Providing for Consideration of HR 2, American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act; Providing for Consideration of HR 4, Jobs for America Act; and Providing for Proceedings During the Period from September 22, 2014, Through November 11, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chairman for yielding.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this rule and the underlying legislation, which I support, because included in the underlying legislation is H.R. 1493, the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlement Act, that I authored.

I support these bills that the House will debate and vote on because they will make a difference in the lives of and make them more affordable for families in Georgia and all across America.

You see, Mr. Speaker, the Republican solutions that are offered in these bills that are being brought to the floor today are solutions for moms and dads who can't find full-time employment, who can't afford to buy a full tank of gas, who sit down at the kitchen table with a heavy heart because they can't afford the basics that they just heard their child talk about that they wanted.

Mr. Speaker, America is searching for the things that matter. They are wanting their government to work and they are wanting their government to put ideas to paper. It is not the ideas simply spoken on the floor, but it is the ideas and the dreams and the hopes of every family as they come together wanting a better life, and they want the government not to impede those areas and actually to encourage them.

These bills don't represent just the hard work of my colleagues. They represent the hopes and dreams of Americans who have given up on our government.

House Republicans stand united with one goal: to restore what has been lost. To restore the jobs, the affordable housing, the quality education, the ability to start a business in your home and to see it flourish.

I support these bills to expand domestic energy production because each job it creates equals a family that can put food on the table, buy school uniforms, and do the things that they want to do, not what government dictates.

I am a Republican because I believe that government exists to help, not hinder its citizens. I support these solutions because I firmly believe every family in this Nation should be able to afford life and everything that it entails.

Remember, our Founders said it is the pursuit of happiness, not a guarantee of happiness. And too many times coming from Washington we want to say we will guarantee your happiness. That is not what the Founders said. In fact, what the Founders said is the government will provide the basis for you to go pursue your own happiness, to provide lifelong tools to those who have fallen on hard times, to help moms who are struggling to provide for their kids and have no one to help them. This is the type of government that I believe in, and this is the type of government Republicans in the House are committed to fighting for.

Unfortunately, many times what happens, I believe, is that the Republicans are the ones that have the ability and the track record to create a Federal Government who keeps our Nation safe from terrorism, who gives parents more control over their children's education, and encourages startups and businesses to grow and hire more and more people.

Unfortunately, many times in our debates over priorities and jobs, we come and paint with broad strokes. We paint with broad strokes, saying that if you want to get government out of the business of hindering businesses through regulation after regulation after regulation--not to destroy quality of life, but to improve business and maintain both--that you are simply destroying the things that built America.

Those are broad strokes that the American people, Mr. Speaker, are no longer buying. They are no longer buying a government that simply gets in the way and does not encourage.

I support these solutions on the floor today because I support a government that works, not a government that works against its people. The Republicans are putting forward on this floor today not just simply partisan bills that have been attacked, but these are bipartisan bills being put forward.

I agree with many on the floor today, but it is time that the system work, and it is time for the United States Senate to work. If they don't like our ideas, they should put their own ideas on paper and send them back over, instead of hindering what is going on and having a debate that simply rounds up in this room right here, with friends on both sides of the aisle frustrated with the process.

Before I came to Congress, I was a pastor. I am still a chaplain in the United States military. The greatest thing that I see for people today is that they have lost trust, unfortunately.

They have broke a breach of faith with us.

I believe when we decide that government should be about the people and for the people, then we are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing; and that is to encourage, as our Founders said, the pursuit of happiness and not the guarantee of happiness.

When we do that, Mr. Speaker, that is Republican principles at play, that is Republican solutions, and that is what these bills offer today.

Don't buy the other argument. Buy the Republican principles that we will help those who need help, and that is the American citizen. That is what I believe in. That is the government I want to see work, not one that hinders people.

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