Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, it is a privilege for me to honor Richael Young of Foster City, California, on being elected president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC).

At the young age of 20, Richael has already accomplished much and demonstrated tremendous leadership skills. When she was 14 years old she began attending the College of San Mateo where she, along with two other students, founded their school's chapter of the National Community College Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa. By 16, Richael was vice president of operations of this prestigious honor society and just a year later, at age 17, she was elected president. That same year, Richael was elected a student trustee of the San Mateo County Community College district, holding this leadership position for nearly 2 years.

In May of 2008, Richael ran a successful campaign for the at-large senator of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges. On July 13, 2008, the Student Senate for California Community Colleges held officer elections, and I am proud to announce that Richael was elected president. Richael is not only the youngest person to ever hold this position, but she is also the first woman to do so. In this prominent role, she will be representing California's 110 community colleges and 2.6 million students.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring Ms. Richael Young whom I am so proud to have interning in my Washington, DC office serving the people of the 14th Congressional district. We have all benefited from her intelligence, diligence and dedication to excellence. We wish her our best as the president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and the contributions she will no doubt make to California and our country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Robert C. Lobdell of Menlo Park, California, who passed away on Monday, July 7, 2008 at the age of 82. He leaves his beloved wife Nancy to whom he was married for almost 56 years; his four children, Jim, John, Terri and William; and 11 grandchildren.

Born in Mankato, Minnesota in 1926, Robert Lobdell moved to Manhattan Beach with his family in 1942. During World War II he served in the Army Air Forces and later attended Stanford University where he earned a law degree in 1950. He married Nancy Lower in 1952 and they lived in Long Beach, California for more than 30 years before moving to Menlo Park in 2004.

After receiving his law degree, Mr. Lobdell went on to work for the Los Angeles Times and the Times Mirror, the newspaper's former parent company, from 1965 to 1986. During his time there, Mr. Lobdell served as vice president and general counsel, successfully argued numerous major media cases, and developed a reputation as one of the Nation's leading First Amendment attorneys. Among his many important media cases, Mr. Lobdell successfully argued that a newspaper had the right to control the content of advertisements it publishes and won a landmark media case in 1982 brought by the Federal Trade Commission, which tried to stop the practice of media companies giving discounts to frequent advertisers. He also worked to free Times reporter Bill Farr in 1973 after he was jailed for refusing to reveal his source to a judge in the Charles Manson murder case.

Mr. Lobdell received numerous accolades from his peers and earned their respect, admiration and affection. He was known as a hard- working, kind colleague, and a fine lawyer who advocated hard-hitting journalism and fiercely tackled legal challenges to protect and support the editors and journalists at the Times.

Mr. Lobdell was a devoted husband and father and when he wasn't working, he spent time with his wife and children. An active member of the community, he served on the boards of numerous organizations. He had a love of the arts and at age 60, he became part of the student body at Cal State Long Beach, taking classes including Italian, literature and history, as well as a study abroad program. His family remembers his great enthusiasm for life which lasted until the end.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring the life of Robert C. Lobdell and in extending my deepest sympathies to his entire family during this difficult time. As an exceptional lawyer and free speech advocate, a loving husband, father and grandfather, he has left lasting legacies which have made our country stronger and better.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act. This bill addresses a serious problem for those Americans with chronic diseases or disabilities who have a lifetime cap on their insurance benefits and I'm proud to introduce this much-needed legislation.

Most people are unaware that more than half of all private health insurance policies in the U.S. have a lifetime cap on benefits. Once a cap is reached, these individuals are released from their healthcare plans and forced to pay for their expenses out of pocket, try to qualify for Medicaid or other State programs, or seek free care from hospitals or other providers. Some people who reach their limits may forego treatment or use fewer services, which can result in higher costs of care in the future. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2007 Annual Survey of Employer Health Benefits, over half of employer-sponsored health plans set aggregate lifetime caps on covered benefits, which are most typically set at $2 to $3 million.

It's not a secret that medical expenditures have grown much faster than inflation, especially for those with chronic diseases and disabilities. Increasing the minimum lifetime cap will result in a net savings for Federal and State governments by allowing individuals with high medical costs to maintain private insurance rather than be forced onto Medicaid.

The Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act will phase in an increase in the lifetime caps placed on private group health insurance plans, reaching $10 million in 4 years. The bill also calls for an Institute of Medicine study to determine the number of individuals that reach their lifetime caps.

People shouldn't have to job-hop in order to switch insurance plans or quit their job altogether to access Medicaid. This legislation will protect individuals who do have insurance and are still struggling to pay for expensive medical treatments due to their long-term medical conditions.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House on this bill and with Senator Dorgan, who has introduced the legislation in the Senate.

Mr. Chairman, I want to salute the chairman of our committee for his superb leadership and caring so much about not only the issues of intelligence but everyone that is a part of the intelligence community. I want to thank all of the marvelous staff on the majority and minority side, and I salute the ranking member of the committee as well.

This is a tough committee to serve on. People don't know what we are talking about. We do it in secret. We really can't talk to our colleagues very much about it. And yet we make some of the weightiest decisions that any Members of Congress would make because we deal with what is the most important issue, and that is our national security, the protection of the American people and giving the intelligence community, making the choices to give the intelligence community all the tools it needs in order to function and protect the American people and that we weigh and balance and always know that we are working under the Constitution of the United States of America. So this is really where the rubber meets the road.

I support the bill. Just like all of the other bills we deal with, there are pluses and minuses. I am very pleased that there are no earmarks in this bill. That is the first time since I came onto the committee that that is the case. I am very glad that 75 percent of the dollars for covert action have been fenced. In other words, no notification from the administration and from the intelligence community, no money. And that's the way it should be because the American people expect us to verify. They expect us to know and then we can take action. We have to do oversight.

For the first time in the history of our country, we have brought together a National Intelligence Assessment on global climate change and the effect it will have on national security. I am very proud of the work we have been able to do on that.

For the first time there will be an inspector general in the intelligence community; and the administration, believe it or not, is still fighting that. Imagine having an inspector general, independent oversight of the intelligence community. I think that's a darn good idea and I hope it will prevail and that the President changes his mind on this.

We still have a lot of work to do to have more human intelligence in countries where we need them. We have a lot of work to do on black prison sites, the operation of them by the CIA and renditions. But with that, Mr. Chairman, I want to commend especially Congressman Bud Cramer for the magnificent, honest work he has done on the Intelligence Committee and here in the Congress and wish him well, and Mr. Everett, too.

I ask my colleagues to support the bill. It has good things and it has some other things that are missing. But overall, I think it is a bill worth supporting.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman of our committee, Mr. Dingell, for his leadership on this issue and so many others.

There are two things that relate to health care that absolutely mystify me. The first is that any President, this President, would oppose insuring children in the United States of America. Fought that, fought that, fought that, would not expand and add 10 million children to the health care rolls in our country. I don't understand any President of the United States doing that.

And today, we are here to override his veto. Imagine, vetoing a bill that allows seniors to have doctors take care of them. It's one heck of a way to gut Medicare. There isn't any Medicare unless there are doctors to treat the patients. In this case, it is the seniors of our country.

I am proud that Republicans and Democrats are coming together to provide the vote to override that bad, bad idea. And it serves the country well because when we invest in our people, whether they are children or seniors, we strengthen our Nation.

I thank God for Edward Kennedy and showing his tenacity to get up out of his sick bed to cast that vote which then injected some iron in the spine of Members of Congress. So I join with my colleagues gladly and proudly today to override the President's veto in order to sustain Medicare, to save money, but more importantly than anything else, to invest in their precious lives and to celebrate that generation that all of us hail that made America so strong and so good. Thank you, Congress, for providing the votes to do so.

Madam Speaker, it is a privilege for me to pay tribute to Google, Inc., of Mountain View, CA, for being recognized with the prestigious National Design Award given by the Smithsonian's Cooper- Hewitt National Design Museum.

The National Design Awards were created in 2000 by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum to educate the public about design. They honor and celebrate the best in American design with recipients being selected from a pool of over 800 talented designers, educators, journalists, cultural figures and corporate leaders. The National Design Awards program presents awards in ten different categories and this year they recognized Google for their leadership and talents with an award in Corporate Design.

Today. Google is recognized as one of the world's most important innovators and they achieved this in a remarkably short 10-year period. Under the superb leadership of Dr. Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive officer, and the two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google has consistently demonstrated the finest in cutting-edge technology and has gained the confidence of their clients and investors alike. I'm proud to represent Google as a constituent company in the distinguished 14th Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, I ask our colleagues to join us in honoring Google, Inc., for being recognized with the prestigious National Design Award given by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, for the leadership they provide in Silicon Valley and around the world, and for always looking ahead to capture the imagination of the next generation with their commitment to innovation.

Madam Speaker; first I want to commend the Chairman and the Majority leader for the work they've done to bring this legislation to the floor of the House. It has been a challenge for all of us on the Intelligence Committee and in the Congress.

This legislation is a vast improvement over the previous law, and indeed over the Protect America Act passed by the House last August which I opposed.

The bill very importantly establishes a process for electronic surveillance that includes prior approval by the independent courts, and in some respects, this legislation goes even further than the existing FISA statute or the House-passed RESTORE Act in protecting the civil liberties of U.S. persons. Under this bill the Administration would have to seek a court order before conducting surveillance on U.S. persons abroad. Until now and under the Protect America Act, the executive branch could conduct electronic surveillance of U.S. persons without prior judicial approval. This legislation also allows the lawsuits against the telecommunications companies to go forward in a limited fashion, which would not have occurred at all under current law.

Having said this I must oppose this bill.

Under the original structure of FISA, telecommunications carriers served an important gate-keeping function. They were not permitted to provide access to private communications in the United States unless the government made a lawful request to conduct surveillance, pursuant to a FISA order. For decades, the government has sought and obtained thousands of FISA warrants prior to beginning surveillance, or in urgent cases shortly thereafter. We all remember the shocking news when the President had to acknowledge that his Administration created an illegal, warrantless electronic surveillance program outside of the FISA legal framework.

This legislation would essentially grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications carriers who relied on statements made by this Administration that the program was lawful. However, as we've seen in numerous instances, this Administration pushed new and aggressive interpretations of the law, including in this area. We all recall vividly the days following \9/11\, and the urgency that prevailed, but suspending our laws and allowing the Attorney General to unilaterally issue a ``get out of jail free card'' is not appropriate under any circumstances. There should be at least some minimal inquiry into whether the telecommunications carriers reliance on the statements made by this Administration was reasonable. If so, the they would be able to assert their existing statutory immunity defenses.

Throughout our Nation's history, the judiciary has been the most important check on an overzealous executive, and it is often through the judicial process that we uncover and remedy some of the most egregious executive misconduct. This legislation undermines and effectively nullifies the courts' ability to hold the Administration accountable for its actions, which likely violated the Constitution.

Our Nation was founded on the principle of separation of powers. The executive branch should be subject to independent oversight by the judicial branch. This legislation does not go far enough to allow the judicial branch to conduct an independent, reasoned inquiry into this critical issue. Therefore, I must oppose this legislation.

Madam Speaker, it's with great honor that I congratulate my constituent, Dan Meyer, a teacher with the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District who has been selected to receive the Cable's Leaders in Learning Award for creating and implementing innovative ways to educate students. He is one of 14 national winners selected from a pool of 44 finalist applications.

As the sole winner in the ``Pushing the Envelope with Cable Technology and Programming'' category, he is being recognized for improving algebra instruction by creating and posting a video lesson for teachers online. Mr. Meyer found a way to improve algebra instruction and share it with math teachers worldwide. After spending three weeks helping students to understand a single algebra equation, he came to the conclusion that using video as a teaching tool was the answer. He produced 10 short videos to accompany his lesson plan, and was shocked at the pace his students learned the once confusing algebraic equations after viewing the videos.

Mr. Meyer decided to post the video and lesson plan on his blog and its viewings jumped from 30 visitors a day to 6,000 downloads in two weeks. His teaching technique has now been shared with teachers all over the country and our Nation's students are better for his efforts.

Our Nation depends on teachers like Dan Meyer who use technology and innovation to help students learn and grow. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Dan Meyer for his extraordinary leadership and distinguishing himself as a Cable's Leaders in Learning Award recipient.

Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act (H.R. 6063).

This bill authorizes $20.2 billion for NASA for the 2009 fiscal year which represents a 14 percent increase over the President's request of $17.6 billion. The President's vision of new manned space missions without requesting adequate funding for the agency has resulted in cuts to other NASA programs, including important earth sciences research. The bill we're considering today addresses the needs of NASA's entire mission and all four of its directorates which encompass space exploration, aeronautics, and other research and technology development programs.

NASA's Ames Research Center is a key component of the vibrant research and innovation community in my Congressional District. With special expertise in supercomputing, networking and intelligent systems, Ames develops technologies critical to NASA's missions. Ames and the other NASA research facilities around the country rely on the funding within the Science Mission Directorate (SMD). The House of Representatives has consistently exceeded the President's budget request and I'm pleased to see this pattern continue today. We have exceeded the Administration's request for all four of the divisions within SMD to ensure that NASA scientists at Ames and across the country have the resources they need.

While this is a good bill, I hope future reauthorizations will revisit the restrictions imposed on NASA's ability to engage in Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) agreements. Just last week Ames Research Center announced it had signed an EUL with Google in a strategic partnership to develop new ideas, technologies, and applications. I hope we can expand this program in the future to provide further opportunities for NASA to develop these fruitful relationships which leverage private sector expertise to use our tax dollars effectively and efficiently.

NASA is a critical component of our nation's research and development infrastructure and I thank the Committee on Science and Technology for their hard work on this bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this legislation.

Madam Speaker, most Americans are not overjoyed to watch television commercials, but they are willing to tolerate them to sustain free over-the-air television. What annoys all of us is the sudden increase of volume when commercials are aired.

While the FCC does not specifically regulate the volume of TV programs or TV commercials, broadcasters are required to have equipment that limits the peak power they can use to send out their audio and video signals. This means the loudest TV commercial can never be louder than the loudest part of any TV program.

A TV program has a mix of audio levels. There are loud parts and soft parts. Nuance is used to build the dramatic effect. Most advertisers don't want nuance. They want to grab our attention, and to do this, they record every part of it as loud as possible. The peak levels of commercials are no higher than the peak levels of program content, but those peaks are sustained for longer periods in commercials.

I've introduced the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, CALM Act, to address the volume of commercials. The bill would mandate that the FCC within one year enact rules requiring that advertisements not be excessively noisy and that they must be at the same volume as the television programming they accompany.

I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this sensible bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of my good friend Stuart G. Moldaw who passed away at the age of 81 on Saturday, May 24, 2008. Stuart is survived by his beloved wife, Phyllis, daughters Carol and Susan Moldaw, and four grandchildren.

A native of Boston and the son of a Russian immigrant, Stuart enlisted in the Navy in 1944 before using the G.I. Rill to attend Syracuse University where he met his future wife, Phyllis lsraelson of Portland, Maine. After graduating in 1949 with a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Economics, Stuart began his retail career at Le Bon Marche, a department store in Lowell, Massachusetts, and married Phyllis in 1950.

He then moved to California to work for another retailer, Lerner Shops, where he became a district manager and oversaw the opening of more than 20 Lerner stores, including ones in Oakland and the Stanford Shopping Center. In 1958, Stuart opened his first retail business, Country Casuals, in Palo Alto.

He also started Pic-a-Dilly, one of the country's earliest off-price apparel chains in 1973, and co-founded Athletic Shoe Factory in 1979, which featured national brands at discounted prices. Both chains were later sold. He also co-founded V.S. Venture Partners, a Mendo Park- based venture capital firm.

Stuart was a longtime Bay Area resident, pioneer entrepreneur and philanthropist who helped transform a small chain of local department stores into the Pleasanton-based retail giant Ross Dress for Less. Ross Stores Inc., acquired by Stuart in 1982, is a Fortune 500 company with $6.1 billion in sales over the last 12 months, more than 900 stores in 27 states and more than 40,000 employees. The original investors in the Ross venture included another Bay Area retail pioneer, Mervin G. Morris, the founder of Mervyns, who had recently retired before becoming one of the Ross investors.

In a career that spanned more than a half-century, Stuart, a resident of Atherton, also helped launch several other retail ventures, including Sail Francisco-based Gymboree, a children's clothing retail chain launched in 1986. At the time of his death, Stuart was chairman emeritus of both Ross Stores and San Francisco-based Gymboree Corp.

Stuart Moldaw cared deeply about people and directed himself to make the world a better place. He was well-respected for his passion and commitment to improving the lives of those around him and was appointed by President Bill Clinton as a Public Delegate to the U.S. Mission at the United Nations in 1993 and as Chairman of the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars in 1996. In 2000, Governor Gray Davis appointed him to chair California's World Trade Commission, and 2 years later he was appointed to California's Little Hoover Commission. He also served on the boards of many Bay Area non-profits, including the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the Jewish Community Endowment Fund and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He gave tirelessly of himself to his family, friends, colleagues and community and set the highest standard for others to follow.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring the life and accomplishments of Stuart G. Moldaw. His decades of contributions to his community and his country stand as lasting legacies of a life lived well. How privileged I am to have known him, represented him and to have had him as my friend. America is better because of him.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Sheila Mary Sullivan Peterson who passed away on May 22, 2008 in her home in Menlo Park, California. She leaves behind her beloved husband Ronald C. Peterson and her children, Molly, Kathleen, and Michael.

The eldest daughter of justice Raymond L. Sullivan and Winifred Carreras Sullivan of San Francisco, Shelia dedicated her life to education and the improvement of the lives of others. A former trustee of Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton and a recipient of the St. Madeleine Sophie Award for service to the schools, she was a blue- ribbon graduate of the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Atherton and a graduate of Lone Mountain, the San Francisco College for Women. She taught at Winfield Scott and Alamo schools in San Francisco and was a member of the Catholic Community at Stanford.

In addition to all those who loved her in the community and in the classrooms, she was the beloved sister of R. Lawrence Sullivan, Jr., Philip Sullivan, Mary Ward, and Mother Agnes of the Cross O.C.D. (Patricia Sullivan), a wonderful sister-in-law and aunt to numerous Peters, Sullivans, and Wards; a close cousin to members of the Wade, Carreras, and Sullivan families.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring the life of Sheila Mary Sullivan Peterson and extend our sympathy to her family. Through her many contributions to her family, friends, students, and community she has left a lasting legacy of love, faith, and mentorship which will never be forgotten and which will live forever in all of us blessed to have known her. She graced our lives and our community, made our country better and now enhances the heavens with her presence.

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to honor Greg Nelson, a resident of your Congressional District who retires today, June 4, 2008, from the teaching of history for over 40 years.

Greg earned his BA in political science and history at San Francisco State in 1967, and soon after began his career at Arcata High School teaching government and geography. He also worked as a volunteer for Vista, a grassroots organization that worked for school and community relations in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, before earning a master's degree in secondary education from the University of San Francisco in 1972. It was that autumn that Greg began teaching history at Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco.

During his 35 years in the history department at Lick, Greg has built his reputation as an accomplished scholar of history and government, and a devoted mentor and advisor to students. His senior seminar in constitutional law remains one of the most popular offerings and helped spawn Constitution Day, which includes competitions and games for the entire student body to celebrate that glorious document. Greg possesses encyclopedic knowledge of U.S. history, to be sure, but always will be best known for his passion for teaching this history to his students year after year. During his tenure at Lick-Wilmerding, he has inspired over 2,500 students to become civically engaged and to take action in order to preserve the best in our democracy. How fitting, then, that the last student project that Greg led was an 8-day immersion in the workings of city government at San Francisco City Hall, which included opportunities for current students to work with many of his former students who now work in public service. What a gift!

Over the years, Greg also has been a beloved student advisor, a happy and willing chaperone, and retreat leader. He has served as Department Chair, and has been a caring mentor to new faculty. His contributions to the school and the larger community truly are legendary. And most of all, his gentle nature and generous nature will be missed.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in congratulating Greg Nelson for an extraordinary teaching career and thank him for honoring our Constitution, for enhancing our democracy, and for strengthening our community and our country.

Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, SVLG, and its contributions to Silicon Valley and the State of California with you.

On July 18, 1977, the exceptional innovator and pioneer, David Packard, gathered thirty of his CEO peers with a simple yet provocative idea. To build an organization that would create a proactive voice for Silicon Valley businesses to ensure the economic health and a high quality of life in Silicon Valley. The organization would be an advocate for affordable housing, comprehensive regional transportation, reliable energy, a quality K-12 and higher education system, a prepared workforce, a sustainable environment, and business and tax policies that would keep California and Silicon Valley competitive.

The idea led to the founding of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, now know as the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, in 1978 with 33 founding members. The first Chair of the Board was Bob Wilson of Memorex and the first Working Chair was Bob Kirkwood of Hewlett Packard. David Packard accepted a seat on the Board and the position of Board Vice Chair. The first president was Bill June and Peter Giles was then hired as CEO. Over the course of the last thirty year's David Packard's vision became a reality and there are many examples of success to highlight, including but not limited to the following:

In 1981, SVLG published its first housing study, emphasizing the need for a jobs-housing balance, and urges public officials to rezone land from industrial and commercial to residential. The report also called for more compact development to help lower housing costs and make better use of the Valley's limited land resources, and to place housing more closely to jobs. Several cities agreed, and thousands of acres are re-zoned for residential development.

In 1982, the Board of Directors helped lead the effort to establish Santa Clara County's first carpool, or ``high occupancy vehicle'' lane on the San Tomas Expressway. Measure A becomes a statewide model of efficiency, with all three projects completed on time and on budget during the measure's 10-year life. Following the lead of Santa Clara County, 19 counties representing nearly 85 percent of all Californians have since passed similar measures. These measures now fund $1 of every $2 invested in the state's transportation system.

1988--Model Toxic Gas Ordinance--The ordinance was aimed at any gas user, private and public sector, to respond to increased concern about the potential release of toxic gases.

1989--Board Endorses Gas Tax Increase--The Board of Directors voted to support Proposition 111--a nine-cent increase in the state gas tax to fund transportation improvements.

1990--Chlorofluorocarbon Reduction--The Board of Directors voted to play a leadership role in reducing CFC's. Silicon Valley high-tech firms became the national leaders in reducing this form of pollution.

1990--Open Space Initiative--Founder David Packard agrees to serve as Honorary Chair of the county's first Open Space Initiative. The measure receives a strong 64 percent support at the polls, but fails under the two-thirds vote requirement. However, it set the stage for the successful measure 4 years later.

1993--Housing Action Coalition Formed--The purpose of the coalition was to advocate for homes that are ``well built, relatively affordable, and appropriately located'' so that Valley cities could service them. With a mission to ``advocate, educate, and legislate,'' the coalition has had a tremendous impact. Today, the coalition consists of more than 200 organizations and individuals.

1993--Board Endorses County's ``Technology Bond'' Proposal--In partnership with the county member companies purchased approximately $12 million in ``technology bonds'' to help the county improve and install technology systems throughout its departments.

1995--Vehicle Buy-Back Coalition Scraps Old Polluting Cars--This innovative demonstration project raises nearly half a million dollars to purchase and permanently retire more than 400 ``gross polluters,'' with a reduction in pollution of more than 400 tons. The demonstration project was so successful that it becomes a model for the Air District's own Buy-Back program.

1997--Eco Pass Partnership Initiated--SVLG is principal business voice in encouraging employers to consider the ``Eco Pass'' Program. The Eco Pass is a transit pass that employers can purchase for their Silicon Valley employees, allowing them the use of buses, express buses, and light rail for the entire year. The first year demonstration program produced a doubling of transit use by employees at participating companies. SVLG also launched the Bay Area Clean Air Partnership--Partnership to engage employers and employees in voluntary programs to reduce pollution on hot, smoggy ``Spare the Air'' days. In its first year of operation, thousands of vehicle trips were avoided and the region did not violate a single day of the federal Clean Air Standards.

1998--Housing Trust Fund Business Plan Approved--The Board endorses the business plan officially launching the County's first Housing Trust Fund. With a goal of raising up to $20 million over the next 24 months, the funds will leverage approximately $200 million worth of housing, with funds equally divided into three categories. They include first- time homebuyers assistance, affordable rental housing, and homeless shelter and assistance. These funds will assist nearly 5,000 Silicon Valley families.

1999--San Jose Teacher Housing Initiative--SVMG partnered with San Jose to launch San Jose's Teacher Housing Initiative, a proposal to assist San Jose teachers to become homebuyers, as well as enhancing recruitment and retention of educators in the community. SVLG also began the Summer Fellowships for Teachers--SVMG partnered with the Industry Institute for Science and Math Education (IISME) on a Summer Fellowship for Teachers program. By partnering with SVMG, the number of teacher fellowships was increased 40 percent from the highest numbers achieved in IISME's 17-year history.

1999--Creating Quality Neighborhoods--SVMG completed a 21-month study to identify every vacant (and underutilized) parcel of land that is zoned commercial, industrial, or residential. The effort will now shift to working with cities to consider the report's findings to ensure there are enough homes for Silicon Valley workers. By following the report's recommendations, the Valley could meet 99 percent of home demand during the next 10 years, rather than the current 50 percent projected if current land use patterns are followed.

2000--Statewide Transportation Plan--More than $1 billion is directed to improvements that benefit the Valley, even though Santa Clara County accounts for only 5 percent of the state population.

2002--Hetch Hetchy Legislation Passes--SVMG, in coordination with BAWUA, successfully advocated for three critical pieces of state legislation to ensure the Hetch Hetchy water system would be updated to withstand earthquakes. This vital system serves the water needs of 2.4 million Bay Area residents and employers.

2005--The Leadership Group's first Annual CEO Washington, D.C. Advocacy Trip, led by Solectron CEO Mike Cannon with 25 executive colleagues, met with 70 key members of Congress in the nation's Capitol. A new ``Middle School Math Initiative'' was reviewed by the Working Council with strong recommendation of the Education Committee. Also, the Leadership Group organized the first ``Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot,'' with 1,900 participants; 240 volunteers and more than $132,000 raised for three local non-profits.

2006--The Board approved a 12-point ``Clean and Green'' Alternative Energy Action Plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions and impact climate change in the region.

2007--SolarTech Begins--Recognizing the growing importance of alternative energy the Leadership Group developed SolarTech. The purpose is to identify, prioritize, and resolve the technical and adoption barriers to solar technology by addressing issues of performance, standards, and workforce readiness.

Today, under the exceptional leadership of Carl Guardino, SVLG has more than 200 member companies and its members contribute more than $1 trillion to the global economy, an amount equal to the gross national product of Italy. Members of the SVLG employ more than 250,000 people in the Valley who constitute one-fourth of the entire private sector workforce in the region. They generate more than $1 trillion worth of business which is approximately eight times as large as California's entire state budget, and represents a significant contribution to the state and the national government treasuries, along with hefty property taxes for local governments.

Madam Speaker, I ask our colleagues to join us in honoring the Silicon Valley Leadership Group as it celebrates its 30 year anniversary marking its extraordinary contributions to the economic health and quality of life to the residents and businesses of Silicon Valley. We salute Carl Guardino, President and CEO, his staff and every member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of an extraordinary neurosurgeon, professor, mentor and hope-giver, Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa.

The New York Times, May 13, 2008, carried a story which described Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa's incredible journey from Mexicali, Mexico, to the world-renowned halls of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His story is the story of America and what immigrants in every chapter of our history contribute to our Nation.

Below is the full text of the article:

A Conversation With Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa: A Surgeon's Path From

Migrant Fields to Operating Room

(By Claudia Dreifus)

At the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Alfredo Quinones-

Hinojosa has four positions. He is a neurosurgeon who teaches

oncology and neurosurgery, directs a neurosurgery clinic and

heads a laboratory studying brain tumors. He also performs

nearly 250 brain operations a year. Twenty years ago, Dr.

Quinones-Hinojosa, now 40, was an illegal immigrant working

in the vegetable fields of the Central Valley in California.

He became a citizen in 1997 while at Harvard.

Q. Where did you grow up?

A. Mexicali. My father had a small gas station. The

family's stability vanished when there was a devaluation of

the Mexican peso in the 1980s. My father lost the gas

station, and we bad no money for food. For a while, I sold

hot dogs on the corner to help. As the economic crisis

deepened, there seemed no possibility for any future in

Mexico. I had big dreams and I wanted more education. So in

1987, when I was 19, I went up to the border between Mexicali

and the United States and hopped the fence.

Some years later, I was sitting at a lunch table with

colleagues at Harvard Medical School. Someone asked how I'd

come to Harvard. ``I hopped the fence,'' I said. Everyone

laughed. They thought I was joking.

Q. After you crossed the border, what kind of work did you

find?

A. I was a farm laborer in the San Joaquin Valley, seven

days a week, sunup to sundown. I lived in this little trailer

I paid $300 a month for. It didn't take long to see that farm

work was a dead end.

After a year of it, I moved to Stockton, where I found a

job loading sulfur and fish lard onto railroad freight cars.

My eyes burned from the sulfur, and my clothes smelled from

fish lard, but it paid me enough so that I was able to go to

night classes at San Joaquin Delta Community College. There,

I met this wonderful human being, Norm Nichols, the speech

and debate coach. He took me into his family and mentored me.

Norm helped me apply for and get accepted to the University

of California, Berkeley.

Once at Berkeley, I took a lot of math and science classes

to up my G.P.A. Science and math are their own language. You

didn't need to write in perfect English to do well in them. I

pulled straight A's in science. In my senior year, someone

told me to go see this guy, Hugo Mora, who helped Hispanics

with science talent. I brought him my transcript and he said:

``Wow! With grades like these, you should be at Harvard

Medical School.'' That's how I got to Harvard. All along, I

had much luck with mentors.

Q. Did you find Harvard tough?

A. Not really. Compared to working in the fields, it was

easy. The question was what kind of doctor should I become?

For a while, I thought I'd be a pediatric oncologist, because

I wanted to help children. But then I thought, I'm good with

my hands. Maybe I should do surgery.

One day, I was waltzing through Brigham and Women's

Hospital and I saw Dr. Peter Black, the chairman of

neurosurgery. I introduced myself, and he invited me that day

to come to watch him do an operation. As it happened, he was

doing an ``awake'' surgery, where the patient's brain is

exposed and the patient is awake so that the surgeon can

ask questions. As I watched that, I fell in love with

brain surgery.

Q. What about it spoke to you?

A. Imagine, the most beautiful organ of our body, the one

that we know least about, the one that makes us who we are,

and it was in Dr. Black's hand. It was in front of me. It was

pulsating! I realized I could work with my hands and touch

this incredible organ, which is what I do now. I cannot

conceive of a much more intimate relationship than that. A

patient grants you the gift of trusting you with their lives,

and there is no room for mistakes.

Dr. Peter Black, he was a very humble person. And he took

me under his wing. So here again, I was very fortunate with

mentorship.

Q. I'm told that you do something that not all surgeons do:

you spend a lot of time with patients before an operation.

Why?

A. I meet them several times, and their families. They

don't know if they are going to wake up after the operation.

Not all the time am I successful. I do about 230 to 240 brain

tumor operations a year. The majority make it. Some have

complications. And some--2 to 3 percent--it takes a while for

the patients to wake up. I need to meet everyone so that they

know the risks. But getting to know these patients, it's the

most painful part.

I was at a funeral yesterday. This was a 21-year-old man

with a young wife, pregnant. Three surgeries, and the tumor

kept growing and growing. And he told me, ``There's no

possible way I'll give up.'' He fought so hard. He trusted me

with his life. Not once, several times. I owed him my

presence.

Q. How do you handle such losses?

A. One of the ways I work it out is through research, the

laboratory. I'm trying to learn about the causes of these

recurring tumors. The patients, they can donate tissue, which

we will examine.

My hypothesis is--and there are quite a few scientists who

believe this--there are within these brain tumors a small

subset of cells that can keep growing, even when you think

you've taken them all out. We call them brain stem cells.

They can keep making themselves, and they can make ``daughter

cells'' that can become anything else in the brain. They have

the ability to go to sleep for a little bit and then wake up

and do it again. So we're trying to identify this small

subset of cells we may be leaving behind when we make these

beautiful surgeries.

Q. Have you actually found them?

A. Yes, but only in the laboratory. When we've found them,

they may be a product of the experimental conditions of the

laboratory. We haven't found them yet in live patients. The

next challenge is to see if they truly exist in the human

brain while the patient is alive.

Q. When you hear anti-immigrant expressions on talk radio

and cable television, how do you feel?

A. It bothers me. Because I know what it was that drove me

to jump the fence. It was poverty and frustration with a

system that would have never allowed me to be who I am today.

As long as there is poverty in the rest of the world and we

export our culture through movies and television, people who

are hungry are going to come here. There's no way to stop it.