William Timmons

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because as of this morning at 9 a.m., 78 percent of the gas stations in my district in Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, are out of gas. My constituents are calling my office hundreds at a time requesting relief. What has happened with the Colonial Pipeline is a cybersecurity attack. It is an attack likely from eastern Europe. A group that calls themselves DarkSide is seriously impacting the lives of my constituents. This Congress has waited far too long to address our weak cybersecurity in the overall U.S. economy. We must take steps as a country and as a Congress to increase our cybersecurity to protect our country from future attacks. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to craft legislation to make sure that what is going on right now in the Southeast does not happen again.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 226. Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 965, 116th Congress Barragan (Beyer) Beatty (Fudge) Blumenauer (Beyer) Bonamici (Clark (MA)) Boyle, Brendan F. (Jeffries) Brownley (CA) (Clark (MA)) Bustos (Kuster (NH)) Carson (IN) (Cleaver) Castro (TX) (Garcia (TX)) Cisneros (Correa) Clay (Cleaver) Cohen (Beyer) Costa (Cooper) Courtney (Hayes) DeGette (Blunt Rochester) DeSaulnier (Matsui) Doyle, Michael F. (Cartwright) Escobar (Garcia (TX)) Frankel (Clark (MA)) Garamendi (Sherman) Gonzalez (TX) (Gomez) Grijalva (Garcia (IL)) Hastings (Wasserman Schultz) Higgins (NY) (Sanchez) Jayapal (Raskin) Johnson (TX) (Jeffries) Keating (Kuster (NH)) Kind (Beyer) Kirkpatrick (Stanton) Langevin (Lynch) Larson (CT) (Hayes) Lawrence (Kildee) Lawson (FL) (Demings) Lieu, Ted (Beyer) Lofgren (Jeffries) Lowenthal (Beyer) Lowey (Jeffries) McEachin (Wexton) Meng (Kuster (NH)) Moore (Beyer) Nadler (Jeffries) Napolitano (Correa) Norcross (Sires) Payne (Wasserman Schultz) Perlmutter (Neguse) Peterson (McCollum) Pingree (Kuster (NH)) Pocan (Raskin) Porter (Wexton) Price (NC) (Butterfield) Rose (NY) (Golden) Roybal-Allard (Bass) Ruiz (Dingell) Rush (Underwood) Ryan (Kildee) Schrier (Kilmer) Serrano (Jeffries) Speier (Scanlon) Titus (Connolly) Tonko (Morelle) Vargas (Correa) Watson Coleman (Pallone) Welch (McGovern) Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Madam Speaker, I missed the votes the week of September 14, 2020, due to full-time military duties with the South Carolina Air National Guard. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 183; YEA on Roll Call No. 184; NAY on Roll Call No. 185; NAY on Roll Call No. 186; YEA on Roll Call No. 187; YEA on Roll Call No. 188; NAY on Roll Call No. 189; YEA on Roll Call No. 190; YEA on Roll Call No. 191; NAY on Roll Call No. 192; NAY on Roll Call No. 193; YEA on Roll Call No. 194; and NAY on Roll Call No. 195.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for introducing this bill. He has worked in good faith with Republican Members over the past year to reach a bipartisan solution on this important issue. The Financial Services Committee has held several hearings over the past year on the state of minority depository institutions, or MDIs, and community development financial institutions, or CDFIs. Both MDIs and CDFIs provide critical services and support to their communities. Unfortunately, the number of these institutions has been declining at an alarming rate. Burdensome regulations and a lack of access to capital have caused many of these MDIs to either consolidate or be forced to shut their doors for good. It is simply too hard for these smaller institutions to remain viable in the current environment. The bill we are considering today promotes policies and establishes programs to support MDIs and CDFIs and the customers and communities they serve. Importantly, the bill seeks to promote engagement in the Department of the Treasury's mentor-protege program to encourage collaboration between MDIs and institutions that act as financial agents for the Federal Government. The bill also directs each of the Federal banking regulators to establish MDI advisory councils to ensure MDI voices are heard without weakening or duplicating current efforts. The bill also allows banks to be designated as an impact bank. This allows any bank that serves a majority of low-income borrowers to be considered as an option to hold government deposits. This program will bolster the ability of banks to serve their communities. Finally, the bill streamlines the application reporting requirements to become and remain a CDFI. I appreciate the gentleman from New York for his willingness to work with committee Republicans so that we can bring a strong bipartisan bill to the floor that supports communities in need. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5322, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean) for introducing this bipartisan bill. Since the early days of the pandemic, the Federal Reserve has acted swiftly to ensure liquidity is available to companies of all sizes across the country. The emergency facilities support businesses and, in turn, their workers and customers. The committee has continually called for a broad-based approach to aid our businesses and communities throughout this economic crisis. H.R. 6934 simply encourages the Federal Reserve to include companies that have credit ratings from all SEC-registered and supervised NRSROs as participants in its emergency facilities. Though the Federal Reserve revised some of the requirements for companies with credit ratings from smaller NRSROs, there are still companies left on the sidelines. This bill will ensure small and mid-sized businesses have access to the facilities that provide necessary support. An open and transparent process is essential to the success of the emergency facilities. This bill supports that process. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I would simply urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6934, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7592, the STIFLE Act of 2020. Mr. Speaker, in March of 2020, the Financial Services Committee launched its bipartisan Counter-Trafficking Initiative to explore and expose the breadth of transnational trafficking networks and their illicit financial systems. As we learned during our additional counter-trafficking hearing, transnational criminal organizations rarely limit their trafficking to one sector. Often, these criminals will acquire and traffic anything that will bring them a profit. Needless to say, these criminals have been successful in their efforts. Global Financial Integrity, an NGO that studies illicit financial flows, estimates that the global business of transnational crime is valued between $1.6 trillion to $2.2 trillion annually. To be frank, Mr. Speaker, we have a lot of work to do. Following our counter-trafficking hearing this Congress, Mr. McAdams and Mr. Gonzalez worked diligently and across party lines to craft a thoughtful piece of legislation to help to answer some of the outstanding questions trafficking experts brought before the committee in March. H.R. 7592 instructs the Comptroller General to carry out a detailed study on trafficking issues. This would range from the major routes trafficking networks use, how these criminals launder and move the proceeds of their crimes, suspicious activity that law enforcement can focus on when investigating these crimes, and the steps financial institutions are taking to detect and prevent bad actors who are laundering the proceeds of trafficking. H.R. 7592 is exactly the type of bill we as policymakers need, to learn how these illicit activities are being carried out and what we must do to make it as hard as possible for these criminals to succeed. I would like to thank both Congressman McAdams as well as Congressman Gonzalez for taking the Counter-Trafficking Initiative seriously and coming away from our initial hearing with an understanding that there is more work that needs to be done to deal with illicit trafficking. I look forward to working with both of them as we continue in our efforts to end trafficking once and for all. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I simply urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7592, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Iowa for introducing this bill. At the beginning of the pandemic I was concerned about COVID-19- related fraudulent schemes, particularly those targeting seniors who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus. The Federal regulators tasked with weeding out fraud and providing resources for consumers impacted by scams--the CFPB, SEC, and FTC--have been particularly supportive of consumers during this time. To further support this coordinated effort, H.R. 6735 establishes the Consumer and Investor Fraud Working Group, which will include representatives from the CFPB and SEC, among others. The working group will work to provide resources to consumers and investors to avoid fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic and to those who have been impacted by these types of scams. In addition, the working group is required to produce a quarterly report to the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs so that Congress can monitor its actions and resources made available to the public. Finally, the bill will ensure robust government coordination to protect consumers and investors from fraudsters looking to take advantage of the crisis. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, when many of us think of 5G technology, we immediately think of our cell phones. What many of us do not think about is the impact 5G will have on the global economy once the technology is deployed. Fifth generation cellular technology, or 5G, will truly transform the way we live. It has the power to fuel self-driving autonomous vehicles, increase the use of artificial intelligence, replace Wi-Fi and broadband, and provide speeds expected to be as fast as 100 times greater than current 4G technology. Once widespread, 5G will touch nearly every aspect of our lives. As with any new technology, there is now a global race for 5G market share. In this global race to 5G, it is not just economic challenges we face. There are also great national security concerns from foreign bad actors who seek to exploit the technology. This is why the United States must have sound policy when it comes to financing and protecting wireless technologies around the world. My legislation before the House today, the Promoting Secure 5G Act, would establish a U.S. policy at all international financial institutions, including the IMF and World Bank. This policy would require all countries seeking any financing from those institutions for any purpose to prove their 5G network is secure. Securing multilateral financing for 5G technology is the first step in facilitating equitable competition in the global economy. This will eliminate backdoor vulnerabilities that private companies and other nations may seek to exploit. One of the biggest offenders is Huawei, a Chinese-based company with direct links to China's Communist Party. It is not just the U.S. that shares these concerns regarding the security of 5G technology. Recently, the U.K. reversed course and outright banned Huawei by 2027. France announced it will no longer renew licenses for Huawei. Denmark and Singapore have taken steps to avoid the company, and India is moving in the same direction with the potential of an outright ban in the near future. Our intelligence community has repeatedly warned of the consequences of handing over the world's 5G systems to Huawei and the CCP. We would be wise to heed their warning. Combating aggression from the Chinese Communist Party will take a whole-of-government approach, and my Promoting Secure 5G Act is a good first step to ensuring every nation conforms to the standards of the global economy when it comes to 5G technology. I want to thank Ranking Member McHenry and my other colleagues who have joined me in this effort. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to ensure the secure and competitive deployment of 5G technology around the world, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6294. Back in the early days of COVID-19, the Republicans on the Committee on Financial Services anticipated some of the biggest threats the virus posed and moved to protect those who were most vulnerable. Representative Tipton introduced H.R. 6294 so that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development would be better able to coordinate and target treatment to folks like the elderly and the disabled. We knew that these were going to be the highest risk, most vulnerable populations affected by the pandemic and wanted to make sure States had all the tools they needed to protect these citizens. Sadly, in some places, we saw the disastrous effect of what happened when local officials failed to act quickly to make sure our seniors were kept safe from the preventable spread of the pandemic. To ensure that we do not repeat such mistakes, H.R. 6294 would allow for data- sharing between HHS and HUD regarding the location of section 202 affordable housing properties while keeping residents' personal information protected. Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Tipton for his leadership in this area, and I will miss working with him. This is a commonsense bill to cut through red tape and allow for greater assistance to vulnerable populations. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Madam Speaker, I missed votes during the weeks of July 20th and 27th and on August 22nd due to full-time military duties with South Carolina Air National Guard. Had I been present, I would have voted: NAY on Roll Call No. 139; NAY on Roll Call No. 140; NAY on Roll Call No. 141; NAY on Roll Call No. 142; YEA on Roll Call No. 143; NAY on Roll Call No. 144; NAY on Roll Call No. 145; NAY on Roll Call No. 146; NAY on Roll Call No. 147; NAY on Roll Call No. 148; NAY on Roll Call No. 149; NAY on Roll Call No. 150; YEA on Roll Call No. 151; YEA on Roll Call No. 152; NAY on Roll Call No. 153; NAY on Roll Call No. 154; YEA on Roll Call No. 155; NAY on Roll Call No. 156; NAY on Roll Call No. 157; NAY on Roll Call No. 158; NAY on Roll Call No. 159; NAY on Roll Call No. 160; YEA on Roll Call No. 161; YEA on Roll Call No. 162; NAY on Roll Call No. 163; YEA on Roll Call No. 164; YEA on Roll Call No. 165; NAY on Roll Call No. 166; YEA on Roll Call No. 167; NAY on Roll Call No. 168; NAY on Roll Call No. 169; YEA on Roll Call No. 170; NAY on Roll Call No. 171; NAY on Roll Call No. 172; NAY on Roll Call No. 173; NAY on Roll Call No. 174; NAY on Roll Call No. 175; YEA on Roll Call No. 176; YEA on Roll Call No. 177; NAY on Roll Call No. 178; NAY on Roll Call No. 179; NAY on Roll Call No. 180; YEA on Roll Call No. 181; and NAY on Roll Call No. 182.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Madam Speaker, I missed votes on Thursday, March 5th, due to full-time military duties with the South Carolina Air National Guard. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 87; YEA on Roll Call No. 88; YEA on Roll Call No. 89; and NAY on Roll Call No. 90.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 756, legislation implementing recommendations from the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, the only truly bipartisan committee in Congress, has worked diligently since it was created to produce recommendations that will make Congress more efficient, accountable, and transparent to the American people. This resolution includes nearly 30 of the recommendations passed out of the committee. The legislation includes reforms in five areas, which are: Streamlining and reorganizing human resources; Improving orientation for freshman Members; Modernizing and revitalizing technology; Making the House accessible to all; and Improving access to documents and publications for the American people. When I first arrived in Washington for new Member orientation, I remember having to get on a bus with only Republicans. I was shocked that new Members would not be briefed together, that this kind of partisanship was encouraged from the very start. Now, I understand that a majority of the time Members will be meeting with their respective party, but to encourage this divide from the beginning was something I was not expecting--and I was really disappointed. This contributes to the brokenness and lack of civility in Congress. This was a concern I heard from several Members from both sides of the aisle, including fellow colleagues on the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. I am proud that we are able to work together on this committee as both Republicans and Democrats to come to a solution that encourages more bipartisanship in these partisan and incredibly divided times. I am truly thankful for Chair Kilmer's and Vice Chair Graves' leadership on the committee, and I look forward to continuing to work with them and my colleagues on the committee on other ways we can make Congress more efficient, such as addressing the House calendar and schedule, as well as the budget process. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues in the House to support H. Res. 756.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Montana for yielding. A decade ago, Congress passed a law directing the executive branch to inform them within 2 years of how many Federal programs existed within the Federal Government. We are still waiting for that answer today. Since 2010, I think we can all agree that the size of the Federal Government has grown exponentially and has overreached in places it should not. This unchecked scope of power and inefficient bureaucracy affects every aspect of our lives and is a threat to our well-being and to the foundation of our Republic. The Government Efficiency, Accountability, and Reform Task Force, or GEAR, of the Republican Study Committee has worked over the last year on ways to rein in wasteful and unnecessary government overreach and spending, make the Federal Government more transparent and accountable, and get back to the basics of the legislative branch, to be a government that works for the American people. Today, I would like to speak to the reform aspect of the task force. In order to promote and advance efficiency within the Federal Government, government practices must be reformed. All Americans want a government that is efficient and that delivers results. One of the ways that we can reform the Federal Government is to address our cybersecurity shortcomings. Every day, hackers, criminals, terrorists, and foreign countries seek to exploit our cybersecurity systems. Earlier this year, a group of Iranian-affiliated hackers infiltrated a U.S. Government website, wrote pro-Iranian messages, and wrote a message about Iranian cyber capabilities. The threat landscape is constantly changing, and the cybersecurity needs are evolving along with it. The government must continue to reform and update its cyber practices to best defend against adversaries. The GAO has made over 3,000 recommendations since 2010 regarding the U.S. Government's cybersecurity policies. As of GAO's last full survey of these concerns in 2017, only 448 recommendations have been implemented. This is unacceptable, and it puts our Nation at unnecessary risk. I am pleased that the Trump administration has made cybersecurity a priority, recognizing that protecting cyberspace is key to our national security and economic ability. Congress should utilize its oversight authority to support cybersecurity initiatives, including requiring that the outstanding GAO recommendations be implemented. While I touched briefly on one of the many important ways the Federal Government can work toward reform, there are many crucial steps that Congress can take to ensure it is continuing to work for the people and not the other way around. The work of the GEAR Task Force is important, and I hope that every Member will take some time to read through the report. We all made a promise to our constituents to come to Washington to work for them and prioritize their needs. This report is not meant to be Republican or Democratic. This report is something that all Members of Congress, regardless of party, should be able to get behind. It is a blueprint for good government, the kind of governing that was intended by our Founding Fathers. Let's work together to make Congress and the Federal Government, as a whole, work for the people. We can start by enacting necessary reforms to make the government more efficient and accountable.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to the PRO Act. Our economy is booming. The unemployment rate is at a record low. The PRO Act would interfere with this historic progress by adding more Federal regulations on the very businesses that have been responsible for this growth. Employers and businesses could face more than $47 billion in new annual costs if this bill becomes law. This bill would force employees to take a public vote on whether they would want to be a part of a union, a rule that the House Democrats do not even follow themselves. Democrats even held up the USMCA vote to guarantee the right to a secret ballot, yet they are depriving the American worker of that same protection in the PRO Act. Over half of the States in this country have passed their own right-to-work laws, including my home State of South Carolina. The PRO Act would effectively invalidate those laws by forcing workers to pay union dues in order to keep their jobs. This is a gross overreach of the Federal Government and something we need less of not more of throughout this country. The PRO Act is yet another example of Democratic partisanship and a flagrant power grab and is, as many other things we have done this year, not going to get a hearing in the Senate. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Chair, my amendment is simple. It would require the GAO to carry out a study on the compliance of consumer reporting agencies with the underlying legislation proposed by my colleague from Massachusetts. It would also study what effect the compliance of reporting agencies would have on consumers. This is important because if this bill were somehow able to become law, the results would be disastrous not only for reporting agencies but also for the average consumer. The purpose of a credit score is to show an individual's creditworthiness. This bill would significantly water down the integrity of these credit scores. If you are removing predictive data, if you are drastically shortening the amount of time adverse yet accurate information remains on a report, and if you remove medical debt from a report, then what exactly is the purpose of a credit score? What will a credit score be good for if this bill were to become law? The bottom line is this bill would significantly weaken the process for determining creditworthiness and would enable individuals to obtain loans that they do not have the means to pay back. It would also give the CFPB, an unaccountable government agency, control over private credit scoring models. It is imperative that we know exactly how compliance with this bill would affect reporting agencies and, as a result, consumers. Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Chair, I would inquire how much time is remaining.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry), the ranking member.

Mr. TIMMONS. Mr. Chair, in closing, I would again urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Madam Speaker, the Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve in my district recently celebrated the opening of its new garden entrance, entry pavilion, and circle. The Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve originated as the vision of its namesakes, Harold and Josephine Hatcher. The Hatcher's shared a passion for gardening and education. The family gradually expanded beyond their initial small wooded residential lot to ten acres, adding walking paths and trees to rehabilitate the land and reclaim eroded cotton fields. Their zeal inspired many volunteers to join their efforts to develop a gift to the community--a shared garden and woodland preserve for relaxation and information. Their life project was donated to the Spartanburg County Foundation in 1987 to ensure its continuance. Today, the Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve exceeds twelve acres. It is open to the public and free of charge to all visitors, in line with the Hatcher's vision. Outdoor education programs are offered for elementary school children and opportunities are afforded to more than 60,000 visitors to experience inspiration, enjoyment, and education through nature. This December, a two-year project was completed at the Garden. The new facilities will enhance the experiences and opportunities enjoyed by visitors of all ages, and will continue to be a source of knowledge and information to the community. I am grateful for the Garden's continued efforts in my district and I look forward to their continued success.

Mr. TIMMONS

Mr. TIMMONS. Madam Speaker, I missed votes the week of November 18, 2019, due to full-time military duties with the South Carolina Air National Guard. Had I been present, I would have voted: Yea on Roll Call No. 625; Yea on Roll Call No. 626; Nay on Roll Call No. 627; Nay on Roll Call No. 628; Nay on Roll Call No. 629; Nay on Roll Call No. 630; Nay on Roll Call No. 631; Nay on Roll Call No. 632; Nay on Roll Call No. 633; Yea on Roll Call No. 634; Yea on Roll Call No. 635; Yea on Roll Call No. 636; Yea on Roll Call No. 637; Yea on Roll Call No. 638; Yea on Roll Call No. 639; Nay on Roll Call No. 640; Nay on Roll Call No. 641; and Nay on Roll Call No. 642.