Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce ``The Next Generation 9-1-1 Preservation Act of 2010.'' This bill represents the combined work of my colleague and E9-1-1 Caucus Co-Chair, John Shimkus, as well as our Senate Co-Chair counterparts, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Richard Burr.

I'm very grateful to my colleagues for their efforts. Representative Shimkus and I are the remaining original co-founders of the E9-1-1 Caucus and we have shared in its mission over the years. I'm very pleased that Senators Klobuchar and Burr have joined us in this important work. Together, we will make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans who call 9-1-1 each day.

For the past seven years, the E9-1-1 Caucus has worked in a bi- partisan, bicameral fashion to ensure that 9-1-1 call centers have essential technology to perform their life-saving tasks. In 2004, we introduced the ENHANCE 911 Act, which established a National 9-1-1 Office to coordinate the implementation of Enhanced 9-1-1 services at the Federal, State and local levels. We provided funding resources for a grant program and made certain that funds collected on telecommunications bills for 9-1-1 were used only in support of 9-1-1 services.

We followed up on this initial core legislation with language in the ``Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007;'' the ``New and Emerging Technologies 9-1-1 Improvement Act of 2008;'' and the ``National 9-1-1 Education Month Resolution in 2008.'' The 2008 Farm bill also included language to make loans to improve 9-1-1 access to entities eligible to borrow from the Rural Utilities Service.

Our work and dedication to 9-1-1 call centers is ongoing and evolving because technology changes and new tools have become available to upgrade safety protocols. In part, that's why we call the new program ``Next Generation 9-1-1.'' We have moved from the point where we are mainly concerned about enhanced services for location identification. Now we take global positioning technology for granted. We need to focus on coordinated efforts to recognize essential technology and upgrades, and facilitate this process at the national level through a coordinated, Federal effort. We need to enhance interoperability and citizen access, while providing tools for the call centers as they route information and coordinate responses.

The Next Generation 9-1-1 bill authorizes $250 million in grants for each fiscal year for the next five years for ongoing programming and moves the Coordination Office to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration at the Department of Commerce. When this program initially began, it was placed in the Department of Transportation, but we now recognize that NTIA is the proper location for public safety technology grants and programming.

We also remain concerned about states that raise funds for 9-1-1 services on consumers' telecommunications bills, but divert those funds for other budgetary purposes. Now, more than ever, we need to provide incentives for States to keep their promise to use the funds for the purpose for which they were raised. We cannot permit routine raids of the 9-1-1 coffers at the expense of public safety.

And that's what this bill really is about--public safety at its most basic level. The first tool of first responders is the E9-1-1 call center. Let's ensure that these centers have the tools that they need to serve the public and keep us all safe.

Madam Speaker, I rise today on a topic of deep personal significance. Today the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed H. Res. 252, the Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. The next step is for the full House of Representatives to consider this resolution and finally place our country on the right side of history.

To all Americans and Armenian-Americans such as myself, this matter is not a historical exercise. It is about truth and justice. It is about acknowledging that a genocide which has long been documented and discussed took place . . . the first genocide of the 20th Century.

The time for avoiding the truth of the Armenian Genocide has passed. More than 90 years after the fact, no one can seriously question whether the systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians was genocide. It's a fact.

To those who say that this is an inopportune time, an inconvenient time to acknowledge it, I quote my dear friend, the late Senator Edward Kennedy, ``facts are stubborn things.'' They don't yield to convenience nor wait for opportunity.

The United States was a leader in the relief effort for the Genocide's victims in the 1920s, extending help to people like my mother who fled the massacres. Those of us who have lived with this tragedy in our families and our communities see today the disturbing similarities taking place around the world in the bleak landscapes of Darfur and the Nineveh Plains region of Iraq. If we're serious when we say ``never again,'' we must be honest about history.

Genocide is the most barbaric and criminal act mankind can commit. Our condemnation today must be full-throated and unambiguous. Thank you Chairman Berman and Representative Schiff for having the courage to introduce this measure and pass it out of committee. Please join me in voting ``yes'' on this resolution when it reaches the House Floor.

Madam Speaker, I was not present during rollcall vote No. 90 on March 4, 2010 because I had to return to California for important business. Had I been present, I would have voted: on rollcall vote No. 90, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, since President John F. Kennedy announced his vision for an American volunteer service, the Peace Corps has made extraordinary contributions to millions of people across the globe. It plays an ongoing role in encouraging mutual understanding and nonviolent coexistence among peoples of diverse cultures.

In the 49 years since its inception, nearly 200,000 Americans-- including my son Paul--have served in 139 countries across five continents. These volunteers have provided lasting contributions to the agriculture, economy, technology, education, health, youth, and environment in areas of the world that require it most.

In the course of their service, Peace Corps Volunteers learn new languages, gain international experience, and develop an understanding of other cultures. Their work and the skills they develop strengthen our ties to the global community and enhance our positive image abroad.

Because of these achievements and its commitment to volunteerism, the Peace Corps is one of the most cost-effective foreign policy initiatives employed by our nation.

I've proudly supported the Peace Corps throughout my time in Congress. I've fought to increase recruitment of volunteers, develop training programs in education and AIDS prevention, and to help returning volunteers with student loans. Most recently, I voted tor and Congress passed an increased investment in the Peace Corps, allowing the creation of new programs in Indonesia and Sierra Leone this year.

On this 49th anniversary of its founding, I applaud the Peace Corps for its important work and honor its volunteers.

Madam Speaker, I was not present during rollcall vote No. 78 on March 3, 2010. I would like the Record to reflect how I would have voted:

On rollcall vote No. 78, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act.

The McCarran-Ferguson Act, passed in 1945, exempted insurance companies from antitrust legislation that applies to most other business. The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act removes the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies, requiring them to compete fairly and adhere to the same antitrust laws as others. No longer will health insurers be allowed to price-fix, divide up territories among themselves, or sabotage their competitors in order to gain a monopoly in the marketplace. Such practices have been outlawed in other industries for decades.

The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act will bring much needed reform to the health insurance industry by allowing true competition between health insurers. Competition is what drives our economy, spurs innovation, and ensures that the American consumer gets a fair deal. More competition means lower health insurance costs for higher quality healthcare.

For too long, the health insurance exemption has led to higher premiums for consumers and contributed to the unsustainable increases in health care costs. As a result, 94% of all health insurance markets are ``highly concentrated''--meaning consumers have little or no choice between insurance providers. There are only two industries in our country that are exempt from antitrust laws--the health insurance industry and major league baseball.

The American people deserve better than this and I'm proud to cast my vote in support of the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of and very proud to cosponsor the Equality for Women Farmers Act, introduced by Congresswoman DeLauro.

I thank Congresswoman DeLauro for her leadership on behalf of women farmers. After being presented with the facts about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's history of discrimination toward women farmers, Congresswoman DeLauro became their champion and crafted H.R. 4264, the Equality for Women Farmers Act.

Like Congresswoman DeLauro, I'm proud of the important role women farmers have played in the development of our nation's food system, but I was shocked to learn about the discrimination that many women farmers have been subjected to by the USDA.

In December, Congresswoman DeLauro and I listened to six extraordinary women farmers who shared their stories about discrimination from the USDA. This discrimination has come in many forms including denied access to even an application form.

More than 1,900 women farmers across the U.S. have detailed the discrimination they suffered in seeking farm loans and assistance from the USDA and how such actions have seriously disadvantaged them.

The discrimination cost some of the women farmers their livelihoods and discouraged future generations of women farmers from considering this an honorable profession.

I applaud the USDA and the Obama administration for reaching an agreement with black farmers over racial discrimination, however, we can not forget about the other groups that have faced discrimination at the USDA, including women farmers.

The Equality for Women Farmers Act changes USDA policy to provide a procedure for compensating women farmers who have suffered years of gender discrimination from the USDA. This legislation will establish a compensation fund for women farmers and set up a process to review and adjudicate their claims.

I support the Equality for Women Farmers Act because I believe strongly that all farmers, regardless of gender, should be given the opportunity to succeed. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

I thank the chairwoman, and I thank our distinguished chairman for his wonderful and dedicated leadership of the House Intelligence Committee.

It's been far too long since we've had an Intelligence authorization bill enacted. Because Congress has the responsibility to set guidance for the intelligence community to strengthen our national security, which is really our highest obligation here in Congress, I am really pleased that this critical legislation is on the floor today.

This bill take some very important steps to increase congressional oversight of the intelligence community, which is very much needed. I would like to address two in particular that came out of the subcommittee that I am proud to chair.

First, the bill creates an independent intelligence community inspector general. So many of the issues in the intelligence community cut across multiple agencies, and today there is no one who can look at all sides of these issues. This inspector general will have the dual responsibility to report to the Congress, not just to the Director of National Intelligence, increasing our oversight.

Second, this bill allows the GAO to conduct audits and reviews of the intelligence community. We all know the value of the GAO's assessments firsthand. Their reputation for objective, thorough reviews is second to none. But today, the intelligence community refuses to allow GAO in the door, even when Congress has asked them to investigate. This is not going to stand because the bill corrects it.

The bill increases oversight of the security clearance process and takes steps to improve information sharing, both high priorities of my subcommittee. We have had numerous hearings on these topics and will continue to do so.

Finally, my colleagues, we all take this responsibility to oversee the intelligence community very seriously. We are the eyes and ears of the American people to examine the issues that are hidden behind the walls of classification, and as the voice of the American people to ask the questions which they cannot. This bill strengthens our ability to do just that, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Finally, I would like to say in response to really a terrible charge that was made by one of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that this bill weakens the intelligence community, that it is an attack on the intelligence community: we can't let that stand. There isn't anything farther from the truth. This is singularly the largest Intel authorization with its base budget in the history of the United States of America. We are giving to the intelligence community the very tools that it requires, that it has requested, and are glad to do so.

Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chairman, I rise to offer an important amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act.

Madam Chairman, many of the provisions that I supported and authored are already in the legislation that was reported out of the committee. Today I'm offering this amendment to address a problem that arose after our consideration of the bill last year.

Earlier this month we discovered that intelligence community employees have been starting businesses to sell private companies the very skills they use in their employment for the government. For example, a number of CIA employees launched a company to sell deception detection services to hedge funds and ran this company while they were Federal employees. I'm very troubled by this. I questioned the Director of National Intelligence about this at HPSCI's worldwide threats hearing, and he said he would look into it. While waiting for a formal answer, I discovered, to my great surprise, that this activity had already been approved by their agencies. Clearly, we need to tighten up that process.

All Federal agencies are required to have conflict of interest guidelines that set limits on employees' outside employment. Now, these guidelines are developed jointly by the agency and by the Office of Government Ethics. But the DNI has not issued intelligence community- wide policy guidance on conflicts of interest for outside employment.

So this amendment does two things. First, it requires the DNI to establish an intelligence community-wide conflict of interest regulation working in connection with, and in conjunction with, the Office of Government Ethics to establish a community-wide process for checking outside employment for conflicts of interest, and also to submit an annual report to the intelligence committees on outside employment activities that were approved in the last year.

Second, it would prohibit employees from owning companies that sell skills that are related to their government service.

I think that government employees, and especially those in the intelligence community, should adhere to the highest ethical standards. The American people have to have confidence that government employees are working in the best interest of the Nation and not in just a personal self-interest.

I want to thank my colleagues from the HPSCI, Representatives Tierney, Boren, Schakowsky, Thompson, Holt, Rogers and Myrick, for cosponsoring this amendment. And I urge the adoption of it.

Madam Chairman, how much time do I have left?

I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Rogers) 1\1/2\ minutes.

I want to thank the gentleman for his support. This is a bipartisan amendment.

I just want to add, Madam Chair, this is in no way a ban across the entire Federal Government and Federal workers. There are some that teach at universities at night; there are others that make really very low salaries--GS-1s in the $17,000 range--that do have some outside employment.

This goes directly to the skill set that the American people train these CIA officers and others in the intelligence community to do their work relative to national security. That shouldn't be sold off in bits and parts by moonlighting.

So I think that we've done that respectfully, and I think that we've done it thoughtfully. And I'd like to thank the chairman again for this, Mr. Rogers, and Members that have supported it. I think it's a good amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 944. I commend Representative Peters for his valuable work with the Caucus on Religious Minorities in the Middle East, which, together with my colleague Representative Frank Wolf, I am proud to co-chair. The second anniversary of the kidnapping and brutal murder of the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul is a fitting time to remember our responsibility to these vulnerable groups both during and in the aftermath of the war.

As an Assyrian American, I am deeply disturbed by the ongoing struggle Iraq's minorities face each day. There have been dozens of church burnings, kidnappings, and random acts of violence against Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, and numerous other minority groups and this Resolution calls on the Iraqi government to take meaningful action to address their plight.

Last year, we took an important step by appropriating $10 million to assist Iraq's minorities in the Nineveh Plains region. I'm pleased that today's Resolution calls on the Iraqi government to protect the people in that area. Madam Speaker, for the sake of a free and pluralistic Iraq, I urge a ``yes'' vote on today's Resolution.

Madam Speaker, I offer these few words in observation and in celebration of the birthday of a man who remains very much with us as we go about the people's business--Senator Ted Kennedy.

No one fought harder for the causes in which he believed, but he also believed in working across the aisle and in reaching out to find common ground.

No one believed more deeply in providing universal health care to all Americans and I know that if he were still in the United States Senate, he would have been working overtime to help us find a way to make health care a reality for everyone.

Those of us who are blessed to have known him and to be wrapped in his special embrace of friendship miss him deeply.

But we can feel him at our shoulder, urging us on, helping us find joy in battle, satisfaction in doing our best, and taking inspiration from the people who need us most and who cannot speak for themselves. And we can still be touched by his example, his belief in a common respect that each of us is here to do our best to make our nation better.

On this day when Senator Kennedy would be 78, let us give ourselves a gift--let us be worthy of his unfailing optimism--let us work together a little harder, get along a little better, and spend the few precious moments we are allotted bringing all Americans freedom to live a healthy life.

Happy birthday, my friend, and God bless you.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 4061, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2009. First, my thanks to Chairman Gordon and Representative Lipinski for their work on this bill. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act coordinates federal research and development in cybersecurity, focuses on developing a skilled cybersecurity workforce, and prominently positions the U.S. in the development of international cybersecurity technical standards. These areas should be priorities for all agencies in the federal government.

While these investments and initiatives will move us toward the goal of protecting our nation's information infrastructure and assets, there is more we must do to protect these essential resources.

There's been an alarming increase in the number of cyberattacks launched on the U.S. information technology industry, their employees, customers, and the U.S. citizens that leverage these innovative tools. In addition, many countries are beginning to implement specific regulations that discriminate against the U.S. by requiring our innovators to reveal the blueprints of their success as a condition of market entry. This is essentially the ``hijacking'' of intellectual property and is widespread around the world.

As a result, the attacks on these uniquely American assets not only jeopardize U.S. economic security, but our national security is also at risk. This is a threat to the continued economic growth and job creation by the information technology industry, much of which comes from my district. It also undermines the integrity of the networks across the globe which the U.S. depends on to secure sensitive information.

The cybersecurity initiatives in this legislation are a worthwhile effort which I support. It also is imperative that the growth engine of our innovation economy--our information technology that is delivered seamlessly and securely around the globe--is defended and protected by the U.S. government when a foreign entity attempts to compromise it.

Congress must move aggressively to ensure that any attempt at cyberattacks or ``high-tech robbery'' on any U.S. enterprise here and abroad is dealt with strongly and swiftly by the United States Government.

Madam Speaker, I urge the adoption of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life and work of Daniel Stewart Berkey who passed away at the age of 68 on October 19, 2009. Daniel is survived by his beloved wife, Ann Richardson Berkey, his daughter Elizabeth Wellington Berkey, and his son, William Cabot Berkey. Other surviving relatives include his brother-in-law, Thomas Latham Richardson of Sarasota, Florida, his brother, Richard Scott Berkey, Jr., of Vienna, Virginia and several aunts, nieces and nephews.

Daniel Berkey was born on June 25, 1941, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Lehigh University in 1963, then entered the United States Army where he earned the rank of Captain. He served his country with distinction in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal.

Upon his return to the United States, Daniel entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA in 1970. He worked for Lipton Tea and at the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., where he met his wife, Ann Cabot Richardson. They were married in 1975 and moved to Houston. In 1977, the couple moved to San Francisco where Dan launched a successful financial services consulting company, Berkey Associates. His wife Ann serves as Senior Vice President for Corporate Public Affairs at McKesson Corporation.

Daniel loved to camp, hike, and ski, and with his wife spent many happy family vacations in state and national parks.

Dan survived two battles with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and received a bone marrow transplant in 2003. He fought courageously for 18 months before finally succumbing to the relentless disease after the cancer returned.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring Daniel Stewart Berkey. He was a great and good man who gave generously to his beloved family, his community and his country. He will be missed by every person who had the good fortune to know him, and may this tribute bring comfort to his family who were the greatest source of pride to him.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to two Bay Area women, Karen Ande and Ruth Richter, and their compelling book Face to Face, Children of the AIDS Crisis in Africa.

This very special work was conceived after Karen Ande and Ruthann Richter travelled to Africa in 2004. They were devastated by the plight of children living under staggeringly brutal conditions, often without food, education or a stable, caring adult in their lives. Many of the children had watched their parents die and then had to cope with the consequences of living alone or with little support. They resolved to bring the issue to light and their book is the vehicle they chose to accomplish this goal.

The following words in praise of the book by Philip Pizzo, M.D., Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine, a specialist in pediatric AIDS and one of the 14th Congressional District's most distinguished and effective leaders, are an eloquent statement about the book and its subject.

``Ruthann Richter and Karen Ande have given a new voice and face to this pandemic, which continues to destroy the hopes, dreams and lives of children. Through compelling and poignantly informed stories and narratives and incredibly sensitive and touching portraits of children, families, providers and communities, Richter and Ande remind us, in a deeply personal way, how important HIV remains in Africa and beyond.''

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Karen Ande and Ruthann Richter for their extraordinary work and their efforts to bring to our attention the continuing ravages of the AIDS virus on the children of Africa.

Madam Speaker. I was not present during rollcall vote No. 985 on December 16, 2009 because I was in a secure room for a restricted briefing.

On rollcall vote No. 985, I would have voted ``yea.''

Stated against:

Madam Speaker, I was not present during rollcall votes 969 and 970 and voice votes on December 14, 2009 due to a pre-existing medical appointment. I would have voted: On rollcall vote No. 969 I would have voted ``yea''; On rollcall vote No. 970 I would have voted ``yea''; voice vote on S. 303 I would have voted ``yea''; voice vote on H.R. 4284 I would have voted ``yea.''