Timothy Walz

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. In this Chamber, there is a lot of back and forth about who creates jobs and who doesn't. Some have suggested it's not government, only business, or vice versa. It's both. How about the construction worker who built a Federal highway so businesses can ship their products? That's how we work together. How about the teacher who works a 14-hour day to educate the next generation of small business owners? That's how we work together. Tell it to a veteran that's not a real job if he spent 2 years away from his wife and child to protect our democracy and the freedom of business owners to expand their wealth. That's how we work together. Personally, I don't think I or the American people give a dang who creates the jobs. All that matters is that the jobs are created. Let's get to work for America. We don't have to sit here and set up false choices and pit the worker at a private factory against the teacher who teaches our children. We all have a role to play in getting this country back to work. Let's end the partisanship, work together and pass jobs legislation.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a simple message: Let's stay here and work for America. Last night, the President stood right there and challenged us to do what's right for America. We should do that. But you know what we're going to do? We're going to knock off early at noon today. The President wasn't allowed to speak on Wednesday because we had important business: we had one procedural vote to allow the Capitol grounds to be used for an event. That is unacceptable. We should stay here and work and git 'er done. Last night, I brought Lee Hiller to the speech. Lee is a heavy crane operator with the Operating Engineers. He said one thing to me: I've got guys who want to work; they're ready to work; put us to work. Today, schoolteachers are waking up all across America, getting up early and staying late to educate our children. Nurses are going to work 12-hour shifts curing the sick, and veterans overseas will work long hours protecting this Nation. The least we can do is stay here and do our job. Mr. Speaker, I encourage Americans all across this country, call their Member of Congress, tell them to git 'er done and work the way they're paid to do. Let's stay here and do that.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell my colleagues what my constituents are saying, simply stop playing games. Now, we all come to this job with certain ideas, values, and principles. But that doesn't mean we get to let our ideology dictate the facts. Failure to pay our bills will have a catastrophic effect on our still-recovering economy. It's as simple as that. This isn't a question about enabling future deficits. The Federal Government needs to cover promises it has already made to our seniors, to our soldiers in the field, to our veterans, to our States, and to our creditors at home and abroad. We need to pay our bills. The need to address our debt is every bit as serious as the need to avoid a default, but we need a balanced approach and shared sacrifice. We cannot balance the budget on the backs of working and middle class Americans while simply refusing to ask corporations and billionaires to pay one penny more. We cannot ignore the facts, and allowing our Nation to default is no way to fix our budget problems.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I am told on a daily basis by my Republican colleagues what the American people want. I certainly respect the election certificates of my colleagues. I would ask they respect mine. I also am not sure where they find the time to travel to these other districts to hear what is being said. My colleagues and my constituents are telling me we were sent here to make democracy work, to come up with a balanced approach, and take this country's fiscal responsibilities seriously. The poll the gentleman just mentioned, in the CBS poll that came out yesterday, two-thirds of the American public want a balanced approach. That means a combination of cuts to revenues to balance our fiscal crisis. With that being said, we have a large number of Members who take pledges, pledges to not raise taxes, pledges to not ask oil companies to pay one penny more. The only pledge a Member of this House should ever make is when they raise their hand to serve the Constitution and this country. I'm also told many times in this House what the intent of our Founding Fathers was. Now, while that's open for debate, there is one thing I'm certainly positive about: When our Founders gathered together, they created a government, not a Wall Street bank.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, it is my honor to rise today to congratulate Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, on 150 years of academic excellence. For a century and a half, Gustavus Adolphus College has thrived as a prestigious and nationally recognized liberal arts college and cultivated the values of faith, service, justice, and community in its students. I have had the opportunity to see firsthand the many Gustavus students and graduates who live by the motto of the college: Make your life count. Gustavus students are bright, engaged, and my interaction with them leaves me feeling optimistic about the future. I am also lucky enough to be married to one of their alums. Every year, Gustavus hosts a unique and world-renowned science conference named after Alfred Nobel. The conference is dedicated to the ideals of Alfred Nobel as he professed in the final years of his life: international collaboration and science for the sake of improving our lives and progressing the human condition. This conference embodies what Gustavus is all about: pursuing academic excellence with the purpose of making it count. Gustavus can be proud of its 150 years, and I am confident that its tradition of excellence will continue to leave a profound mark on Minnesota and the world.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say what my colleagues and I'm sure many Americans across the country are saying: Stop playing the games and get the work done. I understand we all come here with values, ideas, and principles that we hold dear, but when the facts dispute our ideology, we don't get the choice to change the facts; you change your ideology. Failure to pay our bills will be catastrophic to our economy; it's that simple. This isn't a question of enabling future deficits. The Federal Government needs to cover promises it made to our soldiers, to our veterans, to our seniors, and to our creditors. Responsible people in countries pay their bills. Our 40th President knew this. In a radio address he delivered in 1987, Ronald Reagan admonished Congress for bringing the government to the edge of default and urged them to face their responsibility. Here's what President Reagan said: ``Interest rates will skyrocket, instability will occur in the financial markets, and the Federal deficit will soar.'' We cannot ignore the facts, and allowing our Nation to default no way fixes our budget problems. Stop playing the games; get the work done; move the country forward.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I too rise today because it's obvious to all of us we need initiatives that make America more competitive. We need to tap into the can-do spirit of Americans and out-innovate the rest of the world, all those things that made this country so great. We must be able to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. As my colleague said, we need to Make It in America. And, yes, we can do it at the same time that we address long-term national debt. We can cut waste and balance the budget, but we also have to ensure the opportunity for growth exists. In southern Minnesota we have a rich tradition of small businesses building from the ground up, becoming world class, like the Mayo Clinic. We are leading the Nation in renewable energy, biotech research, and ways of providing food for not only this country but the world. We can support job creation today and in the future by encouraging businesses to make products and innovate here in the United States and sell to the world. Mr. Speaker, when we Make It in America, American families will make it too. Let's create good-paying jobs here at home, and let's rebuild the middle class.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I thank the ranking member for her work on this and the chairwoman of the subcommittee. Thank you for coming together and creating a process that allowed us to interact and work for our constituents. Recognizing the gentleman from North Dakota, I have actually been on those flood flights that he's experiencing and am very appreciative of what he brought forward. Today, I have a pretty simple amendment, I think, that addresses a real issue that we're having. Over the past decade, there have been two real changes to the levee system that protects our communities in this country. The first, of course, was FEMA increasing the amount of information and the due diligence they're doing on recertification of levees. That's appropriate after Hurricane Katrina. Secondly, the private engineering firms that perform the recertifications are facing astronomically increased costs from their private insurers. No one wants to insure a levee in a flood-prone area other than the rest of the community, thus the government. Together, these two changes have added increasingly high costs to our local communities as they're trying to protect their residents and keep their levees up to standards. It has created an extra burden on these communities that they can ill afford. This amendment offers a solution. The Army Corps of Engineers stands ready and able to perform these levee certifications. In many cases, they built the levees. They can do it at a significantly reduced cost to the local communities. But under legislation passed in the 2000 Water Resources Development Act, State and local communities cannot hire the Corps of Engineers to do the work; they must first go to private contractors. It's exactly what happened in my town of Mankato, Minnesota. The north Mankato levee, which was designed and built by the Corps, needed to be recertified because of these changes. Because they couldn't use the Corps of Engineers, our local officials had to scramble and go out of their way to find a private contractor willing to do the work at an added cost of tens of thousands of dollars. At no fault to the private contractors, their insurance of liability was so high they had to pass the cost on to the local communities. This approach was worked on in the last Congress with then- Representative Boozman, now-Senator Boozman. It has the support of the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, and the National Association of Towns and Townships. And here's the good thing: The Congressional Budget Office has certified this amendment will cost nothing to the taxpayers. Our taxpayers on the local level are paying far more as it is. This is a way to get it right, use the Corps that we already have, save taxpayers money, increase the efficiency of our levees, and reduce the claims that are made by this. I urge my colleagues to support this piece of legislation, and once again I thank the committee for their outstanding work on the underlying bill.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express the frustration that I feel at the continuing budget impasse in Minnesota. Minnesota faces the biggest budget deficit in its history, and with it comes a responsibility to govern and a cautionary tale for this body. A government shutdown at any level is not only detrimental to the economy and to the success of small businesses, but it's hazardous to the progress of our society as educational programs and nonprofit organizations are put at risk. Like many of the citizens of southern Minnesota who have written me about this shutdown, I share a concern for the families harmed by this shutdown, working parents who receive child care assistance, disabled Minnesotans who rely on State services for their better quality of life, roads remaining unrepaired and simple things like campgrounds being closed where families can't spend time together. A gentleman approached me in Stewartville at a Fourth of July parade. He asked me if I was working this week. I said yes, I was. And he said he wasn't, but he sure wished he was because he was force furloughed. When it comes to divided government, we all win when no one political party wins. In Minnesota, that means both the Governor and the legislature need to compromise. We need to put politics aside to put Minnesota first. The same applies to this body.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a piece of American history and to pay tribute to the Americans that created it: 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the International Harvester Scout; the first Scout, built out of American ingenuity and steel, rolled off the assembly line 50 years ago in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the creation of Ted Ornas, literally drawn on a napkin at his kitchen table. In the near future, my good friend from Indiana, Joe Donnelly, and I will come to this floor at the end of the day to tell the history of this great company and the iconic IH Scout. We will also tell the stories of those who restore, drive, and keep the legacy alive. These are the stories of America, stories of hardworking people who respect our history and believe it is worth preserving. The Scout reflects the exceptional American personality, ingenuity, thriftiness, self-reliance, and a can-do spirit. The Scout was built in the heartland of Indiana on these principles. I want to thank Jeff Bade and John Glancy for helping put this effort together. Honoring our history reminds us of what we were capable of together in this great Nation.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a brave fallen hero from my district who was killed in Iraq last week. Specialist Emilio Campo, a remarkable young man from Madelia, Minnesota, gave his life for this Nation. He joined the National Guard while he was still in high school, and his classmates remember him as a kind, fun-loving young man who had aspirations to attend college and to go into the medical field. He served his country bravely as an Army medic; but when he would come home to questions about his exciting and dangerous work, he would always shrug them off, shy away from the attention, and explain that he was just doing his job. Earlier in the week, the Mankato Free Press reported that, in the 2009 graduation section of the Madelia Times Messenger, Emilio's favorite quote was listed as: ``Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.'' By all accounts, Emilio did exactly that. Tomorrow, his family, his friends and his community will gather together to honor his memory and to celebrate his life. We will remember his sacrifice to this Nation and how he died and gave the ultimate sacrifice; but we will also remember the kind of person he was--full of life, kind-hearted, a good friend, and a good son.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

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

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut.

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

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentleman from Georgia, first of all, for his generosity to us. And we certainly understand the position you're coming from. And I think yes, it's probably a small amount of money, but I think all of us recognize too the need to send a strong clear signal of the importance of these programs to the Senate and let them take a look at it over there. So with that, I do rise in support of the gentleman's amendment. I want to thank my colleague from Nebraska for his hard work on behalf of all rural communities. I certainly urge support of this amendment. It restores $1 million to the REAP program. And the gentleman's right. It is a small amount, but these are important programs. And I'd like to also thank Ms. Kaptur from Ohio for putting that back in this program. REAP's vitally important for rural communities. Farmers and rural small businesses in my district use REAP grants and loan guarantees to cut their energy bills and improve energy efficiency. REAP allows farmers and small businesses to help move our country to cleaner energy future by building wind, solar, biomass, anaerobic digester, geothermal, and cutting edge technologies that were funded by this. I think all of us recognize it's far better for us, Mr. Chairman, to get our energy needs and control our energy future from here at home instead of putting our national security, our energy security in the hands of countries that don't like us. We spend $400 billion a year on imported oil from countries that hate us. They'll hate us for free. We can keep the money at home through programs like this, investing in diversity to keep the jobs at home. And I want to say that I've seen this through the energy manufacturing supply chain in my district, that the spinoff from these jobs in the private sector is incredibly valuable. Unfortunately, while I think the REAP amendment is a good one, the underlying bill I don't believe reflects the priorities of rural America. Our farmers and ranchers clearly understand that we've got to tighten our belts, cut our budgets, and become more efficient. I simply think this piece of legislation puts a disproportionate burden on those that are doing so much for this country. A 25 percent cut over the FY10 bill is irresponsible. In fact, I would argue that if it doesn't ensure that a safety net is there, that abundant, safe and affordable food supply that we keep talking about will be put in jeopardy. This bill decimates farm bill conservation programs, takes money away from proven nutrition programs, and strips, as you heard for the previous 3 hours, the CFTC of critical resources it needs to regulate irresponsible behavior. For that reason, I'm going to have a difficult time supporting the overall bill. But I do believe the REAP program does give America a way to move towards energy independence. I have seen these programs that have worked in my district. I believe it lets us take control of our energy future, lets our farmers and ranchers be part of the solution, and lets us get back on the track to prosperity. So I want to thank the gentleman from Nebraska for his work on this and other issues in rural America, and I truly do thank the gentleman from Georgia for indulging us and for hearing us and letting us put it forward.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. I thank the ranking member and the chairman for their work on this important piece of legislation. In this en bloc amendment, I have an amendment that identified by DOD some important goals in maintaining the operational force of our Reserve and National Guard. These current conflicts have shown the Nation the incredible professionalism and the transformation from a strategic reserve to an operational reserve; and the three things that DOD identified are ensure that the armed services have access to trained, experienced, and ready Guard forces for missions short of war; capitalize on the gains made in readiness in the Reserve component; and ensure that the total force is able to sustain commitments around the world utilizing the unique skills and capabilities of the Reserve component. What this does is it gives DOD--and it is a very limited scope--the ability to be able to access under title 10 those National Guard and Reserve forces for missions short of war at the end of the conflicts or as we wind down these conflicts. My experience with this was after the first gulf war as our artillery units--and some of them were coming back--in training them, we ended up with no pieces of equipment and ended up taking tape and marking on the floor what a Howitzer looked like and using toilet paper rolls as the training aid for that. That is no way to maintain the incredible professionalism that we have in this force. It's no way to use the investment that we've made in this force in the proper manner. I'm very pleased that the ranking member and the chairman have agreed to put this in. I think it's the right thing to do for our security.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, this Monday, Memorial Day, will give citizens from around the country the opportunity to come together and remember those who have laid down their lives in defense of our freedom. The debt we owe our Nation's servicemembers and veterans is immeasurable. Therefore, it's fitting to honor those heroes by renewing our commitment in this House to caring for those servicemembers both while they are in the military and after they return home. As a 24-year veteran of our armed services, I am proud of the work we have done in Congress to support our veteran servicemembers: Passed landmark budgets worthy of our veterans; made sure the VA health care budget was delivered a year in advance; expanded VA health care access for returning combat veterans; increased support for veteran caregivers; passed a 21st century GI bill and continue to improve upon it; and enhanced employment opportunities. Although we have come a long way, our work is never done. We must make sure that our returning troops do not fall through the cracks and that they make the transition to civilian life with the full support of this Nation. On behalf of that grateful Nation, we thank our current servicemembers, our veterans, and their families for their service.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner).

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, again I thank the chairman of the full committee, the chairmen of the subcommittees, Ranking Member Filner, and the subcommittee ranking members. We put together four good bipartisan pieces of legislation to serve our veterans to make sure we strengthened the things that they have so rightfully earned, making the commitment of this Nation stronger to them. It's absolutely appropriate we do that as we move towards Memorial Day. And again, as I said when we began, Mr. Chairman, I think certainly one place where it's Memorial Day every year is in the committee, making sure we're fighting for those veterans, their families, getting it right. And I very much appreciate the sense of bipartisanship as we get that done. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time. General Leave

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Once again, I also rise in support of H.R. 1657. It is absolutely unconscionable that we would have folks taking the set-asides that we have made specifically available to our veterans as they return home to start small businesses. Again, it's certainly not a lottery they have won. It is this Nation's commitment to them to make sure they get on an equal footing and get going again; and anyone who is intentionally stealing those funds, it certainly should be a serious matter. I applaud the gentleman from Indiana for continuing on this very bipartisan--in the last Congress, Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin and now-Senator Boozman took this up, started it moving, and it looks like you are going to get her across for us, Mr. Stutzman; and for that I am very happy. I hope all my colleagues will join me in making sure we improve the protections for the veteran-owned enterprises and send a very clear signal that this is certainly fraud for those individuals who are engaging and taking those set-aside dollars because it is absolutely critical for our returning veterans. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Again, I thank the chairman and the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Stutzman), for working to improve on a very good piece of legislation. The 21st Century GI Bill was an improvement and a recognition that our modern warriors, especially those in the Guard and Reserves, were shouldering an incredible burden in these current conflicts protecting our freedoms. With that, the 21st Century GI Bill went into effect, but I applaud this Congress for having the foresight to look, if something's not working correctly, bring it back and let's try and work through it. I am very much in support of this piece of legislation. I also again want to thank the chairman of the subcommittee and the full committee for their willingness to work on an offset issue, one of the very difficult things that we have to do, and I applaud you for taking it head-on. We all understand the challenge of the financial situation and the need to make sure that every penny of the taxpayer's dollar is watched over carefully. I certainly don't think anyone wants to shortchange our veterans, but we will certainly look and do all we can. I think the compromise that we reached is certainly the way the public would want us to go. I am certainly happy with those new ones. I think what's really important on this is, listening to the chairman talk about the different States where there were discrepancies, we need to be very clear--and I think this bill does that--that these veterans are not New York veterans, they're American veterans. They're Texan veterans, South Carolina veterans, and we need to make sure that we get that in there correctly. There were a few issues that I think we can continue to talk about that came up from the VA themselves in implementation of the bill. I hope we continue, as I am sure we will in our committee and others, to keep focusing on that to make sure that we can get it in and make sure there is not a delay to our servicemembers. They deserve to have it done on time. Again, this is a good piece of legislation. We took on a challenging subject, the willingness to correct something that was needed to be corrected, and then the willingness to find the pay-for that was necessary. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for that. I reserve the balance of my time.