[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H10095-H10098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FAREWELL TO CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hollingsworth). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2017, the Chair recognizes the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, tonight it is a privilege that I have to 
yield to somebody who has become a good friend and an excellent 
colleague, who has served with me, at my side, at the House Financial 
Services Committee, who will be leaving us at the end of this Congress. 
Her voice of common sense and her voice to really promote economic 
growth among all Americans will be missed; but in her short tenure, she 
has made her mark in our committee and made her mark in Congress, and I 
am pleased to yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney).
  Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, it was certainly an honor and a privilege to 
serve in the prestigious Financial Services Committee as a Member of 
the 115th Congress. It was a distinct privilege to be selected to serve 
on that committee by our chairman, Jeb Hensarling, who recognized the 
urgent need to reignite our economy and to give small businesses like 
ours and millions like our family business around the Nation a chance 
to thrive again against the oppressive weight of government 
overregulation.
  As a small manufacturing business owner and as an attorney to small 
community banks and credit unions in my community, I am acutely aware 
of the challenges that small businesses and families face concerning 
Big Government overreach in the financial realm.
  Families were not able to save for their future, small businesses 
were laying off employees instead of hiring, and community banks were 
closing at a record pace. The policies we championed and the incredible 
work we have done on the Financial Services Committee this year under 
the leadership of Chairman Jeb Hensarling has turned all of that 
around. For the first time in over a decade, I am witnessing growth and 
renewed enthusiasm in our economy, thanks to the work of our committee.
  The jurisdiction of the Financial Services Committee may seem 
esoteric to some; however, the work that we do is vitally important to 
this Nation. We have the power, of course, if used correctly, to open 
up markets, to unleash free enterprise, and to give citizens the 
opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
  In May, President Trump signed S. 2155, the Economic Growth, 
Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, into law after House 
passage. Our committee, through numerous hearings and markups, 
originated most of this legislation. The ultimate work product, S. 
2155, made much-needed reforms to Dodd-Frank that directly impact the 
ability of small community institutions to conduct business and to 
drive the economy in a positive direction.
  As a freshman member, I was honored to be one of the only members to 
have two bipartisan bills included in this package: the first, the 
Small Bank Exam Cycle Improvement Act, and, the second, the Community 
Institution Mortgage Relief Act. These bills are vitally important 
because community banks are the lifeblood of New York's upstate 
economy.
  Community institutions provide access to capital for entrepreneurs 
starting or growing their small businesses, for families and farmers 
acquiring new equipment or assets, for loans to new car buyers, and for 
mortgages to families purchasing a home, especially for the first time.
  In rural areas like the 22nd District in New York, consumers and 
small businesses often rely on lending with local institutions in order 
to gain access to capital. These reforms ensure that small community 
institutions like Tioga National Bank, the Bank of Utica--my personal 
bank--Adirondack Bank--another bank that I use--and many others 
throughout the country can keep their doors open and continue to lend 
to people in our communities.
  I am grateful to Chairman Hensarling and the expert and professional 
staff on the committee who worked with our office and leaders in

[[Page H10096]]

the financial services community in our region to ensure that we had 
the opportunity to pass meaningful legislation that will benefit the 
constituents of New York's 22nd Congressional District for many years 
to come.
  I thank Chairman Hensarling for his unparalleled integrity, 
tremendous leadership, sage advice, and deep friendship. I am so 
honored and privileged to have played a small role in Chairman 
Hensarling's noble mission of empowering all Americans through freedom 
and economic opportunity.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her very, 
very kind words. And, again, she will be very much missed from this 
institution, but I will treasure our service together. I will treasure 
our friendship forever as well, and I thank her for coming to the floor 
tonight.
  And now, Mr. Speaker, I will issue the remainder of my remarks from 
the House well.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today for what I expect to be my final speech on 
the House floor. After 8 terms, I have chosen to go home to Texas, the 
land of my forefathers, with the hope of being a better father and a 
better husband myself.
  I am also going home because I believe America is best served by the 
Jeffersonian model of American democracy, and that is a citizen 
legislature. I fear too many wish to become members of the permanent 
ruling class. I am not among them.
  I also know that this congressional seat, Mr. Speaker, never belonged 
to me. It belonged to the people of the Fifth Congressional District of 
Texas. It has always belonged to them. They allowed me--they allowed me 
to hold it in trust. It was a sacred trust, Mr. Speaker, a sacred trust 
to be the guardian of their freedoms and their opportunities, and I 
will always, always be grateful for that privilege.
  So, come January 3, I reverently return their seat back to them, and 
I wish my successor, Lance Gooden of Kaufman County, Texas, all the 
best--all the best.
  Mr. Speaker, 16 years ago, I went to these very same people in the 
Fifth Congressional District of Texas and I told them: I believe I know 
what the genius of America is. It is faith; it is family; it is free 
enterprise; and, yes, it is freedom.
  And it does indeed all start with faith because, Mr. Speaker, over 
your chair right there is emblazoned our national motto, ``In God We 
Trust.'' And it is my firm prayer that, for our Nation, may it always 
be so. And I firmly believe we cannot be a virtuous nation unless we 
are first a godly nation.
  People come to America for many reasons. They come here for political 
freedom, economic freedom, but, also, most profoundly, for religious 
freedom. May we never forget Jefferson's prophetic words enshrined: 
``Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed 
their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of people that these 
liberties are the gift of God?''
  Mr. Speaker, as vital as faith is, so are our families. And the 
family that made me in College Station, Texas, all those years ago was 
blessed with two wonderful parents, Chase and Ann. My father was a 
poultry farmer; my mother was a stay-at-home mom; but together, they 
taught me and my siblings invaluable lessons about hard work, fairness, 
faith, discipline, and honesty--in a word, Mr. Speaker, values. They 
lovingly led by example, which is what my wife and I attempt to do 
today with our two children.
  We now have, over so many different years of history, showing that it 
is our families--it is our families--that can best perpetuate our 
values, raise our children, and care for our elderly.
  Now, let me turn to free enterprise.
  1776 wasn't just a revolutionary year for America. It was a 
revolutionary year for free enterprise, for American capitalism, free 
market capitalism, as well, because it was in that year that Scottish 
moral philosopher Adam Smith penned its intellectual foundation in his 
opus magnum, ``The Wealth of Nations.'' Prosperity would never, never 
be the same.
  We now have over 200 years of history in this country proving that 
free market capitalism produces the greatest wealth for the greatest 
number of people. Yes, free enterprise is about wealth creation, but 
this is not to be confused with materialism.
  Yes, free enterprise does produce Porsches, it produces Jacuzzis, and 
it produces vacations to Paris; but, more importantly, it empowers a 
factory worker in my district in Mesquite, Texas, to start her own 
business. It helps a family in Jacksonville, Texas, send their first 
kid to college. It puts ample, nutritious food on the kitchen table. 
And that kitchen table is found in a home that some hardworking family 
in Forney, Texas, never dreamed they could own but they have because of 
American free enterprise.
  But even perhaps more profound than wealth creation, free market 
capitalism is really about the pursuit of happiness. It is about the 
freedom to use your God-given talents to create, to innovate, and to 
produce, to take pride and joy that can only arise from what American 
Enterprise Institute scholar Arthur Brooks terms ``earned success.'' As 
is written in the book of Isaiah, chapter 65, verse 22: My chosen ones 
will long enjoy the work of their hands.
  And finally, freedom, Mr. Speaker, the inalienable right to liberty 
endowed by our creator. Never in the vast expanse of time, history, and 
space have the blessings of liberty been enjoyed in greater abundance 
than they have here in the United States of America. Only in America 
are you only limited by the size of your dreams. As my friend and 
mentor, former Senator Phil Gramm, is fond of saying: Only in America 
can ordinary people achieve extraordinary results.
  Mr. Speaker, generations--generations--of our forefathers have taken 
up arms in defense of liberty and found it worthy of the very sacrifice 
of their lives. There is no greater foundational principle to the 
American people than liberty: personal liberty, political liberty, 
religious liberty, and economic liberty. May we, in this body, always 
fight to preserve it.
  Now, in the Federal city, political calculus changes by the moment. 
Policies come and go, but principles endure, and there are no more 
enduring or foundational principles in America than faith, family, free 
enterprise, and freedom. I believed it 16 years ago when I came to this 
body. I believe it even more fervently today, Mr. Speaker.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I have learned a couple of things in my 16 years of 
service in Congress. One thing I learned is that, when one announces 
their retirement, two things happen:
  One, people begin to say nice things about you. Had I known about 
this phenomena earlier, perhaps I would have retired years ago.
  Second of all, reporters ask you about your so-called legacy. Well, 
Mr. Speaker, I have to laugh because I am not sure there is anything as 
soon forgotten in the Federal city as a former Member of Congress. So I 
don't really think in terms of legacy. I, frankly, don't know if I have 
changed Washington. Now, Mr. Speaker, I know Washington didn't change 
me.
  I do take solace, though, and I take a measure of pride knowing that, 
along with a handful of other conservatives in this body, I fought 
steadfastly against the forces of what I view crony capitalism, and 
that be either by earmark set-asides, subsidies, tax preferences, or 
trade protectionism, particularly now as the specter of socialism once 
again rears its ugly head in our Nation.
  We can never let our fellow countrymen somehow confuse free market 
capitalism with crony capitalism. In the one, your success depends upon 
how hard and how smart you work on Main Street. In the other, it 
depends on who you know in Washington.
  The latter is a threat to the former, and the Republican Party will 
lose its moral authority to prevent a social welfare state if we ever 
acquiesce in a corporate welfare state. This we cannot allow to happen.

                              {time}  1900

  Mr. Speaker, you know personally, as does the previous speaker, the 
gentlewoman from New York, how much pride I take in the work of the 
great men and women of the House Financial Services Committee.
  Most Americans today are seeing the best economy they have ever seen 
in their lifetimes, and that is in no small measure to the work of the 
men and women of the House Financial Services committee.

[[Page H10097]]

  Now, I am not going to argue that our work was on the same order of 
magnitude as tax reform. It wasn't. But the Economic Growth, Regulatory 
Relief, and Consumer Protection Act signed by President Trump was the 
most pro-growth banking bill in a generation, and has certainly done 
more to grow our economy than any other legislation passed by the House 
besides tax reform.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, economic growth cannot solve all of America's 
problems, but it lifts the downtrodden from poverty; it empowers 
middle-income America; and it enables tens of millions to achieve their 
version of the American Dream. It has, indeed, for 16 years of my 
service, been worth fighting for.
  As I prepare to leave office, Mr. Speaker, I leave with many, many 
hopes. But, Mr. Speaker, I leave with a few fears as well that I 
believe my fellow countrymen should pay close attention to.
  First, I am concerned about the state of America's entrepreneurial 
spirit. I wonder how long we will have robust economic growth if the 
government continues a regulatory onslaught against American business 
to attempt to render all risk out of our financial system.
  From its earliest beginnings, America has always been the land of the 
entrepreneur, the land of the dreamer, and the risk-taker and, yes, 
that includes the risk of failure.
  Several of the colonies, such as Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and 
Virginia, were founded, not by the Crown of England but, rather, by 
profit-seeking corporations that were willing to take risk.
  You know, someone who clearly understood something about risk was 
Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple; I believe still the largest 
company in the world today. In an interview, Jobs was once asked how he 
thought about himself. He said: ``I look at myself as sort of a trapeze 
artist.''
  And then the reporter asked: ``With or without a net?'' He didn't bat 
an eyelash, he said: ``Without.'' Steve Jobs was a risk-taker and 
because he took a risk, Apple again became the most valuable company in 
the world whose innovations have revolutionized our lives.
  And what is important is not the amount of money that Steve Jobs 
made, but what he was able to do with it, and that is create a 
successful company, to employ and serve millions who collectively have 
exercised their God-given rights at the pursuit of happiness.
  Fewer entrepreneurs taking fewer risks means fewer jobs, Mr. Speaker. 
It is that simple. And so one day, if we lose our ability to fail in 
America, we will soon lose our ability to succeed. There are simply too 
many burdensome regulations that crush the entrepreneurial spirit. This 
must cease.
  Another fear I have, Mr. Speaker, is that I fear we are drifting away 
from our constitutional moorings as I witness the rise of the 
administrative state, because we need to appreciate our birthright, the 
sheer genius of the Constitution which, unfortunately, today is 
threatened. Our Constitution's framework of checks and balances, 
limited government, co-equal branches of government, that has secured 
our fundamental rights and given us the freest, most prosperous society 
the world has ever known.
  But we are witnessing now a century-long liberal expansion of 
unconstitutional government that has unleashed the modern regulatory 
state as we know it, extremely powerful, exceedingly intrusive, 
imperiously opaque, bafflingly bureaucratic, and alarmingly 
unaccountable.
  Instead of being governed by the rule of law, increasingly, citizens 
are being ruled by the rule of rulers; specifically, the rules 
promulgated by legions of unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats.
  The result? It is OSHA now, not Congress, that governs over workplace 
safety. It is the EPA now, not Congress, that governs over our air 
quality. It is HHS, not Congress, that now governs over our healthcare.
  Today, the citizen's right to carefully deliberate proposed 
legislation through their chosen elected representatives in Congress is 
now reduced to nothing more than a little ``notice and comment'' period 
where the citizens are permitted to lodge complaints and suggestions, 
all of which the unelected bureaucrats are free to ignore, and which 
they may actually use to retaliate against the citizen.
  Madison, in Federalist 47, warned us of this phenomena when he wrote,

       The combination of all power, legislative, executive, and 
     judiciary in the same hands . . . may justly be pronounced 
     the very definition of tyranny.

  It is time for Congress, Mr. Speaker, to reclaim its constitutional 
powers of the purse, to no longer allow these economically significant 
rules to pass without congressional approval, and to outlaw the Chevron 
Doctrine that has tilted the scales of justice toward the state. This 
must change.
  The next fear I have as I get ready to leave Congress, Mr. Speaker, 
is one that has really come about fairly recently in our State of the 
Union, and that is the tenor and tone of the national debate; in other 
words, what is happening in our public square.
  Now, on the one hand, for those who believe that we are on the 
precipice of something truly catastrophic, I remind them, we have 
survived a bloody Civil War. We survived the turbulent 60s of my youth.
  Politics has rhetorically always been a full contact sport. And if 
you read biographies of the founders like Jefferson, and Adams, and 
Hamilton, you will discover just how coarse and vile ad hominem attacks 
could be at the dawn of American politics.
  But with the exception of the notorious Alien and Sedition Acts, I 
don't recall ever there being a greater effort in our Nation's history 
to actually silence dissent.

  The cry for civility in political discourse, welcome as it is, is 
somewhat misplaced. The threat to democracy does not come from 
incivility but, instead, from those who are committed to preventing; 
preventing the debate, as opposed to winning the debate. That is where 
the true threat comes.
  Democratic self-governance relies upon a free flow of differing ideas 
within the public square to fully inform all opinions and challenge all 
accepted orthodoxies and ideologies.
  There was a time in America's history that the American ethos was 
encapsulated by the words that have been attributed to Patrick Henry: 
``I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your 
right to say it.''
  Regrettably, I can hear all over the Nation today people saying 
something along the lines of: ``I disapprove of what you say, and I am 
going to harass and intimidate you and your family, defame your 
character, and attempt to take away your livelihood until you simply 
shut up and withdraw.''
  Those who do not respect the rights of others to be heard in the 
public square may be little better than book burners and represent a 
clear and present danger to American democracy.
  It is time for every citizen who cares about the destiny of their 
Nation, it is time for courage, but it is a time also for goodwill and 
mutual respect among our citizens. It is time to re-secure our 
democratic values in the public square.
  Mr. Speaker, my greatest fear for my Nation, though, is our national 
debt. When I first came to Congress the national debt was $6.7 
trillion. Today it has tripled. Tripled.
  My greatest regret in public office is my inability to convince more 
of my colleagues and more of my fellow citizens of the peril of this 
national debt. We are experiencing debt-to-GDP ratios that haven't been 
seen since World War II, but in World War II they were episodic and 
temporary. Today's debt is structural and permanent.
  As a veteran of the so-called super committee, the Simpson-Bowles 
Deficit Reduction Committee, and now chairman of the House Financial 
Services Committee, my iPad is awash in reports saying that our 
national debt is simply unsustainable. Yet, denial, justification, and 
obstruction continue to rule the day.
  We should all be troubled and sobered by the fact that if one 
carefully reviews history, you will find few examples of republics that 
have existed beyond 200 years, and most of those republics met their 
demise through some type of fiscal crisis. There is so much at stake.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, in my heart, and in my head, I don't really believe 
America one day will wake up and become Greece, but I do believe that 
we are on the path, within a generation, to

[[Page H10098]]

being a second-rate economic power, a second-rate military power and, 
frankly, a second-rate moral authority as we become the first 
generation in America's history to leave the next generation with a 
lower standard of living.
  It is beyond time for both a spending limit amendment to the United 
States Constitution and fundamental reforms of our current entitlement 
programs for future generations. It is not too late to take America off 
the road to national bankruptcy.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I have spent the last few minutes speaking about my 
fears, but please know I have far, far more hope than I have fear as I 
come to the House floor for the last time to give a speech.
  Most Americans, as I observe, are enjoying the greatest economy in 
their lifetimes. Oh, what a difference that has made in the lives of 
millions of Americans and, indeed, to borrow a phrase from the past: 
``It is morning in America again.''
  Opportunity abounds like few periods in our Nation's history. And our 
military might that had been hollowed out in the last presidential 
administration is being rebuilt and it is respected and feared around 
the globe again.
  As we look at our Nation's history, we cannot but conclude that we 
live in a time of relative peace, relative security, and we should 
always, always be grateful.
  But the main reason I come to this floor tonight, so hopeful, so 
hopeful for the future, is because of the people I have met in the 
Fifth District of Texas that I have had this privilege to represent. I 
have met great entrepreneurs, like Sam Bistrian of Lake Highlands. He 
immigrated to this country as a 12-year-old boy from Romania. He didn't 
even speak the language.
  A few years later, he managed to get a job at one of the local 
retailers, Neiman Marcus. He got a job starting at the bottom; I think 
it was stocking shelves. And with hard work and vision, he ended up one 
day launching his own line of designer rain boots called Roma, and now 
he heads up a multi-million dollar enterprise. And oh, by the way, he 
gives his boots away to poor people all over the world.
  Another entrepreneur I met is Rick Carmona from Terrell, Texas. As a 
kid, he used to visit a local Tex-Mex restaurant and, after going there 
a few times he said, you know what? My mom cooks better food than this.
  So after saving his money from a number of jobs, he finally took the 
great leap. He invested his money; took out a small loan; started his 
own restaurant.
  He seated the customers; he bussed the tables. His mom did the 
cooking. His office consisted of a back table and a pencil behind his 
ear. And a couple of decades later, he runs one the most successful 
restaurants in the entire county because of his entrepreneurial vision.
  I also have hope because I met great patriots, patriots like Doc 
Collins from Van Zandt County, who is a real conservative leader from 
that county.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, he has bone cancer that he continues to 
battle. But during a recent election, he got chemotherapy in the 
morning for his bone cancer, and he was working the polling places in 
the afternoon because he felt that strongly about his cause and his 
country.

  Then, Mr. Speaker, there is Howard Banks of Kaufman, Texas. I wish 
everybody could meet this wonderful patriot. He is legally blind. He is 
a World War II veteran. He flies Old Glory every day. Every day.
  One day, some no-account vandal decided he would take Mr. Banks' 
flag, and Mr. Banks fought him. He fought him. He is age 92 and he 
still decided that he would fight for and he was willing to die for his 
American flag and the country it represents.
  These patriots inspire me, Mr. Speaker.
  And then there are the social entrepreneurs that I have met in the 
Fifth District of Texas; people like Morgan Jones of Athens, Texas, who 
owns a pawnshop. Every single year, what he will do is he will take 
himself and all of his managers on mercy ships to Africa in order to 
deliver care and gifts. This is something he does at his expense.
  There are so many people, I wish I had time to mention, in the Fifth 
District of Texas who represent the best of America. I don't have all 
that time, Mr. Speaker, so let me mention one more.
  Kenn Waterston of Terrell, Texas. I mean, he is a bulldog of a Marine 
veteran.

                              {time}  1915

  He opened the Veterans Resource Center not a block, maybe two blocks 
away from the Dallas VA hospital. And now if homeless veterans will go 
to the VA Hospital to get their healthcare, as soon as they come out, 
they can get clean clothes; they can get showers; they can get 
counseling; they can get access to computers and people to help them 
find a job in society.
  So, Mr. Speaker, when I see patriots and entrepreneurs and Good 
Samaritans who are stepping up every day in the Fifth District of 
Texas, I know America has a very bright future, a very bright future 
ahead.
  So let me simply conclude where I began.
  For me, it is time for me to go home. It is time to go home to my 
family. It is time to go home to Texas. All things must pass, including 
our congressional service.
  I continue to have so many blessings in my life, but, Mr. Speaker, I 
don't believe I will ever have a greater privilege than fighting for 
freedom and opportunity in the people's House, the House of 
Representatives.
  My heart is just full of gratitude, full of gratitude to my staff, 
whose work empowered me; full of gratitude to my constituents, whose 
encouragement and prayers supported me; and most of all to my family, 
so much gratitude to Melissa, Claire, and Travis, whose support, love, 
and grace have sustained me all those 16 years. They are my rock.
  So here is what I know after 16 years, Mr. Speaker:
  I know if we will continue to trust in God, I know if we will 
continue to revere freedom, I know if we will keep faith with our 
Founders' vision, our children will have brighter futures and our 
Republic will be forever preserved.
  May God continue to shed his grace on this great country.
  And, Mr. Speaker, for the final time on the House floor, I yield back 
the balance of my time.

                          ____________________