Ted Yoho

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to honor our country's fallen servicemen and -women. This weekend, we will observe Memorial Day, a day dedicated to those who have fought and died selflessly to protect our country. Since 1868, Americans have celebrated what was once called Decoration Day to honor the fallen. Every year since then, we have honored those who have fallen at Gettysburg, at San Juan Hill, in the Argonne Forest, on the shores of Normandy and Guadalcanal, at Inchon, at la Drang, in the desert at Objective Norfolk, on the streets of Fallujah, and in Zabul Province. This important day is not only meant to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting for our country but also to highlight why they were called upon to serve our country in battle. They fought to preserve the great privilege of freedom that we must never take for granted. America's promise of liberty would not be possible without the courage and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. We owe these patriots a debt that can never be repaid but that must be remembered always, not just on Memorial Day. This day of remembrance is a solemn occasion, and, therefore, let us not only say prayers for the fallen, let's also celebrate their lives and give heartfelt thanks to God and their families for their sacrifices in protecting our Nation, the world's bastion of liberty and freedom.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague for yielding me just a moment to speak on the absolute necessity of passing the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act. The Sixth Circuit Court blatantly overstepped its authority in directing the EPA to establish a duplicative permitting process for pesticide use. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, known as FIFRA, already requires the EPA to review the data and evaluate risks and exposures associated with the use of certain insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides. After the EPA evaluates the risk associated with the use of a given pesticide, FIFRA prohibits its use for any purpose not already approved by the EPA. Approved uses are clearly labeled. Requiring additional reviews under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System is simply unnecessary and burdensome. Furthermore, unless the body sets the record straight and overturns the Sixth Circuit decision, we will be opening a tried-and-true permitting process to numerous citizen lawsuits that will be bad for agriculture and, as all such bad decisions, result in increased costs paid for by the American consumers. I urge my colleagues to stand behind Mr. Gibbs and this bill, stand behind the science, and help him pass this. When he came, he started to work on this in 2010, his hair was brown. Now it is gray. So let's help him get this bill passed.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I thank Judge Poe for his tireless work on this issue. And I appreciate the leadership, and Lloyd Smucker. And as he has talked about, this is a bipartisan issue. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to modern-day slavery, because that is what this is, in the form of human trafficking. Most people believe human trafficking only occurs at home. It is a foreign crime that would never happen in our community, let alone their own backyard. To that I say: Let me tell you about human trafficking in rural America. I come from a district that is very rural. We had several summits on this issue. We talked to the local sheriffs and to the local police departments, and they said: Do you know what, we don't have that problem here. We are okay. We invoked the help of the Department of Homeland Security, and they have got a great campaign called the Blue Campaign. We encouraged these officers to show up. And I am happy to say that most of the people that we talked to--the counties and the sheriffs--showed up. And it wasn't more than about 2 weeks that I started getting calls from the sheriffs. And they said: Do you know what, that is happening right here. It is an awareness campaign. And Ms. Gabbard from Hawaii mentioned how underreported it is. Of course, it is, if people aren't aware of it. But when you bring awareness through campaigns like the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign, people wake up to this issue. And I love their motto: If you see something, say something. Let people know this is going on. So let me tell you about our home community. In March of this year, a special needs student in Jacksonville, Florida, was kidnapped. Her captors placed her under house arrest, basically. They incarcerated her for human trafficking. They placed an advertisement online offering her sexual services, which is quite possibly the only reason the police were able to find her. These people were advertising on the internet. Also, in March of this year, 15 men were arrested in my hometown of Gainesville, Florida, on child solicitation charges. These men were discovered as part of an undercover operation that led them to believe they were communicating with young girls. The men believed the girls' guardians were allowing them to commit sexual acts with underage girls. Only 2 months prior to this arrest, a Gainesville man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sex trafficking an adult. A month prior to that, Polk County--another rural county--detectives arrested 114 suspects in a human trafficking and prostitution ring. At least four of them were immediately identified as human trafficking victims. And merely 3 months later, an additional 104 were picked up in a second sting for human trafficking, including those soliciting sex from minors. These are but a few examples of human trafficking-related crimes that have occurred in my community in the last 6 months. Florida is estimated to have the third highest rate of human trafficking in the country, following only behind California and New York--third in the Nation. That is not something any State wants a designation for. All three of these States are ideal because of their access to ports and interstate highways, allowing victims to be transported across State lines easily. And it is estimated today--and I, again, sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee with Judge Poe, and we have seen these numbers too often. It is estimated that 21 million people are trafficked around the world, resulting in an estimated $150 billion in profits--profits from the sale of a human individual that goes to the traffickers who are often drug smugglers or terrorist organizations. The 13th Amendment to our Constitution abolished slavery in this country. However, it still exists, and it is right in our own backyard. Because of this, we need to do all that we can to eradicate this. The runaway child is picked up within 48 hours and forced within the sex trade. This is something that, if you believe in the 13th Amendment, we all need to stand up, take an active role in this, and we do this by the legislation that is up. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Judge for being a strong advocate and always being there for this.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for organizing this very important Special Order. This is something that she has been a champion on. This is my third term, and we have been talking about this for 4 years. Enough is enough. It is time to end this. I rise today in support of Congress reclaiming its authority under Article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution. The United States must have a clear strategy with well-defined goals to counter nonstate actors like ISIS that threaten the United States. They threaten our national security interests. We must also develop clear legal authority for our military to take action against these groups. Ending the 2001 AUMF is a crucial part of that effort. According to scholars at Brown University's Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs, our government, our taxpayers, have spent $4.8 trillion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, paid for almost entirely by borrowing. As of today, 6,925 American soldiers have given their lives serving our country in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Inherent Resolve, and Operation Freedom's Sentinel, according to the Department of Defense. But what about the costs to take care of these young men and women for the next 60, 70, and 80 years in our country? While our brave men and women in uniform continue to fight in the sands of Iraq and Syria and the mountains of Afghanistan, we have gone through three Presidential administrations without a statement articulating what victory is, except that ``terrorism must be defeated.'' No one disagrees with that goal, but it is an uncertain way to order our Nation's military posture and to commit our young men and women in the military serving this Nation without a clear, defined goal. We have been at war in Afghanistan for 16 years, yet the Taliban controls or contests 40 percent of Afghan districts, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. The U.S. intelligence community's worldwide threat assessment states that ``the overall situation in Afghanistan will very likely continue to deteriorate, even if international support is sustained,'' and that ``endemic state weaknesses, the government's political fragility, deficiencies of the Afghan National Security Forces, Taliban persistence, and regional interference will remain key impediments to improvement.'' In addition to Afghanistan, the United States has also been involved in Iraq, on and off, since 2003. Dr. James Zogby of the Arab American Institute conducted a poll of Iraqi public opinion in 2016, which found that 94 percent of Iraqis had an unfavorable attitude about the United States. Ninety-four percent of Iraqis polled say they do not think the U.S. contributes to peace and stability in the Arab world. We need a much clearer strategy for our men and women in uniform than to tell them just to keep doing the same thing over and over again. We all know what the definition of insanity is, and we need to do better for them and for our partners around the world. Our Nation has arrived at a historic and constitutional moment. Prior to President Trump's inauguration, President Obama released a framework outlining his administration's formal legal view on the use of military force against Islamic terror groups around the globe. That report relied heavily on the 2001 AUMF, which has been used to justify numerous American military operations against an ever-expanding number of terror groups, many of which have only slight links to the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001, attacks. In reality, our loose interpretation of the 2001 AUMF to have a perpetual war against terror might as well be using the authorization that Thomas Jefferson used to go after the Barbary pirates on the shores of Tripoli the way this has been stretched over and over again. It is unconscionable. I hope that President Trump's administration will not continue to rely on that same legal framework but, rather, that he will formally ask Congress to pass a new authorization with a clear directive of what success is for the use of force that will not perpetually operate in constitutional gray areas. Strikes against groups like al-Shabaab in Somalia take place in constitutional twilight zones where the Constitution's distribution of authority to use force is uncertain, as Justice Jackson wrote in Youngstown v. Sawyer. To better preserve our Constitution's separation of powers structure, Congress must make it a priority to develop clear legal authority for American military action against Islamist terror organizations. Further, such authorization should be structured so it will not turn into the expanding grant of power like the 2001 AUMF has done. If we fail to pass a new AUMF, it would do our servicemen and -women, as well as the American public, a fundamental disservice. It would prolong authorization of an endless war. It is time to end the Middle East conflict. Let's end the authorization of the 2001 AUMF. Right now, I fear that many of our military operations do not have congressional authorization and do not comply with the clear statement of Article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to declare war. To show our servicemen and -women we support them, to uphold the Constitution, and for the good of our Nation, I hope we can work on the passage of a new AUMF with deliberate speed. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. Her commitment to this cause is commendable.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of H.R. 115, the Thin Blue Line Act, which will act as a deterrent against criminals who seek to harm first responders. Increasing the Federal penalties that can be imposed against those who would kill or attempt to kill policemen, firemen, or first responders is a just response to such heinous crimes. This week is National Police Week, and I am reminded of the words etched on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C., which states: ``The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion.'' This is from the Book of Proverbs. It takes a special kind of person to willingly run toward danger and to shield the innocent from the wicked. That is what our law enforcement and first responders do every day. I am very grateful for the men and women who serve and protect our communities; and I was honored to be present for Police Week in a small town in our district, Green Cove Springs, in Clay County, Florida, where they had the Police Memorial; and on that was a verse from John 15:13: ``Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.'' I hope that God watches over our first responders and keeps them safe to bring them home to their families.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of National Small Business Week. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. This week is dedicated to celebrating and recognizing them and their contributions to our Nation. Because of this, I wanted to take a moment to recognize a few stellar small businesses in north central Florida. Archer Automotive and Tire, founded in 2004, came about after a fleet mechanic of over 20 years decided he wanted to open his own shop. Thirteen years later, they have expanded into a state-of-the-art facility employing over eight families, allowing them to serve even more of their community. Eat the 80, winner of the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce's 2016 Leading Women's Enterprise Award, is a meal delivery service specializing in health food that doesn't lack flavor or quality. They believe that everyone should have access to a healthy diet, and they built a business that could provide meals for working families. Finally, I would like to recognize Endoscopy Replacement Parts, an aftermarket manufacturer established in 1997. Their 18 years of manufacturing experience, great customer service, and giving back to the community has led them to be recognized as the 2015 Manufacturers Association of Florida's Manufacturer of the Year, and the 2015 Small Business Administration's Small Business Exporter of the Year. Mr. Speaker, it is businesses like that that keep our communities vital and growing.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Korea Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act, H.R. 1644, the KIMS Act. I thank Chairman Royce for his leadership in guiding this bill through the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the original cosponsors of this bill, Ranking Member Engel and Congressman Sherman, who serves alongside me as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. I also thank the chairman and ranking member for accepting my amendment to this bill that targets the ability of leaders like those of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that have been buying North Korean arms for years with impunity, supplying a means of income for the North Korean regime to fund their nuclear program and the regime of terror and provocations. Mr. Speaker, North Korea's nuclear program has never been a bigger threat, and we need to respond with all the tools at our disposal. After all, the world community is against nuclear proliferation from any country, so the world community should support the United States preventing North Korea's nuclear program. If anything, Pyongyang has dramatically accelerated its belligerent behavior, conducting two nuclear tests and two dozen missile launches last year. Speaking before the U.N. Security Council, Secretary Tillerson was right when he said that the threat of a North Korea nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is very real. That is why it is so important that Congress, as we are doing here today, continue to apply pressure on Pyongyang, providing the administration with the tools it needs to deprive the Kim regime of the hard currency it depends on to feed its illicit weapons program. Importantly, this measure will advance the national security interests of not just the United States and the Korean Peninsula but of the whole Asia-Pacific region and will contribute to regional security by targeting North Korea's abhorrent overseas slave labor, which is estimated at bringing in as much as $230 million each year. There are precious few nonmilitary tools left for managing the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. Financial sanctions are the most important and effective of these tools. By advancing this legislation, the House will continue its critical work to ensure our country has the necessary authorities and mandates in place to ensure our financial measures are effective. A peaceful outcome on the peninsula depends on inflicting enough pressure on Kim to force him to make the hard but smart choices. This bill will affect him where it hurts--in his bank accounts. Again, I commend Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their contributions and leadership on this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to highlight H.R. 758, the GI Internship Program Act. I am a cosponsor of this important legislation with my colleague from Illinois, Brad Schneider. If implemented, this bill would expand the use of the existing post-9/ 11 GI Bill benefits to include internships as an option in place of a traditional degree program. The GI Internship Program Act would allow veterans to gain practical skills and work experience to help ease their transition back into the civilian workforce. Under current law, the post-9/11 GI Bill only allocates money to veterans for traditional postsecondary education in the classroom, but for many veterans this is a path not meant for them. For example, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were over 300,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs at the end of 2016. This gap could be filled by the veterans who use their post-9/11 GI benefits as a stipend to support them while receiving on-the-job training as high- skilled technical workers. Further, these jobs can be filled at no additional cost to the employer because the cost would be covered by the preexisting GI Bill. This bill would allow businesses all over the U.S., both large and small, to meet their employment needs and help our skilled veterans to enter the civilian workforce. As long as employers comply with the program and intend to hire the veterans after the internship is over, the veterans will continue to receive funding. This bill is a win for American job growth and, most importantly, a win for our veterans. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense measure.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to recognize the Sid Martin Biotechnology Institute, a leading biotechnology incubator headquartered in Alachua, Florida, in conjunction with the University of Florida, in my home district. The Sid Martin Biotechnology Institute focuses on promoting the growth of innovative, early-stage bioscience and biotechnology companies and technology-based economic development in and around my district. Over the past 20 years, this institute has worked with more than 100 startup companies in biotechnology, biomedicine, and bioagriculture, and it has created over 200 high-tech jobs. The survival rate of the companies in this program have a 93 percent survival rate, creating a successful business community in north central Florida area. Their dedication to these causes has not gone unnoticed. Recently, Sid Martin Biotechnology Institute was awarded the Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year award for 2017, the highest award given by the International Business Innovation Association. This institute was named Incubator of the Year among more than 7,500 incubators worldwide. This is the second time the Sid Martin Biotechnology Institute has received this award, and, additionally, they have also been awarded Technology/ Science Incubator of the Year. I would like to congratulate them on their accomplishment and thank them for their positive and meaningful contributions to Florida's Third Congressional District.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the loss of a Floridian, a patriot, and one of the Air Force's finest. Two weeks ago, three servicemembers were lost in a crash of a reconnaissance and surveillance plane in New Mexico. These young men were not just servicemembers serving in our United States Air Force; they were sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers. In particular, Florida's own Lieutenant Frederick Dellecker, a dedicated first lieutenant, had a long and promising career ahead of him. Lieutenant Dellecker was 26 and known amongst his friends for his legendary humor. As a veterinarian, I was particularly touched by Lieutenant Dellecker's love of animals. His friends and family recently revealed that, while in pilot training, Lieutenant Dellecker once shared a hotdog with a flea-bitten stray who had just delivered a litter of puppies and was starving. He ended up taking her in and giving her a second chance at a new life. I would like to take a moment on behalf of all Americans and all of the Members here today to thank him and his family for their service. Lieutenant Frederick Dellecker, your name will not be forgotten.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 186.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my concern about how crucial it is that we repeal and replace the poorly named Affordable Care Act. We are working towards a better healthcare plan and doing it in a better fashion than the other side did 8 years ago. We are actually going through regular order, allowing the committees of jurisdiction to do their work in public, and have the text for all to see and debate. Mr. Speaker, ObamaCare is failing and will collapse on its own. Many more will lose their insurance, and the healthcare system will get drastically worse if we simply leave it in place. The worst thing we can do is nothing. 4.7 million Americans were kicked off their healthcare plans by the ACA. I was one of them. Under the ACA, there has been a 25 percent average increase in premiums for the midlevel plans in 2017 for millions of Americans trapped in the healthcare.gov exchanges. Nearly one-third of U.S. counties have only one insurer offering an exchange plan. ObamaCare is unsustainable. Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to do its job and replace the failed ObamaCare. We guarantee we will read this bill before we pass it.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Nay'' on rollcall No. 156.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``Nay'' on rollcall No. 143, the Hank Johnson Amendment No. 5. Amendment No. 6 Offered by Mr. Conyers

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to spend time here with my colleagues. We just heard a diatribe from our colleagues. It is interesting to me to note how they say the American people don't want us to change this, but I have to remind my colleagues that I think the American people spoke very loudly on November 8. We have run multiple times to repeal this bill. I heard one of my other colleagues say that we voted over 60 times, and we are going to vote one more time to get rid of the Affordable Care Act because the American people have delivered that message to us, and we have a President that says that we will do this. I think, as we go through this, we are going to have some interesting conversations. Considering all the bickering and posturing you see in the media by partisans on the left and the right, it is time for Members of this body to step back for a moment and take stock of where we are in the healthcare debate. I was not a Member of Congress when the Affordable Care Act was passed. I was a practicing large animal veterinarian in private practice plying my trade and not a political animal, if you will. However, I was concerned to see the way the law was passed. My colleagues on the other side were talking about how this was rammed through Congress and how it was passed in the shadows--or how we are doing that now. But I have to remind them that in 2009 it was passed in the dark of night--no Republican input, no debate, and no discussion. It was just passed and rammed down the American people's throat. I want to go on here, and I want to yield to a couple of my colleagues before I do. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) because he has to go tend to some other business. I would like to have his input on this. Doug LaMalfa is my good friend and a great leader up here.

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from California. Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, I was concerned to see the way the law was passed. It was passed in the middle of the night. I thought it was passed through hastily and without transparency. I did not think that boded well for the law's success. Unfortunately, I was proven right. If you remember the words of the then-Speaker of the House, it was passed without reading it, and the words were: We have to pass it to see what is in it. We have to pass it to see how it is going to work. Talk about legislative malpractice that was poured on to the American people to get a bill they didn't want, that nobody read. Yet my colleagues on the other side are talking about how we are running this through without anybody's input. It has had 6 years of input, it is coming together now, and our goal is to fix health care for the American people. As someone who has practiced medicine, I believe that, despite all the good intentions behind the Affordable Care Act, it was doomed to fail, as most Big Government programs are. In fact, one of the main reasons I ran was on behalf of patient-centered, free-market oriented health care. I supported and still support healthcare reform that allows us in Congress to keep our promises when we talk about what we want to achieve. I was one of the Members that came up here who lost my health care because of the Affordable Care Act. My premiums have gone up over $11,000 since I have been here. My deductibles have gone up and my coverage has gone down. It is a disaster. I have to remind my colleague from Minnesota who was talking about how bad the Republican bill is that his own Governor from the State of Minnesota said that this bill is a disaster, the Affordable Care Act in its present form, and his premiums have gone up 45 percent in his own State. I want to remind this body that many people lost health care they had before ObamaCare was passed with the promise that if you like your plan, you can keep it. It was broken by our own President of the United States. If you like your plan, if you like your doctor, and if you like your insurance company, your premiums will go down $2,500 on an average. Lie after lie after lie. The American people answered that by electing a majority in Congress to the Republican Party to fix that, and that is what we aim to do. Supporters of the ACA also told us that the premiums wouldn't increase. It turned out that was false. Premiums in the individual markets have increased partly because ObamaCare has forced insurers to leave the exchange. For example, benchmark silver-level plan premiums have increased by an average of 25 percent from 2016 to 2017, according to the Department of Health. If you like the State of Arizona, the premium this year is going up an astounding 116 percent. They worry about us, and then they blame us for raising the cost of health care. Sophistry, pure sophistry. Many families have been forced to pay drastically higher out-of- pocket costs, which hits their pocketbooks hard even though they are not wealthy people by any stretch of the imagination. As my friend, Mr. LaMalfa, was talking about the cost, at the end of the month people are finding out they are running out of money before they run out of the month. I am reminded of one family in my district whom I met with personally many times over my tenure in Congress. They had to deal with the intense treatments and frequent hospitalizations for an illness that has hit two generations of their family very hard. They had coverage through an employer that they started out with, and it was a $350-a- month premium right before the ACA passed in 2010. However, around the time the ACA mandates kicked in, their plan went up over $100 a month. Today their premium is a staggering $680 a month. That is over $8,000 a year in premiums, nearly double what they were paying before the ACA. These are the people that sent us up here to fix health care. Unless you are making six figures a year, this is an absolutely painful sum. Mr. Speaker, I may not generally be a supporter of government benefits, but I do believe very strongly that our government should make every effort in protecting our Nation's vulnerable population, especially the chronically ill. My concern is the ACA has resulted in those groups being harmed more than anybody else. Particularly for those who had employer-provided insurance prior to the ACA, the law's effect has been hurtful, especially if their coverage was for families afflicted by long-term illness. Simply put, no healthcare law should ever make things worse for people who were responsible and had health care to treat a medical condition. If anything, that is the opposite of health care. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), who is a good friend of mine. Dr. Babin has practiced dentistry in our military and in the private sector. Right after graduating dental school, he was commissioned in the Air Force as an officer and was stationed overseas. I thank the gentleman for his service. He later returned to his native east Texas to open his own dental practice, which he operated for over three decades. He has served on the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners and as a member of the American Dental Association.

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Dr. Babin's comments. He is very astute. He has been around health care. You know how this thing is not working and the strain it has put on people in your district, as it has in mine, and people around the country. I am relieved that Congress is moving forward on legislation to right these wrongs. It feels so good to be a Member of Congress today to live up to a campaign promise that everyone in the majority in the House, Senate, and executive branch says: We are going to fix this; trust us. I have the complete confidence in that. I look forward to engaging with my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse). He is a farmer, small-business man, and good conservative who understands the importance of keeping government out of our healthcare system. Our country's farmers have been hit hard, just as much as others, by ObamaCare. Congressman Newhouse is, no doubt, well aware of these issues.

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague from Washington State. I appreciate his words, his thoughtfulness, and the stories. You learn more from a story than you do facts and figures. I want to go over a couple of things here. As we have heard, the average increase of health plans in the United States rose by over 35 percent. I already talked about Arizona: 116 percent this year alone. The insurance exchanges that were set up--the 26 in the beginning-- are down to 5, with some counties not even having exchanges to purchase insurance. I think for the people that are watching this at home, whether they are Members of Congress, the American citizens, I want you to listen to this, and I want to take you back to the information that came out when the Speaker of the House then talked about, we have to pass it to see what is in it, how it is going to work. Then I want you to picture the words of the architect of this bill, Jonathan Gruber: The lack of transparency and the stupidity of the American voter helped ObamaCare pass. The Democrats want to blame this body, the Republicans, for wrecking health care. This is what they passed on us and the American people. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), who is the only pharmacist serving in Congress. As a healthcare professional, he knows these issues very well. He is the co-chair of the Community Pharmacy Caucus and sits on one of the main healthcare committees in Congress, the Committee on Energy and Commerce. He ran his own business, like me, and witnessed firsthand the problems that government regulations and red tape cause on job creators, large and small. I want to remind folks, too, that there were over 22,000 pages of rules and regulations that came out of the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Carter. I appreciate his being here. The effort he has put in, working diligently to help us right this wrong that has been instilled upon the American people. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), a great colleague of mine who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research of the Committee on Agriculture; a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and the Committee on House Administration.

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis). He brought up a very astute point. This is collapsing on itself. If we were to do nothing, this would collapse, and the American people would be left without any coverage. We have heard other people on the other side say: Leave it alone. That is irresponsible, and we will not do that. We will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and we remove it from Washington bureaucrats and government mandates. If government can tell you what kind of insurance to buy, you have to buy it, and if you don't, they penalize you, what else can they force you to do? Our Constitution is not a function of the government. Government is a function of the Constitution. Yet when government steps beyond the boundaries of the Constitution, it is up to us, we, the people--and we are the representatives of we, the people--to change how government works. That is what we are doing with the repeal and the replacement of the Affordable Care Act. We have heard about the nightmare this has caused to the American people, to our economy, the loss of jobs, the depression of job growth, wage growth. We can go on and on for hours, but it is not going to fix this problem. What I want to focus on for the next few minutes is what the replacement does do. We have heard about the mandates that are going away, the taxes that are going away, the expansion of Medicaid. The reality in America, our country is in financial dire straits. It is unsustainable. It would be imprudent for us to sit by and do nothing while the country goes into default. So with the direction we are going, this will bend the cost curve to Medicaid to make it solvent for a longer period of time. This will empower the individual to have health care and make those decisions between the doctor and the patient, the way it should be, instead of a government-controlled mandate. This empowers individuals to be more responsible for themselves, to incentivize them to go out and buy health care by the use of health savings accounts, where they can buy over-the-counter medications to share with family members the benefit of the health savings account. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all want preexisting conditions covered, so that is something we all are in agreement with. There is the argument about should children be able to stay on their parents' policies until the age of 26. Personally, I don't think they should have to--I think they should be out on their own, but I have heard from enough people in my district that I am willing to compromise and go along with that. Truth be known, children could already stay on their parents' health plan until the age of 26 if they were actively enrolled in college or disabled. So we are compromising. This will make health care better. It puts health care into the hands of the American people and their doctors and drives government out of it. Let them oversee the process. We have heard over and over again that we need to open up the market across State lines. There is legislation coming out that will free up the insurance companies. We are introducing legislation to hold harmless insurance companies now, before we get through with this process, so that insurance companies are not held to the standards of the Affordable Care Act, so that they can start writing policies today when this legislation passes, so they can write their policies and start marketing now so that the American people will have time to research these products. There will be a transition period. I can't guarantee it is going to be smooth. I can guarantee you it will be smoother than the last one. I think the last thing I want to leave the American people with is we don't want to pull the rug out from anybody. We will do everything possible, and I know on both sides of this. I would think the Democrats, with the debacle that they created, the legislative malpractice that they passed in the dark hours of the night in December of 2009 or 2010, that they would want to come to the aid to fix health care for the American people instead of chastising us and telling us how bad and how wrong we are to interfere. This plan is going to collapse on its own. We invite them to come to the table to help us fix this because this is for all Americans, not just Republicans. It is for all Americans--Republicans, Democrats, Independents, everybody. I would hope they would come and help us do this. I think the last thing, Mr. Speaker, is this is a historic opportunity. The Wall Street Journal said never before has there been a chance to change a program as significant as what we are getting ready to do. We are the ones who are going to lead this effort to bring healthcare stability to the American people. I look forward to the discussions in the future. I ask the American people to believe in the people you sent up here to fix this. We are going to get it right. One last thing. I will guarantee you that this bill will be read before it is passed, and we will know how it is going to work. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today not only to celebrate African American History Month, but to celebrate two stories lost to mainstream history. The first story is the original Underground Railroad, and the other story is of Josiah T. Walls. Students across the country have heard stories about the Underground Railroad during the Antebellum Period; however, there was a Road to Freedom that existed before the United States was even established, and that road went south to the free territory of Spanish Florida. In fact, the National Park Service held its sixth annual Underground Railroad Conference in St. Augustine in 2012 to highlight this very story which started with eight recorded families seeking freedom in 1608 in Florida. During this period, thousands of men, women, and children fled from the colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. These individuals headed to Florida to gain their freedom thanks to the Edict of 1693, which was issued by the then-Spanish Government that stated that any man, woman, or child who found their way to Spanish Florida would be granted freedom. The people at the heart of this story are the Gullah Geechee who trace their lineage to West Africa. Once free in Florida, the Gullah Geechee people thrived, establishing communities, forts, and deep roots throughout Florida's Third Congressional District, roots that still can be felt today. The second story is of Josiah T. Walls. He was a man who was born into slavery in 1842 in Virginia. He worked as a slave. The Civil War broke out, and he was conscripted by the Confederate Army to serve as a cook in the Civil War. He got freed by the Union soldiers, served with the Union soldiers, and after the war, he moved to Florida to fight in the Seminole American wars. During that time period, the war ended, and he moved to Gainesville, Florida, where he became the first African- American mayor of our city where I come from. During that time, he became a very successful businessperson. He was elected to the Florida Assembly, and then later he was elected to the U.S. Congress, serving in this very body here today. His elections got challenged, and he lost his role as a Representative in the House. He ran again the next year, won again, and served a full term. Then the third term he ran, he won again. His election got challenged by a Confederate soldier, and he lost his seat. He went on to become a prominent businessman in north central Florida, owned a farm, and was very successful until the freeze of 1906, which put him out of business. He moved to Tallahassee and became a newspaper owner and printed a local newspaper. He rose to prominence, but at his death, he was but a footnote in the histories not just of our State, but of our country. Here is a man that was born into slavery, rose to prominence, and was forgotten by history. I tell these stories because these stories, like many stories in our early history, must never be forgotten and must be remembered by our history lest we repeat it. It must also be taught to our children so that they are inspired and they see themselves in the history books like these other folks.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 42, and I thank Chairman Smith for taking the lead in fighting for American workers with this commonsense piece of legislation. I believe there has been a misconception about the intent of this CRA. Congress is not acting because we have a malicious intent to punish American workers. We are not even trying to disincentivize them from participating in the program. My colleague, Mr. Davis, said we should strengthen our programs, and what we are attempting to do is exactly that: strengthen the system that is intended to help unemployed Americans and allow them to prepare to reenter the workforce. The 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act made commonsense reforms to the unemployment insurance system with the goal of assisting Americans in returning to gainful employment. Yes, this included allowing States, like my own of Florida, to determine whether or not they wanted to include drug screening and test unemployment insurance applicants. And, yes, the law specifically stated two conditions: if the applicant had lost their job due to drug use and if they were seeking a new job that regularly required new employees to pass a drug test. Now, when the Department of Labor drafted the rule, they clearly went beyond the intent of Congress and tailored it too narrowly. This will only hurt prospective employees in the long term. The rule covers occupations such as those that require the employees to carry firearms, flight crews, transportation, and the like. The problem here is that employers in occupations outside of this narrow scope also regularly require drug testing of their employees. So under this rule, unemployed Americans who are using and looking for employment outside of the specific occupations outlined in the rule could potentially find employment in a different industry, be drug tested, and subsequently terminated. How is this helping American workers? It doesn't make sense to me, and it shouldn't make sense to any of my colleagues either. This is a bad rule, and it needs to be repealed so the Department of Labor can go back to the drawing board and craft a rule that will actually strengthen the unemployment insurance, help the American worker, and ultimately strengthen the economy.

Mr. YOHO

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, February 2, 2017, Gainesville, Florida, and the State of Florida lost a favorite son in Mr. Perry C. McGriff. Perry was an icon in my hometown of Gainesville, Florida, and was known for his strong civic duty in helping people wherever and whenever they needed it. Perry was born in Arcadia, Florida, in 1937, and went to school at the University of Florida, where he became an all-star standout in both Gators football and baseball. His contributions on the field earned him entry into the prestigious Hall of Fame as a Gators Great in 1969. Perry was married to his wife, Noel, for 57 years, raised four children--Jana, Mark, Keith, and Matthew--and enjoyed the joy and laugher of their 15 grandchildren. A tremendous family man, Perry was also successful in business. He was an insurance agent for 48 years. He had the honor of being the youngest person ever elected as mayor of Gainesville, and he was a representative for the State of Florida. He was a tireless volunteer and doer in Gainesville, receiving countless awards and recognition for his community service. Two of those particularly stick out to me. He received the first ever Ethics in Business Award and the Service Above Self Award, given by the Gainesville Rotary for his lifetime of service. In addition to his time, Perry donated more than 60 gallons of blood and set an example for all to follow. For all the things Perry was and all the good things Perry did, I will always remember him most for his smile, his great attitude, and his notorious reputation to have his camera at the ready. He was always snapping pictures of people enjoying life and making sure to send to each individual a copy so they could remember the happy moments in the life that he captured. To Noel and the McGriff family, thank you for sharing Perry's time. Thank you for sharing your husband and father with all of us. We will miss him forever, but we will never forget Perry. All of us, the city of Gainesville, the State of Florida, and I are all better for having known Perry. Standing Strong Against North Korea

Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, North Korea said it had successfully completed the launch of a new ballistic missile. The Pukguksong-2, a medium-range ballistic missile, was test-fired on Sunday. The actions by the North Korean regime are unacceptable and in clear violation of the U.N. Security Council. It is imperative that the U.S. stand strong with Japan, South Korea, and all of our allies in the region against the provocative and threatening actions of the North Korean totalitarian regime. It is a regime that is determined to thumb their nose at the world by advancing their nuclear capabilities, thus threatening their neighbors, the region, and for that matter, the world. The United States and its world partners must continue to persuade North Korea to adhere to the U.N. Security Council resolutions or they choose to invite worldwide sanctions upon them. This is North Korea's decision and nobody else's.