[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 39 (Monday, March 10, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PAUL A. GOSAR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 10, 2014

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize passage of several 
pieces of legislation as well as to voice strong opposition to another 
bill for recorded votes during the week of March 3, 2014. 
Unfortunately, I was not able to vote for final passage of these bills 
because I was out on medical leave recovering from much needed hip 
replacement surgery.
  H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, is poorly 
crafted legislation that will make an already insolvent program worse. 
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is currently $24 billion in 
debt. This legislation will continue the federal governments failed 
involvement in administering flood insurance. H.R. 3370 undoes 
important reforms that were just passed in 2012 and were our only hope 
in making this terrible program sustainable. When it became clear the 
House did not have the votes to pass this legislation last week, the 
bill almost tripled in size over the weekend and came back a worse bill 
than even the Senate version in order to get enough Democrats to 
support these piece of junk. I strongly oppose this wasteful and 
inefficient bill.
  H.R. 938, the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014, 
recognizes the importance of Israel as our closest ally and allows for 
new partnerships in relation to cyber-security, economic prosperity and 
defense. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important legislation.
  H.R. 4118, the Suspending the Individual Mandate Penalty Law Equals 
Fairness Act, is legislation that seeks to delay Obamacare's individual 
mandate by one year. This bill would bring parity for the American 
people as President Obama has twice suspended the employer mandate for 
businesses. Obamacare is a train wreck. The President should not 
selectively choose by executive order what parts of this terrible law 
to enforce. If the President thinks this law is good enough for the 
American people then it should be good enough for his cronies and 
everyone else. I will continue to fight to repeal and replace 
Obamacare.
  H.R. 2126, the Energy Efficiency Improvements Act, is a bill that 
will assist with increasing energy efficiency throughout commercial 
buildings.
  H.R. 3826, the Electricity Security and Affordability Act, seeks to 
reinstate economic sanity to EPA proposed regulations and give Congress 
a role in the process. This legislation allows the EPA to propose 
regulations for existing American power plants, but requires 
Congressional approval before they can take effect. More importantly, 
it will prohibit the mandate for CSS technology for new power plants 
until it is viable and has been tested at a few select power plants 
around the country. This Administration has waged a war on coal and I'm 
proud to be a cosponsor of this critical bill that pushes back against 
this overreach by the EPA.
  H.R. 2641, the Responsibly and Professionally invigorating 
Development Act, is important legislation that streamlines the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to allow for a more timely completion 
of construction projects. This bill will create jobs and allow for 
projects that are critical to our economy to move forward.
  H.R. 4152, to provide for the costs of loan guarantees for Ukraine, 
would add Ukraine to the list of countries eligible for loan guarantees 
from the state department. This legislation seeks to undermine Mr. 
Putin's atrocious behavior and support the Ukraine interim government. 
This bill does not require any new appropriations, but merely adds 
Ukraine to a list of nations eligible for State Department monies. I 
personally condemn the actions of Russia, and I am hopeful this crisis 
is resolved soon for the Ukrainian people.
  Had I been present for these votes, I would have voted in support of 
these important bills with a yea vote on roll call numbers 95, 97, 98, 
106, 113 and 114.
  Additionally, I would have opposed the dangerous flood insurance 
reform bill with a nay vote on roll call number 91.

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