E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 114 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 161 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015 No. 120 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was meaning, it is becoming extremely dif- that pays taxes that we will continue called to order by the Speaker pro tem- ficult for them to keep the Taliban at to send money there to build their in- pore (Mr. VALADAO). bay. frastructure and rebuild their roads f The article is of great concern for and then to have the Taliban blow those of us who have watched the fight them up. It makes no sense. DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO against the Taliban since 2001. We have I can assure President Ghani, the TEMPORE lost over 2,355 men and women in Af- President of Afghanistan, that the The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- ghanistan, with 20,000 wounded, and United States House continues to fore the House the following commu- spent over $685 billion. spend billions of dollars on Afghan re- nication from the Speaker: The history of Afghanistan has construction so the Taliban can con- WASHINGTON, DC, shown that no outside military force tinue to destroy what we send over July 28, 2015. has ever changed it, from Alexander there with the taxpayers’ money to be I hereby appoint the Honorable DAVID G. the Great, to the British, to the Rus- built. VALADAO to act as Speaker pro tempore on sians. Yet, last year the Obama admin- We in Congress should stop funding this day. istration signed a 9-year agreement, this rathole of a policy in Afghanistan, JOHN A. BOEHNER, committing American money and man- which has basically given the Afghan Speaker of the House of Representatives. power in Afghanistan that was not Government a blank check every year f voted on by the Congress. and will for the next 9 years. MORNING-HOUR DEBATE That is so ironic. We are talking History has proven that we will never about voting on this agreement with change this tribal nation, and we The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Iran, but we did not vote to commit should stop trying. Instead, let’s focus ant to the order of the House of Janu- our troops and our money to Afghani- on fixing our economy here in America. ary 6, 2015, the Chair will now recog- stan for 9 more years. God bless our troops, and God bless nize Members from lists submitted by As a member of the Armed Services America. the majority and minority leaders for Committee, I am concerned by Mr. f morning-hour debate. Goldstein’s report. Let me give two The Chair will alternate recognition quotes from his article about the abil- RAISE THE GAS TAX ALREADY between the parties, with each party ity of the Afghan security forces to The SPEAKER pro tempore. The limited to 1 hour and each Member keep the Taliban at bay that I found Chair recognizes the gentleman from other than the majority and minority very, very concerning. Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- leaders and the minority whip limited First: ‘‘A spokesman for the Afghan utes. to 5 minutes, but in no event shall de- Defense Ministry . insisted that de- Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, for bate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. sertions remained rare and that there the last 3 years, I have been coming to f had been no effort to ban leaves or to the floor, arguing against the folly of stop rotations away from the front to our attempting to pay for 2015 infra- AFGHANISTAN cut down on the number of people structure with 1993 dollars. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The going absent without leave.’’ We haven’t adjusted the gas tax since Chair recognizes the gentleman from The second quote: ‘‘But interviews 1993, and that is why we haven’t given North Carolina (Mr. JONES) for 5 min- with soldiers and police officers repeat- the American people a 6-year, robust utes. edly countered the government’s reauthorization of the surface trans- Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, on July 22, claims. One Army major said . ‘Once portation system since 1998. The New York Times published an arti- the soldiers are taken for their breaks, I find myself today in complete cle titled ‘‘Afghan Security Forces they are unwilling to come back and agreement with a column by James Struggle Just to Maintain Stalemate,’’ join their duty.’ ’’ Surowiecki in the current issue of The by Joseph Goldstein. Once again, Mr. Speaker, the Afghan New Yorker. It is entitled ‘‘Raise the Mr. Goldstein writes that, because of Government is untruthful and corrupt. Gas Tax Already.’’ extremely high casualty rates in the Yet, we continue to spend billions of He talks about how what is going on Afghan security forces, there is also a dollars at this losing cause. in the other body might be perceived as high desertion rate. As a result, the Af- It is not fair to the taxpayers of east- progress, might be a good thing, ‘‘ ‘real ghans are struggling to maintain ade- ern North Carolina, the taxpayers of progress,’ except for one thing: their quate numbers in their security forces, America, or anybody in this country complicated, jury-rigged plan is only 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. H5527 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:10 Jul 29, 2015 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A28JY7.000 H28JYPT1 emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with HOUSE H5528 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE July 28, 2015 necessary because of the continued re- will make all our families safer, Mr. Speaker, in 2008, the DEA Mu- fusal by Congress to embrace the obvi- healthier, and more economically se- seum Foundation presented its Life- ous, economically sensible solution to cure. time Achievement Award to Mrs. highway funding, namely raising the f Sembler for her 30 years of leadership gas tax. The federal gas tax is, as it and commitment to fighting drugs. DRUG FREE AMERICA FOUNDA- should be, a key source of funding for The Lifetime Achievement Award is TION CHAIR BETTY SEMBLER highway spending.’’ Locked currently the highest honor bestowed by the at 18.4 cents: The SPEAKER pro tempore. The foundation and recognizes long and ‘‘The problem is that the funding Chair recognizes the gentleman from sustained commitments to supporting mechanisms the plan relies on are as Florida (Mr. JOLLY) for 5 minutes. law enforcement, drug abuse treat- gimmicky and haphazard as ever. The Mr. JOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today ment, and drug abuse education. bill would raise money by, among other to recognize someone who has been de- Mrs. Sembler was awarded honorary things, lowering the dividend rate paid scribed as a pioneer in national sub- agent status by the DEA, only the sec- to banks in the Federal Reserve sys- stance abuse policy and prevention and ond such designation to ever be given. tem, raising certain customs fees, in- a woman whose dedication, drive, and Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is Mrs. creasing collection rates on unpaid compassion have made the world sim- Betty Sembler and her work with the taxes, and selling off a hundred and one ply a better place. Drug Free America Foundation has million barrels of oil from the coun- Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor positively impacted lives and families try’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.’’ Mrs. Betty Sembler of St. Petersburg, around the world and has, no doubt, ‘‘If you’re going to have a Strategic Florida, as she retires as chair of the saved lives around the world. Petroleum Reserve, you should prob- Drug Free America Foundation after Mrs. Sembler, with her grace, friend- ably only sell oil from it for strategic nearly 15 years of dedicated leadership. ship, and charm, has impacted each reasons, not just because you want to Mrs. Sembler has actually dedicated and every individual that she has raise some cash.’’ the past three decades of her life to touched throughout her life, including ‘‘And, from an economic perspective, fighting the war on drugs. In 1976, she this Member of Congress. paying for operating expenses by sell- was 1 of 10 founding members of Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to ing off assets is not a good way to man- Straight, Inc., a nonprofit drug treat- join me in thanking Mrs. Betty age your money.’’ ment program that successfully treat- Sembler for her selfless years of service ‘‘What’s especially infuriating about ed more than 12,000 young people with and for her work leading the charge, the bill is that we already have, in the drug addiction in eight cities nation- pushing back against dangerous drug gas tax, an ideal tool for raising money ally, from Dallas to Boston. policies, and promoting public health to pay for highway repairs. It’s a user Mrs. Sembler then turned her sights and public safety. tax: if you don’t drive, you don’t pay it, to establishing a national drug policy f and if you drive less it costs you less.’’ to reinforce the four critical fronts to PUERTO RICO’S DEBT ‘‘That’s why even conservative combat drug abuse: education, treat- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The economists, like Gregory Mankiw . ment, interdiction, and law enforce- ment.