Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the legacy of Fidelity Manor Schools in the Galena Park Community in my district, for their invaluable education to African-American students for nearly 50 years.

Predating 1955, a building formerly used for white students became an educational institution for African-American students in the Clinton Community, renamed Galena Park in 1936. The building was moved to the Fidelity addition--an area of Clinton named for the Fidelity Shipyard-- and became known as the Fidelity School, housing only eight grades and containing one individual who acted as both teacher and principal.

With the growing African-American community Fidelity Manor Schools began to evolve in many ways. Additional classes and teachers were added to meet requirements held by the school district. Fidelity Manor Schools excelled in academics and athletics, winning district and state competitions during its existence.

In 1970 due to desegregation, Fidelity Manor Schools were closed and its students were integrated into the Galena Park School System. Although the Fidelity Manor School buildings were razed in 1986, their history lives on. For its invaluable service to the African-American community and to the Galena Park Community, I extend my deepest gratitude, and honor Fidelity Manor Schools.

Mr. Speaker, in the inner sanctum of my soul, I believe that although the arc of the moral universe is long, as Dr. King put it, it bends toward justice. However, I must confess that in the cognitive confines of my cranium, I know that it does so because of organizations like the NAACP.

For 100 years, the NAACP has been there bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice for all. From anti-lynching legislation to Brown v. Board of Education, to the election of the 44th President of this Nation, the NAACP has been there.

For 100 years, it's been there because of brave and noble Americans who

made great sacrifice that all may have a better life. Brave and noble Americans like NAACPer Rosa Parks, who took a stand by taking a seat and ignited a spark as a result that enhanced the Civil Rights Movement; brave and noble Americans like NAACPer Medgar Evers, who sacrificed his life in an effort to bring justice to all; brave and noble Americans like white NAACPer John Shalady, who was beaten by a mob and eventually died in his effort to secure rights for blacks.

For 100 years, it's been there demonstrating at the White House, negotiating and litigating at the courthouse. Hence, it is indeed most appropriate that the Congress of the United States of America honor the NAACP on this, its 100th anniversary.

To this end, Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Lamar Smith, subcommittee chair Bobby Scott, floor leader Hank Johnson, and also now floor leader Judge Ted Poe. I also thank the 105 U.S. House cosponsors of this legislation. I thank Senator Dodd and his 20 cosponsors of the companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.

And, in closing, at the risk of being both redundant and superfluous, I beg, beseech and entreat my colleagues to support this resolution because, in so doing, you are voting for liberty and justice for all, as pronounced in the Pledge of Allegiance. In so doing, you are voting for government of the people by the people for the people, as proclaimed in the Constitution. In so doing, you are voting for the equality of all, as promulgated in the Declaration of Independence. By voting for this resolution, you are continuing to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, Dr. King, whose birthday we are about to celebrate this month, reminds us that the truest measure of the person is not where you stand in times of comfort and convenience, but rather where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy. Not where do you stand when there is no housing crisis and no unemployment problem, but where do you stand when unemployment is 7.2 percent, when you have lost 1 million jobs in the last 2 months, when you have lost 2 million jobs in the last year. Where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy.

In this time of challenge and controversy, I stand with the American homeowner, who is in crisis, who needs our help, who but for this piece of legislation will not get our help. I stand with the American homeowner, because this legislation provides $40 billion to $100 billion to help homes that may go into foreclosure. In times of challenge and controversy, I stand with the homeowner.

And I also stand for something else. I stand for having the TARP money be made accountable for. This piece of legislation deals with accountability. People want to know how their money has been spent.

This legislation helps us to better understand how the TARP money has impacted new lending. The LaTourette amendment that passed this House overwhelmingly in the last session, the last time we met and had this bill before the House, that amendment is something that has been incorporated in this bill.

So, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for a stellar job, a job well done, and in times of challenge and controversy, I stand with you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding. And I especially thank the chairman for the outstanding job that he's done on the broader bill. I thank Mr. LaTourette for the service that he has rendered with reference to putting this amendment together. While I take a small amount of assurance in knowing that I may have been there, it was really his stalwart work that made the difference in getting the amendment through.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to say that this amendment is one that should please persons on both sides of the aisle. Today in the Financial Services hearing there was much talk about transparency and talk of how we should be able to acquire the empirical evidence to ascertain whether or not new lending is taking place. This piece of legislation, this amendment, will, in fact, allow us to get some idea as to what's happening with the money as it relates to transparency.

So I thank the chairman for allowing this opportunity to speak on the amendment, and I thank Mr. LaTourette for his outstanding work on the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1532, the Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2008.

If you think that TB is a disease that occurs in impoverished nations you are wrong. In 2007, more than 13,000 individuals were diagnosed with TB in the U.S.

This year alone my district had several TB outbreaks and in May, 150 people were exposed to TB in an outbreak and 19 individuals were diagnosed with TB.

Each year approximately 9 million people develop active TB and 1.7 million die of the disease, making it the second deadliest in the world. Right now one third of the world's population is infected with TB and TB will claim 30 million lives over the next decade.

With time, the TB germ has changed. It is now airborne and drug resistant strains have been found in 46 countries, including the U.S.

In 2006, 91 cases of multi drug-resistant TB were reported in the United States and MDR-TB has been reported in 49 states. From 1993 to 2007, there were 88 cases of extensively drug resistant TB in the U.S., which is resistant to almost all drugs used to treat TB.

Unfortunately, we have allowed the treatment and diagnostic tools to treat TB go without updating for far too long. In fact, the most common test to diagnose TB is more than 100 years old.

The drugs commonly used to treat TB are more than 40 years old, the TB vaccine we currently have is more than 85 years old and only provides some protections against severe TB in children, but is unreliable in protecting against the most common form of adult TB.

The Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act addresses the issue of domestic TB by improving and increasing efforts to prevent, detect, and treat individuals in our country with TB.

It would authorize grants within the CDC for research, development, and education. These grants include clinical trials to evaluate new drugs, diagnostics and vaccines; studies of at-risk populations; and projects to control TB along the U.S.-Mexico border.

H.R. 1532 will reauthorize the Advisory Council on the Elimination of TB so the council may coordinate federal TB control and develop a new national plan to eliminate TB in the U.S.

H.R. 1532 also provides for new tools in the fight against domestic TB by providing for CDC research and development for new drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines.

The bill also directs the NIH to expand basic and clinical TB research and develop a TB vaccine.

The Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act provides the means necessary to wage war against TB in the U.S. and hopefully in the future the eradication of TB in this country.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5244, the Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights Act.

It is all too common for hard-working Americans to be in debt because of credit cards. Many of my constituents struggle from paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet. Because of this they use credit cards as a means of acquiring the necessities of life, such as buying food for their family or paying utility or medical bills.

For most Americans, the language credit card companies use is difficult to understand, so most do not know what they are getting themselves into when they sign up to receive a credit card.

That is why I am pleased that my colleagues are considering H.R. 5244--the Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights Act--of which I am a proud cosponsor.

This legislation gives rights back to the consumer, such as protecting them from arbitrary interest rate increases, early pre- payment penalties, and excessive fees.

This bill will help those Americans by requiring credit card companies to mail bills twenty-five days in advance before the bill is due and to notify the cardholders forty-five days in advance of any interest rate increase.

Today is a victory for the consumers as we have finally leveled the playing field between cardholders and the credit card companies.

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote 598 on September 16, 2008. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained in my district on Monday, September 15, 2008 because of Hurricane Ike. I missed rollcall votes 589 through 591. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall 589, ``aye'' on rollcall 590, and ``aye'' on rollcall 591.

Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Ike came through Texas, landed near Houston. Much of the area in my State, especially in the Houston-Galveston area along the gulf coast, has been decimated. It will take billions of dollars for us to recover.

We are asking that this House understands the needs of the people of Texas and the areas that have been devastated. We will have to lend some assistance to the areas that need our help at a most important time.

For fear that someone may not understand, we are truly all in this together. Dr. King reminded us that life is an inescapable network of mutuality tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever impacts one directly, impacts all indirectly.

Though you may live in some far corner of the United States of America, there are earthquakes, there are fires, there are storms that will come into your life. We are all going to need some help at some point.

So I am begging those of you who can, please understand that we have got to help Texans and Americans through this.

Thank you, Chairman Filner, and thank you, Congressman Moran. I live in Houston, Texas. I live across the street from the DeBakey Medical Center. My district is such that you can traverse it in 1 hour. But this is America that we are talking about, not just the cities, not just the rural areas. All veterans in America ought to have access to a facility, and they ought to have immediate access. It is not enough for me to have the DeBakey Center in my district and have other veterans who have to travel 5 hours to receive medical attention.

I am here to ask my colleagues to please, let's support veterans. What we do today will say to them what we think about the work they have done for us. If they can be there for us, willing to sacrifice their lives, we can be there for them to make sure that they have a good quality of life when they return home to the United States of America.

Yes, sir.

I thank you. I am so honored, sir, that you gave me this opportunity to have a word on this most important piece of legislation. It really is something that we must do for our veterans. I thank you, and may God bless you.

Madam Speaker, today the minimum wage will increase to $6.55 an hour. This is laudable. However, Madam Speaker, if the truth be told, the increase will be consumed because of inflation, higher gas prices, and higher food prices.

Madam Speaker, we must make the minimum wage a living wage. This is why I have introduced the Living American Wage Act, the LAW Act, such that we can have people who work full time always live above the poverty line.

We have people in the richest country in the world, a country where 1 out of every 33 persons is a millionaire, we have people living in poverty and working full time. No one should work full time and live below the poverty line.

We need to pass the Living American Wage Act, the LAW Act. The living wage should be the law.

Madam Speaker, I was unavailable to vote on July 16th and had I been present I would have voted ``yea''' on rollcalls 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 501, 504, 505, 507, and 508. I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcalls 500, 502, 503, and 506.

Mr. Speaker, we have record declines in home prices, 4.8 percent in May, $400 billion in losses and write-downs by banks. One of every 500 homes are in the foreclosure process, and 2.8 million homes are at risk of foreclosure.

If this is a bailout, it is a bailout of the United States of America.

Yes, Fannie and Freddie are too big to fail, and we should not fail them. But this bill is balanced. It also helps Aunt Fannie and Uncle Freddie. It helps the everyday citizen to keep his or her home.

At some point, we have to realize that this helps not only institutions, it helps people. I support the bill. It is balanced and it is fair.

Madam Speaker, yesterday I was unavailable to vote and missed the votes on:

H. Res. 1067--Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the crossing of the North Pole by the USS Nautilus (SSN 571) and its significance in the history of both our Nation and the world (Rep. Courtney--Armed Services).

H. Res. 1080--Honoring the extraordinary service and exceptional sacrifice of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), known as the Screaming Eagles (Rep. Whitfield--Armed Services).

H. Con. Res. 297--Recognizing the 60th anniversary of the integration of the United States Armed Forces. (Rep. Rogers (AL)--Armed Services).

Although each of those bills passed by an overwhelming margin, I respectfully request the opportunity to record my position. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea''' on rollcalls 486, 487, and 488.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6455) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous materials thereon.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the House leadership for allowing this most important piece of legislation to proceed expeditiously. I also thank Chairman Barney Frank, the chairman of the full committee, the Committee on Financial Services, which has jurisdiction.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6455, the NASA 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act, which would require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of NASA.

I would like to thank my colleague, Sheila Jackson-Lee from Houston, Texas, for sponsoring this most important piece of legislation.

On October 1, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, began operations with about 8,000 employees and an annual budget of about $100 million. Today, NASA continues its mission to pioneer the future in space exploration, in scientific technology, in aeronautics, as well as to inspire Americans of all ages and backgrounds to experience firsthand the scientific wonders of our universe.

For 50 years, NASA has been the world leader in space exploration. On December 6, 1958, the United States launched Pioneer 3, the first United States satellite to ascend to an altitude of 63,580 miles. In July 1969, NASA astronauts were the first humans to walk on the Moon. And in 1983, NASA also sent the first woman and the first African American into space. The astronauts were Sally Ride and Guy S. Bluford.

It is through NASA technology and research that our world is a much safer and well-informed place. We are blessed to have NASA as a part of the American history and a part of our great American icons.

In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched, providing helpful insight into the history and fate of our universe. And in December of 1999, Terra, the flagship of NASA's Earth-Observing System, was launched to monitor climate and environmental changes on Earth.

Telecommunications would not be what they are but for NASA. Something as simple as the microwave is a development that has come into being as a result of NASA.

It is with great pride and sincere appreciation that we commemorate NASA's 50th anniversary with a gold and silver coin that honors NASA's remarkable achievements, enlightening research, and dedicated employees.

And on the note of the employees, let me just say that NASA employees are second-to-none. They are hardworking employees who have devoted much of their lives to the research that has made our lives much better, and we, by doing this, will pay them a great deal of respect and give an expression of gratitude.

Many of NASA's employees, however, have lost their lives during space missions, including the crews of Apollo 6, and the Space Shuttle Challenger, and the Space Shuttle Columbia. These Americans are owed a debt of gratitude, as well as their families, and today, we want to thank them, their families, for the lives that were lost and the tribute that we will pay to them for the price that they paid to help us to explore the universe.

This is not the first time that this Congress has voted to create a NASA 50th anniversary commemorative coin program. On July 30 of last year, the House passed H.R. 2750, a bill with 296 cosponsors that would require the creation of such a program. I was proud to be a cosponsor. The final vote of passage on the bill was 402-0.

Recently, the Senate passed an amended Senate version of H.R. 2750 on June 19 of this year.

As a result of the constitutional requirement that revenue-raising bills originate in the House, it was necessary to reintroduce the Senate bill as a new House bill. This bill, H.R. 6455, adopts the language of the Senate-amended bill.

Again, I thank my colleague Sheila Jackson-Lee for introducing this bill. I urge my colleagues to support it.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Ways and Means,

Washington, DC, July 11, 2008.

Hon. Barney Frank,

Chairman, Financial Services Committee,

Washington, DC.

Dear Barney: I am writing regarding H.R. 6455, the ``NASA

50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act.''

As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means maintains

jurisdiction over bills that raise revenue. H.R. 6455

contains a provision that establishes a surcharge for the

sale of commemorative coins that are minted under the bill,

and thus falls within the jurisdiction of the Committee on

Ways and Means.

However, as part of our ongoing understanding regarding

commemorative coin bills and in order to expedite this bill

for Floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action.

This is being done with the understanding that it does not in

any way prejudice the Committee with respect to the

appointment of Conferees or its jurisdictional prerogatives

on this bill or similar legislation in the future.

I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming

this understanding with respect to H.R. 6455, and would ask

that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be

included in the record.

Sincerely,

Charles B. Rangel,

Chairman.

I yield myself 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank Mr. Price. He and I worked together on the Financial Services Committee. I thank him for his dedication and devotion.

I'd like to thank my colleague and friend from Houston, Texas (Mr. Culberson) for his outstanding service on this bill as well. This is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation.

At this time, I'm honored to yield to the sponsor of the legislation, Ms. Sheila Jackson-Lee, as much time as she may consume.

(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining on each side.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlelady from Texas.

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

Mr. Speaker, in commemorating NASA's 50 years, the 50th anniversary, if you will, we are talking about great accomplishments. We are talking about the past. We are talking about the destinations that NASA has taken us to. We have gone to the Moon; that's a destination. We have a space station; that's a destination. We plan to go to Mars; that's a destination. But our destiny is beyond the Milky Way. Our destiny is beyond Alpha Centauri. Our destiny is beyond the stars. NASA is in its infancy, and it will take us to our destiny.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.