Cancer. Of savannah wart journalism, unbelievably wtoc, ed to his craft at and largely responsible for southeast news leader. He began at the news station 40 in s ago while a Student College with a parttime job answering the phone. By the end of his career, he had up to become wtocs creative director and at held nearly nts every position at the station. His colleagues remember that he to get to the heart of the story and that he was interested in doing everything could to help shine a light on what made our community so special. It was this effort and talent that he put into his stories, hich made our area a better place to live and exemplified true rney as a savannahian. His vibrant personality, always search of stories to highlight, is simply irreplaceable. Will be ts and prayers with his family, friends and olleagues at wtoc during this most difficult time. Thank you, mr. Speaker, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to congratulate two high schools from my district on their c. I. F. Southern section football championships. I offer my con sere congratulations to Sunny Hills High School lancers from fullerton for their win in the division 8 final and i also want to congratulate the aztecs for their win in the Southern Section Division 13 final. Were all especially proud of both schools for their amazing run through the playoffs. Mr. Cisneros this is both sunny hills and esperanzas first championships since 1972. Their championships speak to the leadership of their head coaches, pete and wes, and their respective coaching staffs. But more importantly, these championships were possible due to the dedication, commitment and teamwork of the players. I have no doubt that this is just the beginning of the continued success for both programs. Again, on behalf of the 39th congressional district, i want to congratulate both sunny hills and esper nambings, za high schools doctor esperanza high schools for two outstanding championship seasons. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise to honor a local police officer, husband, father and respected community member. Mr. Spano ken foley. In 1990, officer foley joined the Lakeland PoliceDepartment Following eight years with the United States marine corps. Last week, on december 4, after 29 years of distinguished service, his career and his life here on this earth came to an end as he died unexpectedly while on duty. Police chief ruben garcia shared that foley was a, quote, everyday First Responder and definitely one of our local heroes. Officer foley was active in the community and he knew it well. And lakeland residents flooded social media with anecdotes about officer foleys infectious smile, his compassion, and his unique ability to connect with people. Officers like ken foley make me proud, proud of my community and grateful for the daily sacrifices of our First Responders. So to officer foleys family, his friends and the entire Lakeland Police department, our prayers are with you all. May god bless, comfort and keep you during this difficult time. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. Mr. Van drew today i want to acknowledge the township aces program, a School District in south jersey, and its an initiative started by barbara roe. That provides academic aid and enrichment to students after school hourls. The aces program started in the township in south jersey 12 years ago. Thanks to grant funds for a 21st Century CommunityLearning Center from the new Jersey Department of education. This Afterschool Program is vital to south jersey, because it provides afterschool care to students that balance academic opportunities and recreational activities. At aces, students have aces, students have time to complete their homework and participate in sports, or other games and activities, which cultivates both their academic and cultivates their social development. Aces also offers additional tutoring, counseling and Health Safety education so every student has access to whatever they need to achieve success. Thank you to the aces program, barbara roe, and the township School District for providing the educational experience for our youth. Im proud of them. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition . I seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to a true louisianan louisiana icon, dr. Similar kins sr. , a doctor, veteran, distinguished Public Servant and civil rights leader who passed away last week. Dr. Similarkin simkins, leaves behind a wonderful legacy of service to his fellow louisianans. He defended our nation as a captain in the United States air force, he treated our families as a beloved dentist and he served honorably as a member of the louisiana house of representatives. Mr. Johnson his greatest impact was in the fight for civil rights. He was a friend and contemporary of the reverend dr. Martin luther king jr. He was a founder of the southern christian Leadership Conference and he was tireless advocate for freedom, justice and equality. Today im honored to join my colleagues from the louisiana delegation to introduce legislation to designate a post office in his name and his in his hometown of mansfield. Its a small but sincere gesture of our appreciation for a very good man. Whose legacy lives our in our on in our nation, our state and our communities. God speed. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise this evening to congratulate my alma mater, la salle high school, for winning their fourth Ohio Division ii football championship in the last six years. Mr. Chabot they defeated a tough team 3417. I was particularly pleased to see la salle bring home another championship, since i played defensive line for the lancers back in the day, and my brother, dave, 10 years later, played defensive back. Congratulations to coach mclove land, his coaching staff, mclaughlin, his coaching staff, the players, students and fans. You made the school and all of cincinnati proud. Lancers roll deep. Mr. Speaker, id also like to congratulate the cincinnati elder panthers who had a great season as well but came up just short of winning the Ohio Division i championship. My nephews, joey and mikey delprince, played for elder a few years back. Dont get too down, guys. Youll get them next year. Go panthers. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. The clerk leave of absence requested for mr. Aderholt of alabama for december 9 and 10. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the request s granted. Under the speakers announced the of january 3, 2019, gentleman from kentucky, mr. Barr, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. Mr. Barr thank you, mr. Speaker. Tonight we find ourselves at a crossroads in the history of our great nation. A nation founded upon the simple selfevident truth that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. With those words the declaration of independence gave birth to a new nation rooted in the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and the rule of law through selfgovernment. And it set into motion the greatest experiment in human freedom and prosperity the world has ever known. That is largely because our constitution protected those principles through separation of powers, federalism and the bill of rights, and just as the constitution protected political freedom, it also protected our Economic Freedom. And enabled the American People to flourish through entrepreneurship, business and private enterprise operating in a free market. In short, mr. Speaker, american capitalism, as enabled by the United States constitution, has delivered the most free, prosperous and successful country in the history of the world. But today those principles of Free Enterprise and capitalism are under attack and that experience and that experiment in liberty is threatened by leftwing politicians who are openly embracing socialism, defenders of Central Planning and the media and in the academy and even some business lead horse are calling for a redefinition of the leaders who are calling for the dreffnition of the purpose. So today we join the debate. We join the debate between staying on the road of capitalism, prosperity and freedom, versus going down a much different path. What austrian british economist and philosopher Friedrich August vanhaic called the road to servedom, in which he spelled out serfdom in which he spelled out a warning that an experiment with socialist policies would result in the same disastrous outcomes that had destroyed liberty in germany and russia. The experience of history is clear. Whenever and wherever socialism has been tried and put into place, it has resulted in a loss of individual freedom, economic stagnation, diminished productivity, department are a ration and deprivation and shortages, misery and death. Central planning in germany, italy and japan before world war ii, and in the soviet union and china in the postcold war era invariably resulted in souldestroying and libertycrushing totalitarianism. To paraphrase, fascism, communism and socalled democratic socialism are merely variants of the same totalitarianism which Central Control of all Economic Activity tends to produce. Socialist parties may not deliberately aim for a totalitarian regime, but the experience of history teaches us that the unforeseen but inevitable consequences of socialist planning create a state of affairs in which if the policy is to be pursued, totalitarian forces will get the upper hand. Economic planning necessarily requires coercion and uses of compulsion upon individuals in ways that deprive them of freedom of choice. As Arthur Charles c. W. Cook recently wrote, socialism is not democratic. Ascend dent elements within the asent dent elements within the american left are in an attempt to reintroduce and rehabilitate the word socialism. In part by prepending to it a word that has a much better reputation reputation and an infinitely better historical record democratic. Voters should not be fooled by the rebranding. For there is no sense in which socialism can be made compatible with democracy. At worst, socialism eats democracy and is swiftly transmuted into tyranny and deprivation. But at best socialism stamps out individual agency, places Civil Society into a straightjacket of uniform size, and turns Representative Government into a shmira. The u. S. Constitution is Crystal Clear on the appropriate role of government. And the government that it permits is incompatible with and insufficient to sustain socialism. Just as the individual right to free speech is widely comprehended as part of what we mean by democracy, rather than as an unacceptable abridgement of majority rule, so the individual rights protected in property and by markets are necessary to the maintenance of a democratic order, in this deeper sense of the word. In the west, choosing to trade with a person in another country is itself a democratic act. Electing to start a company in your garage with no need for anothers input is in itself a democratic act. Banding together to establish a cooperative is in itself a democratic act. Selecting the vendor from which you source your goods and services and choosing what to buy from it is itself a democratic act. Keeping the lions share of the fruits of your labor is itself a democratic act. So when the government steps in with their bayonets and say, no, they are in effect keeping your choices off the ballot. Democratic socialism to me is about democratic control of every single facet of our life. Thats one way of putting it. Certainly another is tyranny. So during the last three years, through tax cuts, deregulation, unleashing Americas Energy and easing restrictions on credit markets by rolling back doddfranks onesizefitsall rules, we have witnessed a rebirth of freedom. And Free Enterprise. We have witnessed a einvigration reinvig ration of americas First Principles and a move away from socialism. The result has been an American Worker boom. If we retreat from these hardfought gains we will return to the road to serfdom. The socialist policies of today with populist names like medicare for all, the Green New Deal, the lower drug costs now act, the wall street tax act, the stop wall street looting act, these piece of legislation are all a danger to a free society. They are nothing more than Central Planning schemes that accumulate power in the government at the expense of the people. And in ways that rely on administrative coercion, force, and discrimination. And through measures which are entirely incompatible with a free society. If you think that a transition to socialist policies wont pose a danger to our economy, i would urge you to review the socalled accountable capitalism act offered by senator and candidate for president elizabeth warren. Its a wish list of socialist ideas, aimed to shackle private enterprise with government control. The bill would require any company over 1 billion in revenue to be chartered by the federal government and allow the federal government to relinquish that charter at any time through oop paycheck rule. The bill gives control to the government to determine who serves on a companys board and whose interests that board must satisfy. Senator warren went so far as to send letters to c. E. O. s of some of americas largest and most successful businesses stating that she, quote, expects them to support her bill. With this burden of government control over its operations, where is the incentive for business to expand . Where is the incentive for americans to innovate . Where is the incentive for americans to risk their capital in entrepreneurship . Where is the incentive to increase revenue or create new jobs . President ial candidate Bernie Sanders said we should, quote, wage a moral and political war against corporate leaders, unquote. The gentlelady from new york, our colleague, ms. Ocasio cortez, called capitalism, quote, irredeemable, unquote. These arrogant attitudes of our nations elected representatives threaten the principles of limited government and individual freedom on which our country was funned and they compromise the path to prosperity that a capitalist system creates. Tonight, mr. Speaker, we will explore the extent to which socialism destroys freedom and crushes the human soul. And we will examine how socialism, far from delivering on its promise to help people struggling in poverty, that socialism itself produces poverty. It produces famine and misery and corruption. And we will also on the flip side in contrast, we will examine capitalism. And how Free Enterprise and the benefits that it creates helps individuals and businesses thrive. How it is the American Dream. And how progrowth, free, and mare market policy best gatt innovation, prosperity and opportunity. With that, i want to yield time to my colleagues beginning with the gentleman from louisiana, the chairman of the republican study committee, a champion of Free Enterprise, and a proud opponent of socialism, my friend, mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson thank you. I truly thank my friend, congressman barr, for hosting this special hour. I applaud the sentiment he is just share. I associate myself with them and the conviction that he has. I certainly share it, i know so many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle do as well. In 1923 there was an average middle class family man named roy otis martin who bought a run down lumber hill many in alexandria, louisiana. He worked hard, expanded it and transformed it into one of the largest economic generators for our state. This is what makes america great. This is true freedom. This is real opportunity. It is a story that has been repeat sod many countless times throughout our nations rich history. However, many americans, particularly our younger generation, seem to be losing hold of these values. There was a survey that just came out this past march, we all lmented lamented the find, 49 ppt 6 , almost 50 , of millenials and members of generation z, responded to this pol