[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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