Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, this Father's Day, I would like to honor a man who exemplifies what it means to be an excellent father--a man who is a community leader, an upstanding and moral man, and a positive role model for our youth. The Reverend Fred McNack, who lives in my congressional district, has done great things, and I am proud to express my congratulations to him for all he has done for our community.

Reverend McNack has served as the pastor of Houston's Unity in God Missionary Baptist Church for the last 38 years. He also served his community well as the Associate Pastor of Christian Faith Missionary Baptist Church for 10 years. Not only has Reverend McNack shown admirable dedication to his faith, he also served our country in the United States Navy from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. It is safe to say that Reverend McNack has lived the kind of life that would serve as a good example to our young people of how to serve one's community and country.

Reverend McNack has long been a valued member of community, and rightly so. On this occasion of Father's Day, I would like to recognize Reverend McNack for all of his accomplishments and urge people across America to look to leaders such as Reverend McNack as role models for their work in inspiring and engaging our youth to live productive, positive lives.

Madam Speaker, this Father's Day, I would like to honor a man who exemplifies what it means to be an excellent father--a man who is a community leader, an upstanding and moral man, and a positive role model for our youth. The Reverend Dr. William A. Lawson, who lives in my congressional district, has done great things, and I am proud to express my congratulations to him for all he has done for our community.

Reverend Lawson is a tremendous father figure and fixture in our community. He has been married to his wife Audrey for over fifty years and admirably raised four children. He was the founding pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church and continues to lead that congregation. Reverend Lawson has also been deeply involved in the community even outside of his church, having conceived and organized the United Way's Houston Homeless Initiative, which raised over $4 million in a four- year period. He also organized the Houston area's largest and most productive scouting program, leading to his receipt of the 1991 Silver Beaver Award in support of scouting. Clearly, Reverend Lawson has demonstrated the very kind of leadership that we need in our communities to help our youth develop into successful adults.

Reverend Lawson has long been a valued member of the community, and rightly so. On this occasion of Father's Day, I would like to recognize Reverend Lawson for all of his accomplishments and urge people across America to look to leaders such as Reverend Lawson as role models for their work in inspiring and engaging our youth to live productive, positive lives.

Madam Speaker, this Father's Day, I would like to honor a man who exemplifies what it means to be an excellent father--a man who is a community leader, an upstanding and moral man, and a positive role model for our youth. The Reverend Robert Jefferson has done great things, and I am proud to express my congratulations to him for all he has done for our community.

Reverend Jefferson has long devoted himself to improving our community, especially for our young people. Along with serving as the pastor of the Cullen Missionary Baptist Church, which I attend, he is the Founder/President of the Ministry Advisory Council, Special Projects Director to the Houston Ministers Against Crime, and the Founder/President of A Brand New City. He has played a critical role in creating the Teen Court, a program to be implemented with the Houston Independent School District that would allow students to be punished for infractions without developing a criminal record. I have personally observed Reverend Jefferson's work with children and other at-risk individuals and I can testify that he is an exemplary leader for our young people.

Reverend Jefferson has long been a valued member of community, and rightly so. On this occasion of Father's Day, I would like to recognize Reverend Jefferson for all of his accomplishments and urge people across America to look to leaders such as Reverend Jefferson as role models for their work in inspiring and engaging our youth to live productive, positive lives.

Madam Speaker, this Father's Day, I would like to honor a man who exemplifies what it means to be an excellent father--a man who is a community leader, an upstanding and moral man, and a positive role model for our youth. The Reverend Huan Ngoc Nguyen, who lives in my congressional district, has done great things, and I am proud to express my congratulations to him for all he has done for our community.

Reverend Nguyen, a father of three sons and two daughters, has been married since 1945. He fled to Thailand from danger in Vietnam in 1979 and came here to the United States in 1980, where he quickly became an active and valued member of the community, eventually becoming an American citizen in 1986. Reverend Nguyen, who preaches at Houston's Vietnamese First Alliance Church, has taught Sunday school since 1985 and became a pastor in 2005.

Reverend Nguyen has long been a valued member of the community, and rightly so. On this occasion of Father's Day, I would like to recognize Reverend Nguyen for all of his accomplishments and urge people across America to look to leaders such as Reverend Nguyen as role models for their work in inspiring and engaging our youth to live productive, positive lives.

Madam Speaker, when you are born into poverty, you enjoy such delicacies as mayonnaise sandwiches without mayonnaise. When you're born into poverty, phrases like ``but for the grace of God, there go I'' have true meaning because you understand you have been there.

This bill will not fuel rockets to Mars. It will, however, put fuel in gas tanks right here on Earth. It will not put a man on the Moon, but it will put food on the table of somebody's home. But for the grace of God, there go I.

I will support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, democrats in Congress have pushed to extend unemployment benefits since the beginning of the year, as the economy weakened, but have faced continued resistance from the Bush Administration. Nobody can argue that our economy is struggling. For five consecutive months, the U.S. economy has lost jobs, totaling 324,000. Over the last year, the number of unemployed workers has grown by 1.6 million. The number of people looking for work climbed to 8.5 million in May. Nearly 1 in 5 jobless workers (1.6 million) is long- term unemployed (jobless for more than 26 weeks). There are 200,000 more long-term jobless Americans now than when President Bush signed the last extension of unemployment benefits into law in 2002.

The airline industry has eliminated 22,000 jobs so far this year, more than in all of 2007, most recently at Continental (3,000 jobs) and United (up to 1,600 jobs), and the automobile industry continues to face job cuts, leading industries with announced layoffs in May with over 30,000.

In May, we had the biggest one-month jump in the unemployment rate in two decades. The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent from 5.0 percent--the biggest one-month jump in more than two decades (since February 1986) and climbing to the highest level in nearly four years (October 2004). The unemployment rate is now a full percentage point higher than a year ago. Families can wait no longer, and neither will this Congress.

Today, the House will take up H.R. 5749, the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act:

To immediately provide up to 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits in every state to workers exhausting the 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits.

In states with higher levels of unemployment (six percent or higher), an additional 13 weeks would be available, for a total of 26 weeks of extended benefits.

Relief would run through March 2009.

The bill would provide much-needed relief to 3.8 million unemployed workers to assist them with rapidly rising gas and food costs, while they continue to struggle to find work in the slowing economy.

Federal unemployment trust funds, which have more than enough reserves to cover the cost, will finance these benefits.

In Texas, this bill would help 160,239 unemployed workers. Extending these benefits is one of the most cost-effective and fast-acting ways to stimulate the economy because the money is spent quickly. According to the Congressional Budget Office, every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.64 in new economic demand. This bill costs $11 billion over 10 years, or 1.1 billion per year. That is approximately 3 days in Iraq.

I commend my colleagues, Congressman McDermott and Congressman English for introducing this bill and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

Mr. Speaker, today I was unavoidably delayed and missed the vote on Ordering the Previous Question (rollcall 391) and H. Res. 1253--Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 6003-- Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (rollcall 392). Had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall 391 and rollcall 392.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to support H. Res. 1195 and express my heartfelt sympathy for the many victims of the recent earthquake in China's Sichuan province. My prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones and property in this unfortunate tragedy, and it is my sincere hope that the people of the region will be able to recover quickly from the humanitarian crisis that has developed.

The devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008 has already resulted in the loss of over 51,000 lives. More than 29,000 people remain missing, and nearly 300,000 others have been reported as injured. The earthquake also destroyed 80 percent of the buildings in the area, killing thousands of children who were trapped in collapsing schools. Roughly 5 million of the survivors are now homeless.

When faced with such tragedy, we must never forget the ability of the human spirit to persevere. The inspirational stories of courage and survival that have come out of this disaster remind us to never lose faith, even in the most trying of times. I would like to especially commend all those who have come out in support of the victims. From international relief organizations to local community volunteers, people of all backgrounds have set their differences aside and come together to help those in need. In the past week alone, the regions of China most affected by the earthquake have received over $2 billion in donations.

While some of this news is encouraging, it is clear that the people of the People's Republic of China have suffered greatly from this catastrophe. I truly wish them my heartfelt prayers as they work to rebuild their communities and move forward with their lives.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H. Res. 1153, a resolution celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As an Executive Board member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and as the Representative for a district that is 12 percent Asian American, I understand how important it is to recognize the Asian Pacific American (APA) community for their valuable contributions to our Nation's history and development.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month was celebrated for the first time in May of 1990,

and it became an annually observed event in 1992 under the 102nd Congress. Legislators chose the month of May in honor of some noteworthy historical events that happened during this time. May 7, 1843 was the date on which the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States. May 10, 1869 marks the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, an incredible undertaking that was made possible due to the hard work and sacrifices of thousands of Chinese immigrants.

By celebrating APA Heritage Month, we recognize the Asian Pacific American community for all that they have accomplished and endured. This great Nation draws its strength from the diversity of cultures and ideas that it was built upon, and it could not be what it is today without their contributions.

Let me start by saying that the constituents that you have, Congresswoman Clarke, can be exceedingly proud of you because you've been here a short time, but you've made a very significant difference. And I trust that they will understand the totality of the impact that you're making on the lives of people in this country, people who need help.

I was honored to go to Haiti with you and with my colleagues, and I will tell you that I was thunderstruck by what I saw. Probably the thing that stands out most in my mind is the notion that in the United States we have four seasons. In Haiti, there are five. There is a hunger season in Haiti, a time when it is prognosticated, it is predicted that people will go hungry, and they will need help that they probably will not receive.

Haiti is a country in crisis and needs help immediately, if not sooner. Haiti has an unemployment rate of 70 percent. Eighty percent of the people live in poverty. Seventy-six percent of the people live off of $2 per day; 55 percent off of $1 per day. The highest HIV/AIDS rate in the western hemisphere; infant mortality rate 10 times higher than that of the United States of America: Haiti is a country in crisis. When you go there and you see the density of population, people living in structures that in this country we would not house our animals in. Haiti needs help.

I'm not sure what the ultimate solution is, but I do know that if we do not act immediately, there will be a crisis right off of the coast of Florida comparable to what we have in Darfur.

And we talk consistently and continually about the things that are happening in Africa, and there are things there that necessitate our attention. We must do more to help in Darfur. But we have, right off the coast of Florida, some few hundred miles, a country that can benefit from much of what we have to offer.

It has been said that if you have the ability to do something and you cannot do enough, you have a duty to do all that you can do. The United States of America has a duty to do more in Haiti. I know that we have needs in this country, and we have to meet our needs. But we are the richest country in the world. And Haiti is a country that is our neighbor. It is an island. And people are trapped, they cannot leave. If they do leave and try to come here, we will return them.

There must be a way for us to have an infusion of capital, an infusion of help such that the people who are trapped on this island can extricate themselves from this most saddening circumstance.

There will be some who will say they should pull themselves up by their boot straps. They don't have any. There will be some who will say rising tides will lift all boats, and if we can find a way to do better here, they will do better there. This is not true. They don't have any boats to be a part of the rising tide. TPS is a part of the solution because if we allow those who are here to stay and to prosper, they will send money back to their relatives at home.

We have not been able to pass TPS. I would invite any Member of the House to go to Haiti and come back and say you won't vote for TPS. I challenge any Member of the House to go there. I don't believe you will come back and say you won't vote for TPS.

So probably one of the great things that any of us can do, if we want to adjust our hearts and become a part of the solution, is just go to Haiti and see the circumstances under which human beings are not living, but existing. It is an existence that we can change.

So I challenge my colleagues and I beg my colleagues to please, if you can, go to Haiti and see for yourself. It will tug at your heart, it will cause you to understand that we have an obligation to our fellow human beings to help them out of this circumstance. That is my appeal.

I thank you for the time. And I thank Congresswoman Lee for all that she has done through the years on this question of Haiti. This is not something new to her. For me, it is new in that this was my first visit, I'm a neophyte. But she has been doing this year in and year out and she knows of what we speak and she understands the challenges that are before us.

So I thank you, Congresswoman Clarke, for the time. I thank you, Madam Speaker. And I beg that my colleagues will see for themselves the human crisis that exists right off the coast of Florida.

Madam Speaker, I support Jewish American Heritage Month during the month of May as an important opportunity to recognize Jewish contributions to American history and culture. Ever since the first Jews arrived in colonial America in 1654, Jewish Americans have strengthened and influenced all aspects of American society. Through education, science, popular culture, literature, government and military service, Jewish men and women have greatly contributed to American society. Jewish Americans and their contributions are celebrated and recognized throughout Jewish American Heritage Month.

Jewish American Heritage Month gives the people of our Nation the opportunity to thank and recognize those Jewish Americans who have contributed to the advancement of our country, while it also presents us with the wonderful opportunity to foster religious tolerance. In my home state of Texas, from the discovery and development of oil fields to the opening of cattle ranches, Jewish people have had an immense impact. Even in the most improbable of environments, Texas Jews built prosperous communities. They established businesses, hospitals, synagogues, cemeteries and religious schools. Today Jewish Americans are seen as a fundamental community in the ``melting pot'' of Texas.

Jewish Americans were also among those who worked to establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. The Jewish community contributed greatly to the NAACP's founding and continued financing. Many Jewish Americans, such as NAACP co- founder Henry Moskowitz, put forth a lifetime of work in promoting inter-ethnic, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding between Jewish and African-Americans. The civil rights activism of many Jewish Americans in partnership with African-American civil rights leaders served to make the American Dream a reality for so many Americans.

Jewish American Heritage Month is important to fostering and achieving the key human right of religious tolerance. Jewish American Heritage Month gives us all the opportunity to honor the accomplishments of Jewish Americans and to realize that our Nation is a wonderful combination of cultures. I join all Americans in celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month and the many ways Jewish Americans have contributed to the greatness of the United States of America.

Madam Speaker, I wish to honor our Nation's mothers this Mother's Day because they embody the definition of strength, courage and compassion. Mothers are the backbone of American values and vitality and I ask that my colleagues honor the mothers of our Nation on Sunday, May 11, 2008.

The history of celebrating Mother's Day began when Anna Jarvis of West Virginia desired to honor the life of her deceased mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis. In 1908, Jarvis' church honored her mother as the first Mother's Day Celebration and then, in 1910, the governor of West Virginia, William Glasscock, wrote the first Mother's Day Proclamation, which encouraged families to celebrate Mother's Day. Anna Jarvis moved beyond her home State and urged the Federal Government to establish a national day to celebrate Mother's Day. Eventually the Sixty-Third Congress passed H.J. Res. 263. This resolution designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. The next day President Woodrow Wilson signed a Presidential Proclamation directing the Nation to display flags on government buildings and homes to show America's love and dedication for mothers.

Mother's Day is a time for Americans nationwide to show affection and respect for the everyday heroines we call mothers, aunts, great aunts, grandmothers and great grandmothers--women of courage and strength that carry our country by raising children and uplifting our families. On May 11th, I urge my colleagues and fellow citizens to celebrate Mother's Day.

I thank the chairman for the time, and I thank the chairman for his tireless efforts to bring this to the floor. I question this moral hazard argument.

I question it because I have to ask myself, where was the moral hazard

when we bailed out Penn Central? Penn Central got more than laissez faire. Penn Central got more than market forces. Penn Central got $7 billion in a bailout.

Where was the moral hazard when we bailed out Lockheed Martin, $250 million? Franklin National Bank, $1.7 billion bailout. For the good of the country, we bailed out Chrysler at the tune of $1.5 billion; Continental Illinois, $4.5 billion; Farm Credit System, $4.5 billion; First Republic Bank, $1 billion. Major airlines got $5 billion, the steel companies got $7 billion.

Where was the argument about Bear Stearns that was never brought to the floor? I have heard about a letter that has been circulated. Why didn't you bring the argument to the floor? Let's talk about the Bear facts, the Bear Stearns facts. Bear Stearns got $29 billion in a bailout and a $13 billion loan.

So if you really talk about the Bear facts, the Bear Stearns facts, you are talking about $42 billion. We live in a world where it is not enough for things to be right, they must look right.

It doesn't look right for this country to continually bail out major corporations. When the American people, little people as we sometimes call them here--they are big in my heart--but the little person needs some help, we don't find it within our hearts and our power to help them.

We have the ability to make a difference in the lives of people today. This is why I am encouraging my colleagues to vote for this bill.

I thank the gentleman for yielding the time. I'd like to thank the chairman, Barney Frank, for this outstanding piece of legislation.

Let me quickly say that Hope Now is good, which is what my friend referenced. Hope Now is good. However, help now is better.

We didn't give Penn Central hope now. We gave Penn Central a $7 billion bailout. Lockheed Martin got a $250 million bailout. Franklin National Bank, $1.7 billion bailout. Chrysler, $1.5 billion bailout. Continental Illinois, $4.5 billion bailout. Farm Credit System, $4 billion bailout. First Republic, $1 billion bailout. Major airlines, $5 billion bailout. Steel companies, $7 billion bailout. And Bear Stearns, if we talk about the bare facts, $29 billion, plus a $13 billion loan through J.P. Morgan, which makes a total of $42 billion, if we talk about the bare facts.

This is a good piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker. This piece of legislation is voluntary, as has been indicated. But more importantly, it is a guarantee, not a loan. It does allow FHA to guarantee loans, about $300 billion, and that's going to help a lot of families to stay in homes. But it will also help this economy.

This economy is right now in a credit crisis. And in this credit crisis we've got to realize that there is interconnectivity. There's an interconnectedness, that we are living in a world wherein we are related to each another in a certain way. In this crisis, Mr. Speaker, when one home in a community has a for sale sign up, it impacts other homes in the community. It impacts the tax base of the community. It impacts the lives of children who are going to school in the community. So this piece of legislation will help us to keep people in their homes, but it will help to maintain the community. We sleep in houses and live in neighborhoods. This legislation helps neighborhoods.

I would also add that flippers don't benefit because you have to be a resident of the property. The government maintains a lien on the property. And there's an amendment in this bill, the Watt-Velazquez- Green amendment, which will help those persons who are being evicted, who happen to be tenants. Many persons who have their rent paid, their rent is paid, but they're being evicted because the owner of the property was foreclosed on. This amendment will help them to stay in their homes.

I ask that my colleagues please support this amendment, and please remember that we bailed out a lot of companies in this country. This is a hand up for a lot of people who are suffering and who may lose their homes, others who have their rent paid but who are about to be evicted.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

I have to say this. I have to apologize to the gentleman, too, because for a moment, I thought I heard a disjointed syllogism because I couldn't make that connection.

This bill is needed by this country. This bill is going to help neighborhoods maintain their integrity.

And I have to ask one question: Where was the moral hazards argument when Penn Central got $7 billion? When Lockheed Martin was bailed out? When Franklin National Bank was bailed out? When Chrysler was bailed out? Continental Illinois? When Bear Stearns received its $29 billion plus a $13 billion loan? Where was the moral hazards argument?

It seems that this argument surfaces whenever poor people or whenever people who are living in the streets of life, whenever people who have not found their way into the well-off, the well-heeled, and the well- to-do, it seems that it tends to surface. I think that it's time for us to do for others what we can do for these major corporations.