[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 173 (Wednesday, January 2, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7568-H7569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Stearns) for 5 minutes.
Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, we've had a very good session of the 112th
Congress, and we got through it last night. I think all of us,
regardless of how we voted, feel a certain relief that we can move on
in this country and start to tackle the huge deficit we have.
This is going to be my last speech on the floor. I had the
opportunity yesterday to deliver a speech that deals with what I felt
were some of the problems in this country with regard to the deficit.
I quoted a lot from Thomas Jefferson, who aptly realized how
troublesome and serious the amount of borrowing by this Congress and
past Congresses could be to this country. He, of course, inherited a
similar situation when he became President, and how he solved it, I
felt, was important to put in the Record--his acute sense of urgency
and how he went about solving the deficit he inherited. So I talked
about that last night in my speech on the floor.
The second thing I talked about was this whole idea of Keynesian
economics and that the problem we have is continuing to stimulate the
economy with either QE1, QE2, QE3, and so on with this quantitative
easing that Chairman Bernanke is doing and how that is ultimately
hurting this country.
I also thought I would speak briefly today on some of the
accomplishments that I have had over my 24 years. Some of these are
very important, I think, for my district and, of course, I think, for
the country.
The first one I'll mention is the Cross Florida Barge Canal. This was
86,000 acres that were tied up at the Federal Government. President
Nixon wanted to do the Cross Florida Barge Canal. Ultimately, he
decided against it, so this amount of land was tied up in the Federal
Register. With the help of Charlie Bennett, a Congressman from
Jacksonville at that time, I sponsored a bill to retake that 86,000
acres and move it back to Florida, where it was originally located. So
we de-authorized the Cross Florida Barge Canal, and President Bush
signed into law my bill on November 29, 1990.
{time} 1010
The second major piece of legislation I am very proud of is the
Telecommunications Act of 1996. I was a conferee with the Senate. I had
many amendments involved with that, particularly with the broadcast
side. It provided competition, reduced regulation, and it started this
whole innovation in our telecommunication industry. And it was a great
honor for me to serve and to be contributing to that great bill which
created all of the new jobs in this country.
The third one was the Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits
Act, which was signed by President Clinton on March 10, 2000. This bill
was to provide extended care services for our veterans, to make
improvements in health care programs at the Department of Veterans
Affairs. I was chairman of the Health Subcommittee at the time, and I
was able to advance this bill, and I am very proud that President Bill
Clinton signed it.
The fourth bill was the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act. President
Clinton signed it on February 13, 2000. It prevents as many as 50,000
unnecessary deaths each year in the United States by using what are
called AEDs, which are automated external defibrillators. It allowed
people to be trained to save lives, and so this act was very important.
I'm glad that it was signed as my bill.
The fifth one I am very proud of that President Bush signed is
dealing with asthma conditions. Self-administration of medications was
prevented in schools because they had no drugs allowed, and some of the
children had asthma and they needed EpiPin or they needed some
albuterol, and if it wasn't available they could go into asthma attack.
This bill allowed nurses in schools to provide this type of treatment.
The sixth one is the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. It
was signed by President George Bush on October 26, 2005. It basically
provided civil liability action protection for companies that were
manufacturing, distributing, or importing firearms or ammunition, for
damages that were caused. Cities and States were suing these
manufacturers, putting them out of business. They were nuisance suits,
and I'm glad that President Bush signed it.
The last one I'm very happy to talk about is a bill that President
Clinton
[[Page H7569]]
signed, H.R. 5109, which basically assisted the Veterans Health
Administration to help personnel.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Jack Seum, my chief of
staff, for his 20 years of service; Paul Flusche for his 17 years;
Sherrie Porter for her 10; and Shawna Williams for her 14 years of
service. They did an extraordinarily good job, and I thank them.
I recognize my long time employees.
Jack Seum, Chief of Staff, 20 years of service; Paul
Fluche, Press Secretary, 17 years of service; Sherrie Porter,
District Director, 10 years; and Shawna Williams, Staff
Caseworker, 14 years.
And I thank all of my staff for their strong efforts.
Also I want to thank Jay Pierson for his help during my tenure in
Congress. He was the floor manager and did a great job. His 34 years of
service was extremely impressive.
district funding requests summary
1. Establishment of an outpatient clinic for Veterans in Leesburg and
Ocala, Florida.
2. Instrumental in building a Veterans' hospital facility in western
Marion County, part of The Villages, with ten acres of land donated by
Gary Morris, the owner of The Villages.
3. Funding for a 235-bed facility for the Veterans Administration
Hospital in Gainesville.
4. Numerous funding support for the infrastructure for the beltway in
Ocala and the beltway in Clay County.
5. Conversion of the Master Navy Jet Base Cecil Field into the Cecil
Field Commerce Center with continuous appropriated funding made to help
transition this into a commercial enterprise.
6. Further funding for the National Guard in Camp Blanding for the
new Education Center as a result of the 9/11 tragedy and terrorist
attack. Also helped National Guard in the relocation of the space
program deposit of rocket fuel at Camp Blanding.
7. Federal funding for the building of a new prison in Sumter County
and the funding for the intersection to allow transportation
requirements to be met off of I75.
8. Accomplishments for Jacksonville Area:
JAX VA Cemetery: I first offered legislation (H.R. 3882) to establish
a new VA cemetery in northeast Florida in 1996. There are approximately
189,000 veterans in the Jacksonville area, but there were no veterans'
cemetery to provide them a permanent place of honor. It was not until
2003, with the inclusion of language from my bill (H.R. 197) into H.R.
1516, the National Cemetery Expansion Act of 2003, that a veterans'
cemetery in Jacksonville was finally established.
Cecil Field: With the closure of Cecil Field, I have worked with area
leaders and involved citizens in transforming Cecil into a commercial
center. Since 2001, I have secured $10.5 million in appropriations
funding for the former Cecil Field, now Cecil Commerce Center.
I also worked through the Military Airport Program (MAP) to upgrade
the facilities at Cecil. From FY 2000 to 2003, I helped Cecil receive
more than $12.5 million in MAP funding for building and hangar
renovation, runway rehabilitation, and infrastructure improvements.
Florida National Guard: I have a long record of working with the
Florida National Guard and its premier facility at Camp Blanding. I
have secured funding and support for establishing the Rocket Motor
Storage Facility, various infrastructure upgrades, and the Air National
Guard Weather Readiness Training Center.
NADEP: I support the mission and workers at Jacksonville NADEP.
Stearns contacted Secretary of Defense and pointed out specific
examples in which NADEP personnel contributed directly to returning
equipment to combat readiness.
JAX Port: I consistently join the area delegation in supporting
dredging at JAX Port Authority.
more recent examples are
1. Representative Stearns introduced FAST, the ``Faster Access to
Specialized Treatment Act'' (H.R. 4132), which rewrote Section 506 of
the Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act to modernize the accelerated approval
pathway for rare disease drugs. FAST was included in the FDA
Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), Rare Disease Bill.
2. Congressman Stearns worked with Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) to craft H.R.
734, the Pedestrian Safety Enhacement Act of 2009 which directed the
Secretary of Transportation to set a noise level sufficient to alert
blind and other pedestrians of the presence of operating motor
vehicles. This legislation was signed into law on January 4, 2011 as S.
841.
3. One of the high points for veterans and serving on the 24 years on
the Veterans Affairs Committee was the accomplishment of getting a new
cemetery in Jacksonville. The language in Representative Stearns' bill
H.R. 1516 was incorporated into the National Cemetery Expansion Act of
2003, establishing a veterans' cemetery in Jacksonville. This was
signed by President Bush. Representative Stearns had originally dropped
H.R. 3882 and it was ten years later that this Act was accomplished and
signed into law by President Bush.
4. Representative Stearns served as a member of the Air Force
Congress with Sam Johnson who spent 6\1/2\ years as a POW at the Hanoi
Hilton. While a member of the Air Force Caucus the Air Force
Association presented to Congressman Stearns the W. Stuart Symington
Award which is the highest honor presented to a civilian in the field
of national security.
5. A recent bill which passed the Congress for the first time with
Democrat support was H.R. * * * (James) the Concealed Weapons Permit to
allow Americans to carry a concealed weapon if they have established
their credentials from the state of their residency to other states.
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