C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chair, I rise today to express my continued support for the restrictions placed on oil and gas leasing in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. I am pleased that H.R. 6082 continues this moratorium and recognizes an area not only critical to the protection of Florida's beautiful beaches and unique environment but to the training of our nation's sailors, Marines and pilots who conduct training exercises there on a regular basis. As you know, I have been working on the issue of drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico since 1983, when the oil industry proposed drilling off the Gulf Coast of Florida. That year, I offered an amendment to a 1983 supplemental appropriations bill to create the first buffer zone to protect Florida's Gulf Coast from offshore oil drilling. Congress did not implement this buffer zone only to protect the economic or environmental interests of the State of Florida; rather we also recognized the potential conflict that exists between drilling and naval and aviation military activities. The importance of this area to our military training was affirmed in 2000, when the Department of Defense requested that no above-surface structures be built in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, officially establishing the Military Mission Line within which no drilling can occur. This decision proved timely when the Air Force and Army were forced to end training exercises in Vieques, Puerto Rico and had to find a new site to undertake these specialized training activities. The Eastern Gulf of Mexico was the only site available where this training could continue because this naval and aviation training is incompatible with drilling platforms and drilling ships. Since the first amendment in 1983, I negotiated with my colleagues to include this moratorium in appropriations bills year after year, until a bipartisan compromise was reached in 2006 that balanced increased domestic energy production with the critical military activities conducted in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. This carefully crafted agreement opened 8.3 million acres south of the Florida Panhandle to drilling, an area previously under a ban, while barring new oil and gas leases off Florida's coastline until June 30, 2022, and codifying the ban on drilling within the Military Mission Line. Prior to the enactment of the current moratorium, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that ``in those areas east of the Military Mission Line, drilling structures and associated development would be incompatible with military activities, such as missile flights, low-flying drone aircraft, weapons testing and training.'' By maintaining the drilling ban in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, H.R. 6082 continues to protect an area that holds the U.S. military's largest training and testing area. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to support this measure that will responsibly increase our domestic oil production while maintaining the important protections against drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, in order to ensure that our military readiness and training capabilities are not compromised.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Navy Lt. Brad Snyder, of St. Petersburg, Florida, who I not only have the honor and privilege to represent but who I appointed to the United States Naval Academy. Lieutenant Snyder is an American hero who lost his eye sight in Afghanistan while carrying out an extremely dangerous mission to protect the lives of his team in the field. Lieutenant Snyder is emblematic of the American volunteer spirit that is the cornerstone of our Nation's fighting force. As a record setting swimmer at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, he informed me in 2001 of his desire to attend the United States Naval Academy. ``I believe that to serve my country, and by attending the Naval Academy, I would be making the most of what I have been given by God,'' Brad wrote to me in his candidate statement. I was proud to nominate Brad in December 2001 and with his appointment, he joined the Class of 2006 in Annapolis during the summer of 2002. Brad was an outstanding Midshipman. He demonstrated his exceptional leadership skill as the Captain of the Navy Swim Team. His coaches, teammates, and fellow sailors all extolled his exceptional work ethic and amiable, trustworthy behavior. During his time at Annapolis, Brad learned of the mission of our explosive ordinance disposal, EOD, teams, the fearless men and women who dismantle explosives and Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, to protect Americans in the field, often endangering their own lives in the process. Brad decided that he wanted to volunteer for this dangerous assignment. Lieutenant Snyder graduated in May 2006 and became an Explosive Ordinance Officer. After a 6 month deployment to Iraq, Lieutenant Snyder was deployed to Afghanistan on April 11, 2011. Despite his father's passing while he was in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Snyder decided to remain on deployment with his team. On September 7, 2011, the front of Lieutenant Snyder's patrol team set off an IED. While providing aid, Lieutenant Snyder stepped on a pressure plate, detonating another unseen IED. The second blast inflicted severe burns and permanently blinded him. While recovering at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Lt. Brad Snyder remained positive and focused on healing. Less than 2 months after losing his sight, Lieutenant Snyder returned to the swimming pool and swam several hundred meters on his first attempt. He continued to progress and train with the intent to serve his country, this time as a member of the U.S. Paralympics Swim Team. Just last month, Lieutenant Snyder fulfilled his dream and qualified for the team that will represent the United States in London later this summer. As I look back over Brad's candidate statement to me 11 years ago, I was struck by one of his life goals. Brad wrote, ``Initially it was Olympic gold that I dreamed of, but as reality set in I realized that the military was a more realistic dream. Today I dream that I will be an officer in the best Navy the world has ever seen, and I hope that my contributions to the Navy can help it grow strong.'' Mr. Speaker, Lt. Brad Snyder has already achieved one of his goals-- to be an officer in the best Navy the world has ever seen and to help it grow strong. He sacrificed his vision to protect his fellow sailors, soldiers, and Marines. It is my hope that my colleagues will join me in saying thank you to Lieutenant Snyder for the steep price he paid to protect our freedom and at the same time to wish him God speed as he sets off to London to achieve his next goal--to bring home gold from the 2012 Paralympics. When I see the spirit and courage of Lt. Brad Snyder, I am confident that our nation is in good hands with a new generation of leaders who understand the value of service and sacrifice. Our best wishes go out to him that a gold medal may be but one of many great achievements Brad achieves over his lifetime. Congress of the United States, C.W. Bill Young, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 459, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. I am an original cosponsor of this important measure and I have long supported Representative Paul's efforts to authorize a full audit of the Federal Reserve by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In 2009, I conducted a ``We the People Town Hall By Mail'' and asked my constituents how they felt about several issues before the Congress. Of the 32,000 Pinellas County residents who responded, 95 percent said they supported a full audit of the Federal Reserve. The Constitution gives the Congress the authority to coin money and to regulate the dollar's value. In an effort to remove politics from decisions about monetary policy, the Congress outsourced this responsibility to an independent Federal Reserve almost one hundred years ago. Unfortunately, for too long the Fed has operated in secret. Current law actually prohibits the Congress from having access to all of the Federal Reserve's books. The GAO serves as Congress's watchdog, and should be allowed to audit the Fed just as it does other agencies. Only through increased transparency can the Congress conduct the necessary oversight of the Fed and hold it accountable for the American people. This institution plays an important role in managing the dollar and the American people deserve to know what is being done to our currency. One of the few good provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation was that it permitted a limited audit of the Federal Reserve's response to the financial crisis. What the GAO uncovered in this limited audit was astonishing. Between December 2007 and July 2010, Fed committed trillions of dollars to backstop hundreds of financial institutions. Some of the largest of recipients of this aid were even foreign banks. According to Bloomberg News, ``the Fed and its secret financing helped America's biggest financial firms get bigger and go on to pay employees as much as they did at the height of the housing bubble.'' Much of this emergency action was run through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which at that time was headed by Tim Geithner, who is now President Obama's Treasury Secretary. The Fed has continued its extraordinary tactics. In addition to holding the federal funds rate at practically zero since December 2008, the Fed has engaged in programs called Quantitative Easing 1, Quantitative Easing 2, and Operation Twist. In 2011 alone, the Fed's balance sheet grew by 20 percent. The Federal Reserve says it will likely hold interest rates at ``exceptionally low levels'' through 2014 and there is speculation that it will soon implement a third round of quantitative easing. Mr. Speaker, this legislation has broad support from all sides. In fact, it seems like the only one who opposes H.R. 459 is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke. My question would be: ``What is there to hide?'' We should have passed this legislation long ago, and it is my hope that my colleagues in the Senate will follow the House's lead and act quickly to approve the Federal Reserve Transparency Act so that we can finally shine a light on the Fed's policies.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I thank the gentleman very much, and I do support this amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I would just like to advise him that our side of the committee especially and enthusiastically endorses your amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the further consideration of H.R. 5856, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I rise in support of the amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. The gentleman from Iowa has explained the amendment very thoroughly. It is easy to understand. The House has spoken many, many times strongly on the issue, so I would add my support to the King amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentlelady's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriations bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI. The rule states in pertinent part: ``An amendment to a general appropriations bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.'' The amendment gives affirmative direction in effect, so I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I rise to make just a very brief announcement. For years and years in the past when presenting the Defense appropriations bill, it has always been my policy, if any amendment is out of order and is subject to a point of order, to allow the introducer of that amendment at least 5 minutes to discuss it before raising a point of order. I hope we can do that today and expedite the process. I would like to move this bill a little quicker than maybe we had anticipated. So I just make that announcement. We will continue to allow you to have your debate time before raising the point of order, but I would hope that everybody would be respectful of the time. I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment Offered by Mr. Gosar

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, this is another amendment that slashes large amounts from our overall Defense appropriations bill. I would say that this subcommittee is not adverse to reducing defense spending when we can do so without having an adverse effect on readiness or without having an adverse effect on our troops, their medical care, and their families. I understand the gentlelady does protect some of those issues in her amendment. This committee has already proven that we are willing to cut defense. In the last 2 fiscal years, this subcommittee, on a bipartisan basis and in a bipartisan way, was able to reduce $39 billion, and we did so very carefully by looking at every account, every project, every place that we could find weakness in the spending, in the contracting, in programs that were terminated or about to be terminated, and we can do that, but just an across-the-board cut is not smart. Here's what could happen. We could actually, with this amendment and this reduction, we could require that we reduce or cancel training for troops returning home from the battlefield or cancel Navy training exercises because they are running very tight on funding already, or reduce Air Force flight training or delay or cancel maintenance of aircraft, ships, and vehicles. All of this relates to readiness: to make sure that the men and women in the military are ready, that they are trained properly, that they have the equipment, and that the equipment is ready. Now something new here, interesting for this year: the CBO--and everyone understands that CBO is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical organization--has just issued their analysis of the Department's Future Year Defense Programs, the FYDP, and determined that Department plans will actually cost $123 billion more than they actually project, which means what they say we will get for the money, we won't get that for the money. Further cuts would make it very difficult to meet the requirements of the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Air Force. We just don't want to do that. This is not the only amendment. We have dealt with similar amendments numerous times yesterday, and I expect that we will again numerous times today. This is not a good amendment, and it's one that I would hope that the Members reject. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I would be happy to enter into a colloquy with my colleague, the very distinguished gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden).

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, first, I would like to say that I really respect Ms. Lee's tenacity and her determination. There's no doubt that she is sincere, but I just disagree with her amendment. Actually, except for the numbers that have changed, this is basically the same amendment that has been offered before even today. And so rather than repeat the arguments, I will just say the arguments are the same. This is not a good amendment, and I would hope that the membership would oppose this amendment as we have others similar to this. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, this actually may be the most critical amendment that we will consider on this bill today. There should be no secret deals on our missile defense with a Russian President or any other person not involved with the security of our own Nation. This amendment precludes that. Mr. Brooks has pointed it out extremely well and Mr. Turner has certainly made a very strong case. But let me add, our national defense interests have got to be our interests, not somebody else's. Our national defense investments must be made based on what is the threat to our Nation, and missile defense in particular. The Iranians have just shown a massive arsenal of missiles--short-range, medium-range, and some long-range capability. Those missiles would have the ability to target our troops wherever they might be in the Persian Gulf region. They can even reach to Israel, one of our very best partners and coalition allies. We just can't let this happen. We can't let anyone make a secret deal with a Russian President on missile defense. The threat is too great. The threat is growing not only from Iran, but from North Korea. The North Koreans have invested a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of technology in developing their missiles, and I don't suspect that they are for peaceful purposes. We have to be always on guard that we protect Americans and our interests and our troops, wherever they might be, from hostile attacks by somebody's missile. So this is a critical amendment, and I think it is important that we have a very large vote and send the message that we are not going to toy with the defense of our Nation, especially missile defense. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlelady for yielding, and I want to thank her for the attention and the hard work that she does to ensure that our military servicemembers and their families have the very best information and resources regarding health care. That is only fair. One of our highest priorities has always been to take care of the health of our men and women in uniform and their families. I thank the gentlelady again, my neighbor in Florida, for her advocacy on this issue and guarantee that we will be very happy to work with her and the Department to make sure that all relevant health care information is available to our servicemembers, our retirees, and their families.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman would yield, I would say to him that today, spectrum is a commodity, and the efficient management of that commodity is critical. I agree that understanding the Department of Defense's plans and budgets for research and development and deployment of these capabilities is critical. I look forward to working with Mr. Walden and the Department of Defense to understand the technologies and techniques being employed to improve government spectrum efficiencies. I thank the gentleman for raising this important issue.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I want to thank him very much for the comment.