Rod Blum

I claim the time in opposition to the motion to recommit. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Iowa is recognized for 5 minutes.

I demand a recorded vote. A recorded vote was ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote. The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 420, noes 0, not voting 13, as follows: [Roll No. 568] AYES--420 Abraham…

I got looking at the $15.6 billion and I thought, Mr. Secretary, if you and I formed a company, I am guessing we could do for $8 billion, save the government $7 billion, and you and I would put a few dollars in our pocket I am guessing.

There is not a small business person in my district, in Northeast Iowa, that believes that statement, not one.

The government shows up with a subpoena in hand and a bayonet, and it is by force.

I just want to conclude by saying small businesses have zero--zero--resources available, none.

Can you imagine if we incentivized your agencies with bonuses in your paychecks, if you reduced the regulatory burden on our businesses?

The Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates the cost to U.S. businesses for regulations is approach $2,000 billion a year.

I was absolutely shocked at how untrained law enforcement was on how to handle this situation because we lost value.

Telehealth may allow rural physicians to expand their patient base and to keep dollars in the community.

Most importantly, these new technologies provide the gateway and opportunity for economic growth and job creation, particularly in rural areas.

Always remember that that connection is the first step. Before we need access to capital, they need that connection.

It seems to them that we privatized profits and socialized losses, and I am with them.

So we are actually running a profit. Imagine that. It has to be one of the few agencies in the Federal Government who run a profit.

Sometimes I have to remind my colleagues from the cities that I like food and food is not grown in grocery stores.

I don't want five mega corporations to control our food supply in this country.

More importantly, small family farms provide a living for people in places with limited opportunities.

As I think about this issue, I think back to 2008-2009 and HHS Secretary then, Kathleen Sebelius, famously said, we are going to bend the cost curve down with the ACA.

Former President Obama followed that up and he said, 'Every single good idea to bend the cost curve down is in this bill.'

Over the last 4 years in Iowa, I have asked my constituents in almost every talk I have given about health care, give me an example where the Federal Government, 535 suits in Washington, D.C., have bent the cost curve down on anything.

Because 99 percent of the conversation in this town is about who is going to pay. I think 99 percent of the conversation should be how can we drive the cost down so everybody can afford it.

I am proud to speak today on behalf of our legislation to reauthorize the Office of Special Counsel for an additional 5-year period to protect whistleblowers, Federal employees who have the courage to come forward to expose waste, fraud…

We need accountability. Either the contractors made a mistake and we shouldn't pay them, which would happen in the private sector, or the government officials who signed off in the agency made a mistake and they should be terminated.

It's not the Federal workers that are the problem. It's the people at the very top typically or the contractors.

That I am speaking on the floor of the U.S. House is remarkable timing. The city of Cedar Rapids, the largest city in my district, is currently experiencing major flooding of the Cedar River, cresting 11 feet above flood stage today. In…