Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education, and Promotion Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 985, the Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education, and Promotion Act of 2015, which I was a proud coauthor with Congresswoman Kathy Castor.

Because of the nature of concrete products and the difficulty of transporting them, concrete masonry businesses tend to be small, local, and deeply entwined in their communities; and virtually every congressional district is home to at least one. Often, these small businesses do not have the resources needed for research and development of safer and more durable products to use in building construction.

H.R. 985 was developed with extensive constituent involvement and is before us today because of the widespread support of the industry in all corners of the country. We wouldn't be here today if it was not for their support and the bipartisan support of 247 cosponsors.

Two dozen similar industries have benefited from similar programs, which allow commodity industries to pool resources for research, education, and promotion of their nonbranded products. You may be familiar with the ``Got Milk?'' and ``Pork, the Other White Meat'' campaigns, the result of commodity checkoff programs. These programs, which are enormously helpful to individual industries, require congressional approval.

H.R. 985, however, is different from previous checkoff programs. The bill mandates transparency and accountability through many layers of auditing and reporting, as well as giving every producer--no matter their size--an equal vote in the referendum. We have incorporated a number of changes to further improve the bill, including an update from CBO that ensures the bill will result in absolutely no cost to taxpayers.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 985, which will have a positive impact in every congressional district.

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