Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life of the Honorable Maudelle Shirek, former City of Berkeley vice mayor and eight-term council member. Known throughout our community as the ``godmother of East Bay progressive politics,'' and the ``conscience of the Council,'' Ms. Shirek has left an indelible mark. With her passing on April 11, 2013, we look to the outstanding quality of her life's work and the inspiring role she played in shaping social change here in the East Bay and throughout the world.

Born on June 18, 1911 Maudelle Miller was raised on a farm in Jefferson, Arkansas. The granddaughter of slaves, she was fundamentally passionate about challenging injustice and championing civil rights. After moving to Berkeley in the 1940s, she became active in fighting for the anti-war movement, the integration of the military, and fair housing. She married political activist Brownlee Shirek in the mid- 1960s.

Renowned for her powerful voice and contagious energy, Ms. Shirek broke racial barriers and flexed her leadership at the Berkeley Consumers Co-op Credit Union to secure loans for low-income borrowers and people of color. She fought on behalf of unions, helped organize the Free Mandela Movement, and advocated for HIV/AIDS awareness. She was also the first elected official in the United States to advocate for needle-exchange programs, and was not afraid to chain herself to a building or be hand-cuffed in the name of activism.

During her long tenure as a council member, Berkeley became the first city to divest in companies doing business with South Africa during Apartheid and the first city to provide domestic benefits to same sex partners. She was instrumental in creating multiple city commissions, including the Berkeley Commission on Labor. When she retired at 92, Councilmember Shirek was the oldest elected official in California at the time and, in 2007, the Berkeley City Council renamed City Hall in her honor.

Above all, Maudelle Shirek was a consummate advocate for the poor, often visiting families in crisis or offering food and household assistance to ailing seniors. Additionally, her advocacy on behalf of youth music programs helped raise crucial public funding to support arts programs for children and older adults.

On a personal note, Maudelle was a friend, mentor, and confidante. I met her in the early 1970s while I was a student at Mills College. She widened my perspective on global politics during our travels around the world including Vienna, Prague, Cuba, and the former Czechoslovakia. She reinforced the idea that we are all part of a global family and that what happens here in the United States affects our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world and vice versa. Moreover, her wise guidance as a lifelong health aficionado helped educate seniors and the entire community regarding the benefits of healthy living and natural remedies. She loved shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables and you would often find her cooking nutritious meals at the West Berkeley Senior Center and New Light Senior Center, which she helped found.

Maudelle was also a woman of great faith whose passion for service and justice was driven by a commitment to what she called, ``doing the Lord's work on earth.'' We enjoyed attending the Church for Today together during the 1970s, and I will never forget the day she introduced me to the late Rev. Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams. The impact that they both had on my life is profound. I will also never forget how Maudelle traveled all the way to Washington, DC to look out for me and offer her support after my lone vote back in 2001.

Today, California's 13th Congressional District salutes and honors an outstanding individual and a stalwart community leader, the Honorable Maudelle Shirek. Her bold legacy of service, spanning over seven decades, will continue to inspire many to speak for the voiceless and to stand up for justice across the globe. I join all of Maudelle's loved ones in celebrating her incredible life and her love of humanity. Her warm and beautiful smile will continue to smile down on us. She will be deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary career of Dr. J. Herman Blake as we celebrate over forty five years of his contributions to higher education. Dr. Blake continues to be a celebrated educator, and we join together in praise of his remarkable academic and cultural contributions to the Bay Area, California, and our great nation.

Born John Herman Blake in Mount Vernon, New York on March 15, 1934, Dr. Blake grew up with six siblings and was raised by a single mother, Lylace E. Blake. Dr. Blake served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and furthered his education with the assistance of the G.I. Bill by graduating from New York University with a B.A. degree in sociology. Dr. Blake went on to receive his M.A. degree and his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Blake's exemplary academic career has spanned over four decades as a professor, scholar and administrator at a wide array of institutions. He served an eighteen year tenure at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) where he became the first African American on faculty as the Assistant Professor of Sociology. Dr. Blake also served as the founding Provost of Oakes College at UCSC. Following his tenure at UCSC, Dr. Blake went on to serve as President of Tougaloo College in Mississippi.

He has also held positions at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, Mills College in Oakland, California, served as the Vice Chancellor at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and served as the Director of African American Studies at Iowa State University. Dr. Blake retired from Iowa State University as Professor of Sociology- Emeritus and served most recently as Scholar in Residence and founding Director of the Sea Islands at the University of South Carolina, Beaufort. Currently, Dr. Blake is the Inaugural Humanities Scholar in Residence at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

Throughout his prolific career, Dr. Blake has focused on academic achievement of students from minority and/or low-wealth communities. His important work not only focuses on maximizing student achievement and closing disparate learning gaps between our young people, but also focuses on Gullah communities in South Carolina and Black militants in urban communities.

Dr. Blake has earned myriad accolades, including Iowa Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He has been awarded six honorary degrees and two presidential medals.

As a student at Mills College, I had the privilege to benefit from Dr. Blake's amazing intellect. Also, I worked with him as a researcher for his book, the autobiography of Huey P. Newton, Revolutionary Suicide. He taught me how to conduct and present thorough research and to this day, these skills I learned under Dr. Blake's tutelage have benefitted my work tremendously. Dr. Blake took me under his wings and encouraged me to study hard. He saw something in me that I did not see. He was patient and kind but he was determined to push my intellect and help me understand I could achieve the American dream regardless of the difficulties I faced as a young single mother on public assistance. For that, I am forever grateful.

Therefore, on behalf of California's 13th Congressional District, Dr. J. Herman Blake, I salute you. You have touched countless lives in profound ways throughout your career, and we wish you continued success and happiness. Thank you for your continued work, and best wishes to you and your loved ones in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Clorox Company--founded and headquartered in Oakland, California--as it celebrates the centennial of its founding on May 3, 1913. Since the beginning, Clorox has shown a commitment to doing responsible business while maintaining a close connection to Oakland and the greater-East Bay community.

Initially named the Electro-Alkaline company, Clorox opened the United States' first commercial liquid bleach factory in Oakland in 1913. In 1916, Mr. William Murray became the company's general manager, and with assistance of his wife and fellow entrepreneur Anne Murray, began to market liquid bleach for household use. The first seaborne shipment of Clorox products left the Port of Oakland in 1921 set for the East Coast via the Panama Canal. By 1928 the company was ready to go public on the San Francisco Stock Exchange. The Clorox Company weathered the Great Depression and went on to play an important role in the war efforts during World War II.

Through the second half of the 20th Century, Clorox's products expanded to include a

broad range of consumer items, including Clorox 2 all-fabric bleach, Hidden Valley ranch salad dressing, Kingsford charcoal, KC Masterpiece barbecue Sauce, Pine-Sol cleaners, and the Glad brand of products. From its first expansion into the Canadian market, it has moved into markets in Latin America and beyond.

Even as its size, marketplace, and product base has grown, Clorox has maintained a consistent commitment to Oakland throughout its 100 year history in that city. Since its first donation to the Boy Scouts of America in 1920, Clorox has demonstrated its spirit of philanthropy and engagement in the communities where its employees live and work. The company made a conscious effort by moving its headquarters into Oakland's downtown in the 1970's as part of a major urban renewal project. And, since its creation in 1980, The Clorox Company Foundation has awarded cash grants totaling more than $87 million to non-profit organizations, schools and colleges. In the past year alone, the foundation has helped nearly 100 non-profit organizations reach more than 26,000 young people in the Oakland area and thousands of others in cities across the U.S. The company has also demonstrated a commitment since 1978 to the East Oakland Youth Development Center through funding and staff volunteer programs.

Clorox has shown itself to be a leader in making diversity and inclusion priorities in its business: The company's five employee resource groups (ERGs)--African-Americans Building Leadership Excellence (ABLE); Asian; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (Clorox Pride); Latinos for Excellence, Advancement & Development (LEAD), and; Support, Heart & Opportunity for Women (SHOW)--show that Clorox understands the value of a multicultural and diverse marketplace and workplace. Recently, Clorox was recognized as a lead sponsor of Remember Them, Champions of Humanity, an inspiring monument in Oakland dedicated to global peace in diversity.

Therefore, on behalf of the residents of California's 13th Congressional District, I would like to salute Clorox, and all of those who have contributed to its century of success. Thank you for your long-term belief in and contributions to our community. Once again, congratulations, and I wish you the very best as you strive for another 100 years of excellence.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as co-chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Healthcare Task Force to recognize April as National Minority Health Month.

Communities of color--in California and throughout the country-- continue to face persistent health disparities and barriers to quality care.

By expanding access to care, education, and prevention, we have the tools necessary to address this issue--and we must use them.

That is why I was pleased by yesterday's announcement of the new National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services, which is needed to ensure that all individuals receive health care that is high quality and meets their diverse needs.

And while successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act is critical to ensuring our communities have access to quality, affordable, culturally competent care, we must do more.

This is why the congressional tri-caucus continues to champion the Health Equity and Accountability Act.

I urge my colleagues to join us in securing health equity for all.

Mr. Speaker, first, let me just say I'm very pleased to anchor this Congressional Progressive Caucus Special Order on Iraq with my colleague from California, Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

Let me also take a moment to thank Congresswoman Waters, who is the founder of the Out of Iraq Caucus. Congresswoman Waters had the vision and the determination to pull together Members of the House who really needed some space, who needed to be able to provide legislative strategies and to beat the drum to end this war in Iraq. The country owes Congresswoman Waters a debt of gratitude, and we thank you very much for that.

I also want to acknowledge Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, who retired from Congress at the end of last year, but who loomed so large during this Special Order, given her incredible leadership in working to end the war in Iraq and to bring our troops home. She is and remains our sister in arms when it comes to working for global peace and security for our children, all of our collective work.

It was no wonder that many observers called Congresswomen Waters, Woolsey, and myself ``The Triad,'' but it was actually Congresswoman Woolsey who coined this term in our formation.

We are here today to reflect back on the 10-year anniversary of the start of the unnecessary, immoral, and costly war and to remember and pay tribute to the sacrifices of our troops, those who lost their lives, the injured, their families, and their loved ones, many of whom are still grappling with the scars and the impact of the war. We are also here to reflect on the costs of this war in blood and treasure. On the costs of this war: $800 billion, 4,486 soldiers, an untold number of Iraqi civilians, countless refugees, and also on the lost opportunity costs of this war to our country.

Instead of spending $800 billion on Iraq, we could have created jobs, rebuilt our crumbling infrastructure or invested in our schools to provide every child with a 21st century education. Sadly, this list goes on and on. It is especially painful when we understand that this war never should have happened in the first place. It was a war of choice. It was unnecessary; it was immoral; and it was wrong.

Over 10 years now in the run-up to the war, there were those of us in Congress and millions of people in the antiwar movement who fought the launch of this war. We had questions about weapons of mass destruction claims. We pushed for hearings; we called for a full debate; and we called to halt the rush to war.

In October 2002, the Bush administration pushed for invading Iraq. During that time, I was on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I proposed an amendment, which the Rules Committee made in

order. We brought that amendment to the floor, which would have required the United Nations to continue with weapons inspections. At that time, I stated on this House floor that unilateralism is really not the answer. If Iraqi weapons of mass destruction are a problem to the world community, yes, we must confront it. We must do so through the United Nations, and we must determine whether or not there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There were 72 of my colleagues who voted in favor of this amendment, which would have led us to the same conclusion that so many soldiers lost their lives and limbs to reach-- that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We all know the tragedy that followed.

The Bush administration launched its war of choice, claimed its ``mission accomplished,'' and chose to send pallets of shrink-wrapped cash and more of our brave young men and women to fight on and on-- despite the fact that there was no real military solution to the quagmire that the Bush administration created.

It is important to remember that this war did not go unchallenged, that there was a tremendous groundswell of opposition and that that was critical in demanding its end and in helping to bring it to a close, finally, under President Obama. In Congress, this opposition was centered around the Out of Iraq Caucus, which Congresswoman Waters, whom I mentioned earlier, founded, and Congresswoman Woolsey and I helped cofound. This was in 2005. Together, we held ad hoc hearings that the Republican congressional leadership refused to hold or participate in. We held press conferences, wrote op-eds, and took the floor to sound the alarm.

Here I need to acknowledge, as I know Congresswoman Waters will-- because I know this is a very important benchmark to acknowledge--that Congresswoman Woolsey on this point delivered 441 floor speeches over the last decade to call for the war's end.

We worked with our grassroots allies, like MoveOn, Win Without War, Progressive Democrats of America, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, United for Peace and Justice, Peace Action, and with great leaders like Tom Hayden and others, to help build a movement to bring our troops home.

I recall vividly when we marched here in Washington, D.C., past the White House, with hundreds of thousands of protesters in opposition to the war. These marches and rallies and actions happened all across this country. I have to say, in northern California and especially in the East Bay and in San Francisco--the entire Bay Area of California--they were really at the forefront of this effort. Of course we worked the legislative process as hard as we possibly could. There were many members of the Out of Iraq Caucus who led important legislative efforts to end the war:

I recall clearly the efforts of Congresswoman Woolsey, who offered the very first sense of Congress resolution calling for an end to the war and to bring our troops home. From what I remember, she received approximately 132, 133 votes for that resolution, but that was another defining moment;

There was a resolution that I offered very early on to repeal the doctrine of preemption--that's preemptive war. In other words, let's start a war to prevent a future war, which the President claimed in waging the war in Iraq;

There was the McGovern amendment, led by Congressman McGovern, who led on the effort to bring a responsible end to the war by calling for a timetable;

Then, of course, my annual Lee amendment: to limit the funding for the safe, timely, and orderly withdrawal of our troops. What this Lee amendment was trying to accomplish was to stop the funding and to end combat operations but to protect our troops and contractors and bring them home.

One of my amendments, the Lee amendment, eventually was signed into law, which was to prohibit permanent bases in Iraq. Now that is and was and continues to be the law of the land. There were so many other efforts led by members of the Out of Iraq Caucus--from amendments, to resolutions, to letters, and to floor actions.

I want to yield now to my colleague from California and just, once again, thank her for her tremendous leadership in case she has to leave early before this hour ends.

Congresswoman Waters, thank you so much for that very eloquent and profound statement and for your kind remarks. Let me just say to you also that you have been a woman who has always believed that peace is possible and peace is patriotic. So I just want to thank you for your leadership, for being here with us, and just say how proud we are that you are our Financial Services ranking member also. Thank you.

Let me take a moment now to yield to the gentleman from California, Congressman Mark Takano, who has been way out there in terms of opposing this war from day one.

Thank you again for being here.

Immigration Reform

Let me go back now to the 10th anniversary of this unfortunate war, Mr. Speaker.

I'm going to introduce now into the Record tonight a timeline of some of what we have talked about tonight because they should be remembered and because these efforts and the efforts of the movement that ended this war finally did make a difference, although obviously not as quickly as we wanted; but we did make a difference together.

After years of speaking out and as the toll of the Iraq war stretched the patience of the American people, public opinion started turning. People began asking what were we doing in Iraq. Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, as the Bush administration told us. Iraq had not been involved in the 9/11 attacks, as suggested by the Bush administration.

Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell made a presentation at the United Nations that was greatly misleading, stating that Iraq possessed extremely dangerous weapons of mass destruction. Some of you may remember the smoking cloud that he talked about. It was just really very, very tragic. He described biological weapons factories on wheels, and estimated that Iraq had between 100 and 150 tons--no, I believe it may have been 500 tons--of chemical weapons stockpiled. All of those claims about weapons of mass destruction turned out to be false.

Secretary of State Powell's own chief of staff, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, later said about his own participation in the deception at the United Nations, he said:

I participated in a hoax on the American people, the

international community, and the United Nations Security

Council.

Iraq did not present a clear and present danger to the United States. Secretary Powell and his staff, they

knew this. President Bush, he knew this. Vice President Cheney, he knew this. But they wanted their war and they deceived the United Nations and scared the American public to justify their war of choice.

I distinctly remember the day in May 2003, 10 years ago next week, when President Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and proclaimed ``Mission Accomplished.'' Of course, the mission was far from accomplished. The war was to drag on for another 8 years.

President Obama committed to ending the war during his campaign; and he, of course, did as President. While the war in Iraq is over, its legacy continues and the lessons still have yet to be learned. We need to look closely at the decisions made, understand the mistakes and misjudgments, and ensure that we never again repeat such a tragedy.

In Ghana, in the Akan language of Ghana, there is a mythical bird that's a symbol. It's called Sankofa. It's a bird flying forward looking back, and the message is that in order to not make the same mistakes as we move forward, we have to look back and we have to know our history. We have to know where we have come from, what we have done in order to move forward, and we should learn from those mistakes. Sankofa.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction issued its final report to Congress just last month, detailing billions and billions of dollars lost to waste, fraud, and abuse. The occupation of Iraq was characterized by poor planning by the Bush administration, who ignored State Department and USAID analysis envisioning protracted U.S. involvement in Iraq requiring substantial spending for many years.

The Pentagon was left in charge of managing postwar Iraq, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously underestimated the resources needed to stabilize the country. When Lieutenant General Jay Gardner told Secretary Rumsfeld that the United States might need to spend billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq, Rumsfeld responded:

If you think we're going to spend a billion dollars of our

money over there, you are sadly mistaken.

Well, of course, it was Mr. Rumsfeld who was sadly mistaken, and the American public who was sadly misled, and the Iraqi people who sadly suffered from the chaos and destruction unleashed by ideologues who used Iraq as a laboratory for a light-footprint war.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, those lost opportunities and tragic mistakes are not behind us.

I would like to take a moment now and yield to my friend and colleague, a woman who has consistently been against the war and has stood for peace all of her life, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Let me thank the gentlelady from Texas for that very profound statement and presentation. And just let me say to you that, as the daughter of a 25-year veteran of the Armed Forces, I am deeply thankful for your bringing forth the faces of our Armed Forces.

And also, talking about the obstacles now that they're facing upon their return, I'm especially concerned with the widespread and often undiagnosed incidents of PTSD and the alarming suicide rates among our soldiers.

The back claims, the Veterans Affairs losing records, denying claims that are clearly service-related. I want to acknowledge Congresswoman Jackie Speier and her work in our area and throughout the country to try to address the backlog of claims of our veterans who don't deserve to be treated this way.

Since the invasion of Iraq 10 years ago, over 2,000 current and former servicemembers have committed suicide. The lessons from this tragedy cannot be any clearer. It's a lot easier to get into war than to get out of one.

It's my hope, Mr. Speaker, that this reckless and shortsighted decision will mark a turning point in American history, and that we will be more careful about war and use all of the tools of American power, as Congresswoman Woolsey so eloquently talked to us about and introduced over and over again, SMART security that should be used in resolving disputes, including diplomacy.

Let me ask you, Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

I would like to know if the gentlelady from Texas has anything else to say. Otherwise, we will close.

Let me just use a bit more time and say that there's no military solution in

Afghanistan either, so we must absorb that fact and learn, again, what we learned in Iraq. And we need to bring the war in Afghanistan to an accelerated end.

We need to stop throwing good money after bad, poorly conceived and poorly managed reconstruction efforts, and bring our troops home now.

And we need to repeal the 2001 Authorization For the Use of Military Force, which Congresswoman Waters mentioned, which I voted against right after the horrific events of 9/11. This overly broad blank check has underwritten the past decade of perpetual war.

I have a resolution, H.R. 198, it's the Repeal of the Authorization For the Use of Military Force. This will remove one of the underlying legal justifications for targeted drone killings that has been invoked over and over again, this time, targeted killings, to justify a wide range of activities, including warrantless surveillance and wiretapping activities, and, yes, a blank check for war anywhere, any time, for any length of time.

I hope those who are listening and who care about this, go back and read that resolution of 9/14. What it said was the President, and I'm paraphrasing now, but it was the President is authorized to use force against any nation, organization, individual, deemed connected to terrorism and the 9/11 attacks.

Now, this was in 2001. 2001. No end game, no timetable, a blank check, perpetual war until this is repealed. So Congress really needs to reassert its constitutional authority in the matters of war. Our Founding Fathers were very deliberate in placing war-making powers in this body. In a democracy, such as ours, we have this system of checks and balances.

On 9/14, we did not have a full debate. From what I remember, it may have been an hour, it may have been 2 hours. But we did not fully debate that blank check and what that meant by authorizing then- President Bush, now President Obama and any future President, to use force in perpetuity.

We can no longer abdicate our constitutional duties allowing any President to engage in hostilities without debate, without oversight, and without accountability.

And I want to commend Senator Durbin for conducting hearings this week looking at the constitutionality and the rationale for targeted killings using drones. This was a very important hearing. I was able to sit through some of that hearing, and it was very revealing. Actually, there was a young man from Yemen who received a State Department scholarship. He went to school here, had gone back to Yemen, and his village was devastated by drones.

So you can see what's happening now. There are more and more hostilities, unfortunately, toward the United States, unless we get this policy straight about the lethal use of drones and have congressional oversight and debate and really exercise our constitutional responsibility to really declare war, if that's what we're going to do.

And so as we embark into this new age of modern warfare, we do need rules. We need oversight; we need accountability; and we need to develop an international legal framework on drones.

And we understand asymmetrical warfare and the new world in which we live. None of us have our head in the sand about that. We just need to make sure that Congress has a role in debating exactly how we're going to, if we're going to, and when the appropriate use of force is necessary.

For me, personally, I believe in SMART Security; and I know that that will lead to a world that our children deserve and is worthy of our children's future.

So let's put this decade of perpetual warfare behind us. We should bring our troops home. We should invest in our veterans and our children, create jobs here at home and really begin to invest in our future for the sake of our children and our grandchildren.

I have this chart here to show you just in terms of the fiscal implications of what these policies have brought. When you look at the deficit, with the war and the economic policies of the Bush era, the tax cuts, we're looking at this line right here. Had these unfortunate policies not occurred, our deficit would be down here. This is very clear. This was put forth by the Congressional Budget Office in February. These are their estimates.

It's very clear, I hope, to everyone that the failed economic policies of the Bush administration and the wars in Iraq are the major contributing factors to the economic crisis that we find ourselves in. And so, aside from the human toll that this 10-year war and the war in Afghanistan has taken, we have a real crisis now, an economic crisis in this country that we need to come to grips with. Our senior citizens did not cause this crisis. Our children did not cause this crisis. The poor, our middle class individuals, and families did not cause this crisis. And we cannot forget what has taken place over the last 10 years of this unbelievably terribly sad time in our history, where we lost so many lives and we lost so much time in terms of rebuilding our country for the future of our children.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Key Iraq Votes From the 109th Congress

H. CON. RES. 35 [109th]

Latest Title: Expressing the sense of Congress that the

President should develop and implement a plan to begin the

immediate withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq.

Sponsor: Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [D-CA-6] (introduced 1/26/

2005) Cosponsors: 34

Committees: House International Relations

Latest Major Action: 1/26/2005 Referred to House committee.

Status: Referred to the House Committee on International

Relations.

H. RES. 82 [109th]

Latest Title: Disavowing the doctrine of preemption.

Sponsor: Rep Lee, Barbara [D-CA-9] (introduced 2/9/2005)

Cosponsors: 15

Committees: House International Relations

Latest Major Action: 2/9/2005 Referred to House committee.

Status: Referred to the House Committee on International

Relations.

H. AMDT. 214 [109th]

(A009)

Amends: H.R.1815

Sponsor: Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [D-CA-6] (offered 5/25/2005)

Madam Chair, I am voting ``no'' against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). H.R. 624 endangers privacy and allows personal information to be shared by private companies without adequate safeguards to protect sensitive and highly personal information. While it is important that we build up our nation's defenses against the modern dangers of cyberattacks, we cannot abandon our central values of freedom and independence in the course of doing so. I am prepared to consider an alternate version of CISPA wherein civil liberties are robustly protected. This bill provides no real solutions that adequately uphold an American's right to privacy, and that is why I am voting against it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the exceptional life of Alameda's first elected mayor, the Honorable Terry Yorke LaCroix, Jr. Born and raised in the City of Alameda, Mayor LaCroix was known for his love of the community and volunteered countless hours to public service. His strong leadership bolstered Alameda and the surrounding community during crucial transitions, and even times of tragedy. With his passing on March 19, 2013, we look to Mayor LaCroix's legacy and the outstanding quality of his life's work.

Born on October 24, 1924 to Vivian and Terry LaCroix, Sr., he attended St. Joseph Catholic School and Alameda High School before leaving to serve in World War II. In the U.S. Army Air Corps, he trained on C-47s, served as a flight engineer, and flew in the China- Burma-India theatre.

After marrying the love of his life, Patricia (``Patty''), in 1947, the couple settled in Alameda where they raised six daughters. During his early career working as a manager at Alameda's Del Monte plant and, later, over the course of a long career as a banking executive, Terry LaCroix became deeply involved with civic life.

As an Alameda City Councilmember from 1963 to 1969, Terry gained the trust and respect of colleagues and community members alike. And, in 1969, he became Alameda's first elected mayor, serving the City dutifully until 1975. As Mayor, he proudly defeated a 1972 proposal called ``Southern Crossing,'' which would have built a bridge linking the idyllic island community to San Francisco. In another bid to preserve Alameda's traditional infrastructure, Mayor LaCroix limited building construction and housing density to combat overdevelopment.

On February 7, 1973, Mayor LaCroix was faced with public tragedy when a U.S. Navy aircraft accidentally collided with an Alameda apartment building, killing the pilot and 10 bystanders and causing a fire that damaged the area. His leadership in guiding first responders and community assistance, as well as easing relations between local residents and the naval air station, helped pave way for the process of healing.

Among his many other distinctions and community associations, Terry LaCroix served as Chairman of Alameda County Criminal Justice Planning Bard, President of the Mayor's and Councilmen's League of California Cities, President of Kiwanis Club, Chairman of Alameda Park and Recreation Department, and on the Board of Directors of Providence Hospital (now Summit Medical Center in Oakland).

Together, he and his wife enjoyed sailing, traveling, and volunteering--providing their services at Redding, California's Mercy Medical Center and on the Board of Trustees well into retirement. A man of great faith, Terry also served as a Eucharistic minister and as chairman for many annual fundraisers at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Redding. He was a loving grandfather to ten and a great-grandfather to three great-granddaughters.

Today, we mourn the loss of a community stalwart and a respected leader who helped shape the City of Alameda and the surrounding area during his political career. Mayor Terry Yorke LaCroix, Jr., leaves behind a strong legacy of character, integrity, and love for his community. I offer my sincerest condolences to his surviving family and to the many friends and associates whose lives he touched over the course of his long and fruitful life. He will be deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, let me first send my thoughts and prayers to the city of Boston, the families and friends of all of those touched by Monday's horrific tragedy. Incredible strength was in full display in the streets of Boston when untold numbers of people--the police, firefighters, volunteers, runners, and bystanders--ran towards the explosions to try to help in any way they could without regard for their own safety.

As we learn the details of this attack, let us remember that what makes us strong as a Nation is the tremendous care we have for our fellow Americans, especially during the hardest times. This is a lesson that I learned deeply from my friend and mentor, Maudelle Shirek. Maudelle died last week at the age of 101. She would have been 102 June 18. My heart and my prayers go out to her friends and family.

Maudelle was truly the ``godmother of East Bay progressive politics.'' The former city of Berkeley vice mayor and eight-term council member was born and raised in Jefferson, Arkansas. As the granddaughter of slaves, she was passionate about justice and civil rights.

After moving to Berkeley in the 1940s, she became active in the antiwar movement, fought on behalf of unions, advocated for HIV and AIDS awareness, care, and treatment, and helped organize the Free Mandela Movement. She was also the first elected official in the United States to advocate for needle exchange programs.

During her tenure as a Berkeley elected official, she was instrumental in creating multiple city commissions, including the Berkeley Commission on Labor. When she retired, mind you, at 92 years of age, she was the oldest elected official in California at that time. In 2007, the Berkeley City Council renamed city hall in her honor.

She not only urged me to get involved in politics, but also inspired my predecessor, Congressman Ron Dellums, to run for Congress. Her understanding of the importance of investing in people won the solid support of voters in her district and across the country.

I met Maudelle in the early seventies while I was a student at Mills College. She widened my perspective on global politics during our travels around the world. She reinforced the idea that we are all part of a global family and what happens here in the United States affects our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world and vice versa. Maudelle was a personal friend, mentor, and confidante.

Maudelle actually was a health aficionado. She was committed to educating seniors and the entire community on the benefits of healthy living. She loved shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables, and you would often find her cooking nutritious meals at the West Berkeley Senior Center.

We loved to walk Lake Merritt and the Berkeley Marina together, where she talked to me about acupuncture and natural remedies like cayenne pepper and warm water for colds and the importance of exercise.

Maudelle was a woman of great faith. During the seventies, we enjoyed attending the Church for Tomorrow, which formerly was the Church for Today. We went there together, and this is where I realized that her passion for service and justice was driven by her commitment to what she called doing the Lord's work on this Earth.

She was a woman who understood that she had to have a comprehensive agenda. It just couldn't be a single issue like health care or seniors or peace and justice, but it had to be about being committed to comprehensive and positive changes that seek to improve the lives of all Americans.

Maudelle worked at the Berkeley Co-Op Credit Union. She engaged all of us, in the seventies, mind you, in financial literacy, and urged me, as a young single student to buy a house because she reminded me over and over again that one's equity in one's home was the primary path to the middle class, and that that was the main way that I could get the resources to take care of my kids and send them to school, a lesson we should teach our own children today.

Several years ago, I tried to name the Berkeley Post Office after Maudelle. While this body has a tradition of supporting post office bills in a bipartisan way, Congressman Steve King from Iowa came to this floor and tried to tarnish her character. He brought groundless accusations, and this body voted against--mind you, against--naming the post office in my district after this great icon. I hope one day, in her memory, Representative King will apologize to Maudelle and her family and the city of Berkeley for such an unfair and unwarranted attack. She was deeply hurt by it, but kept her head high and lived to see the Berkeley City Hall named after her.

Maudelle refused to accept arbitrary limitations. That's one of the best things we all respected about her. Maudelle is one of the best examples of how one person can make a difference. She was a fearless and inspirational woman who tirelessly fought to make this world a fair and just place. She spoke for the voiceless and was such a staunch defender of our basic civil rights.

I believe, like many, that Maudelle's legacy of over 70 years of service to Berkeley, the East Bay, the Nation, and the world will inspire many to speak for the voiceless and to stand up for justice, both here in America and around the globe. I will deeply miss her wise counsel, love, and support.

Mr. Speaker, let me first send also my well wishes, prayers, and my sympathy to the city of Boston, the families and friends, and all of those touched by yesterday's horrific tragedy.

Ten years ago this month, the international community joined together to bring the world's attention to the brutal attacks by the Government of Sudan against the people of Darfur.

The Congressional Black Caucus, Leader Pelosi, and others stood united and, led by our beloved, the great gentleman from New Jersey, Congressman Don Payne, introduced H. Con. Res. 467, declaring that genocide was occurring in Darfur. Many of us also traveled to the region several times and later passed the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act.

Yet even after then--Secretary of State Powell finally declared genocide in 2004--the international community failed to act decisively to stop it. If we had acted then, we could have saved many innocent lives. If we do the right thing now, we could end the suffering, violence, and insecurity that tragically continues to plague the region to this day.

Now is the time for the United States to provide high-level leadership and press for full humanitarian assistance in memory and in honor of our beloved Don Payne, our great warrior. He did so much for the people of Darfur. Let us do the right thing in his memory so that the next time we say, ``Not on our watch,'' we will mean it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleague, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, to honor the extraordinary life of Elzora Mae Brown, a fourth-generation, three-time cancer survivor and life-long champion for breast cancer awareness and research among women of color. With her passing on March 3, 2013, we look to the outstanding quality of her life's work and the countless lives she touched and saved over the course of her career in advocacy.

Born March 20, 1949 in Holdenville, Oklahoma, Elzora Mae Brown received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University before moving to the Washington, D.C. area, where she would live for the next 30 years. Ms. Brown received a wealth of experience in public communication through her role assisting the lobbying office of the Ford Motor Company. In 1976, she secured an administrative assistant's post at the White House, which led to a quick ascent in communications positions, including becoming assistant director for public affairs at the Federal Communications Commission and public affairs director with the Broadcast Capital Fund.

At the age of 32, Ms. Brown was diagnosed with breast cancer. As the youngest of eight children, she was prepared to face the same disease that had struck her great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and three sisters. In most cases, swift action via mastectomy had saved her family members' lives. Only her late sister Belva Brissett lost a 12- year battle with breast cancer in 1990. As Ms. Brown took actions to save her life, she decided to use her experience as a sounding board for other women. She eventually underwent two mastectomies and multiple treatments throughout a courageous and continued battle with bouts of breast and ovarian cancer over the years. Yet, she was able to channel the power of these challenges into a trailblazing advocacy campaign.

In the 1980s, her minority and media-focused public relations position at the Broadcast Capital Fund allowed her to spearhead televised public service announcements about breast cancer that aimed to reach inner-city women. A short film about preventative care, ``Once a Year . . . For a Lifetime,'' which she helped to produce, featured celebrities such as Phylicia Rashad from ``The Cosby Show'' reading personal testimony from cancer patients--including the diaries of Belva Brissett.

Ms. Brown noted that few, if any, mammogram summits and information forums at the time were targeted to African American, minority, and underserved women. She began speaking to local churches, clinics, and civic groups about the benefits of self-examination and mammograms, while dispelling false notions of breast cancer as a white women's issue. By 1989, Ms. Brown had organized the Breast Cancer Resource Committee, BCRC, with the mission of reducing the disproportionate breast cancer mortality rates among African American women by 50 percent at the end of the century through education, prevention, and early detection. An offshoot of this initiative was named in honor of her late sister

and co-founder: the Belva Brissett Advocacy Center.

In 1991, Ms. Brown was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the National Cancer Advisory Board. As the first African American woman to serve in this post, she was able to direct vital funding toward inner- city cancer screenings and invite hundreds of leaders from the nation's black community to participate in education forums. She served on the President's Special Commission on Breast Cancer from 1992 to 1994, organizing the Cancer Awareness Program Services, CAPS. And in 1993, Ms. Brown proudly helped organize the Washington D.C.-based breast cancer survivor support group for African American women, ``Rise, Sister Rise.'' Among countless local and national accolades, Ms. Brown also co-authored the 2003 book, ``100 Questions and Answers About Breast Cancer.''

Today, California's 13th Congressional District and the District of Columbia salute and honor an outstanding individual and a stalwart community leader, Ms. Elzora Mae Brown. Her invaluable service to our nation will be forever supported by the endless legacy of her work. We offer our sincerest condolences to her beloved family and to the many friends and associates whose lives she touched over the course of her incredible life. She will be deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with my colleagues from the Safe Climate Caucus to call on Republicans to end their silence and join the conversation on climate disruption.

A recent United Nations report provides a stark warning, saying that if we don't address climate disruption, the number of people living in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3 billion by 2050.

The report is clear: failing to act now creates a much larger and more costly problem later. Fortunately, we have the ability and the means to address climate disruption.

I'm proud to say that clean-energy companies and universities in my own district are leading the way in research, clean-job creation, and sustainable long-term solutions.

But this type of innovation and job creation cannot go on if Republicans continue to ignore the threat of climate change and recklessly cut funding to important programs that protect the air we breathe and the water we drink.

I urge my Republican colleagues to think about their moral responsibility to join this dialogue and to protect our planet for their children and for the long-term stability of this country.

First, let me thank the gentleman for yielding and for your kind words, and also for your tremendous leadership and for really coordinating the message hour of the week, not only on behalf of the Progressive Caucus, but for this entire body and for the American people. It is so important that the truth be told and that we continue to beat the drum to protect the priorities of all of the American people, not just the few. So thank you very much.

We are here today to talk about the budget and its priorities, and also some of the issues that are very troubling, which I'll mention in just a minute.

I'm pleased, though, to see that the President's budget clearly understands the need to create jobs and to grow our economy. This budget makes critical investments in early childhood education and brings down the cost of higher education. The budget protects vital nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC. This budget permanently extends vital expansion of the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, which has lifted about 1.6 million Americans out of poverty in 2010 alone.

In stark contrast, our Republican colleagues proposed yet another $6 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest, while focusing a majority of their draconian budget cuts on shredding our Nation's safety net.

Every Member of Congress may claim to support the goal of cutting poverty in America, but gutting programs that families rely on to put food on their tables is simply not how we achieve that goal. Now, as I said, I was very pleased to see some of the innovative and groundbreaking proposals that the President included in his budget.

However, I have to join Mr. Pocan in our strong opposition to the inclusion of the so-called chained CPI in the budget. As many of us have said, chained CPI is a benefit cut, which it is, to Social Security, and I wholeheartedly oppose it.

So thank you again for beating that drum today on this because this is not the President's ideal deficit reduction plan. We should not be bargaining for Republican goodwill with policies that hurt our seniors. Social Security was established more than 77 years ago, providing economic security to generations of Americans who have made contributions over their lifetime. They worked for this.

Changing the cost of living adjustment now will disproportionately hurt seniors who rely on every single dollar of support as income. The chained CPI would cut one full month's income from a 92-year-old beneficiary's annual Social Security benefits. Seniors cannot afford that. The chained CPI will also cut living standards, and most deeply for the poorest households, which tend to rely on Social Security for all or most of their income.

The fact of the matter is Social Security should not even be a part of this discussion. It should not be a part of this budget. The program has accumulated assets of $2.7 trillion and does not contribute to the Federal budget deficit. Voters across the political spectrum oppose cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits, and we must do whatever it takes to protect these vital benefits from cuts.

Democrats believe that the best way to reduce our deficit and make our economy grow is to create jobs. That's why I join my CPC colleagues in rejecting any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and that they need.

We also know there are commonsense reforms that would reduce health care costs and save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars without cutting benefits. If Republicans are serious about deficit reduction, we really can make additional savings, and they should come from those who can most afford it. We can save over $110 billion just by eliminating wasteful subsidies to oil companies who have already made record profits. We can close corporate tax loopholes--that would save billions of dollars to invest in education--and we can end wasteful Pentagon weapons programs and focus our military on addressing 21st century threats.

So there are many ways that we can accomplish this. Instead of supporting policies that harm seniors, let's get back to the real problems facing our country, and that's creating 21st century jobs and growing our economy for all.

So thank you again for your leadership. This has been a tremendous hour that you have put together, and I hope that the American people are listening today. So much is at stake.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the exceptional life of California State Senator Nicholas Petris. Known throughout California politics as a brilliant democratic lawmaker with visionary foresight, Nicholas Petris was also renowned for his professionalism, speaking prowess, and tireless advocacy for the underserved. With his passing, we look to Senator Petris' political legacy and the outstanding quality of his life's work.

Over a career that spanned four decades, Senator Petris was a hero to many--pioneering initiatives far ahead of their time in areas like environmental protection, mental health rights, and low-income housing. A child of Greek immigrants, Nicholas Petris was born in Oakland and educated in the Bay Area, graduating from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University Law School. He served in the Office of Strategic Service during World War II and practiced law for about a decade before being elected to the California Assembly in 1959.

In 1965, as an assemblyman, he famously collaborated with State Senator Eugene McAteer to write the bill that created the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, laying the foundation for the nonprofit Save The Bay to protect the resource from harmful development. He also worked to direct crucial resources to expand the University of California system.

Upon being elected to the State Senate in 1967, he immediately worked to pass the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which prohibited involuntary commitment and made quality mental health services more accessible. Furthermore, he continued the decade fearlessly taking on controversial battles: challenging the internal-combustion engine and emission practices of the auto industry and writing laws to ban smoking on airplanes and public transportation. These efforts eventually helped to usher in an era of air quality and clean-fuel regulation in California that was often stricter than the national standard. He also introduced bills to ban DDT and control ballooning vehicle numbers, which, although unsuccessful, demonstrated remarkable prescience in the face of today's environmental challenges.

As a passionate advocate for the poor, Senator Petris passed legislation that required redevelopment agencies to build housing for

low-income families. He also championed tenants' and workers' rights, inspiring lawmakers in both major parties to listen to the voices of average Californians. All the while, he was a loving husband to his wife of 60 years, the late Anna Vlahos.

On a personal note, I was incredibly honored to succeed Senator Petris upon his retirement due to term limits in 1996. He was a steadfast friend and provided wise counsel to me throughout my time in the California Legislature. Particularly, I will always remember Senator Petris and his beloved wife, Anna, taking me to dinner prior to my first visit to Greece. They provided me with invaluable travel tips for restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions that made my first visit so exciting. Senator Petris' beloved Greece became one of my favorite countries to visit.

Today, we mourn the loss of a wise political pioneer, a respected lawmaker, and an innovative thinker who helped shape the State of California as we know it. His legislative insight, legendary eloquence, and the camaraderie he inspired among his colleagues is unmatched. Senator Nicholas Petris' legacy continues to thrive among generations of advocates committed to championing progressive California policy as a model for environmental and social justice throughout the world. I offer my sincerest condolences to his surviving family and to the many friends and associates whose lives he touched over the course of his long and fruitful life. He will be deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, today we rise in support of Equal Pay Day.

Equal Pay Day symbolizes when more than 3 months into the year women's wages finally catch up with what men were paid in the previous year.

It's unconscionable that women today continue to be blatantly discriminated against in the workforce in terms of their pay and the treatment that they receive.

In 2011, women working full time made only 77 cents to every dollar made by men over the course of a year. The landscape is even worse for women of color. In 2011, African American women earned 64 cents to every dollar earned by white males, and for Latinas it was only 55 cents and 42 cents in my home State of California. On average, the wage gap costs women roughly $11,000 annually, and at this rate the wage gap will not close until 2057. Can you imagine that, 2057?

We must support Congresswoman DeLauro's Paycheck Fairness Act. This addresses the serious economic disparities which women still face.

Women and their families cannot afford to continue paying the cost of our inaction in the face of injustice. I hope the Speaker will bring this bill to the floor right away.

Let me first thank Congressman Bobby Scott for your tremendous leadership in putting together the Congressional Black Caucus's alternative budget; also, our chair, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, for her very bold vision in helping to move this forward.

As a member of the Budget Committee, as I said yesterday, I've had a chance to get into the weeds of the Republican budget. And I can say with certainty that I strongly support the Congressional Black Caucus budget because it is pro-growth, pro-people, and pro-American.

I just want to follow up on the gentlewoman from Wisconsin's comments, Congresswoman Moore, who so eloquently stated the jobs provisions of this budget.

Let me show you the chart with regard to the 5 million jobs that this budget creates. When you look at the fact that without the Congressional Black Caucus's budget it will take us until April 2015 to create enough jobs to take us back to prerecession employment, that is not acceptable with so many people in our country who are unemployed.

This budget enhances Medicare and Medicaid.

It cancels the devastating sequester and it reins in bloated Pentagon spending.

We actually end the Overseas Contingency Fund when the President's goal is accomplished in 2014 of bringing our young men and women home from Afghanistan. This is really a slush fund. It's not even funded through the Pentagon. It's a slush fund through somewhere over at the State Department.

This budget provides $230 billion to revitalize our Nation's infrastructure and creates a $500 million jobs program to accelerate the Nation's economic recovery.

To help families stay secure in their homes until the economy fully recovers, our budget also funds a restoration of critical unemployment benefits to the full 99 weeks.

Also, we support a real effort to eradicate poverty in America with the 10-20-30 formula, which targets resources to communities that need assistance.

And we call for a national strategy to eradicate poverty by cutting it in half in 10 years.

Let me just also conclude by saying our budget protects the safety net and protects those initiatives which create pathways out of poverty, such as the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit, the SNAP program, food and nutrition assistance, and the program that assists women with nutrition assistance when they're pregnant. All of these efforts are protected in the Congressional Black Caucus budget; whereas, the Ryan budget would cut these programs. These are needed desperately as we move to a pathway to prosperity.

Our budget is pro-American, pro-growth, and pro-people.

Let me thank Congressmen Grijalva and Ellison for their bold and visionary leadership of the Progressive Caucus.

As a member of the Budget Committee opposed to the job-killing ``Pathway to Poverty'' Ryan budget, I stand in strong support of the Progressive Caucus Back to Work budget. The number one priority of the Progressive Caucus budget is fixing the job crisis. That is exactly what we want to do in our Back to Work budget. That is what it does.

Most economists argue that job creation equals deficit reduction. The CPC budget asks the wealthiest 1 percent, Big Oil, and huge corporations to pay just a little more so we can invest in the American people and create 7 million American jobs.

Our budget saves over $1.8 trillion in bloated Pentagon spending by eliminating the Overseas Contingency Operations account, which really is a slush fund that has funded two wars off budget. We refocus our resources into a modern military able to face 21st century threats.

We also require the Pentagon, the single largest Federal agency, with the highest waste, fraud, and abuse, to pass an audit test and pass it now. It is the only Federal agency not subject to an audit.

Our budget replaces the disastrous sequester by supporting critical spending in education, infrastructure, and we reject benefit cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Mr. Chair, let me thank our Ranking Member, Congressman Van Hollen.

As a Member of the Budget Committee, I rise in strong support of the Democratic Alternative Budget to the disastrous Republican Budget.

The Democratic budget will close special interest tax loopholes to raise the critical revenue we need to create 1.2 million new jobs, and make key investments in education, health care and clean energy.

Mr. Chair, the Democratic Alternative not only fully funds the SNAP program, it includes language that calls for the creation of a National Strategy on Poverty.

Democrats understand that fully supporting our safety net programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Security, will reduce poverty, grow the middle class, and promote job creation and economic growth.

Finally, the Democratic Budget eliminates off budget spending in the Oversees Contingency Operations slush fund to stop our cycle of perpetual wars and bring our troops home safely.

The Democratic Budget offers a balanced alternative to the failed economic and fiscal policies of the Republican majority.

I urge my colleagues to support the Democratic Budget.