Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2013 No. 70 Senate The Senate was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Monday, May 20, 2013, at 2 p.m. House of Representatives FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2013 The House met at 9 a.m. and was PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mr. Speaker, I will move an amend- called to order by the Speaker. The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman ment when the National Defense Au- thorization Act comes to the House f from California (Mr. MCNERNEY) come forward and lead the House in the floor that will direct the Secretary of PRAYER Pledge of Allegiance. Defense to determine what the current Mr. MCNERNEY led the Pledge of Al- excess capacity is so that we will know The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick legiance as follows: the potential savings from doing an- J. Conroy, offered the following prayer: other Base Realignment and Closure Loving and gracious God, we give I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Repub- Commission. You thanks for giving us another day. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, I support the administration and its Help us this day to draw closer to indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. call for another Base Realignment and You so that, with Your Spirit and f Closure Commission in 2015. Every dol- aware of Your presence among us, we lar wasted in the Defense budget is a ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER may all face the tasks of this day. dollar that is not spent on defending Bless the Members of the people’s The SPEAKER. The Chair will enter- our Nation. House. Help them to think clearly, tain up to five requests for 1-minute I ask that my colleagues in the speak confidently, and act coura- speeches on each side of the aisle. House support my amendment when it geously in the belief that all noble f comes to the floor. service is based upon patience, truth, and love. THE CALL FOR A BASE REALIGN- f MENT AND CLOSURE COMMIS- May these decisive days through ABUSE OF POWER BY THE IRS which we are living make them gen- SION uine enough to maintain their integ- (Mr. COFFMAN asked and was given (Mr. BARROW of Georgia asked and rity, great enough to be humble, and permission to address the House for 1 was given permission to address the good enough to keep their faith, always minute and to revise and extend his re- House for 1 minute and to revise and regarding public office as a sacred marks.) extend his remarks.) trust. Give them the wisdom and the Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, in a Mr. BARROW of Georgia. Mr. Speak- courage to fail not their fellow citizens hearing before the House Armed Serv- er, I rise on behalf of the folks in my nor You. ices Committee on April 25, I asked the district in Georgia who are witnessing May all that is done this day be for Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, a series of serious missteps in the Fed- Your greater honor and glory. if he could give me an idea of what the eral Government, giving rise to an un- Amen. excess capacity is for Army installa- precedented level of distrust in govern- tions in the United States. ment. f The Secretary informed me that the This week, we learned that the Inter- last study was done in 2004, and it nal Revenue Service used inappropriate THE JOURNAL found that the excess capacity was at criteria to delay or stall conservative The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- 20 percent. He stated that the number organizations applying for tax-exempt ined the Journal of the last day’s pro- would probably be much higher today status. This is a totally unacceptable ceedings and announces to the House but that he had no way of knowing abuse of the power the IRS has in our his approval thereof. since Congress had prohibited him from government, and calls into question Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- using any funds to study the issue fur- any future decisions made by that nal stands approved. ther. agency. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H2721 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:57 May 18, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0636 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A17MY7.000 H17MYPT1 smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H2722 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 17, 2013 Trust in the Federal Government is dress the House for 1 minute and to re- minute and to revise and extend his re- already at an all-time low. To help re- vise and extend his remarks.) marks.) gain any of that trust, it is essential Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise that all personnel involved in this mis- Speaker, yesterday, the House passed for the folks in my district being fur- use of power be held accountable. the 37th piece of legislation that re- loughed because of indecision, political We’ve got serious work to do in Con- places, repeals, or defunds the govern- gamesmanship, and the failure to act gress, but this sort of trouble only ment health care takeover bill. in Washington. takes time and attention away from House Republicans warned the Amer- Our Nation has no greater asset than the work we need to do. ican people that the legislation’s effect the folks serving our Nation, including I urge my colleagues to investigate would be devastating to patients, to those who make up our Department of this matter swiftly and get on with the health care providers, and to small Defense, both military and civilian work we’ve been sent here to do. businesses—destroying jobs. alike. Their dedication and service to f In recent weeks, there has been bi- our Nation is unwavering. Unfortu- NATIONAL POLICE WEEK partisan recognition of the failure of nately, those same patriots have lived the government’s health care takeover. for months with the uncertainty of the (Mrs. WALORSKI asked and was given permission to address the House Senator MAX BAUCUS has warned that sequester. for 1 minute and to revise and extend ObamaCare’s implementation will be a Many of those who have dedicated her remarks.) train wreck. Sadly, thousands of new themselves to ensuring equipment is Mrs. WALORSKI. I rise today to IRS agents who deny free speech will repaired and ready for our Armed honor the service and sacrifice of our now control health care. Forces are being forced to step away Nation’s police officers. The good news is that there is still from their lives. Even the children of This week is Police Week, and I urge time for repeal. The House has acted in our military families will not be all Americans to take time and thank the best interests of American fami- spared. Teachers at DOD schools are the men and women who keep us safe lies. It is my hope that the Senate will being furloughed, too. and to reflect on the heroes we have consider our efforts and pass legisla- The administration had flexibility to lost in the line of duty. tion before it’s too late. make other choices. Furloughs are just I am continually impressed and hum- In conclusion, God bless our troops, one of the effects of compounding bled by the devoted efforts of law en- and we will never forget September the budget cuts on our Nation’s military, forcement officers in our communities. 11th in the global war on terrorism. and it affects this Nation’s military From tracking down criminals to con- Congratulations, Candice Glover of readiness. There are smarter solutions ducting safety programs for our kids, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, for to our Nation’s budget woes, and I our law enforcement officers work being the newest queen of ‘‘American voted for replacements for this short- around the clock, routinely putting Idol.’’ sighted sequester. themselves in harm’s way to keep us f Congress should not sit idly by. Let’s safe. fix this. Sometimes officers make the ulti- LARGE SYNOPTIC SURVEY mate sacrifice, leaving behind grieving TELESCOPE f loved ones and communities in mourn- (Mr. MCNERNEY asked and was ing. At times like these, there are no given permission to address the House STUDENT LOAN DEBT words to adequately express the grati- for 1 minute and to revise and extend (Mr. TIERNEY asked and was given tude that we owe to our law enforce- his remarks.) permission to address the House for 1 ment. Mr. MCNERNEY. I rise today to talk minute and to revise and extend his re- To all of our police officers, our Na- about the Large Synoptic Survey Tele- tion is grateful for your bravery and marks.) scope. This is an exciting, unique pub- integrity, and is indebted to your pub- Mr. TIERNEY. The student loan debt lic-private science project that is being lic service. is a crisis in this country, Mr. Speaker. developed in cooperation with the Na- More and more students approach me f tional Science Foundation, the Depart- in the district and post on my JACK PRATT ment of Energy’s Office of Science, and Facebook about their loan debt.