Transcripts For CSPAN US House Of Representatives Special Orders 20161207

So whats the first thing we do . We tax it. We call it earned income. While another category of income called unearned gets a preferential rate. This is a discussion we need to have. Second point, simplification. A few years back we had a Tax Reform Act here, a number of, it was controversial a number of us voted for it, it passed. Before doing that, i decided to run up the road and see someone who lives near where i do, his name is warren buffett. Warren buffett and i have different philosophical approaches on many things, but he was generous to welcome me to his office, we spept about an hour together, and i wanted to get his look at that tax bill and some other things. In an interesting exchange, he turned around to his credenza, pulled out a file, an old file, pulled out a single piece of paper, and said, jeff, do this. Lets do this. Put the tax code on a piece of paper. Simplification. Now, a tax coat in reality cannot always be cut. It has to be optimized. We have to run the government, we have to run we have to have revenues, but in a manner that doesnt deteriorate the ability of the economy, Small Business, and others to create jobs. To provide the proper catalyst for economic growth. Thats the balance. Mr. Speaker, let me turn to the issue of regulation, but before i do, can i inquire as to the amount of time that is left . The speaker pro tempore 11 minutes. Mr. Fortenberry thank you, mr. Speaker. Lets touch on the issue of regulation. Washington is readying to create to correct Regulatory Overreach thats constrained the ability to have Small Business to flourish. For far too long, washington has distorted markets and most importantly the imagination of people to find better solutions. For themselves, for their neighbors. Government must play its role. But with constraint on its tendency to seize more power. Mr. Speaker, i recently visited a 125yearold bank in a small town called north bend, nebraska. Agriculture community. This bank is now in its fourth generation. And the family was eager to show me something they had recently discovered, theres an architectural gem that had been covered over by a ceiling. In doing some remodeling they found a siden a hidden stained glass panel, gorgeous ornamentation on the beams above. The bank is rightly proud to showcase this history and this beautiful symbol of a flourishing past. The story began when all the banks of the area, in this town, went under. During the great depression. Now one of the local banks reorganized itself and came forward with a proposal to the community. It was this. If you stay with us, stay with our bank, we will give you 50 cents on your dollar now, and pay you back the rest over time. Mr. Speaker, it took the family that owned that bank 20 years, but theyve paid every dime back to every member of that bank. Without ever taking a dividend for themselves. Until that money was paid back. The original owner died. Shortly thereafter. He gave his word and he got it done. As a longstanding community institution, this local bank did not bring our nation down in the financial crisis of 2008. It did not benefit from insider class privilege that enabled liar loans and high risk collateralized debt obligations. It did not help multiNational Banking conglomerates grow so large in hubris and reach that they nearly tanked our economy. At the same time, this small Nebraska Bank is besieged by a regulatory overlay created by a crisis that it did not participate in. It is not fair. So right sizing regulation duh not mean doing away with it, mr. Speaker. It means, what is sensible to protect health and safety and well being and create a fair Playing Field for everyone with minimal intrusion for maximum market functionality. There is a real cost to regulation. There is a real cost to no regulation. And there is a real cost to dumb regulation. We look forward to finding that balance once again. Mr. Speaker, there are many other aspects that i could speak about regarding Community Revitalization and foreign policy, but i want to touch on an important debate that is under way now regarding our immigration system. Our immigration system is stretched, laws have not been enforced, have led to chaos and dislocation, testing the natural generosity of americans. Righting the legal system, stopping unscrupulous employers and holding those that break laws to account are the start of restoring a humane and fair immigration policy. Another small town north of omaha, blair, nebraska, its nestled along among the beautiful rolling wooded hills of the along the missouri river. Its a traditional hub of agriculture activity as well. Im proud to represent them in the United States congress. There are several Large Manufacturing clients and its a very stable community. A community of very strong values. So much so that recently a sunday school class of little children wrote to me about the need to help other impoverished children in countries across the world. Their letters were so touching, heart warm, and demonstrated this enduring, universal idea that animates the moral imagination of nebraskas young people and young people throughout the country. But fast forward to a jarring criminal incident that took place last month, a few months ago, when three men were arrested in blair, driving nearly 90 Miles Per Hour with a loaded gun stolen in iowa. Two of them were somaly immigrants from lincoln somali immigrants from lincoln here on video is as. Visas, both were wanted by homeland security, and between those two had 30 previous arrest the third man had 50 previous arrests. Even even though they have been in america long enough to have been arrested 94 time, they requested a court interpreter. They abused their privilege. They do not belong in america. America has a great capacity to be generous. But those who have received our generosity have an obligation. If you want to come to america, you will accept american values. If you want to come to america, you will work, provide for yourself, and integrate responsibly into dutiful citizenship. If you want to come to america, it is absolutely essential, and i and many others will stand with you, celebrate your past culture. Explain it. To your new community. And at the same time, celebrate your new one as so many coming to our good country do. Our nation has generally maintained a vie brabt immigration system. A vibrant immigration system. Its been an important part of the character and development of our country. But chaos and disorder, crime, undermine our ability to maintain that openness. And of all of our countrys pressing priorities, one of the most should be ensuring that the criminal justicele is, the judicial system, and the immigration system, work in concert to swiftly remove persons who have seriously transgressed our law. This will help keep america safe and protect the integrity of immigration policy for those who want to come here, rebuild their lives, and contribute to this wonderful society and sustain mericas generous impulse. Mr. Speaker, i think its appropriate to leave you tonight with some comments on the future of democracy. Some of what i talked about are ideals, they give us a chance to envision and create a more inclusive government, economy and society. Given that the future of democracy depends on quickly moving forward in the right irection, there is a mood of both curiosity as well as urgency here. Curiosity as to how were going to translate this moment and urgency not to waste it. Even though the election was a proxy for many open and deep philosophical divides of our country, now there is the possibility of great change. As president elect trump said, on the night of his election, we must now come together, and i want to be president for all americans. President obama very generously and graciously extended a hand of friendship to President Trump and said, president bush was so extraordinaryly helpful to me in this transition, i will work the same in any way he wants with president elect trump. Secretary clinton admitting that this was a painful loss, said it was a fair election. We need to give the new president elect a chance. Ened we must unite. I think that set an important tone, mr. Speaker. We make it we may take it for granted but this demonstrated the brilliance of our of how our democracy provides for this peaceful transition of power. In spite of some protests, we have witnessed the ongoing resiliency of americas governing tradition. Congress, a great deal of ideological rigidity has been vaporized. Conversations among fellow republicans and democrats are yielding a sense of new horizons, which is properly considered will help shape a meaningful approach with the next white house. So mr. Speaker, the next 100 are critical. Its time to create the architecture of a 21st century government, one that is innovative, one that is effective, restoring the trust and confidence of the people. Mr. Speaker, theres a great old movie starring betty davis called all about eve, and in that classic hollywood moment, she looks around to her guests with that smoldering gaze and says, quote, fasten your seat belts, its going to be a bumpy night. Mr. Speaker, real change is always bumpy. But when done with purpose and clarity, with the intention of doing good for others, we can allow ourselves to dream big again. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The chair lays before the house n enrolled bill. The clerk senate 1565, an act to award a congressional gold medal collectively to the filipino veterans of world war ii in recognition of dedicated service of the veterans during world war ii. The speaker pro tempore under the speakers announced policy of january 6, 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Smith, for 30 minutes. Mr. Smith mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of this special order. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Smith mr. Speaker, i yield to the to my colleague from texas, the chairman of the space subcommittee of the science committee, representative babin. Mr. Babin thank you, mr. Speaker. Its a tremendous honor and privilege for me to stand up here and to honor one of my colleagues who is going to be retiring, representative Randy Neugebauer, and who is just finishing up his seventh term. He has been a great mentor, im finishing up my first term in office, i just wanted to say how much the nuge becausers mean to me and the naug becausers mean to me the naug bauers they e and the mean to me and my wife. They have been a tremendous addition to the congress and also to the republican spouses and democrat spouses who have work sod long and hard for many years to support their member spouses and just want to say how much i appreciate him, admire him, wish him god speed, he is a great christian man and his wife is a great christian woman and we appreciate so very appreciate so very, very much his long years of service to our country, our nation, and to his district as well as to his god. I just want to say i yield back from there, mr. Speaker. Mr. Smith mr. Smith i now yield to another colleague from texas, roger williams. Mr. Williams i wish to join my colleagues down here to honor a patriot and a good friend. Congressman Randy Neugebauer. While your retirement is well deserved your depart you are is a loss not only to your friends but to texas and america. We served together on the Financial Services committee. We were both in Small Business and still are and i knew randy before he was a congressman. He is a voice of reason and firsthand knowledge of how the private sector works which is needed in washington. He understands how washingtons decisions affects main street america. We could use more lawmakers like Randy Neugebauer. He is a texas tech fan. I feel sorry for him, but he always think they will win every single game. Congressman neugebauer, i wish you and your wife as you begin the next chapter of your lives. May your spare time rooting for the raiders. You have severed your state and our nation with honor and devotion. We all will miss you. You will be missed and i say to you, randy, guns up. May god bless you and may God Bless America for allowing you to serve this great country. I yield back. Mr. Smith and now, i yield to the chairman of the ag committee, another good texan, michael conaway. Mr. Conaway i rise to brag on Randy Neugebauer. He is a friend and he and i have a unique circumstance that we share. We ran against each other in texas back when a former member had served the district 19 at that point in time. And randy and i ran against each other but right after that election people asked me said, what do you think of Randy Neugebauer. I said hes my friend. You politicians always say that. You never tell the truth. I said, no. The key is that our wives are friends. If wives can survive a campaign against each other and be friend, then there is a test ta metropolitan we ran. And i stuck why people should vote for me and randy joined congress in 2003 and serve ablely since then. Randy is a strong moral compass and exhibits that moral compass to the house all the time. He is one of those guys who is true north and never waivers, a conservative, and someone who is proud of his service to the folks in district 19. My northern border is his southern border and we overlap in certain areas and i get comments from his constituents about the great work that he and his team does back home and we are going to miss him and miss him greatly. His voice, he serves on the ag committee as vice chairman and served the ag committees well as well as the experience on the Armed Services committee. Im proud to call randy my friend and proud of his service here. He and his wife dana are off to a next chapter. I need to warn the trout populations all over america, the days we were in office in 2017 and 2018 they need to be be on the lock youth for the fisher map for all of those trout. I congratulate him. He leves office in the right way and on his own terms and very proud. So with that, i will ask gods blessing on he and dana and texas and may glod continue to bless the United States of america. Mr. Smith i yield to another texas colleague, a member of the energy and commerce committee, pete olson. Mr. Olson i thank my flend from san antonio. Randy neugebauer has made things is many things, mr. Speaker. He is a damn proud texan and a red raider who always has his guns up. He is a husband to a fierce force of text asforce of nature, his wife dana. He is the father of two sons and grandfather of four grandkids. He is a respected member of congress, seven terms in this body. Friend. My dear, dear during his time here, he has made america a better place for his family and my family and every american family. As we say in the navy, to departing friends who leave the ship, go ashore for the last time. Randy, may you always have fair winds and the falling seas. Tex as 19 departing. I salute you. I yield back. Mr. Smith i thank the gentleman for his comments. And ill yield to myself as much time as i may need. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to host todays special order in honor of my friend, Randy Neugebauer. He is a consistent conservative. The National Journal named him the most conservative member of congress in 2011 and been a valuable member of the science committee. He has been a member of that committee for over a decade. Im grateful for his work on the committee to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. Representative neugebauer has pushed back against e. P. A. Regulations that goes against Reliable Energy and this isnt surprising since representative neugebauers district has oil and Gas Development and produces the most wind energy of any district in the country. In this congress, representative neugebauers National Windstorm Reduction act minimized the effect of windstorms and will help save lives and property damage. This legislation was inspired by representative neugebauers personal experience with the tornado that devastated his hometown some years ago. His bill was signed into law last year and federal agencies and universities can work to better predict, repair and recover from dangerous storms. We thank representative neugebauer for his service and many initiatives on the science committee. His retirement is well deserved and we know he is going to enjoy more time with his family in west texas. And mr. Speaker what id like to do on one of the best summaries of mr. Neugebauers contributions as a person, as a Family Member and as a great member of congress is the following and so i want to make sure that everybody is aware of these contributions and his personal attributes as well. Randy neugebauer proudly represents the 19th Congressional District which stretches across 29 counties in the big country and he has represented that big district for 14 years. Randy learned the west texas values of family, faith, hard work and public service. These are the values he has carried with him throughout his life as an accounting student at texas tech, as a banker, home builder and now as a member of congress. He serves on the Financial Services committee where he is chairman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit subcommittee. In this role, he has oversight responsibility for u. S. Banks and banking industries, credit unions, deposit other institutions and Consumer Credit and financial regulators including the federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve. Representative neugebauer is the vice chairman of the House Agriculture Committee where he developed the 2014 farm bill. He serves on the House Committee on house, space and technology which i mentioned a while ago i chair. His legislative initiatives include alittle naturing wasteful spending and fighting federal overreach on energy, environment, the economy and personal liberties. Randy neugebauers bill to lessen government interference and encourage more Public Participation became the first law of the 114th congress. The president also signed his bill to promote research and minimize the devastating effects caused by windstorms. And last year as i alluded to a minute ago, the president signed into law giving texas tech the opportunity to build a v. A. Clinic on the campus to serve veterans. His wife who is with us in the gallery and back to my left are both graduates of texas tech university. They have been married 46 years and are the proud parents of two sons, two daughtersin law, three grand sons and one granddaughter. So mr. Speaker, you can see representative neugebauer has led a very rich life and a life dedicated to his country and family and no question about that. Mr. Speaker, at this point i yield to another texas colleague, the chairman of the rules committee, pete sessions. Mr. Sessions mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing us the opportunity not only from the texas delegation and other members of congress who would wish to come down to express not the our gratitude to the gentleman from from lubbock, texas and his beautiful wife, dana, and his family who are in the house tonight but on behalf of the texas delegation and as a member of congress from dallas, texas, i would say from people 32nd as, texas, Congressional District who have long been friends with the gentleman from the 19th district of texas and his life and service to this great nation. Mr. Speaker, you have heard much of congressman neugebauer, much not only of what might be resume information but information when it plays itself out that has talked about the service that congressman neugebauer has given the leadership, that he has provided not only to the committees of service, but really to the people of this country. Congressman neugebauer came to congress as an exciting young man who was not only full of opportunity, but who came from a vibrant part of texas with ideas br freedom, about free enterprise, about opportunity, about college yalt, about the things which he placed high value on. Randy comes from a part of texas. And i would like to say everybody from texas might be this way but its not true, but with a handshake and a word makes a difference. Mr. Neugebauer, the entire time he was here didnt oversell and didnt underdeliver. He did the things that were necessary as proper representation of not only the texas delegation, but a man of distinction from lubbock texas, the high plains. But he brought with him the professional attributes that were very necessary within the texas delegation to be successful and very early on, he championed those ideas. And they were ideas of bringing forth representation from ar group of people in lubbock, texas and north texas, who strongly believed in america, who strongly believed that americas greatest days laid in its future. And randy spoke of not only of the ideas he had but the people he represented in terms of real admiration for those people, admiration for hard work. Admiration for an honest days work and honest days pay. So you can see, mr. Speaker, those who have known randy the best watched him and his personal dealings not only with members of our delegation, but also in committees and the hard work and the homework that he did to make sure that he did his part necessary. He rose not only in the ranks of sponges built but also rose in the ranks of people who admired mr. Neugebauer. I am one of those people. He was a model not only a champion of words and ideas but the ability to express those ideas. The ability to speak to people in terms of a content of where our country would head. These were a time when we were fear. Ith, after 9 11, uncertainty. And perhaps some complexity that might be available to some. Never existed to congressman neugebauer. Randy threw all that out. Id say he threw out the high and low and lived off confidence. Confidence about not only the way of life that he understood and he represented, but really about the United States military, and men and women who would be from his district who he spoke so plainly about who we understood where they were. They were committed. Yeah, were texans. Ut he really spoke of america. Of america as not just this shining city on the hill but americans who would dedicate themselves to a principle, to ideas, higher than just citizenship as responsibility. As a necessary part of making sure that this country and where home is back in lubbock, texas, in the high plains, that that is what he believed was honorable. People who would go and sacrifice themselves, who would go help people in another land. Who were called on because of commitment to service. These are the kind of people Randy Neugebauer would identify with. These are the kind of people Randy Neugebauer would talk about. These are the kind of people that, at our thursday texas delegation, yeah, were a bunch of darn texans, we get together and we celebrate and share not only camaraderie and commonality but ideas about where we wanted to go. Thats Randy Neugebauer. Thats what Randy Neugebauer did every single week. Faithfully. Dutyfully. He knew what he was doing. So i want to say to the gentleman, the young chairman of the science committee, thank you for being here, for our dear colleague, current colleague, dear neugebauer. One last point, point of privilege. When you come up here, youre proud of where youre from, you want to do a good job, one of those marks is to be thought of as a real conservative. Randy neugebauer at least one year, probably two or three, was by his voting record, this isnt a vote, this is actually, delivery of product, number one the most conservative person in this body. I had that chance one year. I tried for two. Its hard to outguess the scorecard. Randy neugebauer is a good guesser also because he knows where hes from, right, wrong, good, bad, up, down, more, less, proper. Mr. Speaker, tonight we honor a real hero of mine, the gentleman from lubbock, texas, Randy Neugebauer, and let no one forget his beautiful young bride who day after day gave confidence to so many other eople about who they are, what they do, i hope these 46 years turn into 146 years of marriage, mr. Chairman. I wish Randy Neugebauer and danna and that entire family the very best. Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing me a chance to come down and say to my tear friend and the neugebauer family, job well done. God speed. I hope i do well enough to get invited back to lubbock to see you again. Mr. Smith i thank the chairman for his nice remarks this evening and i recognize another texas colleague, representative gohmert. Let me say to my friend, representative gohmert, we only have six minutes left, i do want to allow mr. Neugebauer time to speak. Mr. Gohmert i thank you and i will not share more than a couple of minutes so that there is time at the end. Weve heard the old saying that, in washington, d. C. If you want a friend, get a dog. But when i got here, washington,. , as a member of congress Randy Neugebauer was a friend, and he is a friend. Hes a man of integrity. He is a man of honor. Out thehis best to live beatitudes that jesus talked about better than i have. He has not been a man who is afraid to stand up and call things the way he sees them. Thats one of the many things i dmire about him so much. The apostle paul said three things about what he accomplished. He said, i have fought the good night. Then there was another clause, then he said, i finished the race. Well, Randy Neugebauer has not finished the race. The race is still yet to go. He has not fin herbed the course. Hes just taking a new course. But i know that as a brother in christ, as a man of integrity, he will continue to listen to the still, small voice that has guided him and his wife through the years and has made him someone who inspires me, encourages me, and someone that i would hope to emulate. I am grate to feel Randy Neugebauer for his service and for all he has done for america. Thank you. I yield back. Mr. Smith i thank the gentleman for bringing out an aspect of Randy Neugebauers character that has not yet been mentioned tonight. I might also mention, and you know only too well, hes been an active member of a prayer group here in the house of representatives as well. That spiritual aspect that spiritual character is rightfully shown tonight. And now comes the time to recognize the gentleman, the colleague, the texas friend whom we honor tonight, the representative from lubbock, texas, Randy Neugebauer. Mr. Neugebauer i thank the gentleman, i thank my colleagues for those very kind words. What an honor an privilege its been to be able to serve with people of this integrity and this commitment. To our couldnt and this commitment to our country. It was just a little over 13 1 2 years ago that our colleague, mr. Barton, from texas, introduced me on this very house floor. My very first day. June 5, 2003. I came in a special election. I think mr. Conway mentioned we had a race mr. Conaway mentioned we had a race together. I was sworn in as the 236th texan and 9,838th american citizen. What you realize is what an honor and privilege it is to get to do this. What an honor and privelemming its been to represent the people of the 19th Congressional District. Somebody asked me one day, do i ever think about when im on the house floor the men and women that have served here in the past . And i said, no, i really dont think about the men and women that have served in the past cause their history has been written. The people that i think about are the men and women i serve with every day because we are writing our history. The things that we do, the thicks that we say on this floor have a huge impact, not only on our constituents, but on our country, and on the world. , d so i want to thank my wife danna, and my family, for helping me do this job on behalf of the people of the 19th district. Without her support, i couldnt have done this. And my two sons and their wives have been an integral part of this, even my grandkids were out campaigning when we were running for congress. I want to thank those men and women that have come through our congressional office, both here in d. C. And back in the district, that worked so hard on behalf of our constituents. Making sure that that veteran get his check, making sure that that Social Security check that was lost was found. Helping people get their loved ones back from a foreign country because of visa problems. All of those kinds of things are important. And so i want to thank the staff thats been so much a part of that. I want to thank the people of the 19th district and my family but i also want to thank my fellow colleagues that i have served with. Everybody here that ive come in contact with loves america. Now what we do have is a difference of opinion from time to time on what it takes to make sure that america has a Bright Future that we all want it to have. Thats a healthy process. And so im excited for our new president. President elect. That you know, these new members of congress that will be sworn in in just a few weeks. Because they have a big task ahead of them. So as many of my constituents have prayed for me and this congress in the past, danna and i will be praying for you as you take our country forward. Thank you again and god bless you, god bless the United States of america. Mr. Smith mr. Speaker, i again want to thank representative neugebauer for his service to texas and to our country. We wish him the best in his welldeserved retirement. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The chair would remind members that it is not in order to refer to occupants of the gallery. Under the speakers announced policy of january 6, 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Hill, for 30 minutes. Mr. Hill i thank the speaker. I thank mr. Neugebauer for hi service and that of his spouse and family for his service and that of his spouse and his family for they made my welcome to congress so agreeable and so appropriate, i have enjoyed my service with mr. Neugebauer on the house Financial Services committee. When im home, one of the most frequent questions i get is to describe the changes in washington since my previous work on capitol hill and the executive branch. Its been more than 24 years since i served in the administration of george h. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, 24 years. And three twoterm president s, two democrat, one republican. Anyone familiar with life in the beltway would certainly see that the citys traffic has become unbearable. And the number of places to eat has really been improved in those 24 years. But tonight, i dont want to talk about the enrichment of life along the National Mall with new monuments to f. D. R. And m. L. K. And new visionary sites such as the native American Museum and now our africanAmerican Museum. Instead, its not urbanization or night life thats happened that ive noticed that i talk about when i see my constituents. But its really the changes i see in Public Policy as i wander back, like rip van winkle, 20 years later, through our nations capital. The politics and productivity of our city are more stymied and less successful than my experience in the executive branch led by george h. W. Bush or even in my service as a legislative aide on the Senate Banking Committee Staff back during the days of the first term of president reagan. Tonight id like to outline my thoughts on those biggest differences ive seen in our federal government. These include the size and complexity and unmanageable nature of the Administrative State, the growth and unreformed nature of our mandatory spending programs. The failure of the congress to meet its most fundamental constitutional responsibilities. That is the oversight of the executive and the timely and thoughtful appropriations governed by the appropriations clause of our constitution. At the end of this rip van winkle overview, i will offer suggestions as to possible solutions to these challenges that we face in washington. And while im a realist, i understand consensus is difficult. Is difficult in this city and while sensitive my remarks tonight will appeal in my view to both democrats and republicans. About how do we have an effective federal government . One that honors our constitutional limitations, the best intelligences of our founders, and demonstrates to the American People that their legislative and executive branches can Work Together for the longterm common good and eneral welfare of this nation. Thomas jefferson did a splendid job in enumerating the ignificant grievances that the colonists had against george the iii. Of the facts submitted to a candid world, he, the king, has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither a swarm of officers to harass our people. When im visiting with our fellow citizens in arkansas, our doctors and hospital administrators, people who own Small Businesses, community bankers, high school and Elementary School teachers, administrators, smalltown mayors, the size, scope and complexity of the paperwork, micro management and intrusion of the Administrative State dominates that conversation. And while other policy proposals from the taxing policy ideas to funding the need for our needed federal programs inevitably, every conversation ultimately returns to how management and employees believe they are no longer focused on their missions to increase sales, produce profits, grow their business, educate kids, operate on patients, make loans to entrepreneurs and successful businesses and help expand the American Dream. Instead, they are stuck in a orld of threering binders, cy activities and paperwork and documentation, all possibly well intentioned. But the bottom line is they take people away from their core mission and core values, drive up costs and reduce availability of financing, drive up prices for consumers and in many ways cause americans to be cynical about their government. In a 2015 article on new york citys broken bureaucracy, phil howard decried the red tape jungle that doubles costs and postpones Critical Infrastructure projects. And this is a fundamental issue today because our president elect trump says we need to invest more in infrastructure. Look at the dollar per mile of road paid when you look at the costs added by the bureaucracy. In 1931, the construction of the Empire State Building was completed in 410 days, 12 days ahead of schedule. Today, just raising the roadway of the bridge in new york, besides the requirements to survey Historic Buildings within a twomile raid youse, the building, it required 74 permits from 19 different agencies and 5,000 page Environmental Assessment and city Environmental Review before a permit could be issued. After five years, the project was sued for inadequate Environmental Review. And 1. Billion project isnt expected to be completed until 2017. We are talking about years, decades, to raise the debt on the bredge that will increase traffic to new york harbor that no way endanger the environment. Peggy noonan has said that washington is turning washington into the paperwork nation, adding odds with the american character. His is at odds with inventors, builders, pioneers. I have a message for our president elect. When you are draining the swamp. How about draining americas inbox and leave our American People alone to innovate and help grow this economy. This is why the founders struggled over the proper role over the federal versus state prerogatives. Its the core why they settled on the powers in our constitution and left the powers not so designated to the federal government to our states or entrusted to the people. But over recent years, the Administrative State has eroded that trust the people have to make their own good choices. Its critical we restore our trust and allow our local and state governments to tackle challenges close to the problems and create a commonsense approach. So your old rip van wink will has returned to the banks of the potomac to see it draped across the landscape and called the Administrative State this Reigns Supreme in its tentacles to one size fits all and in many ways unresponsive and to the will of the peoples representatives in the United States house and senate. Phil howard who i referenced a few minutes ago wrote two great books that i encourage everyone to read the death of common sense and the rule of nobody which outlines the failures of this system that has been built up with no one in the system really responsible for asking, whats the right thing to do . And ultimately then, no one is responsible for these failures of the Administrative State. Instead administrative officials have come to capitol hill and rarely offered testimony that values the debate that informs the decision making. A typical example can be see in the postrecession measure called the doddfrank act. Barney frank, an author of this bill said that many things in this final act werent right and required modification. But a standard response from the Obama Administration, the fd inch c or the Federal Reserve or the s. E. C. , our Securities Commission can be paraphrased as Congress Passed the law. We are implementing the law. Period. Full stop. Thats not the right answer nor the right question. Standing for or thocks docksy instead of what will benefit the American People, to help congress design policies that help the American Dream flourish. Jefferson envisioning our nation into states, counties and townships said, its not by the concentration of powers by by their distribution that good is effective. Or abe ram ham lincoln said that the legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people to do whatever they can do. And i place emphasis on the community of people. Whereby we buy into this philosophical position of zear where solutions to problems or challenges best decided and left to the community and that if necessary, the government closest to the people and together with families and local association to take action, not punt every decision to the federal government. At one time, such dedication to selfreliance and common sense were lauded as virtues, essential to the character of our nation and our people. Edmund burke said for doing good abilitynd and americans to problem solve through the formation of associations of all kind, that americans were always finding themselves producing an sociation toll build in, distribute books and send michiganon areas out and create hospitals and schools, all communities doing things for themselves. In my first two years of congress, i witnessed the overwhelming side of the Administrative State when compared to my previous years. Lets consider the sheer volume of rules that have been issued estimated to cost our economy 100 million in met cost. Just under president obama, we have witnessed over 600 rulemakings that exceed 6h million. Some like the clean power plan, many, many times that amount. The office of management and udget noted that there were 98 more midnight rules of the Obama Administration. 17 of those hitting the 100 million mark of costs to our economy. The forum has estimated that president obama has imposed 40 more major rules than his predecessor. And that the overall costs of the obama regulations on on the American People stands at 113 billion. Likewise, consider the longer term. This chart illustrates the scope of these rule makings as well as the longterm trend in publication of new rule makings in the federal register, where all the governments actions are published for december imnation and review. Just more than the cost is how intrusive they have become in daily lives or how duplicative of another rule that was never repealed. I found it appealing that president elect trump said lets repeal rules before we make new once. And i suggested that he reform arm Regulatory Task force and put bush in charge of it and fuel back this lawyer of duplicative costly regulation. These costs hurt consumers and hurt job creation. A mortgage application, a fundamental part of our experience, for a firsttime buyer used to be 100 pages. Now it is about 500 pages. And i would argue, the consumer is not materially better informed or better off with these additional pages. Instead we added did youly cative paperwork but is that consumer better off or our nation better off for that cost . Shouldnt these kinds of things use common sense . In 1994, i served on the heritage Foundations Advisory Council on Regulatory Reform and 20 years ago, your friend argued that the cost in 1994 of the federal regulatory system was nearly 1. 6 trillion annually and i compared it then to the personal income tax, what it raised, what we contribute to 1. 2 trillion of 1994 dollars. The every day involvement has only grown over the past two decades. D the Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates including the impact of the Obama Administration is nearly at 1. 9 trillion per year, exceeding the cost of the individual income tax system and tax revenues. And quickly approaching are you seated quickly approaching the amount of Corporate Tax profits. The regime is not just vast and costly but costly. We have seen regulations vr devastating on our farmers, Small Businesses, schools, colleges, universities and state agencies. No one is aism mune. Also in recent years, one has noted the authority by increasing staff at the white house that is not subject to the confirmation of the United States senate. When president reagan appointed one czar to work or drugs drugs in the white house, president obama has appointed 45 with 35 of those not requiring confirmation and by using executive orders to carry out policies that exceed Statutory Authority and properly belong to the legislative branch, here president obama has hit new heights in what historians vr termed the imperial presidency. It is critical to note it is not the number as to the directives themselves and how far reaching them. For example, if one utilizes data and compares Reagan Clinton and bush 43 with president obama, all twoterm president s, one finds reagan issued 381 executive orders, mr. Clinton 364, president bush 4 , 291 and president obama in an earnl in line, 260. But thats not the end of the story. The president ial memorandum. By the end of 2015, this most imperial of president s had issued 219 memorandum and these are just the ones that had been published in the federal register. The white house memorandum tally at the end of 2015 was 476. For a total of more than 600 executive orders and president ial directives. It can certainly be argued that obamas executive action has far exceeded the scope and breadth of previous administrations. Even the Washington Post Editorial Board noted that the president s executive action on immigration in 2014 had no precedent and flew in the face of congressional intent. Indeed. And the federal courts too have recognized the excess of this administration, with their blocking of the president s 2014 executive order on immigration, their nationwide injunctions on the department of labors overtime rule, and injunctions on the e. P. A. s waters of the United States rule, and finally, the current legal battle over the clean power plan. So while i have certainly seen in my two decades of being out of the potomac arena a growing trend the administrative straight by way of executive actions that skirt the administrative procedures act and public comment, this administration has also aggressively attempted to avoid publicity, vetted rulemaking, by something even, in my judgment, more nefarious to our constitutional freedoms. And thats creating regulation by enforcement action. In my first two years in congress, this has happened at the securities and Exchange Commission and the department of justice and clearly skirts the statutory traditions of the United States and the role of the administrative procedures act. One of the economically chilling issues related to this contains the use of Settlement Trust funds, whereby the department of justice or other agencies of government choose to settle federal civil actions against companies or individuals through a settlement procedure as opposed to going to trial, and then assess a major monetary penalty which instead of being paid to the victims is paid to politically favored interest groups. These activists in turn bring more lawsuits to feggetter their own nets feather their own nests, and if this isnt crony coercion with its effect on the economy and its Chilling Effect on all innovation and economic growth, i dont know what is. And its certainly not in keeping with 70 years, 80 years of tradition under the administrative procedures act. My former colleague and white House Counsel to president bush 41, ambassador boyden gray, stated it in his testimony before our house Financial Services committee, the dangers of an executive with access to the treasury. And thats clearly what these slush funds are. The need to ensure separation of powers and power of the purse are firmly in the hands of congress, not the executive. And, mr. Gray stated, every other constitutional power runs into the appropriations power. And throughout our history, president s have consistently endeavored to seize the appropriations powers from congress. This is where you get into the tension that our founders anticipated. Federalist 51, when one branch of government gets too big for their britches, it needs to be countered by another branch of government. So this overreach by the executive needs to be responded to by the first branch, the legislative branch, and make sure that we in fact consistently authorize and our appropriation responsibility. To close this discussion, of the administrative straight, lets consider a primary example of growth state, lets consider a primary example of h in the state where state. Peoples exhibit a, the Consumer Financial protection board. In the doddfrank act, i mentioned a few minutes ago, in my view the congress mistakenly created a Funding Source for the cfpb, not subject to the appropriations that are actually instead its a fixed amount of income out of the Federal Reserve system hidden away from congress oversight, that normally would be paid directly to the treasury. Instead is diverted to the cfpb. And it gives an Agency Independence like you cant see anywhere else. Its a violation, in my view, of our appropriations responsibility, the director cant be fired, so its a violation of our oversight responsibility. But i was pleased this october that the court of appeals for the District Of Columbia unanimously ruled in the p. H. H. Mortgage case that the cfpbs sole director position was as unchecked, unilateral power, and calls the director, quote, the single most powerful official in the entire United States government, closed quote. Im sorry. What . The single most powerful official in the United States government. Gosh, i thought that was the president. The speaker of the house. No. Its a guy at the cfpb. And that in fact they tacted acted in an unconstitution almanar. So im with the District Of Columbia unconstitutional manner. So im with the district of Columbia Court and i have no doubt that the pending case, state and National Bank of big spring, texas, challenging the cfpbs unconstitutionality, will e noted as well. So, mr. Speaker, these are some of my observations about the growth of the Administrative State. And i have no doubt that when i come back to this floor ill continue this discussion and offer solutions about what we need to do in congress, in the legislative branch, and in the executive branch to make sure that we are upholding our obligation to our voters, our citizens, the people who have elected us, who have sent us here to represent their interests, hardworking people like Randy Neugebauer that we lauded a few minutes ago for his Extraordinary Service to the 19th district of tsca. Texas. Because our Administrative State is unmanageable and it deserves to be reined in. And as a freshman, soon to be a sophomore, a secondterm member of this body, im going to fight for those changes that return the power to the peoples house and the peoples senate as it relates to oversight of the executive and the appropriations. Appropriations method. With, that mr. Speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Does the gentleman have a motion . Mr. Hill i move that the house adjourn. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 10 00 a. M. Tomorrow Morning House resolution 828 impeaching for high crimes and misdemeanors. Resolved that the commissioner of the Internal Revenue service is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the senate. Articles of impeachment exhibited by the house of representatives of United States of america in the name of itself in the people of the United States of america against John Andrew Koskinen, commissioner of the Internal Revenue service and maintenance and support the gentleman is correct, the house is not in order. Members will please remove your conversation from the house floor. The house to be in order. In maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors. Article one, John Andrew Koskinen in his conduct while commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service Engaged in a pattern of conduct incompatible with his duties as an officer of United States as follows. Commissioner koskinen failed in his duty to respond lawfully to lawful subpoenas on august 2, 2013. The committee of oversight and reform of the house of representatives issued a subpoena to the secretary of the treasury, a custodian of Internal Revenue service documents. The subpoena demanded, among other things, all communications sent or received by lois lerner from january 1, 2009 to january 2, 2013. Following the Senate Confirmation of John Andrew Koskinen as commissioner of the Internal Revenue service, the committee on oversight and governor and government reform of the house of representatives reissued the state subpoena to him. 2014, the Internal Revenue Service Employees in martinsburg, West Virginia magnetically erased 422 backup tapes, destroying as many as 24,000 of lois lerners emails that were responsive to the subpoena. This action impeded congressional investigation into the Internal Revenue service targeting of americans based on their political affiliation. The American People may never know the true culpability or extent of the Internal Revenue services targeting because of the destruction of evidence that took place. Wherefore John Andrew Koskinen, by such conduct warranted impeachment, trout, and removal from office. Article two, John Andrew Koskinen engaged in a pattern of deception that demonstrates an unfitness to serve as commissioner of the Internal Revenue service. Commissioner koskinen made a series of false and misleading statements in contravention of his oath to tell the truth. Those statements included the following number one, on june 20, 2014, commissioner koskinen testified that since the start of this investigation, every email has been preserved, nothing has been lost, nothing has been destroyed. , on june 20 3, 2014, commissioner koskinen testified that the Internal Revenue service has confirmed that backup tapes from 2011 no longer existed because they have been recycled pursuant to the Internal Revenue services normal policy. , confirmn to explain to me that somebody went back and looked and made sure that any backup tapes that had existed have been recycled. On march 20 6, 2014, commissioner koskinen was asked during a hearing before the committee on oversight and government reform of the house of representatives, sir, are you or are you not going to provide this committee all of lois lerners emails . He answered, yes, we will do that. Each of those statements was materially false. 2014, Internal Revenue Service Employees erased backup takes backup tapes commanded training as many as 24,000 of lois lerners emails. Senior officials discovered that lois lerners computer hard drive had crashed, rendering hundreds or thousands of her emails unrecoverable. Commissioner koskinens statements impeded and confused congressional investigations into the irs targeting of americans based on their clinical affiliations. Wherefore John Andrew Koskinen by such conduct warrants impeachment, trial, and removal from office. Article three, John Andrew Koskinen throughout his tenure as commissioner of the irs has acted in a manner inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him as an officer of the United States as follows during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on finance, John Andrew Koskinen promised, we will be transparent about any problems we run into and the public and this committee will know about those problems as soon as we do. Commissioner koskinen repeatedly violated that promise. As early as february 2014 and no later than april 2014, he was aware that a substantial portion of lois lerners emails cannot be produced to congress. However, in a march 19, 2014 letter to the Senate Committee on finance, commissioner koskinen said, we are transmitting today Additional Information that we believe completes our production to your committee and the house ways and means committee. In light of those productions, i hope the investigations can be concluded in the very near future. At the time he sent that letter, he knew that document production was not complete. Commissioner koskinen did not notify congress of any problem until two months later, june 13, 2014, when he included the information on the fifth pace of the third enclosure of the letter to the Senate Committee on finance. Wherefore John Andrew Koskinen by such conduct warrants impeachment and trial and removal from office. , John Andrew Koskinen has failed to act with infidence and forthrightness overseeing the investigation into the irs targeting of americans based on their political affiliations as follows commissioner koskinen stated in a hearing on june 20, 2014 that the Internal Revenue service has gone through Great Lengths to retrieve all of lois lerners emails. Commissioner koskinens actions contract if it contradicted the assurances. The Inspector General for Tax Administration found over 1000 of lois lerners emails that the irs had failed to produce. Those discoveries to only 15 days of investigation to uncover. The treasury Inspector General search number of available sources, including backup tapes, lois lerners blackberry, the email server, backup tapes for the email server, and lois lerners temporary replacement laptop. The Internal Revenue service failed to examine any of those sources in their own investigation. Wherefore John Andrew Koskinen by such conduct warrants impeachment, trial, and removal from office. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Announcer after that resolution was offered, the house voted to refer it back to the Judiciary Committee for consideration. Night,se is done for the but members return wednesday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern for morning speeches and noon for legislative work. Later this week, lawmakers take up a compromise with the senate on legislation that provides funding to flint, michigan to fix their lead contaminated water systems. Also this week, federal spending for fiscal year 2017. The current funding expires on friday, it bill could be in the works that would extend to late april. Follow the house live here on cspan when members gavel back in. Here is a headline from the says boeing trump should lose air force one contract out of out of control costs. Airplanedents private , citing what he claimed was a 4 billion price tag. Building a brandnew 747 air force one for future president s, but costs are out of control, more than phil balian more than 4 billion. Cancel the order. You can read more at theguardian. Com. He spoke at trump tower about the boeing contract situation. Mr. Trump good morning. How are you . Everything fine . Weve got some great people coming in today. Youll see them. Mr. Trump, what are you going to talk about with mayor bowser from washington, d. C. , today . Mr. Trump well, were going to talk about a lot of things to a lot of people. We have a lot of people coming up, great group of people. Doing very well. Thank you all very much. Sir, you tweeted this morning about canceling the contract for the new air force one. Is that something youre serious about trying to do . Mr. Trump well, the plane is totally out of control. Its going to be over 4 billion. Its for air force one program. And i think its ridiculous. I think boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money. Okay, thank you. Announcer next, congressman Jim Mcdermott reacts to donalds comments about the boeing contract and to mr. Trumps use of twitter. Washington state democrat represents seattle, where boeing has several facilities. Mr. Mcdermott mr. Speaker, i just got a call from a reporter about a tweet which the president elect has made, canceling the contract with the boeing company and the federal government to build air force one. Now, the last time i looked, i think that the president of the United States is still barack obama. He will be president of this country until the 20th of january. What we have right now is a president elect running around the world with his tweet bar, making statements that are disruptive and distractive for the american public. He calls taiwan and raises questions about our relationship with china, as though he were the secretary of state. But he has not even found anyone to do that job. He should be in the Transition Office, figuring out how he makes a smooth transition of the American Government from the efficientlyrun government of mr. Obama to his administration, not making the decisions himself and going out and announcing them through his tweet at 3 00 in the morning because he cant sleep. This kind of operation is the operation of somebody whos used to running a big business. When hes president of trump casino or trump towers, he can act like that. He can come in and say, do this, do that, do this, do that. I dont know if he understands, mr. Speaker, that you and the house of representatives are the ones who made the contract and put appropriated the money for that plane. Thats the process. Thats the democratic process of this country. Its not done by the president getting up in the morning and tweeting out 147 characters and ending a contract with hundreds of jobs at risk of people in my district, good hardworking americans. Hell go down to indianapolis, indiana and walk around and say, i saved 1000 jobs. We still havent seen the contract. We dont know what the deal is, how long the jobs have to last, how many of them have to last. We dont know anything. We just know that a tweet went out that we have and then he went and did a big rally down there, did a victory lap, but there is no piece of paper. The people in indianapolis, if i were to make a recommendation to them, mr. Speaker, would be talk to the indians, to the native americans, about the treaties that have been made with the United States of america and how good they are and how hard you have to fight to make those treaties work. He made a treaty with carrier. Well get 7 million from indiana, my assistant, mr. Vice president , mr. Pence. He will get 7 million from indiana to carrier, and then maybe there will be some kind of i dont no one knows whats going on, but the president elect should spend his time in the Transition Office deciding who is going to hold the jobs that will make this country run. This is not going to be run by one man in the white house making pronouncements and thinking that all the world is going to throw themselves down on the ground and worship him. This is we have a democratic process, and the burden on the house of representatives as i leave it i mean, im in some ways, im sorry to be leaving, because i think its going to be a very tough session, in helping the new president understand how a democracy actually works. Its not a big business. It is a business of the people, the 435 members of this house take the money that comes in in taxes and they appropriate them out as they see fit for the country. The president doesnt do that. When the congress is done, they pass the bill to him, and then he spends the money as the congress has decided it should be spent. The president doesnt do that. When the congress is done, they pass the bill to him and then he spends the money as the congress has decided it should be spent. If you look at the constitution now, perhaps, im sure the Vice President or the new president elect has looked at the constitution the first article is the congress. We are the preeminent body in this government because we are elected by the people. The gentlemans time has expired. And we have the power. Stop tweeting, mr. President or elect. Announcer washington dc mayor Muriel Bowser spoke briefly to reporters at the trump tower in new york city. After her remarks, we will hear from Iowa Governor terry branstad, who also met with mr. Trump. Mayor bowser i am Muriel Bowser from washington, d. C. , and i came up to meet with the president elect and congratulate him on the residents of washington, d. C. But also to welcome him. In oura unique entity system, washington, d. C. Is neither a city, county, or state, but we are all three and we are very proud to be the nations capital. As such, we welcome every american president as he comes to the white house. While i wont talk about specific things, the president elect a specific things that we discussed, i will say we had a wideranging conversation about things important to washingtonians, who we are, how we function as a city, county, and state. , how our0,000 people citys economy is booming and how we have exciting Economic Development projects and exciting opportunities. I also talk to him about some concerns that washingtonians have, i talked to him about his transition and how his transition and the transition we went through as a city two years ago maybe alike. We are also very focused on education, his ideas about education and how our city is focus on education as well. Discussionally had a about the inaugural activities on the citys preparation for his and our duration. I can take a couple of questions. Thing i know one that he said is that he is a supporter of the District Of Columbia. He is familiar with the district and he wants to be supportive. Metro and funding the metro . Mayor bowser like i said, we talked about a lot of issues. I think you know, number one on my list of things is the federal involvement on how we improve washington, d. C. Could you share your feelings on statehood . [inaudible] mayor bowser i have the best job in washington, d. C. Statehood . Mayor bowser im not going to talk about his feelings or what he shared, but i think it was important for me to make sure that the new president knows that we are not a federal agency, that we are not dependent on the federal government for our funds, that budget,a 13 billion that we dont get any more from the federal government than any state, only the things that support our activities to support our goals of protecting the president. That heportant to me knew also about our relationships with the president and the congress. [inaudible] mayor bowser like i said, we talked about the things that are important to washingtonians and certainly becoming the 51st state is one of them. Thank you, everybody. Gov. Branstad we had a wonderful meeting. I was able to report to president elect donald trump that he carried iowa by nearly 10 points, carried 93 of 99 counties, the best a republican has done in iowa for president in a long time. My son was the state director of the campaign, and he was able to connect with a lot of rural and bluecollar voters and did extraordinarily well. We also talked about the transition. Im really excited about the quality of people that he is attracting to the cabinet and we thelooking forward to thanksyou event that is going to be held in des moines on thursday. I think it will be maybe a recordsetting crowd that we have ever had for any political candidate or officeholder. A very special relationship with my son, who was the state director and i went and helped win the state director in iowa and helped win wisconsin. [inaudible] aboutranstad we talked number of things, and i cant comment on that at this point in time. Im very proud to have supported donald trump for president. I think he is going to make America Great again and bring good jobs to our country, make us more competitive. We are very excited and proud, and that is all i have got to say. Thank you. [inaudible] announcer president elect donald trump met with the founder and ceo of the Japanese Telecom and Internet Firm softbank. The company will invest 50 billion in the u. S. We will hear from author mr. Trump advisor roger stone, who spoke to reporters at trump tower. Mr. Trump this is Masayoshi Son of softbank from japan, and he has agreed to invest 50 billion of the night states and 50,000 jobs. Here is one of the great men of industry, so i just want to thank him. Thank you very much. You would like to speak to him, you can, but one of the truly great men. You may want to say hello. See you soon. [inaudible] mr. Trump they have got to work that out. [cheers] Masayoshi Son we are going to invest 50 billion into the u. S. And make and create 50,000 new jobs. Into companies in the United States. [inaudible] Masayoshi Son no, we are softbank. , we invest in so many internet companies. [inaudible] we own 100 [inaudible] Masayoshi Son i just came to celebrate his new job. It, and ilking about said, i would like to celebrate his president ial job. Because he will do a lot of deregulation. I said, this is great, the u. S. Will become great again. [inaudible] invest into new companies, Startup Companies in the United States. [inaudible] Masayoshi Son 50,000 new jobs. We will invest fifth the billion dollars and 50 billion and 50,000 new jobs. [inaudible] how do you spell your name, sir . [inaudible] that would be proprietary. Any conversation i have with him has to remain private. Nothing that i think you guys would love. If i did know anything, i could not say so. He is in a great mood. This was made by alvin plosser of new york, i buy american. I used to have them made in london, but i had to come back to the United States. [inaudible] im so busy on deadlines for a book i am writing to try to get out on inauguration day. I have been sent 100 links i need to read. I cant assess how real it is, i just dont know. I understand the outline of the story. I am, as you might guess, not a great fan of john podesta oh, since he accused me of being a traitor. . Is he going to like the book ,oger stone i think he will although it is going to be in the teddy white style, an analysis of how he won the election. I think there is some democrats who will enjoy the book, a few republicans who dont like the book. Im trying to use the same kind of big picture style. If you go back and use at the making of the president in 1960, john kennedy is the hero of the book. We good . Thank you, roger. [inaudible] roger stone i think he is doing great. I am good, thanks. Follow the transition of government on cspan as president elect donald trump selects his cabinet and the republicans and democrats prepare for the next congress. We will take you to key events as they happen without interruption. Watch live on cspan, watch ondemand at cspan. Org or listen on our free cspan radio app. The senate panel will examine the impact of the at ttime warner merger. We will hear from the ceos of at t and time warner. Live coverage tomorrow from the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust and competition begins at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan3. The National Guard director and other military officials testify about National Guard enlistment bonuses. In october, defense secretary ash carter ordered the pentagon to suspend efforts to recover enlistment bonuses paid to california National Guard soldiers. The house military personnel subcommittee hearing starts at 2 00 p. M. Eastern also on cspan3. President obama delivered his final National Security speech and spoke about counterterrorism efforts during his administration, that targeted isis and other terrorist groups. He talked about efforts to close Guantanamo Bay and noted he was the first president to serve two full terms during a time of war. The president spoke at mc deal air force base in tampa, florida. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States. [cheers] obama thank you so much, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. You. [cheers] pres. Obama everybody please have a seat, have a seat. Good afternoon, everybody. Told that was going to be the last hail to the chief on the road, and it got me kind of sentimental. I want to first and foremost say thanks to all of you. Just before i came here, i was able to visit with some of the men and women from matt dale air air force macdill base special Operations Command to thank them for their special service. Theou and your families and extended family of American Service members, let me say that our nation owes you an unbelievable debt of gratitude and we are grateful for you and we will be praying for you over the holidays. [applause] pres. Obama as you know all too mission and the course of history was changed after the 9 11 attacks. Took office, the United States had been at war for seven years. That i have been in office, there has not been a day when a terrorist organization or some radicalize individual was not plotting to kill americans. And on january 20, i will become the first president of United States to serve two full terms during a time of war. [applause] pres. Obama we did not choose this fight. But once it came to us, the world saw the measure of our resolve. The most solemn responsibility for any president is keeping the American People safe. In carrying out that duty, i have sent men and women into harms way. I have visited troops around the globe. I have met our Wounded Warriors and i have grieved with gold star families. I know better than most that it is because of your service and sacrifice that we have been able , during these eight years, to protect our homeland, to strike crippling blows against terrorist networks, and fortified our friends and allies. Today, i would like to reflect on that work and talk about the foundation that we will leave for the next administration. I came to this office with a set of core convictions that have guided me as commanderinchief. I believe that the United States military can achieve any mission , that we are and must remain the strongest fighting force the world has ever known. [applause] pres. Obama i believe we must never hesitate to ask when necessary, including unilaterally, when necessary, against any imminent threats to our people. That itve also insisted is unwise and unsustainable to ask our military to build nations on the other side of the world or resolve their internal conflicts, particularly in places where our forces become a magnet for terrorists and insurgents. Instead, it has been my conviction that even as we focus relentlessly on dismantling terrorist Networks Like al qaeda and isil, we should ask allies to do their share in the fighting and we should strengthen local partners who can provide lasting security. Thee convictions guided policies we pursued, both in iraq and afghanistan. When i took office, the United States was focused overwhelmingly on iraq, where nearly 150,000 american troops had spent years fighting an insurgency and helping build a democratic government. Hadwhile, al qaeda regrouped in the former region of afghanistan and pakistan and was actively planning attacks against our homeland. 150,000ought nearly troops home from iraq, consistent with the status of forces agreement negotiated by the previous administration, and we searched our efforts and our efforts along with our allies in afghanistan, which allowed us to focus on dismantling al qaeda and give the Afghan Government and opportunity to succeed. Qaeda, theus on al most dangerous threat to United States at the time paid dividends. For alby any measure qaeda, the organization that hit us on 9 11, is a shadow of its former self. [applause] pres. Obama plots directed from within afghanistan and pakistan have been consistently disrupted, leadership decimated, dozens of terrorist leaders killed. Osama bin laden is dead. [applause] pres. Obama importantly, we have built a counterterrorism capability that can sustain this pressure against any terrorist network and south asia that my friend United States of america. That was because of the work of our Outstanding Service members. Moreover, that early decision to strengthen our efforts in afghanistan allowed us to build to securety of afghan and defend their own country. Today, there are less than 10,000 american troops in afghanistan. Instead of being in the lead against the taliban, americans 320,000supporting Afghan Security forces, who are defending their communities and supporting our counterterrorism efforts. I dont want to paint too rosy a picture. The situation in afghanistan is still tough. War has been a part of life in afghanistan for over 30 years. The United States cannot eliminate the taliban or end violence in that country, but what we can do is deny al qaeda ise haven and what we can do support afghans who want a better future, which is why we have worked not only with their military budget back the unity Government Military but backed the unity government, helped afghan girls go to school, supported batsmans and electricity and education. You have made a difference in afghanistan and america is safer for it. [applause] pres. Obama of course, the Terror Threat was never restricted to south asia or afghanistan or pakistan. Even as al qaeda has been decimated in afghanistan and pakistan, the threat from terrorists metastasized in other parts of the middle east and north africa. Most dangerously, we saw the emergence of isil, the successor to al qaeda in iraq, which fights as both a terrorist network and insurgency. There has been a debate about isil that is focused on whether a continued u. S. To troop presence in iraq in 2011 could have stopped the threat of isil from growing. As a practical matter, this was not an option. In 2011, iraq is wanted our military presence to end and were unwilling to sign a new status of forces agreement to protect our troops from persecution if they from prosecution if they try to defend themselves in iraq. In addition, maintaining american troops in iraq at the time could not have reversed the forces that contributed to isi s rise. The government in baghdad, or brutal dictator in syria, social media that reached a global pool of recruits and a hollowing out of iraqs security forces, which were ultimately overrun which would ultimately overrun mosu l in 2014. If american troops had stayed, they would have lacked Legal Protection and faced a choice between remaining on bases are being drawn into a sectarian conflict against the will of iraqs elected government or local populations. But circumstances changed. Gainssil made substantial , first and mosul and then other parts of the country, suddenly iraqis reached out for help again. In shaping our response, we refused to review some of the mistakes of the 2003 invasion that helped give rise to the organization that became isil in the first place. On theitioned our help emergence of a new Iraqi Government and Prime Minister that was committed to National Unity and committed to working with us. We built an International Coalition of nearly 70 nations, including some of iraqs neighbors. We surged intelligence researchers intelligence resources so we could better understand the enemy. We took the fight to isil in iraq and syria with local forces backed by our equipment and advisers and, importantly, our special forces. In that campaign, we have now hit isil with over 16,000 airstrikes. We have equipped and trained tens of thousands of partners on the ground and today, the results are clear isil has lost more than half its territory, isil has lost control of major population centers. Its moralities plummeting, its recruitment is drying up its is plummeting, recruitment is drying up, local populations are turning against it. [applause] obama as we speak, isil faces an offensive on mosul, iraqi troops and coalition support. That is the largest remaining city that it controls. Meanwhile in syria, isils selfdeclared capital raqqa is being squeezed. We have attacked isils financial lifeline, destroying hundreds of millions of dollars of oil in cash reserves. We are breaking the back of isil , taking away its safe havens [applause] we have a costd of 10 billion over two years, which is the same amount we used to spend in one month at the height of the iraq war. [applause] pres. Obama so the campaign against isil has been relentless, sustainable, multilateral. In hownstrates a shift we have taken the fight to terrorists everywhere, from south asia and elsewhere. Instead of pushing all the burden onto american ground troops, instead of trying to mount invasions wherever terrorists appear, we built a network of partners. In libya, where u. S. Air power has helped local militias dislodge a dangerous isil cell. In mali, where our intelligence helped rollback isil branches there. In somali, where u. S. Support and international peacekeepers. And in yemen, where years of targeted strikes have degraded al qaeda in the peninsula. These offensive efforts have buttressed a global effort to make it harder for terrorist networks to breach our defenses and spread their violent ideologies. Working with european allies who suffered terrible attacks, we strengthen intelligence sharing and cut in half the flow of foreign fighters to isil. We have worked with our tech sector to support efforts to push back on terrorist messages on social media that motivate people to kill. A recent study shows that isil propaganda has been cut in half. We have launched a Global Engagement center that empowers voices that are countering isil s perversion of islam and we are working closely with muslim partners from the gulf to these asia from the gulf to southeast asia. This is your work. We should take great pride in the progress we have made over the last eight years. That is the bottom line. No Foreign Terrorist Organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland. [applause] pres. Obama and it is not because they did not try. Plots have been disrupted, terrorists taken off the battlefield. And we have done this even as we drew down nearly 180,000 troops in harms way in iraq and afghanistan. Today, there are just 15,000. New partnerships have been built. We have respected the rule of law. We have listed our values in this fight. All of this progress is due to the service of millions of americans like you, in intelligence and Law Enforcement and homeland security, and in the Armed Services of the United States of america. [applause] pres. Obama it is thanks to you. Now, to say that we have made progress is not to say that the job is done. We know that a deadly threat persists. We know that in some form, this violent extremism will be with us for years to calm come. Into many parts of the world, especially the middle east, there has been a breakdown of order that has been building for decades. It has unleashed forces that will take a generation to resolve. Longterm corruption has rotted too many nationstates from within. Governance is collapsing, sectarian conflicts rage. Is changing climate increasing competition for food and water. Peddling prophets are a vision of islam that is irreconcilable with tolerance and modernity and basic science. In fact, every one of these things is at play inside syria today. And what complicates the challenge even more is the fact that for all of our necessary focus on fighting terrorists overseas, the most deadly attacks on the homeland over the last eight years have not been carried out by operatives with Sophisticated Network for equipment directly from abroad they have been carried out by homegrown and largely isolated individuals who were radicalized online. Cantderanged killers inflict this sort of mass casualties that we saw on 9 11, but the pain of those who lost loved ones in boston and San Bernardino and fort hood and orlando, that pain continues to this day. And in some cases, it has stirred fear in our populations and threatens to change how we think about ourselves and our lives. So while we have made it much more difficult you have made it much more difficult to carry out an attack approaching the scale of 9 11, the threat will will e well e ndure. We will not achieve the clearly defined victory that we won against previous nations. We will not have a scene of the emperor of japan and Douglas Macarthur and a surrender. The reason we wont have that is because Technology Makes it completely impossible to shield impressionable minds from violent ideologies. Is trying towho kill and living to be killed is dangerous, particularly when we are living in a country where it is very easy for that person to buy a weapon. So rather than offers promises offer false promises of deploying more troops and fixing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a terroristof the threat, and we have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained. In the time remaining, let me suggest what i think should guide this approach. Arst of all, sustainable counterterrorism strategy depends on keeping the threat in perspective