[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 76 (Friday, May 13, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H2377-H2382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNLEASHING AMERICA'S ECONOMIC POTENTIAL
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Mimi Walters of California). Under the
Speaker's announced policy of January 6, 2015, the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Woodall) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of
the majority leader.
Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I want to begin by yielding to the
gentleman from Montana (Mr. Zinke), one of the great freshmen here
leading our institution.
Honoring the Service of Rear Admiral Brian Losey
Mr. ZINKE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of Rear Admiral
Brian Losey, the current commander of Naval Special Warfare Command,
our Nation's top U.S. SEAL. He is entrusted with the honor of
commanding all SEALs, all special boat units, and all support staff
across this great country and across many theatres.
I have had the privilege of serving with Brian Losey, SEAL Team 6,
Red Team, and I can tell you that Brian is an outstanding officer.
It is an obligation of every officer to take action when he sees
wrong, and Brian Losey did just that. He saw a problem and took action.
He took decisive action because he knew the actions of others around
him were wrong.
Yet, once again, an entrusted, entrenched bureaucracy was allowed to
hide behind threats, hide behind whistleblowers, hide behind rules that
were intended to protect command and not to erode it. And yet, those
accusations discredited a great officer and the head of the United
States Navy SEALs.
I understand these protections are important, and they are necessary,
but we cannot allow such protections to go against accountability and
against the sanctity of command.
In this case, the Navy reviewed the investigation on Admiral Brian
Losey. They found him to be innocent and wrongfully accused. I have
seen the evidence and went through it line by line. I fully support the
Navy's conclusion and believe that they properly reviewed this case.
The DOD had different conclusions, and I believe those DOD
conclusions from the IG are flawed and are cherry-picked.
Admiral Losey is highly regarded by his subordinates, all of the
Naval Special Warfare community, and all SEALs who have served with him
and under his command. This includes the Navy SEAL standing before you.
I have known this man and his family for 30 years.
Let me just give you a snapshot of Admiral Losey's leadership under
his command of Naval Special Warfare. The SEALs, and those under his
command, have executed 654 total missions, have killed 461 high-value
targets--every one of those targets, if given a chance, would do
grievous harm to our Nation--have captured 60, wounded 32, rescued an
American hostage, deployed an average of 250 days of the year.
In 2015 alone, in Iraq, Naval Special Warfare Command and its
components were responsible for the killing or capture of over 3,000
enemy combatants.
Admiral Losey personally deployed to Operation Inherent Resolve,
Operation Enduring Freedom in the Trans-Sahara. He has deployed to 30
countries. Naval Special Warfare forces under his command are deployed
to 70 countries across this great globe. They advanced partner forces'
security capabilities, training over 6,000 of our allies.
Madam Speaker, America, our men, women, and children, both at home
and abroad, are able to sleep at night due to the leadership of Admiral
Losey and those forces that he commands.
Admiral Brian Losey, I thank you for your dedicated service to this
country. As a former teammate and United States Navy SEAL, I am proud
of all that you have done for our community, for the United States
Navy, and our grateful Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Rear Admiral Brian Losey, the
current Commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, our Nation's top
U.S. Navy SEAL, entrusted with the honor of Commanding all Navy SEALs.
I had the privilege of serving with Brian in the SEALs and am proud to
call him a team mate.
It is the obligation of every officer to take action when they see
wrong, Admiral Losey did just that. He saw a problem and took action.
Yet once again, our entrenched bureaucracy has allowed senior civilian
individuals to hide behind anonymous accusations and whistle blower
protections, in an attempt to discredit a great man and cover-up their
transgressions.
While these protections are important and necessary, they cannot be
allowed to be abused or shield them from being held accountable.
In this case, after the Navy reviewed the investigation of Admiral
Losey, they found him to be innocent and wrongfully accused. I have
seen the evidence. I fully support the U.S. Navy's conclusion and
believe they properly reviewed the case and fairly adjudicated this
matter.
Admiral Losey is highly regarded by his subordinates and all of the
special warfare community as a true selfless and humble leader. This
includes the Navy SEAL standing before you that has had the honor to
serve with him and know him for the last 30 years. He has sacrificially
served our nation with distinction and honor.
Let me just give you a snap shot of Admiral Losey's leadership under
his command Naval Special Warfare Forces have:
Executed 654 total missions.
Killed 461 High Value Individuals.
Captured 60, Wounded 32.
Rescued an American Hostage.
Deployed an average number of 250 days.
NSW strives to maintain a 1:3 deploy-to-dwell ratio.
In 2015 Iraq alone, NSW was responsible for the coordinated capture/
kill of over 3,000 enemy combatants.
Participated in Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Enduring
Freedom (AFG/PI/H0A/TransSahara).
Deployed to 30 countries as Crisis Response Forces.
Deployed to 70 countries to support 550 training events for allied
and partner nations, advancing partner forces' security capabilities,
ultimately training approximately 6,000 foreign partner and allied
military personnel per year.
American men, women, and children, both at home and abroad, are able
to sleep soundly in their beds due to the leadership of Admiral Losey
and the actions of the men and women he leads.
[[Page H2378]]
Admiral Brian Losey thank you for your dedicated and faithful service
to the United States of America. As a former teammate and U.S. Navy
SEAL, I am proud of all that you have done for the NSW community, the
United States Navy, and our great nation.
The following in a more in depth background of the situation:
There has been significant public media interest in the Whistleblower
Reprisal Investigations against Rear Admiral Brian Losey, currently
serving as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command while serving as
Commander, Special Operations Command Africa. My professional interest
in these issues as a member of House Armed Services Committee, and as a
former member of the Naval Special Warfare Community, was drawn by the
apparent divergence in reporting put forth by the DoD Inspector
General, and the adjudication conclusions of the Navy--and further
highlighted by a divergent Senate address by Senator Chuck Grassley and
a pointed op-ed by the former Commander, U.S. Special Operations
Command Admiral (ret) Bill McRaven, which raised concerns about the
unjust and destructive politicization of the matter. I looked into
these cases and identified the following significant, and not all-
inclusive, items of concern from the evidence submitted to the DoD
Inspector General:
Rear Admiral Losey relieved an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel of his
duties as Director of Personnel and Administration (J1 Director). This
officer was responsible for the processing of awards and evaluations
for service members assigned or conducting duties in support of Special
Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA), and was delinquent in the
processing of over 300 awards and evaluations spanning a timeframe
greater than two years.
Rear Admiral Losey and the Deputy Commander of SOCAFRICA counseled
this officer well before any IG complaints were raised. By word and
deed, this officer signaled that he was unwilling to step up his
efforts to take care of service members, citing his family life as his
primary concern, and arguing against establishing the normal
administrative trackers for awards, evaluations, and pending transfers
and gains in personnel as requested by Losey. After discovering that
this officer allowed the use of Admiral Losey's legal signature via
auto pen 36 times without the necessary authorization, and then not
being truthful about it, Rear Admiral Losey relieved him and properly
referred the placement of this officer to the Air Force chain of
command.
In the same timeframe, an Army Captain assigned to the J1 filed an 8
page complaint against the J1 Director, citing a hostile work
environment, lack of compliance with various administrative policies,
and many of the same issues that SOCAFRICA leadership had already
addressed in counseling with the J1 Director. An investigation was
conducted by SOCAFRICA's higher headquarters, U.S. Africa Command,
which determined that the J1 Director was culpably negligent and
derelict in the execution of his duties on multiple counts. The
investigation noted that the Senior NCO in the J1 among others, had
reflected this officer ``was seldom in the workplace for 40 hours a
week.'' The AFRICOM Judge Advocate Office endorsed the investigation
and an Air Force Major General at AFRICOM issued a Letter of Counseling
to the SOCAFRICA J1 Director citing ``a lack of; professionalism,
selfless service, self-discipline and duty'' and further recommending
that this officer ``approach future situations with the integrity and
professionalism expected of an Air Force officer''.
The AFRICOM investigation further recommended that this officer be
issued an adverse fitness report. Admiral Losey did not issue an
adverse fitness report and instead, recommended this officer for all
for promotion requirements and promotion. It is apparent that Admiral
Losey exercised considerable restraint and care in handling this
officer.
The written and verbal testimony as well as the substantial
supporting documentation submitted to DoD IG by Rear Admiral Losey, the
Deputy Commander, and the Chief of Staff reflects good faith and
effective efforts to resolve both performance and misconduct issues
related to the former Chief of Staff and the most senior civilian
assigned to SOCAFRICA--publicly identified as Mr. Fred Jones through
multiple media statements he has made related to these cases.
Mr. Jones was provided a written counseling document for necessary
performance improvement owing to a lack of staff processes, which he
was responsible for developing and implementing over the four years he
was the Chief of Staff, as well as deficiencies in staff organization
and execution of his assigned duties. In addressing the increasing
workload and levels of risk brought to SOCAFRICA service members
deploying to Africa in the shadow of the Arab Spring and exacerbated by
longer term and growing Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, and Boko Haram terrorism
concerns, Mr. Jones agreed amicably in writing to the creation of a
Director of Staff position to help level the workload not being
addressed in his role as Chief of Staff. This parallels the common
Deputy Commanding General for Operations and Deputy Commanding General
for Support structure in Army Divisions. Rear Admiral Losey, with the
diligent work of the staff was able to create a GS-15 position for Mr.
Jones with no decrement to pays, benefits or stature. The new Chief of
Staff, an Army Colonel, offered Mr. Jones workspace in the Chief of
Staff office. Mr. Jones had a couple of other choices and selected an
office co-located with a longtime friend, remote from the command
group.
Shortly after the new Chief of Staff assumed his duties, he gained
access to the SOCAFRICA pay report. He noted and confirmed significant
irregularities in pay benefits drawn by several SOCAFRICA civilian
members with AFRICOM, who issued the report. A formal, command-wide,
and broad scoped investigation was initiated and spanned a timeframe of
one and a half years prior to Rear Admiral Losey's arrival to
approximately one and a half years after his arrival. The investigation
of over 1,000 pay record entries revealed that Mr. Jones, along with 3
other civilians identified in allegations against Losey, comprised 92%
of the major pay violations in SOCAFRICA in that three year period.
This was particularly egregious as Mr. Jones, a retired Army Reserve
Special Forces Colonel, was accountable for maintaining the integrity
and compliance of the pay system, and was the single largest violator
of DoD Financial Management Regulations and policies in SOCAFRICA by
routinely seeking pay and leave benefit approvals from his
subordinates. This investigation and a subsequent AFRICOM IG inspection
further revealed that several civilians in SOCAFRICA held unauthorized
super user/system administrator privileges in the pay system and were
circumventing the normal benefit approval and verification processes.
Rear Admiral Losey directed Mr. Jones to personally comply with proper
procedures--but Mr. Jones disregarded this direction and continued to
seek approvals of pay benefits through his subordinates. The
whistleblower complaints against Rear Admiral Losey were raised AFTER
the pay investigations were initiated and Mr. Jones implicated in
misconduct. To not investigate this misconduct given the data presented
would have been a dereliction of duty by Rear Admiral Losey.
This misconduct was further amplified when the new Chief of Staff
went to work with staff experts to include Mr. Jones, in creating an
apparently absent pay policy within SOCAFRICA. Weeks into this work,
the new Chief of Staff discovered that a policy had already been
created years earlier under the hand of Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones did not
disclose that there was already a policy in effect that was not being
complied with.
After designation as Director of Staff, Mr. Jones was properly
detailed in accordance with his job description and duties to complete
the body of instructions and policies that should have been in place
for a command that was 4 years old. With persistent management
oversight, he satisfactorily completed his tasks months after the
agreed to suspense date, and was rated as ``successful'' in his
performance evaluation. This evaluation was fully supported by civilian
personnel policy, was not a ``lowering'' of his ratings, as this was
Rear Admiral Losey's first report on Mr. Jones. This rating did not
require any Performance Improvement Plan as incorrectly asserted by DoD
IG, and is required only for evaluations reflecting ``failure''. It
appears that Losey did not reprise in addressing these issues. It
appears that the responsible management officials (RMOS) as a whole,
took considerable care in ensuring Mr. Jones' pay and stature in the
creation of a GS-15 Director of Staff position were not decremented or
compromised.
In another disturbing demonstration of a lack of process, internal
management, and compliance, SOCAFRICA's executive oversight agency for
communications security (COMSEC) and specifically, the handling of
sensitive cryptographic keying material noted a pervasive lack of
compliance in SOCAFRICA's COMSEC program during a staff assist visit.
Discrepancies in COMSEC are a national security concern, and reportable
at all times. Their discovery during the assist visit threatened to
shut down SOCAFRICA's communications, and the numerous operations they
supported. Rear Admiral Losey learned that his COMSEC vault and COMSEC
managers were not certified, and that there were a significant number
of cryptographic keys in Africa that had not been documented as
properly destroyed. The was perplexing as Rear Admiral Losey recalled
the receipt of commendatory correspondence from USSOCOM for an
excellent internal management control program only a couple of months
before his arrival at SOCAFRICA. This program is designed to apply
additional oversight on sensitive or high impact functions of a
command, to include COMSEC. Given that the program was commendable on
one hand, and failing on another, an investigation was initiated. The
[[Page H2379]]
investigation revealed that the COMSEC oversight portion of the
internal management program was falsified with backdated compliance
checklists, and an unsupported statement of compliance. Staff
processes, staff function and compliance, fell squarely in Mr. Jones
job responsibilities. Again, Rear Admiral Losey handled the correction
of this issue administratively at the lowest level possible. By all
evidence reviewed, it appears that Rear Admiral Losey did his best to
ensure that SOCAFRICA was able to provide critical support to service
members deploying into complex security situations and at risk, while
preserving Mr. Jones equities as a civil servant. These areas included
Somalia and boundary states, South Sudan, Libya, Uganda and countries
impacted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and Joseph Kony, as well
as a dozen more countries in the Trans-Sahara and Islamic Maghreb
regions--areas where Al Qaeda and Boko Haram were spreading.
Civilian A, a named party in the allegations against Rear Admiral
Losey, served as the SOCAFRICA Executive Officer (XO), and was a
retired Army Major. He was subordinate to and rated by, Mr. Jones. He
was the primary unauthorized approval authority for Mr. Jones' pay
benefits as revealed in the broadly scoped, command wide investigation
into the matter.
As XO, Civilian A was properly detailed in accordance with his job
description and duties to assist Mr. Jones in completing the body of
instructions and policies necessary to define and formalize SOCAFRICA's
staff processes and functions. Along with Mr. Jones, Civilian A
satisfactorily completed this task with persistent management oversight
months after the agreed suspense date. In accordance with personnel
policy, he was given ``successful'' evaluation marks in a report
rendered by Losey. This was Losey's first report on the member, and was
not a ``lowering''. As with Mr. Jones, a performance improvement plan
was not required, and is triggered when a member is assessed to be
``failing''. As reflected in evidence submitted to DoD IG by RMOS,
Civilian A had repeated clashes with senior management officials, and
was constant in his efforts to assert alternative realities of
discussions and agreements. He was particularly resistant to direction
to removing his liquor displays from the government workplace.
At the request of Civilian A, and as agreed to at the outset of the
detail period, Civilian A was moved to the SOCAFRICA Directorate for
Plans (J5) upon completion of his work detail with Mr. Jones. As there
was no civil servant position available for him in the J5, Rear Admiral
Losey and management officials ensured his placement by creating a GS-
13 non-compete billet in the J5 to support and ensure Civilian A's
professional placement and development desires. DoD IG instructions
require that investigators assess the motives and character of
witnesses. In the case of Civilian A and Mr. Jones, it is apparent that
the whistleblower complaint against Rear Admiral Losey was likely not
triggered by the distant allegation of a travel infraction, but more
proximately triggered as a shield to the long standing misconduct
associated with padding their compensatory time and overtime pay
benefits, and circumventing the very processes they were accountable
for instituting and enforcing in SOCAFRICA. DoD IG questioned Losey on
a ``locker room'' discussion from which nearly every quote that is
attributed to Losey and his alleged reprisal motives emanate. After
misrepresenting Rear Admiral Losey's transcribed testimony in
preliminary reports, and after separate questionings a year apart, DoD
IG concluded that they could not substantiate that any ``locker room''
discussion occurred--this was revealed finally as an allegation made by
Civilian A as a ``one on one'' conversation. It is a significant
concern, but likely an simple administrative oversight to see the
elements of a conversation that could not be substantiated cascaded
through every DoD IG investigative report as though they actually
occurred. It is equally concerning that DoD IG enables these
complainants seeking the title of ``whistleblower'' to exercise a
seemingly unlimited dominion over truth and forthright character.
Civilian A, as an Army Officer and Battalion XO, ordered a cover up in
advance of a CID investigation into a drowning death of an Iraqi
citizen. He later testified on the matter in exchange for immunity from
prosecution, while soldiers from the Battalion that followed his orders
were tried in court. Civilian A's character is well chronicled in the
book ``Drowning in the Desert'' by V.H. Gambera. He was ultimately
censured by the Chief Staff of the Army for obstruction of justice.
These motive and character assessments are clearly relevant.
I reviewed the separate investigation into Rear Admiral Losey's
leadership, as referenced by Admiral (ret) McCraven. Rear Admiral
Losey's effectiveness as well the respect he generates in mission
execution is well documented. Additionally I note that he has exceeded
DoD and Navy averages for every command climate assessment area based
on DEOMI Survey records.
I commend the Navy for its careful and forthright review of relevant
evidence in this matter. Mission execution and ensuring proper support
of service members in harm's way while bringing SOCAFRICA's processes
and compliance to acceptable levels were evident drivers in RMO and
Rear Admiral Losey's actions, and clearly supports the Navy's
adjudication conclusions.
I am deeply concerned that three and a half years of investigating,
over 100 witness interviews, and 300,000 e-mails were digested to
produce biased reports at the near complete exclusion or distortion of
the testimony, evidence, and documentation that provided credible
support and justification for the actions of RMO's and for a
commander's duty obligations and responsibilities. I am equally
concerned at the disregard for timeliness in the execution of these
investigations, and note there is still a ``phantom investigation''
open for over a thousand days? There are also legitimate concerns with
DoD IG's handling of sensitive case material and its' release to the
media. There is something seriously amiss at DoD IG.
Finally, I wholeheartedly agree with my colleague Senator Grassley--
there needs to be an independent, in depth investigation into the
Deputy IC for Administrative Investigations, Marguerite Garrison. I
have substantial misgivings in the integrity, investigative practices,
timeliness, and compliance under her leadership in this matter based on
my review.
[From the Tampa Tribune, Apr. 24, 2016]
(By William H. McRaven)
When I was a young boy my father, a veteran of World War II
and Korea, schooled me on the downfall of Gen. Douglas
MacArthur. MacArthur, he explained, had overstepped his
authority and shown blatant disrespect for the civilian
leadership of the country. President Harry Truman relieved
him of his command, and MacArthur retired soon thereafter.
Civilian rule of the military was one of the most
fundamental principles of the armed forces. To believe
differently was dangerous, my father told me. Dad strongly
supported Truman's action, and he made me understand the
value of the civil-military relationship--a lesson I never
forgot.
But over the past decade I have seen a disturbing trend in
how politicians abuse and denigrate military leadership,
particularly the officer corps, to advance their political
agendas. Although this is certainly not a new phenomenon, it
seems to be growing in intensity. My concern is that if this
trend of disrespect to the military continues it will
undermine the strength of the officer corps to the point
where good men and women will forgo service--or worse the
ones serving will be reluctant to make hard decision for fear
their actions, however justified, will be used against them
in the political arena.
Take the recent case of Rear Adm. Brian Losey.
Adm. Losey is the commander of all Naval Special Warfare
forces--the SEALs and Special Boat sailors. I have known
Losey for more than 30 years. He is without a doubt one of
the finest officers with whom I have ever served. Over the
past 15 years no officer I know in the SEAL Teams has given
more to this country than Brian. None. As a young officer he
was constantly deployed away from his family. After 9/11, he
was sent to Afghanistan in the early days to help fight the
Taliban. From there, Losey participated in the final march to
Baghdad and then stayed in country as a SEAL Task Unit
Commander. Afterward he served as the deputy and then the
commanding officer of SEAL Team Six during more tough
fighting in Afghanistan.
Later he was posted to the White House in the Office of
Combating Terrorism. He made rear admiral in 2009 while at
the White House. He was subsequently sent back overseas to
Djibouti, Africa, to do a 15-month isolated tour as the
commander of all U.S. forces in the Horn of Africa. As a
result of that successful tour, he was given command of
Special Operations Command, Africa (SOCAFRICA).
SOCAFRICA was a relatively new command, which had been
established to address the growing threat in North Africa.
Located in the beautiful Swabian city of Stuttgart, Germany,
it was initially staffed with military and civilian personnel
from another nearby special operations unit. Although most of
the men and women were incredibly capable, hard-working
staffers, there was a small core who had been living in
Europe for years enjoying the comfortable lifestyle in
Stuttgart.
Upon Losey's arrival in Germany, the situation in North
Africa changed dramatically, and the fledgling SOCAFRICA had
to quickly get on wartime footing. Brian Losey did just that.
Losey is a no-nonsense officer who knows what it takes to
get results. Combat is hard. Lives are at stake. Being
genteel and considerate of everyone's feelings are not the
qualities that will engender success. But although Losey can
be a tough taskmaster, he is a ``by-the-book'' officer.
Unfortunately for Losey, along the way to strengthening the
command there were those who fought the change and through a
series of whistleblower complaints sought to seek his
removal.
At the time, I was the commander of the U.S. Special
Operations Command in Tampa.
[[Page H2380]]
I worked with Gen. Carter Ham, who commanded U.S. Africa
Command and had operational control of Adm. Losey, to
investigate the complaints.
The investigation we initiated determined that Losey's
leadership style, while brusque and demanding, did not
warrant his removal. The Navy subsequently recommended Losey
for two stars, and he was confirmed by the Senate in December
2011.
Although the Navy inspector general absolved Losey of any
wrongdoing, his promotion was put on hold pending DOD
inspector general resolution of the complaints. Nevertheless,
the secretary of the Navy agreed to reassign Adm. Losey to
the premier job in Naval Special Warfare--command of all the
SEALs.
During the past three years as commander of Naval Special
Warfare Command (WARCOM), his staff has consistently ranked
WARCOM to be one of the best places to work in the Navy. He
has passed all Navy IG inspections with flying colors, and
the retention statics for his young officers and enlisted is
exceptional.
However, in the course of those three years, the
whistleblowers from Stuttgart continued to pursue Losey's
removal and resignation, routinely submitting new complaints
to prolong the process and hold up his promotion.
A series of DOD inspector general investigations were
reviewed by the Navy leadership and, once again, Adm. Losey
was found not to have violated any law, rule or policy. In
fact, it was clear to the Navy that the personnel action
taken by Losey against the complainants was not reprisal. He
was recommended again for promotion to two stars.
Despite the Navy's multiple endorsements, certain members
of Congress chose to use Losey's case to pursue their own
political agenda. They held hostage other Navy nominations
until Losey's promotion recommendation was rescinded. The
ransom for their congressional support was Brian Losey's
career and, more importantly, his stellar reputation.
Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, folks wonder sometimes what kind of men
and women serve in this Chamber. And when I am asked, What did you
learn new, Rob, that you didn't expect when you got to Congress, I talk
about the caliber of the men and women who serve here.
If you have not had any time to spend with the gentleman from
Montana, the former commander at Navy SEAL Team 6 spent 20 years
serving his country in the SEALs and said: I have more leadership to
provide. I want to run for Congress because I want to be able to make a
difference in that way.
And he is making that difference here every day.
Madam Speaker, there is so much time where we spend tearing each
other down and talking about all the problems that exist in Washington,
and certainly, they are multiple. But to confront serious problems, you
have to have serious people; and we do have serious people in this
Chamber. Congressman Zinke is one of those, and I am proud to serve
with him, and I appreciate his leadership.
Madam Speaker, I want to talk about another topic that I think lets
people--again, we can talk about all the challenges that exist in this
country, but figuring out what the problem is and who to blame for it
should not be our primary goal. Our primary goal should be solving
those problems.
Madam Speaker, I want to talk about unleashing America's economic
potential, and I want to talk about the FairTax. You know about the
FairTax. The FairTax is not two words, as you know. FairTax is one
word.
FairTax is the name of a bill in Congress. Not many bills in Congress
command the notoriety that FairTax does, but it is H.R. 25. Anybody can
pull it from congress.gov and read it. It is short, about 100 pages.
But it says, for Pete's sake, Madam Speaker, if we are going to try
to make America competitive in the world, if we are going to try to
create American jobs, if we are going to try to make America the
country that you follow, if we are going to make America that leader in
the world, what are we going to do it on?
Madam Speaker, if you want to create more jobs in America, you could
depress salaries. We could pay everybody pennies, as some nations do,
and try to create more jobs. That is an awful plan. That is not the
right way.
If we wanted to create more jobs in America, we could stop caring
about clean water and clean air and just throw our environment out with
the job creation. But that is not what we want to do. That is a
terrible idea.
Madam Speaker, as we sit here today, one thing that all the men and
women in this Chamber control is the United States Tax Code. And the
United States Tax Code, time and time again, is rated as the single
worst Tax Code on the planet, the single worst Tax Code on the planet.
Once a week, you can open up a newspaper, find a story of a company
leaving America to pursue incorporation outside of America's borders so
that they can face a lower tax rate. And folks say: Oh, how
unpatriotic; what an awful thing to do.
Madam Speaker, I would tell you that the law of the land requires
them to do that. The law of the land says if you are the board of
directors of a publicly traded corporation, you have a fiduciary duty
to maximize return to shareholders. If you are trying to incorporate in
a company that is punishing you, and you can go to a country that
rewards you, you must make that. It is not optional. It is required.
So we can either try to pass laws that trap companies here, or we can
try to pass laws that encourage every Nation on the planet to locate
here. The FairTax does exactly that.
Madam Speaker, let me tell you a little bit about what the FairTax
does. It is a fair chance for every American family to build a better
life.
We talk so much about the income tax in this Chamber, but the truth
is that 80 percent of American families pay more in payroll taxes than
they do in income taxes.
All the time we spend complaining about the IRS, complaining about
the American Tax Code, the Income Tax Code, it is the payroll tax that
is the largest tax burden that 80 percent of American families face.
If you are a millionaire, a billionaire, if you are running your own
giant, megacorporation, you can accept your salary any way you want to.
You can do it from capital gains, stock options. You can have your
privately held company pay you dividends. You have your choice about
how you receive your income and, depending on what the Tax Code
punishes and encourages, you can manipulate your income accordingly.
Madam Speaker, but if you are the rank-and-file American middle class
family, you don't have a choice. You don't have capital gains or
dividends or stock options to choose from. You get a paycheck, and out
of that paycheck, the government takes the first dollar, and it is 15.3
percent that the government takes in payroll taxes alone.
{time} 1230
Now, Madam Speaker, payroll taxes are a valuable tool in this
country. They fund the Medicare program, and they fund the Social
Security program. These are two very important programs to America, but
they are both threatened. The revenue stream for those two programs is
insufficient to fund the demands on those programs. We have to find a
better way.
The FairTax says: don't take the money out of an individual's
paycheck. The power to tax is the power to destroy. When you tax
productivity, you destroy productivity. Rather than taxing income,
let's tax consumption.
We all wondered on April 15, Madam Speaker, what our neighbors paid
in income taxes. Don't you wonder? Money magazine did a study one time.
Fifteen different accountants worked on the same tax return, and they
came up with 15 different answers. It was impossible to figure out
which one was right, and none of those was the answer that Money
magazine came up with for themselves. But you wonder what you are
neighbor is paying, and you wonder if they are paying their fair share.
What the FairTax says is we are going to charge you not based on what
you produce but what you consume.
So if you have a brand-new Mercedes sitting in your driveway, we
think you ought to be able to help fund the American way of life. If
you have a used Ford Festiva sitting in your driveway, maybe we ought
to cut you some slack.
If you have just built yourself a new, 9-bedroom, 12-bathroom house,
we think you ought to be able to afford to pay to help grow America. If
you are a family of six living in a two-bedroom apartment, we think we
ought to cut you some slack.
If you are working hard trying to improve your life, don't punish
productivity, as today's Tax Code does; tax folks based on consumption.
That is not a crazy idea, Madam Speaker. In fact, America is one of the
only OECD countries, one of the only industrialized countries that
doesn't have a consumption tax.
[[Page H2381]]
But America was founded on a consumption tax. That is exactly the way
America began, saying that if you have enough money to import silver
from Europe you ought to be able to pay the tax on that. It was excise
taxes at that time. I am talking about a simple retail sales tax.
But people spend at different rates, Madam Speaker. People spend at
different rates. What I have here--you can't see it; the print is going
to be too small--but it is the relative tax rates of a two-adult, two-
child household.
What the FairTax says is, listen, we all have basic expenses in our
lives. If you are struggling and you are trying to make a better life
for you and your family, you are going to have to buy your food, you
are going to have to have an apartment, you are going to have some form
of transportation, whether it is a car or riding public transportation,
and you are going to have to have clothing. These are the basic
necessities of life.
So we have created a system so that no American family pays retail
sales taxes on those basic necessities. That is what we will call
poverty-level spending. When you go above and beyond that, you begin to
pay the taxes.
What that means, Madam Speaker, is that if you are earning $32,000 a
year in that family of four, you are not paying a penny in taxes.
Again, payroll tax is today the largest tax that American families pay.
We are not asking you to pay a penny.
But if you are earning $50,000 a year, then you start to pay an
effective rate of about 7\1/2\ percent. If you are earning $64,000,
then it is about 11 percent, and on and on and on until you get all the
way up to a 23-percent tax.
There are no exceptions, no deductions, and no exemptions. Everybody
pays on everything after that poverty-level spending.
Again, Madam Speaker, if you can afford to have a boat and a new jet
ski sitting in your driveway, then I think you can afford to help
struggling families in America succeed. If you are one of those
struggling families and you are saving every penny that you have
because you want to send your child to college one day, then we ought
to cut you some slack.
Madam Speaker, the FairTax was created by a group of economists, a
group of public citizen activists, who said: If we started from scratch
today, then what Tax Code would we write?
There is not a man or a woman in Congress, Madam Speaker, who
believes that if we wrote a Tax Code today that we would write the one
we have. The one we have is atrocious. It is atrocious.
What that does is it targets every individual working at the IRS. The
IRS is the most vilified institution in this town. By moving the burden
of taxation from income to consumption, the FairTax would close the IRS
forever.
Madam Speaker, the problem with the IRS could be the occasional rogue
man or woman that works there, but most of the men and women that work
there are conscientious and hardworking civil servants charged with
implementing the atrocious Tax Code that this Congress has passed.
Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, said: The best
way to escape this trap that we are in is to throw the whole thing out
and start over from scratch. He is exactly right.
Madam Speaker, #PassTheFairTax is the way we are driving this
particular debate. Imagine if working American families never, ever,
ever had to deal with the IRS again. If you are a sophisticated
business, you are going to collect that tax in sales taxes. You are
going to have to deal with a State tax collector, and you are going to
have to deal with an occasional Federal audit. But if you are a rank-
and-file American family, you will never be threatened by the IRS
again.
Madam Speaker, you know, as I do, we handle casework all the time
from constituents being pushed around by the IRS, getting threatening
letters from the IRS and having their home threatened by the IRS. Why?
Because, despite their very best efforts, they messed up their tax
return.
Money magazine hired 15 professional accounting groups to fill out a
tax return. They all got different answers. But when an American family
makes that same mistake, they are punished.
I want to close the IRS for good, Madam Speaker. I want to get folks
out of the business of being threatened by their government. I don't
think folks mind paying their fair share, but they would like a thank-
you for paying their fair share, not a threatening letter from the IRS
at the end of the day.
What are we talking about in terms of productivity, Madam Speaker?
The Tax Code grows longer and longer and longer every year. The
National Taxpayers Union this year, by this April 15, said that in this
1 year alone we spent 6.1 billion--billion--hours filling out tax
returns, that we spent collectively $330 billion to comply--$330
billion to comply.
Madam Speaker, what would have happened to the economy if we had
dedicated that $330 billion to economically productive activities? We
could have dedicated that $330 billion to paying down the debt.
It is not just the $330 billion that we lose because we are spending
it on taxes. Our Tax Code is so convoluted. The New York Times reported
last month that $458 billion, almost one-half-trillion, go uncollected
every year, sometimes through fraud, sometimes through deceit, and
oftentimes just through an inability to understand the Tax Code and
folks not reporting it properly. Collectively, we are talking about $1
trillion in lost productivity here in this country.
There are 11 million words of laws and regulations in the Tax Code.
Madam Speaker, you know that you haven't read it. I haven't read it
either. We are paying people to help us with our taxes; they haven't
read it either. You call the IRS Help Line for help; they haven't read
it either. Eleven million words, nobody has read it, and nobody
understands it. We make a criminal out of every family in this Nation
when we ask them to comply with it.
Madam Speaker, sadly, particularly over the last 2 years, we have
been reading about abuses at the IRS, whether it is targeting groups
based on what their conservative beliefs are, whether it is
inappropriately leaking confidential information, selectively leaking
that information to support one effort or another.
Madam Speaker, the IRS knows more about each and every one of us than
many of us are willing to tell our children, and it is wrong. You
cannot give that kind of power to an agency without having agency
abuses.
We can close the IRS. We can get every American family out of the
business of dealing with the IRS on April 15 by simply paying a retail
sales tax when they shop at their local stores.
Madam Speaker, we are talking about igniting America's economy. We
are talking about doing those things that encourage productivity, doing
those things that encourage risk-taking, and doing those things on
which America's economy was founded but many of which we have lost
sight of in the past several years.
We can't avoid paying taxes. Death and taxes are certain. What we can
do is make it easier, what we can do is make it more effective, and
what we can do is make it less punishing.
We are having a debate right now, Madam Speaker, about what kind of
new Tax Code to provide for America. I believe we are going to get
there. I don't think we are going to get there this year. I think it is
going to require some Presidential leadership. I think all the
Presidential candidates remaining are talking about what they would do
to change the Tax Code.
We all realize we are getting shellacked by the rest of the globe.
All of our major trading partners are bringing their corporate rates
down and down and down, creating the kind of corporate flight that we
are talking about.
I don't want to talk about changing America's Tax Code so it fits in
kind of the middle of the pack, so that we are kind of average with all
of our peers around the globe. I would tell you, America has no peers
around the globe. America is a leader around the globe. America stands
alone around the globe, and America should lead the world with the
single best Tax Code around the globe.
I don't want to lower wages, I don't want to impact environmental
regulations, and I don't want to change those things that deliver
value. I want to change those things that don't. And a complicated Tax
Code benefits no one except lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
Madam Speaker, Americans for Fair Taxation, again, hired some of the
best
[[Page H2382]]
economists we have in the land, who predicted that we could create 13
million more jobs--13 million more jobs--with a Tax Code that
encouraged investment, that encouraged savings, and that got us out of
the business of punishing productivity and into the business of
rewarding.
Michael Boskin, the former chairman of the Council of Economic
Advisers, Madam Speaker, said that the long-term gain to GDP from a
consumption-based tax reform would be roughly 10 percent--a 10-percent
change to GDP simply because we take away a punitive Tax Code and put
in one that makes sense.
Madam Speaker, I don't know about families in your district; families
in my district can't wait. Families in my district don't think the
economy is going so great that it is okay if we shave off 10 percent at
the top. We can do better and we must.
``Long-run GDP per capita would be 9.7-percent higher under a
national sales tax,'' says Alan Auerbach at the University of
California, Berkeley.
Time and time again, economists from the left and economists from the
right come to the same conclusion: the power to tax is the power to
destroy. Taxing income punishes and destroys productivity.
``Near-term 9- to 13-percent increase in the GDP,'' says Dale
Jorgenson, the former chairman of the economics department at Harvard
University.
There is a reason all of these different economists come together
around the same figure, Madam Speaker, again, from the left and from
the right. We have an opportunity to do better, if only we will agree.
Madam Speaker, it is #PassTheFairTax. The FairTax has more
cosponsors--again, it is H.R. 25--more cosponsors than any other
fundamental tax reform in this institution. On the Senate side, it has
more cosponsors than any other fundamental tax reform bill on the
Senate side.
Madam Speaker, the FairTax has supporters in every State across the
Nation. It is not coming out of Washington, D.C.
Passing the FairTax would take away so much of the power that this
town can exercise over people. We will give you a tax credit for buying
an electric car, we will give you a tax credit for buying a windmill,
we will give you a tax credit for having more children, and we will
give you a tax credit for this, that, and the other. With the FairTax,
all of those exceptions and exemptions go away. Hear that.
I started telling you about the amazing men and women who serve in
this Chamber, folks who come to work every day to try to build a better
America in cooperation with their bosses, their constituents back home.
We talk so often about how the Washington culture creates all these
exceptions and exemptions and somebody is benefiting from it and
somebody is getting paid off for it. Nonsense.
There is one bill in this Chamber that abolishes every single
special-interest exception, exemption, carveout, and credit in the
entire United States Tax Code. That bill is the FairTax, and that bill
has more support in this Chamber than any other fundamental tax reform
bill in Congress.
Madam Speaker, we have an opportunity to do this together. We have an
opportunity to build a better economy together. We have an opportunity
to take the IRS out of every single one of our constituents' lives
forever.
It is going to take a lot of courage. It is going to take a lot of
courage to abolish all of those exceptions and exemptions. It is going
to take a lot of courage to hit the reset clock on the American Tax
Code. It is going to take a lot of courage to get out of the business
of trying to be mediocre with the rest of the world and kind of settle
right there in the middle and to move from the very worst Tax Code on
the planet to the very best Tax Code on the planet.
Worst to first, Madam Speaker. That is what the FairTax offers. I ask
the support from each and every one of my colleagues that has not yet
cosponsored this bill.
With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________