Medicare Oral Health Rehabilitative Enhancement Act of 2009

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1430, honoring and saluting golf legend Juan Antonio ``Chi Chi'' Rodriguez. First, I would like to thank Chairman George Miller, Ranking Member John Kline, Subcommittee Chair Carolyn McCarthy, Ms. Woolsey, Ranking Member Todd Russell Platts, and Mr. Roe. I want to take the time to thank all of my colleagues for their support.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1430, to honor Juan Antonio ``Chi Chi'' Rodriguez. In 1935, Chi Chi Rodriguez was born into a poor family in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. He was one of six siblings. His father used to earn only $18 a week as a laborer and cattle herder. His mother was a housekeeper. Their family struggled. When Chi Chi was only 7 years old, he helped families by earning money as a water carrier on the sugar plantation.

He soon learned that he could earn more money as a caddy. At that time, he also taught himself how to play golf--and that is very difficult for anyone who is playing golf. I have been playing golf for some time, and it's still very difficult, and I am still trying to learn--by using tree limbs and a metal can hammered into a ball.

With unyielding determination and discipline by 9 years of age, Chi Chi could play and win. Boy, that's difficult. You know, we wish we could play and would have played when we were young like that at the age of 9.

His uncompromising sportsmanship resulted in a lifetime 38 professional wins, including eight PGA wins, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973 and 1979, and 22 senior PGA Tour wins.

Chi Chi Rodriguez was inducted into the PGA World Hall of Fame in 1992. However, his legacy does not end on the links. And I want to remind everybody, this resolution is not about his golf and what he did for golf, but it's about what he did as a human being and his contributions and scholarships to many individuals, and that's why we are honoring him. I want people to remember that and my colleagues to remember that. This is not about a golfer, this is about an individual who was willing to do as much as he can to help other individuals.

Chi Chi Rodriguez's robust charitable contributions for the benefit of at-risk and underprivileged youth have helped thousands of young people. He and his wife, Iwalani, have changed lives, and can you imagine many individuals lives that are changed because someone cared, someone touched their lives, someone gave them direction, someone gave them confidence in themselves and said, you know what, there is a better way of life.

Chi Chi wanted to make a better way of life for many individuals, and that's why we are honoring him and that's why we are recognizing them. They have strengthened self-confidence and fostered stellar discipline in many young people by founding the Chi Chi Rodriguez Academy.

The mission of the academy is to assist at-risk children by improving their self-esteem, character, work ethic, social adjustment, and academic performance, using the golf course as a living classroom. In addition, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute honored Chi Chi Rodriguez with a CHCI Service Award for his ongoing commitment to providing opportunities for Latino youth to succeed.

His support of CHCI's fiesta, which is a bipartisan Fiesta de Golf Scholarship Challenge, has helped raise more than $824,000 for CHCI's Scholarship Awards Program over the past 3 years. These are a sample of many of the 430-some scholarships that have helped many of our kids, Javier Acolan, Ranier Gonzalez, Ashley Garcia. These are a few of many that I could name here tonight but when you look at the faces and you look at individuals who had an opportunity to pursue their education, become successful, contribute to our society, this is what Chi Chi is about, improving our communities, making sure that they become productive in our communities.

Chi Chi has received many other humanitarian awards due to his giving nature and leadership. He has received the Salvation Army Gold Crest Award and the Good Sport Award from Sports Illustrated for Kids.

He was inducted into the World Sport Humanitarian Hall of Fame and received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Georgetown College in Kentucky. He also received the American Education Award from the American Association of School Administrators.

With his support, The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation earned the National Golf Foundation Award for the Best Youth Program in the United States in 1986 and the Robie Award for Humanitarianism presented by The Jackie Robinson Foundation in 1996.

His success on the links has earned Chi Chi Rodriguez a special place in history.

However, his work, and I state, however his work in helping many disadvantaged children has earned Chi Chi a special place in each of our hearts, because it's about giving, it's not about receiving, it's about helping others, not about what you get. He wasn't about me, myself and Irene, it was about what can I do to help others. And that's what Chi Chi wanted to do. He wanted to touch those lives.

He proved that humble beginnings do not define a person. He has shown us that with hard work and determination that you can be successful, but you can be caring and you can give back. Because the Lord gave him something, and he wanted to return something back to others.

By giving back to help our youth, he taught us. Please join me in honoring and saluting Chi Chi Rodriguez. I urge all Members to support the passage of H. Res. 1430.

I yield to the gentleman from Utah.

Yes.

Yes.

Would you like to join? We would love to have you join and be part of the sponsors as well. Because we also have, from your side, a member of our board that's on that board as well.

That's correct.

Thank you.

No, it's not. It's really thinking about someone who has contributed, someone who has done an awful lot. And it's bipartisan individuals, both Republican and Democrat, that belong to the CHCI board as well. We welcome the new Members that were elected to become part of that board that will say, you know what, we have got to honor individuals.

It's not about a conflict of interest, it's not about anything else. It's about

doing something that's positive for individuals. When someone is going to receive something in return, then it becomes a conflict of interest. But we are not receiving anything in return. All we are doing is honoring an individual.

Thank you. Again, this is about children.

Will the gentleman yield?

We would love to honor other foundations and other individuals as well. This is only one of many that we should recognize, just as I am honoring Arnold Palmer that we gave the Congressional Gold Medal. And at one time I hope you are here to celebrate when we have the actual gold medal that we will present under your leadership that we will be able to do here on the floor later on next year because it won't happen now.

Once again, I would like to state for the record that this is not a conflict of interest. This is about bipartisan individuals who sit on the board who continue to want to provide assistance to many individuals who are in need of help. Whether it's this organization or whether it's any other organization, I think it's important that we do recognize individuals that are willing to give of their time and their effort to make life better for someone else. And this is a humanitarian individual.

I know we are on the subject of recognizing the sports individual, and I would like just for the record to state that my colleague that just spoke actually supported a resolution to support a sports individual as well, and that was H. Res. 942, for the record. So if we are going to be consistent, let's be consistent on both angles.

With that, I would like to, once again, state that many corporations and many individuals give because they're good corporate citizens, because they want to make our communities a lot better. They want to provide an opportunity for individuals to enhance their education, further their education, be productive citizens. And sometimes many individuals cannot afford to go on to a college or university. It's that assistance that we give to individuals that will allow an individual to further their education, thus for becoming productive individuals.

This is an individual that has helped in that endeavor to make sure that we raise the additional money, whether it's for this institution or whether it's for other institutions. I belong to a variety of different institutions that raise money on a bipartisan basis to make sure that we allow many individuals to be productive individuals within our communities.

It wasn't wrong. It was a good thing you did.

I appreciate your doing it in the past, and I look forward to your continued support.

Will the gentleman yield?

My understanding is that you are actually a board member of the Congressional Hispanic Institute, is that correct?

My understanding is that actually 13 of the 28 sponsors of this bill are on the board of this, is that correct?

My understanding is that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute is an independent 501(c)3.

My question, my concern about this is I have one about recognizing sports folks--and that's a separate issue. He has certainly accomplished so much on the golf course and off the golf course. I admire the work that you have done in this Congress.

But it does seem to be a huge conflict of interest to sponsor a bill recognizing Chi Chi Rodriguez, who then, in turn for his accomplishments for youth programs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Isn't that a conflict of interest?

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from California would engage with me here, I do have a few more questions, and I appreciate the dialogue and the passion you have for this.

One of my concerns is that it actually, I think, detracts from the idea of the accomplishments of Chi Chi Rodriguez and also the good work that I am sure that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute has done. But to say that there is nothing in receipt, that it's all about giving and no receiving, it seems to me, on the appearance of it, that there is a huge conflict of interest. For Members of Congress, who serve independently on a 501(c)3, they serve independently with this organization, with a fiduciary responsibility to that organization, to use the office of being a Member in Congress to advance legislation that is surely, surely going to benefit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

I would be happy to yield some of my time to address this.

Reclaiming my time, for the record, I have absolutely no doubt that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute does good. You have mentioned some scholarships. I have looked at the Web site. There is no doubt. There is no question in my mind. My question is, why this particular foundation, one that you serve on the board of directors.

This country has thousands of foundations that do good work. But if the threshold here, and my understanding is the institute raises in the neighborhood of 6 to $7 million----

I yield to the gentleman from California.

Reclaiming my time, I feel, Mr. Speaker, that this is a colossal waste of time to recognize sports heroes. That is a separate subject. That is a separate subject. Last week I voted against Joe Paterno, for goodness' sakes, one of the great football coaches in this country. Chi Chi Rodriguez has accomplished amazing feats. There's no doubt in my mind about this. But I feel as if the floor of the House of Representatives is being used for Members' own personal benefits to actually move forward their own foundation. And that is the concern.

There are thousands, as you just agreed to, thousands of foundations that do great work, that inspire kids and youth. That's part of what makes this country such a great country. But the only reason this bill is moving forward today, the reason it's coming to the floor of the House, is that we have 13 Members of Congress who serve on the board of directors of this, which seems like a conflict of interest.

If you want to address that, I would be happy to yield more time to you to address it.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the gentleman addressing the questions. I really do. One of the concerns that is there is if you look at the opportunity, if you will, to attract corporate money to this. I went to the Web site today. These companies donate in excess of $200,000 to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute: AstraZeneca, Exxon Mobil, Toyota, Wal-Mart. These are companies that donate over $100,000, according to the Website: AFL-CIO and affiliate unions, Altria Group, American Petroleum Institute, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Change to Win and affiliate unions, Comcast Corporation, Dell, Lilly, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, PepsiCo, Southwest, State Farm Insurance, Telemundo, Time Warner Cable, the Coca-Cola Company, UnitedHealthcare Foundation, Univision, UPS.

The purpose of this bill, according to the resolution, the very last line here, is to direct the Clerk of the House of Representatives to make available an enrolled copy of this resolution to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, of which 13 Members of this body sit on the board of directors, and to the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation.

Mr. Speaker, just to finish the conclusion of that thought, the reason, at least from my vantage point, and I would hope that you would address this, the reason that this resolution is moving forward is that there is a benefit to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. They can use this as a tool to go out and solicit more money, more support, and grow their own personal foundation. It's not something that's afforded to other foundations. And the only reason this is moving forward is because we have 13 Members in this body that are cosponsors of this legislation that sit on the board of directors. And that is of deep concern.

Mr. Speaker, what the gentleman from California pointed out is true. Previously I had sponsored and voted for resolutions regarding sports folks. I finally realized this is a colossal waste of time. I took a pledge that I was no longer going to do it. I did it in the past. It was wrong. We have people unemployed. We have people who can't meet their mortgages.

I have come to find I think they are absolutely a colossal waste of time. Even though they're a lot of good people, but we're not recognizing taking care of the people's business. That's my own personal belief.

But to clarify the question that you had, yes, I did do that in the past. I

wish I hadn't, but I'm a freshman. I made a mistake, and I'm moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1430) honoring and saluting golf legend Juan Antonio ``Chi Chi'' Rodriguez for his commitment to Latino youth programs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on House Resolution 1430 into the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1430, which honors and salutes golf legend Juan Antonio Rodriguez, widely known as Chi Chi Rodriguez, for his commitment to the Latino Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, or CHCI. Mr. Rodriguez is an extraordinarily accomplished golfer. With 38 professional wins, including eight PGA Tour and 22 Senior PGA Tour victories, it is no surprise that he was inducted in 1992 into the World Golf Hall of Fame, the first Puerto Rican ever to earn this honor.

Chi Chi Rodriguez worked hard for his success and has never forgotten his roots in Puerto Rico, where he worked for a dollar a day cutting sugar cane. Using his surroundings to teach himself the game of golf, he used a tree branch as a golf club and a metal can as a golf ball.

Chi Chi Rodriguez has worked as tirelessly off the course as well as on it through his dedicated support of youth and their educational aspirations. Over the past 3 years, he has raised over $824,000 for CHCI's Scholarship Awards Program to assist Latino youths in their pursuit of higher education. These efforts have resulted in financial support for more than 430 scholarships. Moreover, Mr. Rodriguez continues to contribute to his own Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation, which funds the Chi Chi Rodriguez Academy.

The Chi Chi Rodriguez Academy assists at-risk children by improving their self-esteem, character, work ethic, social adjustment, and academic performance, using the golf course as a living classroom. Mr. Rodriguez has raised more than $4 million for his academy, which every year brings 600 children from low-income families or broken homes to a golf course to learn responsibility and discipline through the game of golf.

Chi Chi Rodriguez's work for CHCI and his foundation have been recognized numerous times, including an induction into the World Humanitarian Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and receiving the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute renowned Service Award in the year 2010.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution to honor and salute golf legend Juan Antonio ``Chi Chi'' Rodriguez for his commitment to Latino youth programs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield the gentleman from California, Congressman Baca, as much time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca).

I would like to know how much time we have on both sides, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, again, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution to honor and salute golf legend Juan Antonio ``Chi Chi'' Rodriguez for his commitment to Latino youth programs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

Mr. Rodriguez uses his experience and his career success to expand opportunities for disadvantaged youth, and he helps them reach their full potential. I thank Representative Baca for his leadership in bringing this resolution forward.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Chi Chi Rodriguez was born into a poor family in Puerto Rico, and by the time he was 9 years old he was proficient at golf. And in 1947, at the age of 12, he scored a remarkable 67, which I do many times, but I haven't completed 18 holes of golf at that time.

Rodriguez turned professional in 1960. In 1963, at age 28, he won the Denver Open, which he considers as his favorite win. In total, he won eight titles on the PGA Tour between 1963 and 1979. And Rodriguez became eligible to play on the Senior Tour, now known as the Champions Tour, in 1985, and did so for many years with great success, accumulating 22 tournament victories between 1986 and 1993. He was the first player on the Senior PGA Tour to win the same event in three consecutive years, and he set a Tour record with eight consecutive birdies en route to a win in the 1987 Silver Classic.

In 1989, he was voted the Bobby Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association, in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In 1991, he lost an 18-hole playoff to the legendary Jack Nicklaus in the U.S. Senior Open. In 1992, Chi Chi Rodriguez was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, the first Puerto Rican so honored.

Rodriguez considers a brief encounter with Mother Teresa as the greatest moment in his life. This event inspired

him to help others. Together with former golf pro Bill Hayes and Bobby Jones, Rodriguez established the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation, which funds the Chi Chi Rodriguez Academy, whose mission is to assist at-risk youth by improving their self-esteem, character, work ethic, social adjustment, and academic performance, using the golf course as a living classroom.

Rodriguez has helped raise more than $4 million for his foundation, which annually brings 600 children from Latino and non-Latino families or broken homes to learn life skills by working various jobs in golf.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz).

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman 3 additional minutes.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Utah.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.