Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life and work of a distinguished American, a friend and an American hero, Paul Burgess ``Red'' Fay Jr., who passed away on September 23, 2009, at the age of 91. He leaves his beloved wife, Anita, to whom he was married for 62 years; his children Paul Fay III, Katherine Fay and Sally Fay Cottingham; and seven grandchildren.

Mr. Fay, a fourth-generation San Franciscan, was born in San Francisco in 1918 to a distinguished family. His father, Paul B. Fay Sr., was President of the Fay Improvement Company, a paving contracting firm founded in 1875, and gave young Paul the nickname ``Red'' as a child, which his friends called him for the rest of his life. He graduated from Stanford University in 1941 with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and he enlisted in the Navy shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II.

It was during his service in the Navy that Mr. Fay met and became friends with President John F. Kennedy. In 1942, after attending Officer Training School, Mr. Fay was assigned to PT boat training in Melville, Rhode Island, where the future President was his instructor. They met during a touch football game. They were later assigned to the same base in the South Pacific and became friends after both of their boats were damaged. President Kennedy's PT-109 was attacked in an event that made him a war hero, and Mr. Fay's boat was struck by a torpedo, after which he was awarded a Bronze Star. While their ships were temporarily out of action, they roomed together in a small Quonset hut and became fast and lasting friends.

After the war, Mr. Fay returned to San Francisco and joined the family business. In 1947, he married the love of his life, Anita Marquez of Mill Valley. He remained close with John F. Kennedy and became a political supporter and a trusted adviser in his inner circle, working on his election campaigns for the House of Representatives, Senate, and the Presidency. When John Kennedy was elected President in 1960, he appointed Mr. Fay Under Secretary of the Navy, an office he held until January 1965.

After leaving Washington, Mr. Fay returned to the Bay Area and the family business, which he sold and later resurrected as a financial consulting and business ventures firm. He wrote a best-selling book, ``The Pleasure of His Company,'' a memoir of his close friendship with the late President Kennedy. He became a founding partner of William Hutchinson & Co., an investment research and brokerage firm, and he was for many years a director of First American Financial and Vestaur Securities. He retired from business in 2005.

Among Mr. Fay's many social and charitable activities was his work with Youth Tennis Advantage, a Bay Area organization that helps teach tennis to at-risk youth. He also contributed his time to such charitable causes as the Robert Odell Foundation, the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, and the American Ireland Fund, whose San Francisco Chapter named him ``Man of the Year'' in 1995. He was a trustee of the Naval War College Foundation and of Mount St. Joseph-St. Elizabeth of San Francisco, and he was a member of the Pacific Union Club, Bohemian Club, Burlingame Country Club, Chevy Chase Club, California Tennis Club and the Vintage in Indian Wells, California.

Mr. Fay was an extraordinary host, an accomplished master of ceremonies and indefatigable organizer of everything from charities to family touch-football games. An accomplished athlete, he played baseball at Stanford and enjoyed tennis and golf well into his eighties. He was a central figure in Bay Area society whose warmth and charm never failed to draw others to him, and he had hundreds of friends from all walks of life. He was a man of great integrity and everyone who knew him came away a better person.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring a national treasure and an extraordinary American, Paul Burgess ``Red'' Fay, and in extending my deepest sympathy to his entire family during this difficult time. He represented the best of America and his decades of contributions to his family and friends, his community and his country stand as lasting legacies of a life lived exceedingly well. How privileged I am to have known him, to represent him and to have had him as my friend. He loved his community and his country and he served both with distinction, making our Nation a better place for generations to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life and work of my friend and fellow public servant Rosemary Stasek who passed away at the age of 46 on September 24, 2009, in Afghanistan. Rosemary is survived by her beloved husband, Morne Du Preez of South Africa, her parents Patricia and Andrew Stasek of McAdoo, Pennsylvania and many other loved ones.

Rosemary was born in 1963 and raised in northeast Pennsylvania. She graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics, the first person in her family to graduate from college. She was a Dean's List student and manager of the football and wrestling teams.

Rosemary served two terms on the City Council in Mountain View, California, located in the 14th Congressional District. She was elected to her first term in 1996, re-elected in 2000, served as Vice Mayor in 1999 and as Mayor for the year 2000. She represented the City in many regional, statewide and national forums, specializing in issues pertaining to housing and homeland security. She was committed to many City initiatives and fought to protect the environment, youth programs and services, diversity, parks and trails and the public open space. She served on the City Council at a time when they took critical steps to meet the need for affordable housing in the community, downtown revitalization, increased transportation options, and new business developments. Current Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga notes, ``Our City was blessed to have known such a dedicated and talented person. Our community has benefitted from her tireless efforts and leadership on behalf of everyone, but especially those who are most in need. This is a loss that is felt throughout Mountain View and countless parts of the world she has touched . . .''

In addition to serving on the Mountain View City Council, Rosemary had a broad history of political involvement, especially women's issues. She served on the Board of Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte and the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women. Her honors included being named a Distinguished Woman of the 14th Congressional District, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights Freedom of Religion Award,

and the Alameda National Women's Political Caucus Pro-Choice Champion Award. She was also a nominee for the Silicon Valley Women of Achievement Award and was a candidate for the California State Assembly in March 2002.

In 1999 she was selected by the Secretary of Defense to participate in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, which took her to military installations across the country and aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. She broadened her knowledge of military affairs, especially issues involving women serving in the Armed Forces. She served as a member of the U.S. Air Force Space Commanders Group.

Rosemary also worked for over a decade in the computer industry as a web developer and system administrator for prominent high tech firms in Silicon Valley. As always, she was dedicated to making a difference for the next generation and spent six years as an instructor at De Anza Community College teaching Introduction to Microcomputer Networks. She was also a certified substitute high school teacher for social sciences, English and special education classes, and taught in the Palo Alto Unified School District.

Rosemary's interest in international issues took her to Nepal, Ecuador, France, Britain, Holland, Germany, Italy, The United Arab Emirates, The Czech and Slovak Republics, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Venezuela, Tanzania and Vietnam. In 1998 she traveled to Cuba as a member of a special women's delegation.

Rosemary lived in Kabul, Afghanistan working on reconstruction and development projects. She first traveled to Afghanistan in May of 2002 as a member of a delegation of young Afghan-Americans working on reconstruction. She returned home after 2 weeks, but decided to return in June 2003 to work on a project to improve conditions for women in the Kabul prison, and in March 2004 she worked in maternity hospitals. In June 2004 she taught preservation, and in 2005 she spent most of the year living and working there as the logistics manager for the Kabul Beauty School. She returned again in February 2006 and had since resided in Kabul full time working on women's projects. Rosemary was also the Founder and Executive Director of A Little Help, a nonprofit that she began in 2002 which provides humanitarian aid in Afghanistan with a focus on women.

Ever the fighter, she remained in Kabul to continue her work even after she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It was there that she met Morne du Preez, a South African who works as a private contractor protecting diplomats. They fell in love and were married two years ago. She was an extraordinary leader, teacher, advocate and mentor with a heart of gold who inspired passion in those around her to think and see beyond themselves and make a difference in the world.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring Rosemary Stasek. Through her countless contributions to her family, friends, colleagues, local community and the international community, she has left a lasting legacy of compassion, empowerment and excellence. She represented the best of America, strengthened our country and made the world a better place.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a Bay Area icon, Joseph Cannon Houghteling, who passed away at his home on June 23, 2009, in San Francisco, California, at the age of 84. He was a distinguished American, a dedicated publisher, and a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

Joe Houghteling was born in San Francisco and attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale in 1947 and throughout his life lived in Palo Alto, Los Gatos, Atherton and Portola Valley.

In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Joe Houghteling and his partners published a string of newspapers that included the Los Gatos Times- Observer, The Sunnyvale Standard, The Mountain View Register-Leader, The Gilroy Dispatch, and The Pleasanton Times. He was a California delegate to the Democratic Conventions in 1956, supporting Adlai Stevenson, and in 1960, supporting John F. Kennedy.

He was Northern California Treasurer of the 1960 Kennedy campaign and he actively participated in many other campaigns, including those of Governors Pat and Jerry Brown, Senator John Tunney, Senator Dianne Feinstein

and former Congressman Pete McCloskey. He also served on the State Park Commission, the State Highway Commission, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Joe Houghteling was President of the National Maritime Museum Association in San Francisco from 1992-1994 and served on the boards of many distinguished nonprofits including Stanford Hospital, California Tomorrow, the Planning and Conservation League Foundation, the Coro Foundation, Peninsula School and the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Joe Houghteling lived his life beautifully, gracefully, and full of commitment and our country and our community are immensely better because of him. I was blessed to know him, to have had his wise counsel and to have his loyal support throughout all the years of my public service.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in extending our deepest sympathy to Mr. Houghteling's wife, Signa Judith Irwin Houghteling, his daughters, Anne of Palo Alto, Elizabeth of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Mary of Berkeley, and his grandson, Philip Cannon Houghteling Balboni of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Joseph Cannon Houghteling gave our country a lifetime of service and we are a grateful nation for all he did throughout his special life.

Madam Speaker, I was not present during the rollcall vote No. 548 on July 16. I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, I was not present during the rollcall vote No. 512 on July 9, 2009. I would like the Record to reflect how I would have voted:

On rollcall vote No. 512 I would have voted ``aye.''

(By unanimous consent, Ms. Wasserman Schultz was allowed to speak out of order.)

congressional women's softball game

I thank the very distinguished chairwoman of the State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, Mrs. Lowey, who is a great friend, and I want to thank her staff for their diligence in working with us. They have been absolutely more than wonderful on an important issue.

My intention today is to confirm that the $20 million provided by the subcommittee for religious minorities in Iraq is intended to focus on the needs of the Nineveh Plains region.

Did the subcommittee intend that this funding for ethnoreligious minorities focus on the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac/Christians of the Nineveh Plains region since that is the primary location of these displaced persons?

I yield to the gentlewoman.

Is the chairwoman's view that the State Department should ensure that these funds are used to support a range of programs such as security, small microenterprise development, agriculture capacity building, economic development, educational institution capacity building, health care enhancement, and democratization programs, including the dialogue on the Nineveh Plain Administrative Unit?

Would the chairwoman support the award of these funds to nongovernmental organizations that are already working tirelessly in the region such as the Dominican Sisters, the Assyrian Aid Society, the Nineveh Center for Research and Development, the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, and other groups that provide services to all people on a nondiscriminatory basis?

I can't thank the chairwoman enough for her support of funding to alleviate the plight of these ancient people so critical to the future of Iraq. Her efforts are going to help hundreds of thousands of displaced ethnoreligious minorities. And I know that our colleagues Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Congressman Gary Peters, and certainly Congressman Frank Wolf thank you for your leadership and for your attention to this issue that matters to so many. God bless you.

I thank our very distinguished chairman for yielding.

First, Madam Speaker, congratulations to you and God speed.

There may be no more critical issue facing our Nation today than that of our energy future and the desperate need for new policies that will dramatically and forever change how we live and work in our country. Our national security is irrevocably linked to it. Our economic stability depends on it. The future of our planet, the legacy of health and prosperity we all want to leave for our children cannot be assured without it. So it's time to take up this energy bill.

In this season of days we are granted in this honorable institution, this is truly a historic moment. By passing this act, we are guaranteeing an investment of $190 billion in new, clean-energy technologies and energy efficiency, creating jobs, spurring on new industries, and fulfilling the desire of all Americans that each of us in our own way can make this a better world.

In my home district of Silicon Valley, dozens of burgeoning companies at the cutting edge of green and clean-energy technology are poised for an explosion in innovation and healthy, sustainable economic growth.

I thank the gentleman.

It's a particular pride for me to have had the opportunity to work on this act and to influence some of its outcome. I'm proud that my own bill, H.R. 1742, the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Act, which will allow State and local governments to apply for financial assistance for the deployment of regional infrastructure to support the widespread use of electric vehicles, is included.

We are a hardworking people, Madam Speaker, who face the future with optimism and hope. This act embodies these qualities, a vehicle for our willingness to work hard, to innovate, to

imagine a better future, and then to reach out and grasp it.

Mr. Speaker. I was not present during the rollcall vote Nos. 415 to 418 on June 19, 2009. Had I been present, I would have voted:

on rollcall vote No. 415 I would have voted ``yea;''

on rollcall vote No. 416 I would have voted ``aye;''

on rollcall vote No. 417 I would have voted ``aye;''

on rollcall vote No. 418 I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Howard Nichols, an Army veteran, a distinguished teacher, and the Headmaster at The Harker School in San Jose, California. Mr. Nichols passed away from esophageal cancer on December 31, 2008.

During his 32 years as Headmaster of The Harker School, Howard Nichols played a critical role in helping so many young people and his presence is greatly missed today. The following obituary was published in the San Jose Mercury News on January 1, 2009:

``To describe Howard Nichols as the heart and soul of Harker School barely captures the magnitude of the role that the retired headmaster played at the San Jose private school.

``Mr. Nichols also was the visionary, architect, recruiter and administrator who built Harker into a prestigious academic powerhouse. He got to know each child and family, helped teachers find housing and seldom saw a piece of litter on campus he didn't pick up. A product of Harker's predecessor, the Palo Alto Military Academy, Mr. Nichols was a passionate educator who, without a teaching credential, created the largest K-12 independent school in California.

``Mr. Nichols died Dec. 31 of esophageal cancer. He was 68.

``His door at Harker always was open to staff, parents and students and visitors--who, while stopping by to talk, often could help themselves to a chocolate chip cookie, perhaps still warm from the school kitchen, said his wife, Diana Nichols.

`` `Howard was one of the most compassionate people I've ever met,' said John Near, a Harker history teacher whom Mr. Nichols hired 30 years ago. Mr. Nichols considered Harker a family, and instilled that sense of caring in students, Near said.

``Mr. Nichols was born in Bremerton, Washington, and moved to the Oakland area as an infant. In second grade he moved to the Peninsula when his father, Major Donald Nichols, took over the Palo Alto Military Academy. The young Mr. Nichols was a boarder at the Parkinson Street campus, and went home to Los Altos on the weekends. His mother, Jean Fisher, ran a restaurant in Los Altos.

``Mr. Nichols attended Palo Alto High School and Stanford University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. He served two years in the Army, then joined the staff at his father's school. But in the Vietnam era, the military and military schools were falling out of favor. The Palo Alto Military Academy merged with neighboring Miss Harker's School for Girls and moved to San Jose. Mr. Nichols became headmaster in 1973.

``In 1981, Mr. Nichols married Diana Olsen, then a principal at Harker.

``The school expanded to three campuses, one for each level, and eliminated its dormitories to accommodate the high school expansion. Today, it has about 1,750 students in grades K-12.

``Mr. Nichols' skill as a listener, understanding parents' needs, informed his vision for the school, Diana Nichols said. With more dual- worker families, Harker offered after-school programs in sports, art and music, then uncommon among private schools. `The complaint that people have about private schools in general was that it wasn't a neighborhood school. This created the neighborhood,' Diana Nichols said.

``Mr. Nichols also believed that the heart of a good school lies in good teachers, and he recruited nationwide for Harker staff.

`` `He really made everybody feel valued. He used to put his hand on your shoulder and say, `We're lucky to have you,' ' said Chris Nikoloff who took over from Mr. Nichols as head of school. The Nicholses retired in 2005, but continued to consult for the school and serve on the board.

``Mr. Nichols also believed in having fun. He'd challenge students to a contest, such as raising funds for a charity, and if students won, teachers and administrators would pay off by, for example, jumping fully clothed into the school swimming pool. He also created a culture of respect and caring at school, staff recalled.

`` `He was a generous and kind man,' said graduate Sehba Ali Zhumkhawala, founder and principal of KIPP Heartwood charter school in San Jose. `Certainly he was one of the inspirational folks who made me want to go into education.'

``Mr. Nichols also was an athlete, who did 100 push-ups a day until he became too ill three months ago.

`` `He was a really noble man,' Diana Nichols said. `He's irreplaceable.' ''

Madam Speaker, I ask that the entire House of Representatives join me in extending our sympathy to The Harker School and the Nichols family. The work of Howard Nichols at The Harker School will never be forgotten and will continue on in the lives of the many students he inspired as a teacher and Headmaster.

Madam Speaker, I was not present during Senate Amendment to H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, on June 12, 2009. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Sister Helen Donohoe who was called into eternity on Holy Saturday night, April 11, 2009, surrounded by her beloved Sisters, the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

My family was especially blessed to have Sister Helen as our dearest friend for decades. She was gentle, intelligent, loving, wise and holy. The following was read at Sister Donohoe's Memorial Mass celebrating her life:

On November 30, 1918, two and a half months premature, Helen Dorothy Donohoe, the youngest of ten children, was born into a loving and faith-filled family to Patrick and Frances Brogan Donohoe in San Francisco, California. Her father and all her grandparents were immigrants from Ireland. One of her earliest memories was of the family gathering around a large dining room table to say the rosary, a devotion that her father began and which lasted her lifetime.

When she was only four years old, her father died of leukemia, leaving her mother a 41 year-old widow with ten vibrant children. Helen reported that all her siblings were at home until she was six years old, when her oldest brother, Hugh, later a Bishop, entered the seminary. She attended St. Agnes parochial school and Notre Dame High School. During these years two of her older sisters became Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur; two brothers entered the Jesuits; other siblings married. When Helen was seventeen, her mother would not allow her to enter the Notre Dame novitiate, and her brother would not allow her to attend a state college, so she chose the San Francisco College for Women, Lone Mountain, run by the Religious of the Sacred Heart. Helen reported being very aware of how prayerful the nuns were. After three years of college, she wanted to enter religious life, but her mother insisted that she finish college. She even recalled being torn between the Notre Dame Sisters and the Religious of the Sacred Heart. The latter won out.

In August of 1940, she arrived with three other candidates at Kenwood, Albany, New York--the novitiate of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Her eyes were so bad that she ended up working in the sacristy and the library, instead of doing needlework. On February 22, 1943, Helen pronounced First Vows in the Society and returned to the Academy in San Francisco to teach in the elementary school. In May of 1945, she was sent to bed for three months when doctors feared she had incipient tuberculosis. The life of Sister Josefa was a great help during that time. Afterwards, she was sent to recuperate in San Diego, Old

Town, where the first Religious of the Sacred Heart were forming a community and preparing to move to the newly founded San Diego College for Women, later to become the University of San Diego.

By 1946 Helen returned to Atherton, enrolled at Stanford University, and began work on an M.A. in History and later changed to Economics--a long, arduous journey. During this time she was finally professed in Rome on February 9, 1949. By 1951 she received her M.A. in Economics, and she was assigned to Lone Mountain to teach both history and economics and to be junior counselor. From that year until 1967, Helen held a variety of positions at Lone Mountain: Professor, counselor, and assistant to the Dean, until she was named Assistant to the Superior, and later Superior.

One of the young nuns, Mary Jane Tiernan, who arrived from the noviceship at El Cajon, California at that time reports: ``Dear Helen broke ranks and hugged me in welcome. I will never forget her and that warm hug in the midst of an austere scene. She was always warm and loving to me, the youngest in the community. Because of her I maintained my equilibrium in a changing world. She had a laugh, almost a talking giggle, when she thought someone or something was funny. I can still hear it. Throughout my life she was a loving presence. I do know that she was anxious, but she always had that ready Irish sense of humor despite her fears.''

By 1975 Helen became a member of the Western Province Provincial Team, serving with two provincials. In this time period she took a sabbatical, spending a year at Oxford, England, and having exciting excursions in Europe. In 1985 she was Superior at the Society's retirement facility in Atherton, followed by two years in charge of hospitality at the provincial house in St. Louis. After returning West, Helen worked in hospital chaplaincy, and eventually for nine years as Director of the Oakwood Retirement Center.

Those who knew Helen best describe her as gentle, loving, deeply loyal and full of life, open to possibilities, responsible, but light. As one friend said, ``Helen was an absolute delight; she was full of fun and stories. She evoked many good laughs.'' One of her great gifts was that of hospitality in a variety of roles. People felt loved and cared for when Helen was around. Her close friend Sister Be Mardel, said, ``Helen was physically fearful--terrified of being on the edge of a precipice, wary of heights and speed and winding mountain roads. She was, however, steadfast. One could always count on her. She was always ready to help, to support, to listen, and always ready to laugh at herself. A few years ago, Helen said to me, `You know, I'm ready for anything,' and she added, `I've had a big grace.' And, indeed, she did, and that deep peace and calm stayed with her right up to the end.''

In 2004 Helen moved to Oakwood, where, surrounded by her Sisters, she died peacefully on Holy Saturday night, April 11, 2009. Mary Jane Tiernan wrote, ``When I heard that Helen had gone to God, I knelt down in my house and prayed for her and to her. What joy and love she nurtured me with during the years. I know she now enjoys life to the fullest with a shy smile and a twinkle in her eyes.''

Madam Speaker, I ask that the entire House of Representatives join me in extending our sympathy to the Religious of the Sacred Heart and the Donohoe family. Heaven is enhanced with Sister Helen's presence. She left our world better for how she lived her life, for all those she educated, and for her countless acts of love.

I thank the gentleman for yielding the time and for his effective management of the rule.

I am very proud to be on the floor today to support the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights. I think it is about time that this bill came to the floor. Why? There is a demand on the part of the American people because they know they are being abused.

There are two bills that come every month to almost every household, certainly one, the utility bill, people study that, and the other, their credit card bill. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that America really has to go on a credit diet and that we will come through this economic crisis in a different and a better way. But credit is very important in our country because two-thirds of our national economy is comprised of consumer spending. And so credit cards, how they are used, and what people are charged in that usage, is very important.

In recent months, customers have seen their credit card payments skyrocket, with sudden and sharp increases in interest rates, confusing repayment schedules, all in an effort for the banks and the credit card companies to recoup their financial losses from other things that they have done.

Good, stable credit card customers have watched as their existing balances tripled and even quadrupled without warning and without justification. Credit card defaults are at an all-time high. When we reform this, this is going to help to stimulate our economy by putting more dollars back into the hands of consumers and not in coffers of the credit card companies. These companies will no longer be allowed to penalize cardholders who pay on time or shift allocation of payments to maximize interest rates. It is a rope-a-dope system that is being foisted on the American people, and we all know it. That is why we have to take this step today.

I salute Representatives Maloney and Gutierrez for their tenacity in bringing this bill to the floor. I hope all Members will support this, and the American people will know by the votes in the House who is standing on their side.

Madam Speaker, I rise to share a story about my constituent, Mirah Horowitz. I have known Mirah since she was 5 years old and have watched her grow from a gregarious young girl into a dedicated public servant. She served as a Clerk on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals; as a Clerk in the United States Supreme Court; and as a key staffer for both Senators Kerry and Menendez.

Now she has found a way to serve the public by helping find dogs for families who want them. Dog rescue is often viewed through the lens of saving the lives of dogs, but this is not the only thing Mirah sees in her work . . . she is helping to enhance families and bring joy to them.

I commend Mirah on her role in founding K-9 Lifesavers and for providing the organization with the leadership it needs to become a successful endeavor.

Every dog that is rescued ends up in a loving home with a family that would otherwise be incomplete. In these tough economic times, families need a source of comfort, their children need a source of joy, and just about everyone can use a bit of loyalty and companionship.

Mirah is one of the founding partners and Executive Director of K-9 Lifesavers, an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) headquartered in Virginia. K-9 Lifesavers is a unique dog rescue. It is dedicated to rescuing dogs who face certain euthanasia in high kill shelters across the Eastern seaboard. Unlike most rescues, K-9 Lifesavers does not turn away dogs that need special medical care before they can be adopted, like heartworm positive dogs or dogs with orthopedic problems. Instead, K-9 raises the money needed to be sure the dogs are healthy on their way to adoptive homes.

How proud I am of Mirah Horowitz and all her extraordinary accomplishments. K-9 Lifesavers bears her indelible marks of compassion and caring, and we are all grateful for her leadership.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 1404, the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement (FLAME) Act and I salute Chairman Rahall for bringing this important bill to the floor today.

Last year a series of wildfires devastated counties across California, including Santa Cruz County in my Congressional District. The fires burned 1.4 billion acres of land across the State and cost over $1 billion to contain. Experts expect a similarly difficult fire season in California this year. Over the past decade wildland fires have increased in size and quantity, and projections indicate that this trend will continue due to climate change, drought, and other factors.

The skyrocketing costs of fighting wildland fires have forced the Forest Service and Department of Interior to ``borrow'' funds from non- fire programs, distracting these agencies from their core missions. Wildland fire activities now account for 48 percent of the Forest Service budget and more than 10 percent of the Interior Department budget.

This bill will create the FLAME Fund to help cover the costs of fighting fires after the money appropriated by the federal government runs out. Agencies may use this fund only if the Secretary of Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture deems the fire large enough or dangerous enough to warrant using the fund.

The FLAME Act requires the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to submit a report to Congress containing a comprehensive wildland fire management strategy. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found

that the federal land management agencies lack such a plan and the USDA Inspector General found that the Forest Service lacks any system to ensure that the highest priority fuel reduction projects are being funded first. This report by the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture will address the recommendations made by both GAO and the USDA Inspector General.

To ensure that the money is going to where it is most needed, the bill requires that yearly reports be made available to the public on the use of the FLAME Fund. It also requires the Secretaries to conduct a review of wildland fire incidents that result in expenses greater than $10,000,000 and requires the Secretaries to notify Congress whenever the FLAME Fund drops to a level estimated to cover just two months worth of expenditures.

The FLAME Act establishes a wildfire grant program within each department that will assist communities in preparing for wildfires. Grants will go towards purchasing firefighting equipment and training programs for local firefighters. The money will also be used for education and public awareness of wildfires and to development community wildfire protection plans.

This bill is necessary so that agencies no longer have to move funding around to make up for the increased costs of wildfire suppression programs. The fund will provide a safety net in the event of catastrophic fires, such as those that occurred in California last year. It will also ensure that the Federal Government has an effective and comprehensive plan for wildland fire management.

I'm proud to support this bill and I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, the field of biotechnology is the future of medicine. Scientists and doctors are just beginning to scratch the surface of the potential to harness the extraordinary power of biology and the astounding natural processes which occur in the human body, in animals, and in other living organisms to advance breakthrough medical discoveries and treatments. While ordinary pharmaceuticals primarily treat the symptoms of a disease or illness, biotechnology products-- ``biologics''--can be manipulated to target the underlying mechanisms and pathways of a disease.

Through the study of biotechnology, the potential exists to develop effective treatments for cancer and AIDS, many of which are already saving lives. We will cure diabetes. We will prevent the onset of deadly and debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's, heart disease, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and arthritis. We will save millions of lives and improve countless more.

The development of biologics is expensive and extremely risky. Bringing a biologic to market can require hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development costs and can take several years. For every successful biologic, there are another 10 or 20 that do not pan out, making the incentives for investment in this field extremely sensitive for any changes in the regulatory structure for biologics.

In 1984 the highly successful Hatch-Waxman Act was enacted, establishing a new market for generic versions of pharmaceuticals. Today, patients can buy generic drugs that are safe and save them money compared with brand name drugs. The Pathway for Biosimilars Act will accomplish the same thing for biologics.

In the relatively young industry of biotechnology, many of the original patents on biologics are beginning to expire and it's appropriate for Congress to consider how ``follow-on'' biologics or ``biosimilars'' are considered and approved by the FDA, and the impact these products will have on patient health and safety, health care costs, and incentives for innovation.

As a primary matter, it's important to recognize that traditional ``small-molecule'' pharmaceuticals and biologics are fundamentally different in their development, their manufacture and their chemical makeup. A traditional small-molecule drug is manufactured through synthesis of chemical ingredients in an ordered process, and the resulting product can be easily identified through laboratory analysis. A biologic is a large, complex molecule, which is ``grown'' in living systems such as a microorganism, a plant or animal cell. The resulting protein is unique to the cell lines and specific process used to produce it, and even slight differences in the manufacturing of a biologic can alter its nature. As a result, biologics are difficult, sometimes impossible to

characterize, and laboratory analysis of the finished product is insufficient to ensure its safety and efficacy.

The pharmaceutical drug production process is easily replicated and a ``generic'' drug product is virtually identical to the original innovative product, so generic drug manufacturers are permitted to reference the original testing data submitted by the innovator companies when the original drug is submitted to the FDA for approval. With biologics, the manufacturing process is unique to each biologic and is not generally disclosed as part of the published patent. A biosimilar manufacturer would have to have intimate knowledge of these proprietary processes in order to ``duplicate'' the biologic product, and even then it is extremely difficult--no two living cell lines are identical, so no two biologics manufacturing processes have identical starting materials or proceed in the same way.

It's also important to note that because biologics are produced with cells from living organisms, many of them can cause an immune reaction which is normally benign and does not affect safety. However, some of these reactions can negate the effectiveness of the biologic or even cause side effects that are more dangerous. Most of these reactions can only be observed through clinical trials with real patients.

Any expedited regulatory pathway for biosimilars must account for all these factors and I'm proud to join with Congressman Jay Inslee and the Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Joe Barton, to introduce the Pathway for Biologics Act. Our bill builds on the significant progress the Senate, led by Senators Kennedy and Enzi, already made during the last Congress, as well as the significant level of consensus we have heard on our Committee about this issue. The Pathway for Biologics Act will establish a new statutory pathway for biosimilars guided by three principles:

1. Legislation to facilitate the development of biosimilars should promote competition and lower prices, but patient safety, efficacy and sound science must be paramount.

2. We must preserve incentives for innovation and ensure that patients will continue to benefit from the ground-breaking treatments biotechnology alone can bring.

3. We must strive to protect the rights of all parties and resolve disputes over patents in a timely and efficient manner that does not delay market entry and provides certainty to all parties.

The regulatory pathway set forth in the Pathway for Biologics Act embodies each of these principles and sets forth a sensible, scientifically sound process for approval of biosimilars. The legislation allows for input from all interested parties and provides FDA appropriate flexibility to protect patient health by requesting analytical, animal and clinical studies to demonstrate the safety, purity and potency of a biosimilar. The FDA will be empowered to require the tests and data it deems necessary, but the results of clinical testing for immunogenicity will always be required as part of this data unless the FDA has published final guidance documents advising that such a determination is feasible in the current state of science absent clinical data and explaining the data that will be required to support such a determination. Since biologics are derived from human and animal products, immune reactions are a major concern for any new biologic product and are now impossible to detect without actual human testing.

Our legislation also addresses the important issue of interchangeability of biosimilars for the reference product. Some legislative proposals would allow the FDA to permit pharmacists and insurers to substitute a biosimilar for a physician's prescription for an innovator biologic product even when they cannot be demonstrated to be identical in their composition or effectiveness. Interchangeability of generic pharmaceuticals for brand name drugs is entirely appropriate since traditional generic drugs are chemically identical to the reference product. However, if the state of science is such that a complex molecule cannot be fully characterized and a precursor biologic cannot be adequately compared to a proposed biosimilar, then the biosimilar should not be fully substitutable for the precursor product without a physician's direction. The Pathway for Biologics Act makes it clear that the FDA cannot make a determination that a biosimilar is interchangeable with a reference product until it has published final guidance documents advising that it is feasible in the current state of scientific knowledge to make such determinations with respect to the relevant product class and explaining the data that will be required to support such a determination. This requirement is consistent with the recommendations of the Chief Scientist of the FDA.

An essential element of any new regulatory scheme for the biotech industry is a careful balancing of incentives for innovation and opportunities for new entry by competitors. To preserve incentives for innovation, the Pathway for Biologics Act provides 12 years of data exclusivity for new biologic products, which ensures that biosimilar applications that rely on the safety and efficacy record of existing biologic products will not be permitted to enter the market for 12 years following the approval of the innovator product. The 12-year exclusivity period is meant to preserve existing protections biotech companies receive from patents. The Congressional Budget Office has found that the effective patent life for pharmaceuticals is about 11.5 years, so a data exclusivity period of 12 years is consistent with that finding. Data exclusivity is necessary to provide additional protections and incentives for biologics because biosimilars--unlike generic drugs--will not be chemically identical to the reference product and will be less likely to infringe the patents of the innovator.

The legislation also includes incentives for additional indications and pediatric testing. New indications are critical for biologics and are often more significant than the indications for which approval was granted. Incentives for continued testing on new indications must be included to promote access to new treatments and cures, and this bill provides an additional two years exclusivity for new indications. I also believe it's important to provide incentives similar to those given traditional pharmaceuticals under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act to biologics, so the legislation provides an additional six months of data exclusivity for testing for use in pediatric groups.

In order to protect the rights of all parties and ensure that all patent disputes involving a biosimilar are resolved before the expiration of the data exclusivity period, the Pathway for Biosimilars Act establishes a simple, streamlined patent resolution process. This process would take place within a short window of time--roughly 6-8 months after the biosimilar application has been filed with the FDA. It will help ensure that litigation surrounding relevant patents will be resolved expeditiously and prior to the launch of the biosimilar product, providing certainty to the applicant, the reference product manufacturer, and the public at large. The legislation also preserves the ability of third-party patent holders such as universities and medical centers to defend their patents.

Once a biosimilar application is accepted by the FDA, the agency will publish a notice identifying the reference product and a designated agent for the biosimilar applicant. After an exchange of information to identify the relevant patents at issue, the applicant can decide to challenge any patent's validity or applicability. All information exchanged as part of this procedure must be maintained in strict confidence and used solely for the purpose of identifying patents relevant to the biosimilar product. The patent owner will then have two months to decide whether to enforce the patent. If the patent owner's case is successful in court, the final approval of the application will be deferred until the patent expires.

Madam Speaker, I believe the Pathway for Biosimilars Act sets forth a straightforward, scientifically based process for expedited approval of new biologics based on innovative products already on the market. This new biosimilars approval pathway will promote competition and lower prices, but also ensure that patients are given safe and effective treatments that have been subjected to thorough scrutiny and testing by the FDA. The Pathway for Biosimilars Act will also protect the rights of patent holders and preserve incentives for innovation in the biotechnology sector to develop the next generation of life-saving, life-changing therapies.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support the Pathway for Biosimilars Act.