{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2014-12-16-pt1-PgE1849-2", "2014-12-16", 113, 2, null, null, "BATTLES WORTH FIGHTING", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E1849", "E1852", "[{\"name\": \"Kerry L. Bentivolio\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"113\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"3635\"}]", "160 Cong. Rec. E1849", "Congressional Record, Volume 160 Issue 155 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 155 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E1849-E1852]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                         BATTLES WORTH FIGHTING\n\n                                  _____\n\n                        HON. KERRY L. BENTIVOLIO\n\n                              of michigan\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Tuesday, December 16, 2014\n\n  Mr. BENTIVOLIO. Mr. Speaker, a war is raging for the soul of America.\nIt is not a war of steel and cartridge. It is a conflict of ideas,\nfought not in trenches, jungles or a desert; instead, it is played out\nin town halls, roundtables, tea party and Liberty groups all across the\nnation. Instead of cannonades, there are editorials; instead of bombs,\nthere are speeches; instead of rifle volleys, there is education on the\nbenefits of Liberty ordained by God protected by a United States\nConstitution.\n  There is a genuine feeling today, especially among people who attend\nthe various Tea Party and Liberty Groups that we, our country more\nspecifically, may not make it. Many people consider these folks, the\ncommon everyday people who attend the Tea Party meetings `fringe, ring\nwing nut cases and extremists'. Many of the people who attend the Tea\nParty meetings, sometimes weekly, most commonly monthly, and more\nattend intermittently, sense something is drastically wrong. For the\nmost part, they sense it and yet cannot firmly point their finger and\nclaim what exactly is the cause of their discontent, the uneasiness;\nthe fear danger is lurking just around the corner. It is not\nnecessarily a feeling of doom from a nuclear, biological or chemical\nattack on our country from some foreign enemy or terrorism either. It\nis more serious than any violence a bad actor can bring. It is\nsomething more innate, a sense that they somehow lost something but\ncan't remember what it was, like when you know you lost something\nimportant, an item you need to accomplish a task but can't remember\nwhat it is and where you placed it. You know it's around somewhere and\nif you looked hard enough you'll see it and you can continue with your\ntask.\n  What is missing, what they are looking for, is our capacity for\ngoverning. Today, in Washington, D.C. we have a President inept in\noffering any sort of cooperative government. According to the President\nthe House of Representatives is a non-entity. As President he has a pen\nand a phone to make the changes he sees as necessary to move his\npolitical agenda and the People's house has no say in the matter. But,\nthe great threat to our country, our Constitutional government, is not\nentirely the President. It is easy to blame him for our dysfunctional\ngovernment. Rather, the blame lies entirely with the system itself. We\nhave created by our apathy a system that has normalized a process that\ndistorts the will of the people by an economy of influence. A system\ndesigned to make those most connected rich. Our system of government\ncreated a class of rich whose wealth does not come from innovation,\ncreativity or hard work, instead a new class of rich who secured their\nwealth through the manipulation of politicians and government agencies.\nThe great new classes of wealth are a breed of financial politicians\nwho could not secure their power by traditional methods that instead\nturned to the massive wealth directed by our government as the means to\nsecure wealth and power for themselves and their circle of supporters.\n  Our enemy is not simply a Democrat or a Republican; it is a new breed\nin thousand dollar suits. They have changed laws agreeable to their\nbusiness interests, bought and paid for politicians, judges, the media\nand skirted criminal laws and for the most part they are engaged in bad\ngovernment and fail to actively track the will of the people. To them\nDemocracy is a charade, only rhetoric for political messaging of a lost\nideal to placate the masses still engaged in the political process-\nwhile they make money for themselves and\n\n[[Page E1850]]\n\ntheir friends. That voice is often louder than the voice of the people,\nthe middle class, the very people who as the backbone of the American\neconomy, who join our armed services to serve rather than take, our\nmiddle class carries the burden and suffers the most, silenced and\nplacated by promises of a better life, the hope and change for the\nfuture that never really comes.\n  There are battles to be fought on the way we spend our taxpayer\ndollars, how we handle immigration and border security issues,\nreligious freedom, education, veterans, and our National Defense. There\nis a major battle on protecting the rights of our citizens because it\nis Congress' principle duty to protect our rights not take them away.\nTogether, we must strive valiantly and dare greatly and fight these\nbattles.\n  Through these past 24 months in Congress my convictions were tested\nand clarified. And they will continue to be tested in the weeks and\nmonths to come.\n  I want to tell you the fight is just beginning.\n  I WENT TO Congress an average person with certain and specific values\nI learned as a young man and a soldier in the military. The principles\nof leadership I hold dear;\n  And a lifelong motto;\n  To STRIVE VALIANTLY and DARE GREATLY\n  These are not simply words on a page for me. Or rhetoric for an\nelection campaign to get votes.\n  They run deeper.\n  LEADERSHIP is living a life BY EXAMPLE.\n  And NEVER asking a soldier or a constituent to do something you would\nnot do.\n  As one of the most CONSERVATIVE members of Congress I passed 3\nimportant pieces of legislation with 100% Bi-partisan support.\n  It bothers me when someone says they wish I would comprise and be\nmore moderate.\n  Rated as the number #1 most transparent congressman out of 84\nfreshman members of Congress, and rated in the top 30% out of the 435\nmembers of congress with an extensive record of working with the other\nside.\n  I know there are issues needing our attention and that working\ntogether we can accomplish great things. There are issues and work to\nbe done, as a team, not as adversaries.\n  There are battles yet to be fought.\n  I know there are children who deserve a quality education and not\ngetting it. K-12 education has been largely stagnant. College costs\nhave risen as federal subsidies have ballooned. Graduates indentured to\ncollege debt have lesser prospects for future employment than any time\nin our history.\n  I once gave a speech to a Conservative Group on the issues in\nEducation. As a former private and public school teacher, certified and\nhighly qualified in both vocational and general education, I think I am\nwell suited to offer suggestions. My presentation was well received by\nthe Conservative audience.\n  During the question and answer portion of my presentation a lady\nasked me how I felt being a Conservative teacher, in a public school\nand a member of the Liberal Teacher's Union.\n  Madam, I said, ``I think I feel the same way Jane Fonda would feel at\na VFW Convention!''\n  This is a battle worth fighting. I want to tell you that all across\nthe country there are people of all ages struggling with health issues\nand their health insurance.\n  The Unaffordable Health Care Act undermines the doctor-patient\nrelationship, limits patient choice, centralizes government control of\nour health care administered by bureaucrats NOT your family doctor. The\nadministration was not transparent. They lied and deceived the American\npeople into thinking they could keep their doctor, there hospital,\ntheir insurance and insurance premiums would be less expensive. Mr.\nGruber admitted in testimony before the Oversight and Government Reform\nCommittee he helped direct this deception.\n  No matter your political party affiliation, promises were made and\nbroken. Facts speak for themselves, Obamacare is unpopular, unworkable,\nand unaffordable and should be stopped and repealed in its entirety.\n  Together we can discuss and find alternatives that produce affordable\nhealth care BEFORE it becomes law.\n  Remember the lady speaker who said, ``We must pass it before we can\nsee what's in it?'' The last time I heard that was when my doctor asked\nfor a stool sample. And in both cases he got the same thing!\n  Look what ``We must pass it Before we can see what's in it'' has\nbrought upon us!\n  Division, not unity!\n  This is a battle worth fighting.\n  I want to tell you within our country there are people who have given\nup looking for work and lost hope in ever finding the American dream.\n  Obamacare, and the Obama administration have increased annual\nregulatory costs by nearly $70 Billion dollars. Unnecessary regulatory\ndictates hinder job creation and innovation while undermining America's\nfundamental freedoms.\n  Passing legislation that ensures a congressional check on\nGovernmental regulators as well as the accountability of Congress is a\ngood idea. This will help get America back to work and restore the\nAmerican dream.\n  This is a battle worth fighting.\n  I want you to know that right now while some are very skittish on\nissues like immigration and trying to figure it out, this country's\nborders are worth protecting.\n  This is a battle worth fighting.\n  FRIENDS, Since the attacks of September 11, 2001 more than fifty\nterrorist plots against the United States have been foiled because of\ndomestic and international cooperation. Yet, many of the intelligence\ntools to combat terrorism are controversial and many unconstitutional.\nEach and every one of these tools should be reexamined carefully to\nguarantee that America liberties are protected. At the same time we\nmust ensure our defense agencies have legal tools at their disposal to\nPROTECT and DEFEND our great country.\n  THIS is a battle worth fighting.\n  Mr. Speaker, I want you to know America needs a reformed tax code\nthat facilitates, not inhibits, economic growth and job creation.\n  Taxes and the cost of doing business are higher. Part-time work is\nreplacing full time work. Wages are stagnant An uncertain future is the\nnorm rather than the exception.\n  The tax code has become an enormous chain around the neck of a\nstagnate economy.\n  You do not need to have a Ph.D in economics to know Investment goes\nwhere it is welcome and stays where it is appreciated.\n  Tax rates on families, businesses, and investment are too high. Our\ntax code needs to be hassle free, simpler, and fair. Our present tax\nsystem prevents the economy from reaching its potential and further\nsuppresses wages.\n  This is a battle worth fighting.\n  I want to tell you Religious liberty in this country is not merely\nthe ``freedom to worship.'' Individuals should be free to work, speak,\nand serve according to their deeply held beliefs seven days a week.\n  Religious freedom is under assault at every corner, in every form of\nmedia, especially from burdensome government policies and efforts to\nundermine marriage, a religious, not a government blessing.\n  I want to tell you about how GOD not government, determines life.\n  And how that LIFE shall have liberty to pursue dreams and\nopportunity.\n  This is a battle worth fighting.\n  I want to tell you about our basic freedoms of speech, our 2nd\nAmendment protections and our rights to due process.\n  Basic rights given us by God are gradually stolen from to us by\ngovernment regulators, executive orders, and YES even members of the\nmedia spread the propaganda undermining these freedoms.\n  This is a battle worth fighting.\n  I want to tell you that our most personal and confidential financial\nand health information is viewed and administered by political\nappointees whose interests are more political than helpful in improving\nyour life.\n  I want to tell you about how Government websites are unprotected.\n  That these Federal Websites lack basic and sound security protocols\nexposing your most confidential personal financial and health\ninformation to criminal hackers and bad actors both foreign and\ndomestic.\n  I am pleased the House unanimously passed my bill H.R. 3635, The Safe\nand Secure Federal Websites Act, it had 126 original cosponsors, a\nrecord for a GOP freshman member of Congress. Thank-you.\n  This is a battle worth fighting.\n  I want to tell you there are people in Washington who want to rob our\nsenior citizens of the monies they paid into programs like social\nsecurity and renege on the promises to our veterans.\n  As a veteran I have firsthand knowledge of the abuse and neglect\ninflicted on members of our armed services when they returned home from\nAfghanistan and Iraq as well as the treatment my fellow Vietnam\nveterans and I received coming home.\n  Our VA hospitals are under additional and justifiable scrutiny.\n  There are long wait times at VA hospitals . . . and instead of\naddressing the issues, they threw a convention for VA employees\nspending almost $1 million and an additional $350,000 for souvenirs\nbecause they had extra money . . .\n  Many government bureaucrats receive millions of dollars in bonuses\nwhen they are neither accountable nor transparent to taxpayers when\nfound abusing their authority. Rather than properly address our\nveterans . . .\n  The suicides . . .\n  The homelessness . . .\n  The wait times . . .\n  The healthcare . . .\n  The hypocrites are the first to demand war and are the last if at all\nto send their own son or daughter to fight it!\n  And yet, they are responsible for policy failures making us\nvulnerable to our enemies. Domestic policies and actions that weaken\nnot\n\n[[Page E1851]]\n\nstrengthen our country. The list of harmful policies and actions is a\nlong and growing. There are the lies and hidden cost of Obamacare that\nare undermining the quality and availability of healthcare; the rapid\ngrowth of welfare that is putting an additional strain on our economy;\nDistortions in presenting the real unemployment numbers; bailouts that\ndid not work; irresponsible investments in alternative energy sources\nthat can provide minimal benefits at best; encouragement of an\nentitlement mentality; no leadership on immigration so that our borders\nare open to ISIS and other terrorist groups; a burgeoning list of\ncostly regulations; poor handling of the pullout from Iraq and the draw\ndown in Afghanistan; a lack of leadership in dealing with Iran's\nnuclear threat; the projection of weakness in Benghazi, Crimea,\nUkraine, and containment of the civil war in Syria; the haphazard, too-\nlittle-too-late approach to ISIS in Iraq; meekly referring to terrorist\nattacks against American soldiers as work place violence instead of\ncalling it what it is--terrorism; swapping terrorist leaders for an\nAmerican deserter; and the list goes on.\n  Big government is stealing the American dream and future prosperity\nfrom our children by enslaving them to more than $18 trillion dollars\nof debt not of their own choosing. Congress did not ask permission from\nour children to borrow the money, nor receive it as a gift. The money\nis stolen from future generations and this is selfish and immoral.\n  Our military and the defense of our nation is top priority and yet,\nno help for Benghazi, an unsecure border, veterans issues, military\ntraining and equipment to defend us in the years to come is languishing\nin media hype, misinformation and political propaganda.\n  I want to tell you Washington's blatant disregard for a responsible\nfiscal policy, their wasteful over spending and continued borrowing\nweakens our country's ability to respond to future unexpected\nchallenges.\n  And those challenges will come.\n  They will come. And they will come very soon.\n  My friends these are battles worth fighting.\n  It is a time to choose whether we want a big bloated Nanny government\ntelling us what light bulbs we can purchase, how much water we can\nflush down a toilet, what our children can and cannot eat in school or\nwhat we can teach them and to what standards?\n  Do we want our Federal government to tell us who we can call doctor\nand what hospital we can visit in an emergency?\n  Do we want our Federal government to regulate who and who cannot\nvoice opposition to abusive authority and the moral corruption of God\ngiven liberties?\n  Do we want a dismantled national defense leaving us defenseless?\n  Our country is broken, bankrupt morally and financially.\n  There it is. Plain and simple.\n  As a member of the United States House of Representatives, I swore an\noath to defend the Constitution and as a soldier to defend the people\nof this great nation.\n  Before I close I want to tell you the reason I served both in the\nmilitary and here in Congress.\n  I began in the neighborhood where I grew up as the eldest of four\nsons. My grandfather served in WWI and my father and uncles served in\nthe 1940's. The gentleman who lived in the house across the street was\na former sailor in WW2. He was on an aircraft carrier that was hit by a\nkamikaze. Our next door neighbor was Charles Parker senior. As a\nMarine, he received a purple heart on Iwo Jima. His son, a few years\nolder than me, was my best friend, Chuck Jr. His name is inscribed on\nthe Vietnam War Memorial on the Mall in DC. Down the street a few\nhouses was another neighbor who fought in the Korean War, his daughter,\nCookie gave me my first kiss. Near him was another veteran who served\nin the Navy on a destroyer and there were two men across the street\nfrom him who served together in Gen Patton's Third Army and were part\nof the force that relieved the 101st Airborne at Bastogne. I can still\nsee their faces. Their examples of service all played a part in why I\nserved in the Armed Forces. Perhaps, they were the reason why the words\nof our President Kennedy, ``Ask not what your country can do for you\nbut rather what you can do for your country'' rang so true.\n  I don't think John Kennedy would recognize his party today.\n  I think my understanding of service can be best summed up by the\nmessage of the movie, ``Saving Private Ryan.'' I hope some of you have\nseen it. If you haven't let me tell you what it's about. The movie\nbegins with an elderly man walking through the cemetery off the beach\nat Normandy, down a sidewalk with his family behind him.\n  The scene then shifts to a landing craft heading for the beaches of\nNormandy on D-Day. Tom Hanks plays the part of Cpt Miller, 2nd Rangers.\nThe landing craft hits the beach and the soldiers, and well, they\nexperience the horrors of battle. Many of his fellow soldiers are\nkilled and wounded in the scenes that follow.\n  After securing the beach head, Cpt Miller receives new orders. His\nnew mission is to locate and bring home Private Ryan, played by Matt\nDamon, who's in the 101st Airborne because Ryan's three brothers were\nrecently killed within weeks of each other and the Army thinks that no\nfamily should lose four sons to war. Cpt Miller, with a small\ncontingent of soldiers set off to locate Ryan.\n  In the course of several days Cpt Miller loses several soldiers in\nthe quest to locate Ryan. Eventually, they find him in a small village\nin France, but alas, he decides to stay with his fellow soldiers--his\nbrothers in arms--to defend a small bridge in the village.\n  They fight the Germans and in the course of the battle most all of\nMiller's soldiers are killed. Only two remain. Cpt Miller receives a\nmortal wound and sits gasping his last breaths, his back against a\nmotorcycle, looks up at young Private Ryan says, with his last breaths,\n``earn this . . . earn this.'' The scene changes to a close up of Matt\nDamon, his face changes from young Ryan to the older man we met at the\nbeginning of the movie, he's overlooking a gravestone that reads,\n``Captain Miller, 2nd Rangers.''\n  Old Ryan falls to his knees in front of the gravestone and says,\n``Not a day goes by that I don't remember what you all did for me. I\ntried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I\nhope that, at least in your eyes, I've earned what all of you have done\nfor me.''\n  Let me tell you something: Not a day goes by I do not remember what\nthe fathers of my childhood friends and playmates did for us to protect\nthe American dream. No matter where your family hails from, no matter\nwhat cultural or religious background, as citizens we are all\nfundamentally equal and self-governing because the generation before us\nstood up to do what's right and to protect our nation's exceptional\nprinciples.\n\n  We are supposed to have a limited government, outlined in the\nConstitution, which gives us the liberty and opportunity to live our\nlives, control our fate, and pursue our happiness. Everyone here has a\nright to the rewards of his or her labor. These ideas challenge the\nnotion that life is a zero sum game where if I win you lose. We have\ncreated a society in which every member can work hard, achieve success,\nand advance in life to the benefit of all. Because of this our economy\nproduces almost a quarter of the world's wealth and our military forces\nare the most powerful on the globe.\n  It is the potent combination of liberty under the rule of law, the\nendless creativity of the marketplace, and the enduring moral character\nof the American people that assures opportunity for all and fuels the\nunlimited promise of America.\n  That is the ``this'' in the phrase ``earn this'' from ``Saving\nPrivate Ryan.''\n  Americans have been told by the Administration that prosperity\nrequires more spending, more government, and more taxes. Liberals\nconstantly want people to believe that if one American does well that\nmeans another one isn't. They have continued down this phony path even\nthough most Americans think government does too much. Only the House of\nRepresentatives has served as a brake, trying to divert us from this\ndangerous road ahead.\n  Some argue that conservatives should accept the liberal premise. They\nsay we must be resigned to permanent economic stagnation, give up our\nfirearms and our religious values; submit to bureaucratic rule, and\nnational decline. Many of my friends in the House and I disagree.\n  The time is now to champion the ideas of opportunity and upward\nmobility and to redouble our efforts to change America's course,\nheading back down the path created by our forefathers. We will meet the\ndemands of the moment and address the magnitude of the challenges\nbefore us. We will fight whenever possible, constantly pointing out the\nfalse promises of liberalism, and offering conservative alternatives at\nevery turn.\n  We will take our arguments to all Americans: To middle-class families\nstruggling in a bad economy; to young people worried about their\nprospects; to retirees worried about their grandchildren; to job\ncreators seeking to expand prosperity; to those who are stuck in\npoverty grasping for that first rung on the ladder of opportunity--\nconservatism is for everybody. This is what our founding fathers, our\ngrandfathers and fathers, our uncles and neighbors, our friends\nstruggled to protect.\n  The moment has arrived. It will take courage to stop the government\nfrom growing out of control while self-interests are pulling the levers\nof power. You don't need a uniform to fight for our freedoms. I am\nasking every American to stand side by side and explain to our friends\nand neighbors that while this is the easy way to live; it's a hard way\nto be free and prosperous. It's our time to ``earn this'', to keep the\npromises of our forefathers and earn what they gave us. Freedom.\n\n[[Page E1852]]\n\n  Never let it be said that this generation stood idle and let liberty\nslip from our fingers, never let it be said we let a day go without\nremembering what our forefathers did for us.\n  I have honored that promise on the battlefields in Vietnam, in Iraq\nand in the halls of Congress.\n  My number one mission, as always, is to protect our God given rights.\nNot take them away!\n  Today, not tomorrow, we must decide whether we want to manage our own\ndestiny, in our states, in our cities and towns as individuals or\nwhether we want a Washington bureaucrat locked away in some distant\nFederal building spying on us, telling us how to manage our own lives,\nfamilies, doctors and our schools!\n  Do we determine our own destiny or let government bureaucrats run our\nlives?\n  The time for choosing is once again upon us.\n  Mr. Speaker, my dear Patriots, friends and neighbors, the battle is\nhere now, today, not in some distant jungle or desert, and we must\ndecide whether or not we want a brighter future for ourselves and our\nchildren and grandchildren.\n  Mr. Speaker, We, together, today, must decide whether our uniquely\nAmerican culture made up of people respectfully representing every\ncultural, religious, and ethnic background on earth is a nation divided\nor united in a common cause for freedom and the opportunity liberty\noffers each of us.\n  We must choose whether we will join our friends and neighbors\ndefending liberty and opportunity or become grease for the wheels of\nbig government.\n  In respectful civil disobedience, I for one will not submit to the\nchains of tyranny. I fly the Stars and Stripes in my yard not the red\nhammer and cycle!\n  I choose to continue the fight for a smaller, non-intrusive, fiscally\nresponsible, constitutional government. I choose Freedom for America! I\nchoose prosperity for America!\n  Mr. Speaker, I pledged to the citizens of my State, and to the\nAmerican people, that as their elected representative I will work to:\nRestore liberty, not restrict it; Shrink government, not expand it;\nReduce taxes, not raise them; Abolish programs, not create them;\nPromote the freedom and independence of citizens, not the interference\nof government in their lives; and Observe the limited, enumerated\npowers of our Constitution, not ignore them. I trust I honored that\npledge.\n  I praise God for my American roots and pray that HE may continue to\nBless all of us and this great nation.\n  I want to thank my fellow citizens and members of Congress for the\nprivilege, honor and experience to serve in the 113th Congress these\nlast 24 months. And lastly, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to wish the 114th\nCongress my very best wishes.\n  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2014-12-16-pt1-PgE1849-2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 48.65610599517822, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}