of many of my top legislative priorities. In 2013, he helped gather bipartisan support among the Ohio congressional delegation, which enabled Central State University, one of our nation's oldest historically black institutions of higher education, to achieve land-grant status. His input and knowledge has been indispensable to my work on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, particularly in my efforts to hold the Obama administration accountable for its decision to cut the pension and health benefits of the Delphi Salaried Retirees, following the government's bailout of General Motors. Andy has taken a heartfelt interest in seeking justice for the Delphi retirees in my district, and directed my efforts to restore the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), which thousands of Delphi Salaried Retirees have used to offset their increased healthcare costs. Andy Sigmon's hard work, loyalty, and public service exemplify his home state's Volunteer spirit. He is one of the finest people you could ever work with, or call a friend. I will always be grateful for his work these past six years on behalf of the people of Ohio's Tenth Congressional District. I wish him all the best as he begins the next chapter in his career.