Providing for Consideration of HR 5771, Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, and Providing for Consideration of HR 647, Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014
Floor Speech
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Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Rules Committee for his leadership and his vision and his passion and his great words.
I also want to thank the gentleman from Jacksonville, Florida (Mr. Crenshaw). He is a true leader, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of the ABLE Act.
Today, we can talk about taxes, we can talk about legislation, but really, what we are talking about is people, Mr. Speaker.
I want to share two personal stories because, for me, I don't have to deal with children with disabilities on a daily basis. I was blessed with two kids that didn't have some of those same challenges.
What I have had is I have experienced the love and the compassion that two children with special needs have given to me over and over.
The first one of those is a young lady, 21 years of age, with Down syndrome named Chloe. Chloe is not only a dear friend but also is someone who has been able to share with me the struggles in her life, the passion in her life, the vision. She has a part-time job.
But the other part of that story is the difficulties that sometimes families with special needs have. What I have seen over and over again is that, even though I was able to experience the love firsthand, that there is a 24-hour, 7-day a week job that parents have to deal with, and some of those challenges are monumental.
We need to address that as a body. We need to partner with those moms and dads across America to make sure that, indeed, what they have to face is not really handicapped because of a Tax Code that penalizes them.
So the ABLE Act, after 8 long years of work by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw), hopefully, will be voted on and passed in this very House to provide the needs and the help that those parents so desperately need.
But I also want to share another story about a young lady from my home district who has just turned 1 named Holland Burleson, because, indeed, Down syndrome, whether it is with Chloe or this young lady, has a profound effect; same love, same compassion that I got to experience.
But yet, what happened is that those parents went out, funded a 5K run to bring the awareness to a community up in the mountains of western North Carolina, and overwhelmingly, that community came together, raising funds not just for the benefit of the Burleson family but for the benefit of all of those families.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. MEADOWS. I thank the gentleman.
What happened is lives were transformed in that small little town. And so I am here today to speak on behalf of not only great work, but great vision and a partnership in which we can partner with families, moms and dads across this country, to do a job that should have been done long ago, to allow the special needs of those special families to be addressed.Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Rules Committee for his leadership and his vision and his passion and his great words.
I also want to thank the gentleman from Jacksonville, Florida (Mr. Crenshaw). He is a true leader, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of the ABLE Act.
Today, we can talk about taxes, we can talk about legislation, but really, what we are talking about is people, Mr. Speaker.
I want to share two personal stories because, for me, I don't have to deal with children with disabilities on a daily basis. I was blessed with two kids that didn't have some of those same challenges.
What I have had is I have experienced the love and the compassion that two children with special needs have given to me over and over.
The first one of those is a young lady, 21 years of age, with Down syndrome named Chloe. Chloe is not only a dear friend but also is someone who has been able to share with me the struggles in her life, the passion in her life, the vision. She has a part-time job.
But the other part of that story is the difficulties that sometimes families with special needs have. What I have seen over and over again is that, even though I was able to experience the love firsthand, that there is a 24-hour, 7-day a week job that parents have to deal with, and some of those challenges are monumental.
We need to address that as a body. We need to partner with those moms and dads across America to make sure that, indeed, what they have to face is not really handicapped because of a Tax Code that penalizes them.
So the ABLE Act, after 8 long years of work by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw), hopefully, will be voted on and passed in this very House to provide the needs and the help that those parents so desperately need.
But I also want to share another story about a young lady from my home district who has just turned 1 named Holland Burleson, because, indeed, Down syndrome, whether it is with Chloe or this young lady, has a profound effect; same love, same compassion that I got to experience.
But yet, what happened is that those parents went out, funded a 5K run to bring the awareness to a community up in the mountains of western North Carolina, and overwhelmingly, that community came together, raising funds not just for the benefit of the Burleson family but for the benefit of all of those families.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. MEADOWS. I thank the gentleman.
What happened is lives were transformed in that small little town. And so I am here today to speak on behalf of not only great work, but great vision and a partnership in which we can partner with families, moms and dads across this country, to do a job that should have been done long ago, to allow the special needs of those special families to be addressed.
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