[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 152 (Friday, December 12, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1830]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     A TRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE OF THE THIRTY-SIXTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STEVE STOCKMAN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 11, 2014

  Mr. STOCKMAN. Mr. Speaker, as I deliver my last speech as a 
Congressman for the 36th District of Texas, I want to begin by once 
again thanking the people of Southeast Texas for giving me the honor of 
representing them.
  Our oil produces everything from the gas you put in your car to the 
PVC in an antifracking bumper sticker. We build the spacecraft that 
explore the stars and the freighters that serve every port in the 
world. The 36th District's powerful economic reach goes around the 
world and even into space.
  But we in Southeast Texas aren't just known for giving birth to NASA 
and the world's oil industry. We are also known for fighting for what 
we believe in no matter the odds.
  I first came to Congress in 1995. The man I defeated was a 42-year 
incumbent, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the most senior 
Democrat in Congress in one of the most heavily Democrat districts in 
America. The district had never in 100 years elected a Republican, and 
he remains the most senior member of Congress to have been defeated in 
a general election.
  I overcame similar odds to return here in 2012. We defeated the 
President of the Texas Senate in a district he had drawn for himself 
and was supposed to win without a runoff. We forced a runoff, without 
him in it, where I defeated a millionaire who outspent me 15 to 1.
  My election to this Congress had the lowest dollar-per-vote of any 
winning federal campaign in America, despite having to face three 
elections, two of which I was not favored to win.
  Those two victories over improbable odds prove anything is possible, 
if you know how to fight for it.
  I bring this up because this Congress faces a monumental fight. The 
very survival of our constitutional republic is in question.
  Will this Congress allow Barack Obama to centralize authority in the 
White House under an imperial Presidency, or will we take back our 
Constitutional Republic?
  Too many in this chamber are perfectly happy to let Obama render them 
irrelevant.
  I am not one of them. I didn't come here to settle in. I came here to 
upset things.
  I introduced several measures that would restore our congressional 
oversight and our constitutional republic.
  When Barack Obama used Executive Orders to violate the Second 
Amendment, I fought back. Working with Senator Rand Paul, I introduced 
the Restore the Constitution Act, which would nullify any executive 
action and prohibit funding of any action that oversteps the 
President's constitutional authority.
  I also introduced the Second Amendment Protection Act of 2013 to 
prohibit all UN funding as long as they continue to target peaceful gun 
owners, as well as the Safe Military Bases Act to allow our soldiers to 
carry firearms to stop terrorists.
  I introduced the first-ever Sanctity of Life Act in 1995, and brought 
it back to this Congress, to declare that life begins at conception and 
to end the tragedy of abortion.
  I introduced H. Res. 306, which would have forced a vote on 
establishing a Select Committee to investigate President Obama's 
bungled response to the terrorist attacks on our consulate in Benghazi, 
Libya. The public pressure created by that eventually led to a House 
investigation of the terrorist act.
  I introduced the Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act and the 
Cryptocurrency Protocol Protection and Moratorium Act to protect the 
emerging technologies of alternative currencies, which will eventually 
lead to greater prosperity and economic opportunity for all.
  And I introduced the Audit the Fed Act, to require transparency and 
accountability in the Federal Reserve System.
  I helped lead the battle against amnesty for illegal aliens in every 
possible way. I was able to block the 2013 Senate amnesty bill--which 
was on a fast track to passage--with the `blue slip' procedure, 
resulting in the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee 
declaring the bill in violation of the Constitution.
  This year I inspected and reported my findings about our porous 
border and the inhumane facilities which were used to house illegal 
alien children. In addition, my SECURITY Act would build the 2,000 mile 
border fence and eliminate many of the so-called magnet benefits, which 
would dramatically reduce if not halt illegal immigration.
  I also filed five resolutions seeking to force the President, 
Attorney General, Treasury Secretary, FEC Chairman and Defense 
Secretary to turn over all emails in their or in the NSA's possession 
which were sent to or from former IRS official Lois Lerner. Since then, 
the supposedly lost emails have been uncovered.
  The IRS' actions amount to a crime, and one that the highest official 
should be accountable for.
  These acts and resolutions are needed now more than ever, because 
these next two years will be among the most perilous in American 
history.
  As we saw in the ongoing IRS scandal, the left in America seems 
intent to use the government to target citizens who speak out.
  They did it to Ted Stevens. They did it to Tom DeLay. They're doing 
it to Rick Perry. And they will do it to you.
  This Congress and the next must rein in those activists who weaponize 
the government to target opponents.
  From the IRS to the EPA to the FEC, politicians are perverting the 
mission of federal agencies. Instead of administering laws passed by 
Congress, federal agencies are now used to target those whose ideas 
differ from those in power.
  This perversion of power extends to the targeting of law-abiding gun 
owners by political activists in the Justice Department, the targeting 
of landowners by political activists in the Interior Department and 
EPA, and the targeting of people of faith by virtually all federal 
agencies.
  Liberals are building an America where government is used to settle 
scores and stifle opposing ideas.
  Congress must fight back.
  We must protect, and restore the Second Amendment by repealing anti-
gun laws and reining in a rogue Justice Department.
  We must protect the right to life by passing a Human Life Amendment 
to the Constitution and repealing Obamacare.
  We must protect a free economy by passing a REINS Act to take away 
the power of bureaucrats to make up and enforce their own laws, and by 
repealing all laws and government agencies not explicitly spelled out 
in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.
  And this Congress and the next must restore a Constitutional 
Presidency by taking back powers usurped by the White House and 
repealing all Executive Orders that defy the Constitution.
  Just because I won't be here in the well doesn't mean I won't 
continue to fight.
  And we must fight more ferociously than ever if we are to save this 
constitutional republic.
  It has been an honor to serve with you all. Thank you for this 
opportunity to speak, and I pray that the members of the 114th Congress 
will fight with fire in their bellies for the life of our Republic.

                          ____________________