[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 196 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H10108-H10109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THANKING THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK'S 19TH DISTRICT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Faso) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FASO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give my thanks to the people 
of the 19th Congressional District for giving me the honor of serving 
them in the House over these past 2 years.
  I ran for Congress focused on how I could make a difference for the 
people of our district. It is no secret that upstate New York has been 
in a long, protracted period of economic decline, with many families 
and businesses choosing to leave due to high taxes and few employment 
opportunities.
  As such, my focus upon taking office was how we can make upstate more 
economically competitive while, at the same time, making sure that our 
citizens, businesses, and local governments have an active voice 
representing their interests before the Federal Government.
  I listened to the people across the district--firefighters and 
emergency responders, law enforcement, educators, business owners, and 
average working families--who told me of the issues that we face: the 
opioid crisis, the highest property taxes in the Nation, the exodus of 
people and jobs from upstate New York.
  A primary focus of mine was the opioid crisis. This issue has 
devastated and destroyed countless lives across our Nation. I was 
pleased to have become the primary sponsor of legislation in the House. 
Working with my colleague from Michigan,  Mike Bishop, we successfully 
enacted major opioid legislation, which included the STOP Act.
  This legislation will crack down on the flow of illegal drugs, such 
as fentanyl, coming into the U.S. from places like China through the 
U.S. Postal Service. The STOP Act is now law, and I am proud to have 
had a role in its passage.
  Agriculture is another major concern in the 19th District. Serving on 
the House Agriculture Committee, we have lowered the cost and increased 
the flexibility of dairy risk management programs, fought for better 
documentation to protect the sanctity of organic agriculture, made it 
easier for veterans to transition into agriculture, and supported 
increased broadband and cell service, which is critically important in 
our rural areas.
  I have also led on two initiatives which are critical to the economic 
health of upstate New York. My legislation, offered with other members 
of the New York delegation, would finally have ended our State's policy 
of imposing a share of Medicaid costs from Albany onto local property 
taxpayers.

[[Page H10109]]

This mandate is so significant that just the county government 
taxpayers in New York State pay more in State-mandated Medicaid costs 
than local taxpayers in the 49 other States combined.

  People are fleeing upstate New York because of high property taxes, 
and New York's Medicaid mandate is one of the reasons for that exodus.
  The second initiative which I advanced was to preempt the absolute 
liability standard for gravity-related construction site accidents on 
federally funded projects. Again, New York stands alone among the 50 
States in this absolute liability standard.
  The fact is, this standard doesn't protect workers and adds 
approximately 7 percent to the cost of every building project in our 
State. With multi-billion-dollar projects like Gateway needing Federal 
support, it is critical that we use the preemption power to finally end 
this waste of taxpayer dollars and use those savings to rebuild and 
repair more infrastructure.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I must comment on the state of our political 
discourse in the United States. We all need to renew our efforts to 
conduct our debates on public issues in a civil and respectful fashion.
  There is no doubt that the fragmented media and a general decline of 
standards has coarsened our public debate. There is plenty of blame to 
go around for this situation.
  I encourage all those who hold elected office to recognize that we 
hold a sacred trust from the American people. We should uphold this 
responsibility in an honorable and dignified fashion and renew our 
efforts to improve the quality of public debate in the United States.
  In doing so, we will renew our commitment to make a more perfect 
union. Moreover, we will give honor to those who have sacrificed to win 
and maintain these freedoms which we cherish.
  The Constitution is forever our guide, and we should always remain 
true to it. We must also continue to promote individual liberty, the 
rule of law, and the dignity of all of our citizens. These are the 
characteristics of America that make ours a truly great Nation.
  May God continue to bless the United States of America.

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