[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17144]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    H.R. 3572, H.R. 5769, H.R. 5771

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 4, 2014

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following:
  H.R. 3572--To revise the boundaries of certain John H. Chafee Coastal 
Barrier Resources System units in North Carolina, as amended: On 
December 2, 2014, a conflict kept me from voting on H.R. 3572 under 
suspension of the rules. This bill revises the boundaries of certain 
John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System units in North 
Carolina. If I had been present, I would have voted for this 
legislation.
  H.R. 5769--Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act 
of 2014: Today I voted for H.R. 5769, in part as a tribute our retiring 
colleague Howard Coble. While the legislation contained many good 
provisions, it also had some disturbing ones. Key among them were those 
could make it harder for the U.S. to deliver food aid in a more timely, 
cost effective and impactful way. Any provision that could lead to 
increased tonnage requirements for our food aid merits significant 
scrutiny because added delay directly threatens lives already at risk. 
The House, federal agencies, and NGO stakeholders were, unfortunately, 
given no such opportunity for oversight before the final bill was 
brought to the floor. Should this bill be enacted in its present form, 
I look forward to working with Secretary Fox to ensure this provision 
is implemented fairly.
  H.R. 5771--Tax Increase Prevention Act: During the debate on the 
House floor over H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act, it was 
clear I was torn. The reason I ultimately voted against this 
legislation is because it should have been the first order of business 
taken up by Congress, and not the last. This tax extenders package 
represents another failure to treat people right and fairly, and one 
more missed opportunity for reform. In addition, H.R. 5771 continues 
the harmful trend of adding the deficit while ignoring the low hanging 
fruit, where consensus is within reach and provisions are ripe for 
reform.

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