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 January 5, 2016

MOMENT OF SILENCE IN HONOR OF THE LATE SENATOR DALE BUMPERS (Mr. HILL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.) Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, today our Arkansas delegation rises to pay tribute to a dedicated public servant, an exceptional orator, and a distinguished son of Arkansas. Former Arkansas Governor and fourterm United States Senator Dale Leon Bumpers passed away on Friday, January 1, at the age of 90. Hailing from the small town of Charleston, Arkansas, Senator Bumpers graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in political science and followed that with service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. After earning his law degree from Northwestern University, Bumpers and his wife, Betty, returned to their hometown of Charleston, where he practiced law. In the wake of the 1954 Supreme Court decision on Brown v. Board of Education, Bumpers advised the Charleston School Board to immediately desegregate its school system. Listed as his proudest achievement, the Charleston School District was the first school district in the former Confederacy to desegregate. Nicknamed by The New York Times as the ‘‘giant killer,’’ Senator Bumpers emerged as a dark horse candidate to defeat long-time Governor Orval Faubus in 1970. In his two terms as Governor, he continued and expanded Governor Rockefeller’s era of expansive governmental reform. In 1974, he defeated five-term U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright in the Democratic primary with 65 percent of the vote to win the Senate seat and serve for 24 years. When I was a young Senate staffer, it was a pleasure to work with Senator Bumpers and my Second District predecessor, Congressman Ed Bethune, on the completion of the landmark Arkansas Wilderness Act of 1984. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, January 10, Dale Bumpers will be laid to rest. Those of us in the delegation, as we prepare to make our final good-byes, would ask for a moment of silence to honor this Arkansas leader, public servant, and elder statesman.

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BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR GUN OWNERSHIP (Mr. CLYBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of President Obama’s announcement today to fight the growing epidemic of gun violence in America and make our families more secure and communities safer. It is just common sense that background checks should be required be-

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fore an individual is allowed to buy a firearm, yet Congress refuses to pass legislation to close loopholes that allow gun sales to proceed before background checks are completed. Under the so-called Charleston loophole that contributed to the mass murder of nine of my constituents, sales can proceed after 3 days, even when the background check is not complete. That is just wrong. My bill, the Background Check Completion Act, will ensure that background checks are completed before sales take place. I thank the President for his leadership today, and I call on my colleagues, many of whom seem to default to ‘‘no,’’ no matter how reasonable the proposed legislation may be, when all else fails, employ common sense. f

VISITING WITH CONSTITUENTS OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I traveled across the Second Congressional District of South Carolina, visiting communities in Columbia, West Columbia, Aiken, North Augusta, Barnwell, Orangeburg, and Lexington to present my 2016 legislative agenda. At each stop, I was grateful to share my priorities with constituents and answer questions from the media. In this new legislative year, I will advance legislation to create jobs for American families and reduce harmful regulations that destroy jobs. We also must protect the economic future for our children and grandchildren by passing balanced budgets and reining in Washington’s out-of-control spending, which is a crushing debt on future generations. As chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, I am also focusing on promoting peace through strength to support our troops and keep our families safe from Islamic extremists in the global war on terrorism. I will also strive to strengthen our Nation’s cyber capabilities and protect our citizens against cyber attacks by enemies. In conclusion, God bless our troops, and may the President, by his actions, never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism. f

IN MEMORY OF STAFF SERGEANT PETER TAUB (Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.) Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Staff Sergeant Peter Taub, one of six victims of a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan on December 21. Peter was a remarkable young man. He was raised in Wyncote, Montgomery

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County, which I am proud to represent. He served 8 honorable years in the Air Force, assigned to the Office of Special Investigations, and stationed at the Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. At just 30 years old, Peter was a devout father, husband, and son, an exemplary soldier and public servant, an American hero. I offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends Peter left behind and my greatest thanks for his service to our Nation. He gave us all the ultimate sacrifice. My heart especially goes out to Peter’s family: his 3-year-old daughter, Penelope; his wife, Christina, expecting another child; his mother, Arlene; his father, Joel; and his brother, Jonathan. No parent should be predeceased by a child, and no child should have to grow up without a parent. These tragic losses are a reminder of the gravity of our foreign policy decisions and military engagement overseas. We must never take these responsibilities lightly. We must never forget the sacrifice that Staff Sergeant Peter Taub and his family have made to protect our freedoms. May God bless Peter’s family. f

THE HAMMOND SENTENCE (Mr. LAMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. LAMALFA. Mr. Speaker, this week a father and son reported to serve again an additional up to 4 years in Federal prison. Their crime? Setting preventative fires on their own property that accidentally spread to Federal lands. The Hammonds, family farmers from Oregon, had already served time in Federal prison: Dwight 3 months, Steven a year. However, that wasn’t good enough for U.S. Attorney Billy Williams, who used taxpayer dollars to appeal the Hammonds’ original sentence and urged the Ninth Circuit to impose harsher penalties, over the judge’s objection, who had recommended in his vision much less harsh penalties for the crime in question. Mr. Speaker, the question isn’t whether or not the Hammonds started these fires. They admit they did. The question is whether the U.S. attorney and his administration are prosecuting real criminals or pursuing a political agenda. Mr. Speaker, when a 74-yearold man and a 45-year-old father of three are forced to return to prison when they have already served time and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for a nonviolent, unintentional crime, the answer couldn’t be more clear whether this is political or not. f

RECOGNIZING CLIFF KOROLL (Mr. QUIGLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1

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