Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I recognize the October 10th inauguration of Dr. Ronald D. Liebowitz as the sixteenth president of Middlebury College. Middlebury is one of the nation's finest liberal arts colleges. We in Vermont are proud that we have, in our midst, a beacon of learning for students all across the nation.

Dr. Liebowitz was chosen as Middlebury's forthcoming president after a five-month search during which 400 prospective candidates were reviewed. Despite the fact that the prestigious position attracted many of the nation's foremost educators, Middlebury selected one of its own, the third time it has chosen a member of its faculty to head the institution. His able predecessor, John McCardell, was also a longtime faculty member when he became president in 1992, and Dr. McCardell's thirteen-year leadership has amply confirmed Middlebury College's confidence that its own faculty have some of the finest minds and some of the most humane administrative abilities that can be found in the entire nation.

A professor of geography, Dr. Liebowitz is a widely recognized authority on Russian economic and political geography. Dr. Liebowitz has served as provost and executive vice president of Middlebury College since 1997. Earlier, he served for two years as dean of the faculty. During his administrative years he played a significant leadership role in the internationalization of the curriculum, including the introduction of innovative interdisciplinary, team-taught senior seminars in international studies, the establishment of a new major in international studies, and the strengthening of the program in international politics and economics.

We in Vermont welcome his leadership as he shepherds this outstanding college into the future. We look forward to a rich partnership as Middlebury brings its student and faculty resources to bear on helping us address Vermont's, and the nation's, problems and priorities. And in these difficult times, we have confidence that Middlebury's long- standing choice to focus on international affairs will educate yet more generations of students to look outward, to recognize that they have a dual obligation: to work for domestic justice by helping those in America who are less fortunate than themselves, and to work for international justice by giving support to foreign nations as they attempt to realize social justice for their own citizens.

Mr. Speaker, from Vermont to California, there is an affordable housing crisis in this country and it is only getting worse. Millions of Americans who are working 40 hours a week, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities are paying over 50 percent of their limited incomes on housing. For families living paycheck to paycheck, one unforeseen circumstance--a sick child, a lost job, a medical emergency--can send them into homelessness. These life-shattering events happen every day in America and it is a national disgrace.

Mr. Speaker, if you don't believe us, just ask the half-million veterans who put their lives on the line defending this country or the more than one million children who will experience homelessness this year if they believe there is an affordable housing crisis. Ask moms and dads who are working 40 hours a week that have to sleep in their cars or out on the street because they can't pay the rent, if there's an affordable housing crisis in this country.

Mr. Speaker, the sad reality is that there is not a single place in America today where a full-time minimum wage worker can afford an average 2 bedroom apartment. Not a single place in America.

Legislation that I have introduced to establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund (H.R. 1102) will begin to put an end to this crisis once and for all. It will give states and localities the resources they need to build at least one and a half million affordable housing rental units in this country leading to the creation of 1.8 million new jobs and nearly $50 billion in wages. In other words, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund is a win-win that will put people back to work and into affordable housing.

Unfortunately, despite over 200 tri-partisan co-sponsors; despite the support of over 5,000 organizations representing organized labor, big business, environmentalists, banks, religious leaders, and affordable housing advocates, a vote has not been scheduled for this bill. For over 3 years, the Administration has opposed this legislation, while its policies have made the affordable housing crisis even worse. While Congress has provided hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest one percent over the past 3 years, we are forcing our nation's low-income senior citizens, veterans, and families with children to pay the price.

Well, in less than 48 hours, over 100 Members of Congress have signed a discharge petition to force a vote on the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act immediately.

Mr. Speaker, while 218 signatures are required in order to succeed, I hope you don't make us wait that long. I hope that we can convince you that this bill is needed now more than ever.

Mr. Speaker, I know that is a tough decision for you to make. But, quite frankly, people all over this country are making much tougher choices.

This evening a mom and dad will be at the kitchen table staring at their bills. They will have to make a choice. Do we pay the rent; or do we feed our children.

Tomorrow morning a senior citizen who worked hard and played by the rules all of her adult life will have to make a choice. Will she pay the rent; or will she pay for her life saving prescription drugs.

Mr. Speaker, it doesn't have to be this way. In the richest country on earth, families should not have to make these unacceptable choices. That's what the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund campaign is all about.

And, just today, Jack Kemp and Henry Cisneros, former HUD Secretaries under President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, respectively have endorsed the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

David Broder, wrote in the Washington Post this morning that the Kemp-Cisneros ``Recommendations strike me as practical and specific-- not tilted to the left or the right. . . . They endorse the establishment of a National Housing Trust Fund, an idea that has gathered increasing support in Congress, to provide the capital needed to produce, preserve or rehabilitate at least 1.5 million affordable housing units over the next 10 years.''

And, according to the bipartisan National Millennial Housing Commission, created by Congress, and co-chaired by our former colleague Susan Molinari, ``The addition of 150,000 [affordable housing rental] units annually would make substantial progress toward meeting the housing needs of extremely low income households, but it would take annual production of more than 250,000 units for more than 20 years to close the gap.''

Mr. Speaker, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act will close this serious affordable housing gap. In fact, if H.R. 1102 was signed into law, we could more than triple affordable housing construction next year and provide accommodations to more than 100,000 families. In short, the establishment of a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund is needed now more than ever. I urge my colleagues to sign the Discharge Petition. By doing this today, we can mark the beginning of the end of the affordable housing crisis.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 7 minutes.

Mr. Chairman, this tripartisan amendment is cosponsored by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht), the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey), and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel). This amendment also has the strong support of the AARP, the largest senior citizen group in this country, representing over 35 million Americans; the AFL-CIO, representing all of organized labor; and the Pension Rights Center.

Mr. Chairman, last year, this amendment passed the House by a vote of 258 to 160. Two years ago, a similar amendment passed by a vote of 308 to 121. By voting for this amendment today, we will be protecting the retirement benefits of some 8 million American workers who have seen their pensions slashed by as much as 50 percent through age discriminatory cash balance pension schemes and the 14 million more American workers who still have traditional, defined benefit plans that could be converted to cash balance schemes. That is the issue today: standing up for those workers and protecting the pensions that they have been promised.

The reason that this amendment is coming up again today is, despite the very strong, tripartisan support that we have seen in the House, this bill has yet to be implemented into law, and it is imperative that we keep fighting and keep standing with American workers who want us to do that.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment is simple and straightforward. In July of 2003, a Federal court ruled that IBM's cash balance pension plan violates Federal anti-age discrimination law. The judge in this case is expected to award damages to IBM employees any day now, after which the company will appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Our amendment today would simply prohibit the Federal Government from assisting in overturning this pro-worker court decision. IBM deserves its day in court, like every other litigant, but taxpayer money should not be used to support an age-discriminatory cash balance plan. And this amendment gives Congress the opportunity to make that very clear.

Mr. Chairman, let us be very clear. While this particular lawsuit involves IBM's conversion to a cash balance plan, there are hundreds of other companies that have done exactly the same thing. This is not just IBM; it is hundreds of companies, companies like AT&T, Duke Energy, CBS, Bank of America, Enron, WorldCom and many others. It is not only IBM employees who are hurting but millions of workers from one end of this country to the other who have also been affected, people whose retirement dreams have been shattered when companies change the rules of the game and slash the retirement benefits that were promised to their employees.

This precedent-setting court ruling against cash balance plans confirms what American workers have been saying for years: Cash balance pension conversions discriminate against workers based on age, are illegal and, without adequate protections for older workers, must be stopped. And that is what we are here to do today.

Mr. Chairman, let me just read a brief excerpt from the ruling of Judge Murphy: ``In 1999, IBM opted for a cash balance formula. The plan's actuaries projected that this would produce annual savings of almost $500 million by 2009. These savings would result from reductions of up to 47 percent in future benefits that would be earned by older IBM employees. The 1999 cash balance formula violates the literal terms of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. IBM's own age discrimination analysis illustrates the problem.'' That was Judge Murphy.

Mr. Chairman, I became involved in this issue several years ago when hundreds of IBM employees in Vermont contacted my office and told me that the pensions that they had been promised by the company had been cut by 20 to 50 percent. In fact, the largest town meeting that I have ever held in Vermont, and I have held many, was for some 700 IBM workers who came out to demand that the company rescind the changes that had been made in their pension plan.

Mr. Chairman, think about it. Think about workers staying at a company through good times and bad times, providing loyalty to their employers because, among other reasons, they expect to receive certain agreed-upon pensions when they retire. And then, Mr. Chairman, one day, out of nowhere, the company sends a document, maybe it is an e-mail, which says, in so many words: Thank you, employees, for your dedicated service to the company, but forget about the promises that we made to you regarding the retirement that you and your family were anticipating. Forget about it. That is gone.

And, in many instances, while pulling the rug out from under their employees, we are seeing older workers, years of service to a company, suddenly find that the pensions that they had been planning on, the retirement dreams that they had been expecting, slashed by up to 50 percent.

Mr. Chairman, for those Members who will tell us that cash balance conversions are good things and should be supported, and there will be some today, I would remind them of a report from the Congressional Research Service that I requested. And very simply, what I asked the CRS to tell me is, what impact would a conversion to cash balance mean for Members of Congress, because I hear over and over again, Members of Congress, they want the American people to have what they have.

Well, surprise, surprise. What the CRS reported was that, if Congress converted to cash balance payment plans, our retirement benefits would go down, down, down. So, if any Member today thinks that it is a great idea to force cash balance payment plans on the workers of America, I hope that they will do the same thing for the Members of Congress and cut their pensions by up to 50 percent.

Mr. Chairman, all over this country today, there is enormous pension anxiety. People who have worked for decades are wondering whether the promises made to them will be kept. That is the issue today. Let us vote for this tripartisan amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht), a gentleman who has been very active in supporting workers on pension issues.

Mr. Chairman, does the gentleman have additional speakers?

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel).

Mr. Chairman, does the gentleman's status remain the same?

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney).

Mr. Chairman, how much time is left on both sides?

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht).

Mr. Chairman, I would inquire as to the amount of time left both on sides.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver).

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I would indicate that I inadvertently missed a vote this afternoon on H.R. 4571. If I had voted, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, this is a time for celebration of higher education in the Green Mountain State: One hundred years ago Saint Michael's College was founded in Winooski, Vermont.

In the past century the college has seen its enrollment burgeon from 34 students to 1,900 students. It has grown from very modest beginnings into a major institution of higher education, widely known as one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the Northeast, and one of the premier Catholic colleges in America. With the diversity of its student body, and its long history as one of the first schools to offer education in teaching English as a second language, its reputation for academic excellence is not just national but international.

Priests of the Society of St. Edmund emigrated to North America, fleeing religious persecution in France in the late nineteenth century. They settled in Vermont, and changed forever the shape of education in their adopted state.

As an order dedicated to education, the Edmundites founded Saint Michael's College in 1904. With an initial investment of $5,000 they began the college on the Kelly Farm in Winooski Park. Their initial effort was modest, just under three dozen students ranging in age from 10 to 22. Few, except the visionary

founders, would have believed that from such small beginnings would emerge the thriving institution which, a century later, is widely known for both its rigorous academic program and its deep commitment to service.

The founders themselves probably did not foresee that the college, originally open only to men, would go co-educational in 1970, or that its commitment to excellence in every pursuit--in developing the ethical as well as the intellectual and spiritual side of human existence, in improving the body as well as the mind--would lead to the Ice Knights winning the NCAA Division II hockey championship. (Nor have the women far behind: in 2000 the St. Michael's field hockey team advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four.) The founders knew they were sowing the seeds for building character and giving a base for achievement in the secular world, but even they could not have foreseen that graduates of St. Michael's would serve in the United States Senate, and head some of America's largest and most important corporations, or win the Pulitzer Prize. Many graduates serve their fellow men and women, here and abroad, with great dedication, though that they could have foreseen, for commitment to the welfare of the underprivileged and dispossessed has always been central to the Edmundite mission.

Today, the 1,900 full-time undergraduate students at St. Michael's reside in an environment in which learning takes place both in and out of the classroom. In addition to its undergraduates, a multitude of graduate and international students experience its commitment to moral and ethical development, a commitment inspired by the strong Edmundite tradition of service. Although it is now run by a secular Board of Trustees, and no longer are the majority of its teachers Edmundite priests, St. Michael's still is guided by the spirit of its founding order, the recognition that service and education are inextricably linked, and intellectual growth must proceed in concert with spiritual and ethical deepening.

St. Michael's was one of the first colleges to institute an Alternative Spring Break, enabling students to work in inner cities and rural areas to rebuild communities and provide needed services. Today, the college lives out its commitment to service in many ways at home and abroad. In the past few years, student programs have gone to Calcutta, Tanzania, Haiti and elsewhere to learn and do good work. St. Michael's remains dedicated to teaching biology and literature, history and philosophy--but is also enduringly dedicated to working with the impoverished, the homeless, and the victims of AIDS.

It is a particular mark of St. Michael's excellence that it was recently invited to join the elite ranks of colleges and universities hosting Phi Beta Kappa chapters on campus.

And Saint Michael's continues to grow ever stronger academically. For fourteen consecutive years it has been highly rated in rankings of colleges by US News and World Report, and in 2003 it was identified by Newsweek magazine as one of thirty ``hidden treasure'' colleges that deserve wider national recognition.

Under the able leadership of President Marc vanderHeyden, a dedicated and excellent faculty teaches courses which are at the cutting edge of knowledge, while still rooted in the great traditions of learning. The staff at the college are as committed to excellence and the growth of students as are the faculty. The alumni, those prior generations of St. Michael's students, have gone on to do significant work in the world, serving as models for the engaged students of today, and contribute as generous benefactors to the fiscal well-being of the college.

I have spoken at St. Michael's, met with classes there, and had its students serve as interns in my office. So I say with confidence that its students are remarkable young people, for they embody that dedication to conjoining learning with service which is the hallmark of the college.

As St. Michael's College moves into its second century, the people of Vermont salute its past achievement and its present accomplishment. Situated above the Winooski River, overlooking the splendors of Mount Mansfield, it is my firm expectation that St. Michael's College and its campus community will continue to sparkle, a bright jewel in the Green Mountain State.

Offered By: Mr. Sanders

Amendment No. 5: At the end of the bill, insert after the

last section (preceding the short title) the following new

section:

Offered By: Mr. Sanders

Amendment No. 6: At the end of the bill, insert after the

last section (preceding the short title) the following new

section:

Offered By: Mr. Sanders

Amendment No. 7: At the end of the bill, insert after the

last section (preceding the short title) the following new

section:

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to commend a Vermont resident, Harriet McGraw, known to her friends as Hatsie, for winning the Robert Penn Warren Award for poetry. Her poem, ``Neighbors in the North End,'' was selected as the best of 853 submissions in a competition which saw entrants from 252 poets from 42 states and foreign nations. The competition was sponsored by the New England Writers Conference.

Hatsie McGraw lives in Windsor and works in nearby Springfield, where she is the librarian at the Park Street School. She represents part of what is best about our state: an ongoing creativity that is the hallmark of much in Vermont, a creativity which brings forth not just poetry but handbuilt furniture, innovative small businesses, and popular music. As just one instance of that creativity let me cite her husband Tom, a painter whose works in mixed media were recently exhibited in a show of his work, ``Elements of Diversion,'' at the New England Gallery.

We in Vermont are proud of Hatsie McGraw, and of the countless thousands like her who move ever onward in search of new things to do, new heights to scale, new skills to put to use.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, let me begin by thanking the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Regula) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Ranking Member Obey) for their very, very hard work on this important bill.

Mr. Chairman, as I think every American from Vermont to California knows, in a couple of weeks as winter approaches, people are going to have a very, very rude surprise when they take a look at their home heating bills. I do not have to tell anybody here or anybody in America that the cost of home heating fuels are skyrocketing

out of control, and I do not have to tell anybody here that millions and millions and millions of Americans are going to find it increasingly difficult to pay these outrageously high costs in order to keep warm this winter.

Mr. Chairman, according to the Energy Information Administration, the price of heating oil, natural gas and propane are expected to skyrocket. They are going to go off the wall.

The amendment that I am offering today would provide relief to hundreds of thousands of families by increasing funding for the highly successful and widely supported Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the LIHEAP program, as well as the Weatherization Assistance Program, by $22 million. This increase, I should point out to my friends, would still be $42 million below the President's request. The amendment would be offset by a $26 million reduction in departmental management at the Department of Health and Human Services, which would still provide, with that reduction, level funding for this program.

This amendment has tripartisan support and is being cosponsored by my colleagues, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bradley), the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan). It also enjoys the very strong support of the National Community Action Foundation.

Mr. Chairman, from California to Vermont, every American knows that energy costs are only going to go up this winter. Here is what the Energy Information Administration is predicting: Compared to the winters of 1998 to 2000, the price of natural gas will be 55 percent higher; the price of heating oil will be 45 percent higher; and the price of propane will be 41 percent higher.

LIHEAP is the primary program that provides assistance to help lower- income families pay their energy bills, and there has been no time when more people are going to need LIHEAP assistance than now. We are facing a crisis, and if we do not act, large numbers of Americans could well go cold this winter.

Mr. Chairman, in this country no American family should go without heat this winter. Not one senior citizen should choose between heating their homes and paying for the prescription drugs that they need.

Mr. Chairman, LIHEAP and weatherization enjoy broad bipartisan support in Congress. Last March, more than 70 Members of both the House and Senate, including 20 Republicans, cosigned letters calling for $3 billion in funding for LIHEAP. Even if this amendment were signed into law, LIHEAP would still be more than $500 million short of that mark.

Similar amendments that I have offered in the past to increase funding for weatherization have been very successful because I think they have strong tripartisan support, understanding that it is absurd that people lose their heat through faulty windows or roofs, and that it makes sense economically and environmentally to substantially increase weatherization.

Mr. Chairman, for those of us concerned about protecting the financial well-being of lower-income Americans and for those of us concerned about the environment, this is a very important amendment. It will make more homes throughout this country energy-efficient through proper insulation. This is good for low-income people, it is good for the government, it is good for our environment.

The weatherization program also creates good-paying jobs, increases property values, and decreases U.S. energy use by the equivalent of some 15 million barrels of oil every year.

Under this program, 105,000 homes will be weatherized this year, but much more can and must be done, and while 4.8 million families received LIHEAP assistance this year, over 25 million eligible families did not receive any help due to lack of funding from the Federal Government.

Mr. Chairman, we can do better than that, we must do better than that, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important amendment.

Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend for his support for these programs over the years, and I am not going to argue with him about the value of these programs because I know he appreciates the value of the programs.

But what my friend cannot deny is that the cost of heating fuels are skyrocketing. There is no debate about that, and the problem is that if we simply increase weatherization and LIHEAP by a little bit, it is not going to keep up with 30, 40, 50 percent increases in home heating fuel.

I think my friend would recognize, and none of us can predict the weather, but even with an average winter, the fact that heating fuels are soaring will mean that fewer dollars will be available to people, or we are going to have to cut back on the number of people that utilize the programs.

All I am doing, this is not a multibillion-dollar increase, and I know my friend's heart is in the right place on this issue. It is a relatively modest increase of $22 million. I would appreciate support for it.

Mr. Chairman, if my friend would further yield, I understand that, and it is like I would not be unhappy if the gentleman took care of that in conference. I know it is a tough judgment.

I simply would like the Members to stand up for folks who might go cold this winter. That is the point that I want to make. I am not going to get in a great argument with my colleague here. And perhaps he can adjust that in conference.

If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Chairman, I think it is best to give the Members an opportunity to express their will on this, but I thank the gentleman very, very much.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Ohio for yielding me this time.

Let me begin by saying I am prepared to yield time to any proponent of this bill who can tell me what the minimum wage is in Morocco. I heard that it has gone up. What is it, 20 cents an hour, 30 cents an hour? What is the minimum wage in Morocco?

I am prepared to yield time if anyone who is supporting this bill will tell me if Morocco is a democratic society. We heard about workers' rights. My understanding is that it is an hereditary monarchy where the legislature there could be abolished at any time by the King. Does anybody want to respond to that? I am waiting. I hear no response.

A few minutes ago, Mr. Speaker, we were told that gay marriage was going to destroy the fabric of American society. Well, I will tell my colleagues what is going to destroy the fabric of American society: pieces of legislation like this that are wiping out the middle class of this country, are lowering our standard of living, are making the gap between the rich and the poor grow wider.

I would yield again to my friends who are pushing this bill if they will tell me whether they agree with Thomas Donohue, the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who several weeks ago urged, urged American companies to outsource, urged American companies to throw our workers out on the street and go to China or Morocco.

Will any proponents of this legislation tell me that they disagree with Mr. Donohue? I yield time to anybody who says they disagree with Mr. Donohue, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. I do not hear it.

In other words, the proponents of this bill are telling us that they think it is a good idea that Americans workers are thrown out on the street, lose decent paying jobs, and are forced to compete in a race to the bottom against desperate people all over the world who are working for pennies an hour.

Mr. Speaker, what is happening in our society today is that while productivity increases, while technology expands, the reality is that the middle class is shrinking and the average American worker is working longer hours for lower wages. There are a lot of reasons for that, but certainly one of the reasons is that our working class, our middle class is being asked to compete against desperate people in Morocco, in China, all over this world. And American corporations are saying, why should I pay an American worker $10, $15 an hour, have unions, protect the environment, when I can go to Morocco, I can go to China, and big money interests in this country, with the help of the Republican leadership, is going to make it easier for me to go abroad.

What is happening to this economy is an outrage in terms of the needs of our kids. The U.S. Department of Labor has projected that 7 out of the 10 fastest-growing jobs in the next 10 years are going to pay low wages, require a high school degree, with minimal benefits. We are losing our manufacturing base. In the last 3 years, 2.7 million good- paying manufacturing jobs gone. Now they are taking our information technology jobs to India. Gone. And what is going to be left for our kids? Well, Wal-Mart is doing very well; Burger King is doing very well. Is that what we want for our kids? Why are we selling out the middle class of this country? Why are we allowing corporate America to go abroad?

Well, I would suggest that we should look at the campaign contributions that come in to this institution from corporate America. No, let us have trade that is fair, not this trade agreement.

Mr. Speaker, every day the media bombards us with stories about how dangerous the world is. War and terrorism are, tragically, a part of our modern condition. Yet this picture of international antagonism is so incomplete as to give us a false picture of the globe we inhabit. Fortunately, there are continual efforts, heroic efforts, to bring people together.

In fact, though often unrecognized by the mass media, international cooperation and efforts at mutual understanding take place every day. It is important that we recognize those who do the essential and heroic work of building the bridges that unite the international community.

Today I want to recognize the fine work of the School for International Studies at St. Michael's College, a private liberal-arts college in Colchester, VT, as the school celebrates its 50th anniversary. During the past five decades, over 15,000 international students have studied English at the St. Michael's campus in Colchester.

Founded in 1954 with a small program that taught four students from Puerto Rico, Quebec and Colombia, the program quickly grew to include students from 20 countries.

In 1957 the program welcomed 100 Hungarian refugees, known as Freedom Fighters for their 1956 uprising against Soviet troops, to the campus to learn English. The program was so successful that in 1962 a master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (MATESL) was established. Today, the School for International Studies has a worldwide reputation as a leader in language teaching pedagogy.

By the 1970s the program was teaching language students from over 40 countries around the world.

Nor has the growth and scope of the program slackened in current years. Recently the program has welcomed its first students from Vietnam and Egypt, and has developed partnerships with institutions in Poland, Thailand, Greece, and Colombia. Students from more than 65 countries have studied in the Saint Michael's School of International Studies.

This week Saint Michael's College President Marc vanderHeyden presided over a celebration of this 50th anniversary, joined by speakers from some of Saint Michael's partner schools, Kanazawa Technical College of Japan, the Hellenic-American Union of Athens, both the International Christian University and Surugadai University of Tokyo, and the Gimnasio Vermont of Bogota.

To St. Michael's College, and to its School for International Studies in particular, a proud state and proud Nation say: Congratulations on working for half a century to bring people together and to build better communication between nations. We wish you well for the next half- century as you continue this vital work.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the accomplishments of a very special group of volunteers who hail from Vermont's Northeast Kingdom--the tri-county area of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans Counties. I rise to honor the dedicated men and women who have formed and are building Indoor Recreation of Orleans County, more generally known as IROC.

Dr. Robert E. Smith, a resident of Newport, chairs the IROC Board of Directors. Dr. Smith and the IROC Board are supported by a 50-member President's Advisory Council, a group of community leaders whose guidance has been invaluable all along the way.

James G. Davis directs IROC's day-by-day operations for the Board of Directors. Mr. Davis is a native Vermonter whose vision for the organization has been inspirational.

IROC's three-fold mission addresses key regional issues: To improve the quality of life and develop healthy lifestyles for Northeast Kingdom area residents--especially youth--through educational and recreational activities; to develop community-centered facilities and programs that foster a safe environment and inclusive programs to all participants; and, to deliver its services and programs at the lowest cost possible.

IROC will have five distinct facility emphases: (1) an aquatic center; (2) a multi-purpose recreation arena; (3) a fitness center; (4) a community room, and (5) an educational/technology center. Within each of these areas, multiple activities have been identified for further development.

The Aquatic Center (Main Level) will focus not only on general swimming but also on competitive swimming, rehabilitation, and other types of water activities. North Country Hospital and Health Center, Inc. has committed to using the Aquatic Center on a regular basis for those patients whose rehabilitation program would benefit from hydrotherapy.

The Multi-purpose Recreation Arena (Main Level) has been designed specifically to allow for flexibility in activities. The floor plan for this area includes three regulation-size high school basketball courts that can be converted (almost instantaneously) to accommodate indoor soccer, in-line skating, lacrosse, volleyball, tennis and badminton. The multi-purpose area includes seating for 500 spectators and will serve the anticipated demand for general recreation as well as league and tournament play. A walking track will surround the multi-purpose floor area. The design of the multi-purpose area will allow for specialty shows (home, garden, auto, for example) and concerts.

A 2,100 sq. ft. Fitness Center will offer cardiovascular training and exercise, aerobics instruction, fitness training, muscle toning, and body building activities to interested individuals on a membership basis. North Country Hospital and Health Center, Inc. has also committed to using the Fitness Center on a regular

basis for its rehabilitation and wellness programs.

IROC's Mezzanine Level will contain a 4,200 square foot multi-purpose Lloyd Selby Community Room designed to accommodate meetings, dances, special events, educational programs and seminars, and other community- based activities.

The Mezzanine Level will also house an Educational/Technology Center equipped with state-of-the-art computers and other multi-media materials. Designed for such educational purposes as after-school tutoring, computer training, employment and training seminars, and other related activities, the programs in the Technology Center will focus on youth.

In addition, the Mezzanine Level will contain a Meeting Room that will be made available, as needed and as a public service, to area non- profit organizations in need of meeting space.

To date, the IROC Board of Directors has been able to secure and purchase a ten-acre parcel of land in Derby, Vermont, erect a 54,000 square foot steel building on the site, and initiate the interior build-out of the facility. All of this has been made possible through the generosity of local northeastern Vermonters, whose cash and in-kind contributions to date total over $2.5 million, a remarkable achievement, given the region's poor economy.

As you all know, Vermont is a beautiful state, and the Northeast Kingdom represents one of its loveliest regions. All of the natural beauty in the area provides a wonderful place to live and a special place to spend a vacation. After our many summer visitors leave, however, and before the snow arrives, our year-round residents settle into their fall and winter routines. Off-season unemployment rebounds, and local residents look for activities to occupy the long cold nights and short days.

There is an international ice youth hockey program--Border Minor Hockey--and there is, of course, the usual array of school-based sports programs. But those programs reach only a small percentage of the population. Youth, working adults, and the community beyond school age are largely left out of the picture. The residents of the Northeast Kingdom have recognized this need; they have organized themselves; and they are supporting IROC to respond to the region's needs.

When the facility is opened later this year, IROC will deliver indoor recreation, educational opportunities, rehabilitation services, and many related community activities to the citizens of Vermont. When IROC is fully operational, over 30 full-time equivalent jobs will have been created in a region that is sorely in need of increased employment opportunities.

This has not happened overnight. In fact, it has taken nearly 16 years for IROC to get where it is today. I am pleased to report, however, that as we stand here today, the process that began in 1988 is nearly complete.

Funds are still being raised to finish the interior as originally designed, and program grant proposals are being written to fund the educational and community activities that will take place in the building. I am proud to say that my office has been able to secure almost $340,000 in federal funding to support IROC through the Economic Development Initiative at the Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice.

Mr. Speaker, IROC is an organization that is having an immensely positive effect on this area of Vermont. Once this community center is built, it should serve as a national model for building indoor community recreation centers throughout Vermont and the rest of the country. To accomplish that goal, I have introduced H.R. 1022, the Urban and Rural Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Act. H.R. 1022 would provide $100 million in federal funding for the construction of community centers in rural and urban areas to reduce obesity and prevent disease and currently has over 20 co-sponsors.

The residents of this most rural area of the state have shown true Vermont spirit by supporting this project through their financial and in-kind investments and through their extraordinary volunteer activities. The Vermont National Guard contributed over a week of in- kind labor (valued at $200,000) to help with building construction. Local businesses have provided materials and labor as gifts. The community raised over $226,000 in a three-week period in response to a challenge grant made in 2003 by a former area resident. And these are only a few examples of how the community has participated in building

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 6 minutes.

Mr. Chairman, this tripartisan amendment has widespread support across the ideological spectrum, from Democrats and Republicans, from progressives, conservatives to moderates. It is being cosponsored today by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul), the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro). It also enjoys the support of the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Citizen Works and other national organizations.

Mr. Chairman, in a very profound way this amendment deals with the issue of patriotism, love of country and respect for the American people. At a time when our country is at war and young Americans are dying almost every day, at a time when our country has a $7 trillion national debt and when veterans are unable to get the health care that they need, this amendment asks a very simple question: Should the middle class of this country, people who work hard, love their country and pay their fair share of taxes, be asked to provide billions in loan guarantees to corporate expatriates, U.S. companies who set up phony headquarters abroad in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes? That is what this amendment is all about.

Mr. Chairman, enough is enough. The American people are growing sick and tired of large corporations throwing American workers out on the streets as they move to China, to India and to other low-wage countries; and they are equally outraged by companies who come begging to Washington for corporate welfare and taxpayer dollars while they move to tax-haven countries in order to avoid their tax obligations here.

Oh, they do not want to pay taxes in America, not them. That is for the suckers of this country. That is what they say, but they sure do want the taxpayers to help them out with corporate welfare. That is okay.

This amendment will begin the process of putting an end to that absurdity. I fully concede that this amendment is not going to solve this problem completely, no question about that, but its passage will be a shot across the bow to every corporation in America who thinks that they will be able to continue to rip off the taxpayers of this country with impunity. It will, in fact, make some companies think twice before they run to Bermuda or to Panama or to the Cayman Islands in order to avoid paying American taxes.

Specifically, Mr. Chairman, this amendment would prohibit the Export- Import Bank from approving subsidized loan guarantees to corporate expatriates, companies who were formerly located in the United States but who have set up paper headquarters abroad in tax-haven countries in order to avoid paying taxes here.

Mr. Chairman, what every Member of Congress should know is that five out of the top 23 largest recipients of Export-Import Bank assistance since 2003 are corporate expatriates that have set up sham headquarters and post office boxes in places like Bermuda, Barbados and the Cayman Islands for the sole purpose of avoiding U.S. taxes.

Mr. Chairman, it is bad enough corporate expatriates are abandoning this country to dodge taxes, but it is unconscionable that these companies then

turn around and seek U.S. taxpayer assistance through the U.S. Export- Import Bank, forcing middle-class families to pick up the tab. Companies that dodge U.S. taxes should not be rewarded with taxpayer subsidies through the Export-Import Bank.

Mr. Chairman, we are talking about substantial dollars here. Let me give my colleagues some examples of what I am talking about.

Tyco International, everybody will remember Tyco International, one of the poster children for corporate greed, saved $400 million in U.S. taxes by reincorporating in Bermuda in 1997. What was the response of the Export-Import Bank to this deliberate attempt to avoid paying their fair share of taxes? What did they do when Tyco moved to Bermuda? Well, they gave Tyco $115 million in assistance since 1998. That is absurd.

In 2002, Ingersoll-Rand saved up to $60 million in U.S. taxes by reincorporating in Bermuda. Since 2002, this tax-dodging company received over $370 million in subsidized loans, loan guarantees and other financial assistance from the Export-Import Bank.

In 2002, Nabors Industry saved $10 million in taxes by reincorporating in Bermuda. Since that year, it has received over $300 million in taxpayer-backed financial assistance through the Export- Import Bank.

Mr. Chairman, the time is now to say enough is enough. If corporations want to move to Bermuda and disown the United States, that is their right, but they do not have a right to then come back to the taxpayers of this country and ask the United States Congress and the Export-Import Bank to give them substantial sums of money.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul).

(Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), who has actually been one of the leaders on this issue in the Congress.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney).

Would the Chairman please tell us how much time is remaining.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor).

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time, to conclude the debate from our side, by asking for support for what really is a very commonsense amendment.

I think the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) said it all. If people want to go to the Cayman Islands, if they want to go to Bermuda, that is their right. No one is questioning their right. But they cannot abandon their country, go abroad, and then say, oh, yeah, by the way, I do not want to pay

my taxes, but I sure do want Washington to subsidize my business.

So I want to urge support for an amendment that has broad tripartisan support, support of the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Business and Industry Council, the Teamsters, the United Steel Workers, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and Citizens Works.

This is an amendment that will tell corporate America that if they want the benefits that U.S. taxpayers provide to them, they cannot run away and avoid their taxes.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.