Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of San Diego's great citizens Muriel Watson. Muriel passed on May 1, 2012 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

I had the pleasure of knowing Muriel when I was Mayor of Imperial Beach. I would also talk with her when I would ride my horses along the border. She was tenacious, dedicated and motivated to all of her causes and her attitude and intellect allowed her to accomplish anything she set her mind to.

Muriel was born in Newton Massachusetts on October 23, 1930 as the only child of William and Cynthia Bianchi. She grew up as a teenager in San Diego, attended San Diego High School, and later earned her teaching degree at San Diego State College. She was a patron of the arts and would dance and act at the Old Globe theatre in San Diego from time to time.

After meeting her husband George Watson in 1953, a Border Patrol agent, Muriel began her work with the U.S. Border Patrol. She became involved with the Border Patrol Union as a Public Information Officer and testified before Congress regarding issues and concerns of the Border Patrol.

In addition to her involvement with the Border Patrol, Muriel created an initiative called ``Light Up the Border'' in 1989. The goal of the group was to shine car lights on the border in order to cut down on border violence. The group met monthly starting on November 4, 1989. At the first meeting, 23 cars were present and over the seven months of the program the group grew to 2000 cars in June of 1990.

Over the course of the program, Muriel was able to enlist the help of Congressman Duncan Hunter to begin construction on what today represents three layers of border fence, more agents, and lights on the border.

Muriel will be missed by those of us who knew her. Her memory will live on in the lives of her children and grandchildren, in the hearts and minds of the Border Patrol agents, and through the people of the causes she served.

I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I hope both sides consider the fact of what has happened over the last year or two.

The fact is that this amendment is here before us because we have an extraordinary situation that has happened in certain local communities and States where the Federal Government has actually intervened and filed lawsuits based on the fact that the administration felt that local communities being involved in the enforcement of Federal immigration law was somehow encroaching on the ability of the Federal Government to enforce the law when, in fact, if you read their statement against a State like Arizona, the encroachment was not because they were enforcing some new law or some off-the-wall approach, but the fact that they were enforcing the law. In fact, in the case of Arizona, it said that Arizona's enforcing of immigration law infringed on the ability or prerogative of the executive branch not to enforce the law at any time the executive branch chooses.

Now, I think, as legislators--Democrats and Republicans--but most importantly as Americans, we need to stand up for the fact that the executive branch is here to enforce the law, not to pick which laws to enforce and which ones to ignore. We make the laws, Mr. Chairman, not the White House. We make the laws that the White House is supposed to be enforcing. Sadly, we have seen in the last few years the executive branch claiming the right to choose which laws to enforce and which laws not to enforce. In the Arizona case, they specifically stated that they chose not to enforce the law, thus, that Arizona's enforcing of the Federal law is some kind of encroachment on the executive prerogative.

You and I--Democrats and Republicans--and Americans across the country who believe in the separation of powers should stand up and say, Executive, you do not have the power to legislate from the White House. That's our job. You do not have the authority to pick and choose what laws you enforce.

We all remember the police officer who says, Sir, I do not make the laws. I just enforce them.

All we're asking here is that the executive branch understand that they are not here to choose which laws are honorable and appropriate to be enforced. It is our prerogative to pass those laws and to tell the executive branch, Your job is to enforce it.

Definitely, it is not the executive's right to use taxpayer money to sue States for the cooperation and implementation of laws that this body and bodies before us have passed to make the Federal law. The enforcement of those Federal laws is an essential point, not just on immigration control, but as to the entire concept that this Republic was founded on.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Bataan Death March and to recognize one of my constituents, Dr. Lester Tenney, who took part in that long and inhumane march. He and some 76,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war made the 65 mile march from Mariveles and Bagac in the Philippines to Camp O'Donnell and were eventually transported by Hell Ships to Japan during April of 1942.

Dr. Tenney is a truly remarkable individual who has dedicated his life to serving his country and his community. When he was twenty years old, Lester joined the Illinois National Guard. His Battalion arrived in the Philippines on November 20, 1941. He was at Clark Field in the Philippines on December 8th when Japanese bombers and fighters attacked within hours of the Pearl Harbor assault.

He was engaged in the first U.S. tank battle in World War II when his Battalion, the 192d Tank Battalion of the Illinois National Guard, was sent to the Lingayen Gulf on the Northern Philippine Island of Luzon where the Japanese forces landed on December 22, 1941. Overwhelmed by the invading Japanese forces, his tank company and all other U.S. troops on Luzon Island retreated into the Bataan Peninsula.

Dr. Tenney became a POW of the Japanese when the U.S. forces on the Bataan Peninsula were surrendered on April 9, 1942. The already sick and starving troops were forced to walk 65 miles in sweltering heat with virtually no food and water in what later became known as the Bataan Death March (the March). He described his experience on the March: ``Day after day, on that march, I watched in utter helplessness as hundreds of my friends--many who had become brothers--were shot, bayoneted, decapitated, and in some cases buried alive. I listened to their cries, their last requests, and the unspeakable sadness that comes to a man when he realizes he will never again see his family.''

Dr. Tenney suffered severe abuse while held in POW camps and was tortured when he tried to escape. He was transported to Japan on a ``Hell Ship'' in September of 1942. Dr. Tenney worked as a slave in a Mitsui coal mine in Ohmuta, Japan until the end of the war in August 1945. He, along with his fellow POW's, were often beaten by employees of Mitsui and received inadequate food and little medical care. Even as he was held in one of the worst POW camps in Japan where 138 POWs died, Dr. Tenney tried to lift the spirits of his fellow POWs by organizing and producing many variety shows as camp entertainment. Even the Japanese guards came to watch.

For these shows Dr. Tenney received a special commendation award for his contribution to improving morale among his fellow POWs in addition to the Bronze Star with two oak-leaf clusters, the Purple Heart with two oak-leaf clusters, and other medals.

It was not until 1995, when Dr. Tenney published his memoir My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March, that he was finally able to revisit his POW experience. In this book, he vividly described his horrific experience during the March, in the POW camps in the Philippines, and in his three years of slave labor in the Mitsui coal mine. But he also wrote about a Japanese exchange student whom he and his wife hosted in the late 1960s, and whom he came to love like his own son. They were so close that when the matured student married, Dr. and Mrs. Tenney accompanied them on their honeymoon.

Since his time as a POW in Japan, Dr. Tenney has worked to advance the cause of American POW's from all conflicts. He has testified repeatedly before Congress on POW issues. The peace treaty between the U.S. and Japan took away the rights of the individual POWs to sue for their very real damages. Later the State of California enacted legislation allowing the POWs to sue the Japanese companies who enslaved them. Dr. Tenney was the lead plaintiff in the first such suit. Unfortunately the U.S. State Department took a contrary position and supported the defendant companies; and the suit failed at the Supreme Court.

Then Dr. Tenney turned to the Japanese government in the person of Ambassador Fujisaki. After several meetings with Dr. Tenney, the Ambassador received permission to attend the last reunion of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, the umbrella group of the Pacific POWs. Ambassador Fujisaki apologized to the group on behalf of the Japanese Government, the first time such a thing had happened. In 2008 Dr. Tenney was able to achieve one of his goals of an official apology from the Japanese Government for the horrors of Bataan and World War II. He has also made repeated appearances at Japanese schools and universities, appearances in the Japanese media, and met with Japanese government officials to promote awareness and improve relations between the United States and Japan.

In addition to his many years of efforts to preserve the history of American POWs of the Japanese during WWII and to reach out to the Japanese people to learn that history together, Dr. Tenney started a project which he named ``Care Packages from Home'' in 2007. He and friends in his retirement community in Carlsbad, California, have been sending gift packages to thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Having received no package from home while he was a POW, Dr. Tenney is determined to make sure that today's troops never feel like have been forgotten.

As of June of 2011, Dr. Tenney's Care Packages from Home has mailed 11,350 packages and are sending 200 more every month. Maj. Gary Bourland, 39, a Marine who was on his fourth deployment said; ``It is the best feeling in the world opening up one of these packages,'' Dr. Tenney believes that basic necessities such as nail clippers, foot powder, socks and wet wipes, can ``make or break you out there.'' It also signals to our troops, many of whom are young and away from home for the first time that they are being remembered. Maj. Bourland also added, ``If they know the American people are supportive, my troops will walk through fire for them.''

Dr. Tenney is here in Washington, DC this week to tell his story and commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Bataan Death March. His service to the United States of America is a model to us all and I am proud to call him my constituent and my friend.

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation that will place a 90-day deadline on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a final decision for a permit to build an elementary school in my district. After nearly 10 years of delays, it is time to move forward on this critical school for the children in my congressional district. The bill does not sidestep environmental review. Endangered species and habitat will be protected. It is time to recognize and place the impact of delay to the community on equal footing.

Jonas Salk Elementary is a proposed school site within the community of Mira Mesa in San Diego, California. With nearly one in 10 San Diego residents out of work, this is a ``shovel-ready'' project that has been the victim of nearly a decade of bureaucratic regulatory delays. This has hurt students, deprived the community of park amenities and much needed jobs.

This school is needed to ease existing overcrowding at Mason Elementary, Hage Elementary and other San Diego-area schools. The proposed project is located within an existing community, on a lot that has been vacant and graded since 1978. Along with the school, the project envisions a park and joint-use facilities to benefit the region.

The San Diego Unified School District Board approved the plans to build Jonas Salk Elementary in 2003, with the intent of serving students in 2006. Unfortunately, the elementary school has been indirectly delayed by an environmental lawsuit and various agency delays for nearly a decade. If enacted, my legislation will help ensure that students will be able to attend this long delayed school in 2014.

At a time when schools are overcrowded and the resources to build schools are scarce, to delay a project with both the need and the resources to construct with no real impact to the environment is unacceptable. The intent of this bill is to not allow the opening of the school to slip any further. The San Diego Unified School District has done its due diligence to protect the environment and provide for students. My bill recognizes the school district's efforts and ensures that the final determination is issued in a timely manner so that the school can finally be built and begin servicing the community. Projects that provide an obvious community benefit and produce much needed jobs should be encouraged, not punished with costly and pointless delays.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to congratulate Debra Schwartz on her recent selection to the Board of Directors at the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU).

With more than 25 years of financial services leadership, Ms. Schwartz will be a great addition to NAFCU. She has been president and CEO of Mission Federal Credit Union in San Diego since 2009. Prior to joining Mission Federal, she served as Chief Financial Officer at First Future Credit Union and as Executive Vice President at San Diego County Credit Union.

Debra Schwartz graduated magna cum laude in Economics and Marketing from the State University of New York, and obtained a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. Throughout her 25 years of leadership in the financial services industry, Ms. Schwartz has also dedicated time and energy to a variety of non-profit organizations focused on youth and financial literacy. In fact, she currently serves on the governing board of Junior Achievement in San Diego and Imperial counties.

With more than 163,000 credit union members in San Diego community, Ms. Schwartz is a welcomed addition to the NAFCU Board of Directors and will undoubtedly make an immediate impact in her role. She has been both a leader and an innovator in the community and the NAFCU will be well served by her representation. Ms. Schwartz's experience will be a strong asset to the NAFCU as the credit union industry negotiates the recent financial regulatory reforms that will make lasting changes in the way credit unions operate.

I wish Ms. Schwartz the best of luck in her new role on the NAFCU board and look forward to working with her in this capacity. I ask my colleagues to join me today in congratulating Debra on this achievement and wishing her luck in her future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I am truly honored and proud to be here today as a cosponsor of this bill. This is a bill that will protect and defend religious symbols on war memorials from Washington to San Diego.

I think we need to remember that one thing that was a foundation of this country was religious tolerance. And this bill is addressing the fact that there are those who refuse to express religious tolerance and are actually after any symbol, no matter how traditionally accepted and how universally accepted by the community as a general recognition of service and devotion and memorial, that they would attack it if they could find a religious connotation in any form.

Mind you, our Constitution protects the freedom of religion, not from it. But I think that this issue is one that has gone so far that we're actually talking about tearing crosses down over war memorials, and I don't think any American across the board who really believes in tolerance would support that.

I'm very honored to have four plaques at this memorial in San Diego. Frankly, I have a father, a stepfather, a brother, and a stepbrother whose plaques are at the memorial at Mt. Soledad. This is a family effort. I remember as a child, my father pointing up at the cross at Mt. Soledad and that memorial that it symbolizes and said it's one of the few in the country to the men and women who died in Korea. Now, I also was very privileged in 2006 to be the cosponsor of a bill with another Duncan Hunter, Duncan's father, that specifically had Congress and the Federal Government come in to save this war memorial.

Mr. Speaker, if you're not going to support this bill, if your attitude is that any religious connotation anywhere in the world that is on Federal-controlled property needs to be torn down and destroyed, then you can take that position, but don't stand in these Chambers and point at religious symbols all over in Europe or in San Diego and say they must come down or you will not defend them.

If you're going to sit in these Chambers with Moses at one side, Pope Innocent and Pope Gregory on the other, and Calvin, in these Chambers, if you're not going to stand up and demand that this Congress tear those plaques off these walls, then for God sakes, leave our war memorials alone, and don't tear down religious symbols just because you're intolerant and can't stand the fact that there are some of us that respect our war service and respect their faith, but most importantly, respect the heritage that has made America what it is today.

I've got to say, quite frankly, I appreciate the gentleman from American Samoa and his position. If I represented that island, I would be wanting to defend the monopoly that island has in the western Pacific today.

But the fact is, as a Nation, we've got to look at not only the great economic impact of this monopoly of forcing boats to travel for thousands of miles to get back to one centralized location because of a political decision here in Washington, but we've also got to look at this fact that the lady from California has an amendment that will address not just the economic impact but what about the environmental.

And I would ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, consider the fact that we talk about greenhouse gasses and emissions, but, as a law, we're requiring these fishing boats to travel for 6 to 7 days over thousands of miles because of our laws here. If we truly want to say we want to reduce emissions, we should reduce the emissions forced by regulation by supporting the gentlelady's amendment.

Mr. Speaker, as Americans celebrate Veterans' Day this year it is important to take time and reflect on the infinite contributions and sacrifices the men, women, and families of those who have served in our Armed Forces. Our commitment to veterans should not end with their service, we must show our gratitude by offering them every opportunity to experience the American dream that they fought to protect.

With a veteran unemployment rate of 22 percent nationwide, much more needs to be done to create an environment that helps the private sector hire men and women who have served our country in uniform, more than 250,000 of whom live in San Diego County. That is why I am pleased to introduce the Help Inspire and Retrain our Exceptional (HIRE) Veterans Act of 2011 along with my colleague, Congressman John Barrow of Georgia.

Over the next two years, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan begin to wind down, more veterans will find themselves searching for jobs in the civilian workforce. One of the biggest obstacles for unemployed veterans is connecting to employers. The HIRE Veterans Act of 2011 helps overcome this obstacle and provides opportunities to valuable members of our community with the resources they need to transition from the armed services to a civilian workforce. This legislation will authorize grants to be awarded by the Department of Commerce to local Chambers of Commerce to create job training, apprenticeship, and internship programs for local veterans.

The time to act is now. As part of the record, I am submitting letters of support from the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce. These letters emphasize the importance of this legislation and describe how local Chambers and businesses can help HIRE veterans.

Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce,

November 2, 2011.

Hon. Brian Bilbray,

Member of Congress, Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Bilbray: I am writing to support the

proposed Help Inspire and Retrain our Exceptional (HIRE)

Veterans Act you are proposing in the upcoming session.

The Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce is the 10th largest

Chamber in the State of California and the second largest in

San Diego County. We are located adjacent to the large Marine

Corps Base at Camp Pendleton and as such see first-hand the

serious unemployment problem facing our young veterans. In

response to the problem we have created the Boots in Business

Military Mentoring Initiative to allow as many of the 8,000

veterans leaving the service from Camp Pendleton each

calendar year to mentor with civilian employers across the

county.

The main issue facing these veterans is competing for jobs

with civilians in the region is their ability to see first-

hand the types of jobs in the marketplace and learn what

employers are looking for when they hire someone both in

experience and education.

Our mission is to help military personnel in the last weeks

of their active duty term learn about the business world

through job shadowing 60 to 90 days prior to their discharge

date. By showing them what it's like to work in a variety of

professions, local companies will help veterans make smart

future career and educational decisions. Our program (a

Memorandum of Understanding MOU) is a collaborative effort

between the Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton, the Carlsbad

Chamber of Commerce and many local businesses that are

willing to provide a variety of job shadowing experiences to

active military members and their spouses as they prepare to

enter civilian life.

Military members are allowed up to 30 days of paid

Temporary Additional Duty to be mentored, so they can shadow

as many civilian jobs as possible during that time. A

mentoring activity can be one day, one week or even one month

in duration, depending on the goals of the veteran, the

number of positions shadowed, and the depth of involvement

with each position.

We are providing resume writing, job interviews, and first-

hand experience test driving as many jobs that they desire in

order to see if the job fits how they can compete to get it.

There is no charge for our program and their spouses are

equally allowed to participate.

If the veteran decides to return to his or her home town we

have arranged with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to contact

the local city chamber of commerce and notify them of the

arrival of a new veteran and have them arrange business

introductions were possible.

We endorse your proposed legislation 100%. The soaring

unemployment rate adds another layer of difficulty to the job

search experience. Your legislation will go a long way toward

allowing Chambers across the country with veterans in their

community have a fair chance to be hired and begin a

meaningful career.

Respectfully,

Ted Owens,

President/CEO.

Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is leading on not just an issue of jobs. This is an issue of jobs and lives. I think that is one thing we overlook so often. I am glad to hear about the hearing in Indianapolis because we had a hearing in San Diego. I'm sure that you guys are glad that you didn't have to come to the hearing in San Diego because we were in La Jolla overlooking the beach and the surf at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. But maybe some day you will be able to break away and come to one of our hearings down in San Diego.

But, Mr. Speaker, we're talking about an issue that is not discussed enough. I guess one of the issues that I'm really excited about on this one is it's a bipartisan effort. If there was one thing I want everyone to know about Washington, D.C.--Democrats, Republicans or Independents--the biggest problem with this town isn't that Washington tries new things or that Washington makes mistakes; but when Washington tries new things and makes mistakes, they're not willing to go back and correct it and straighten it out. They ignore it.

In fact, a lot of times they think the only problem is just throw more money or taxes at it or more regulation, and somehow it will make it better. I think this is one of those items where Democrats and Republicans should get together and say, Look, this was rushed through, really wasn't looked into in depth and needs to be corrected and straightened out.

That is what this bill, both the gentleman's bill and my bill say: We need a step back period, a cooling off time, and let's look at this and straighten this out. And the first thing we have to do is take this huge tax off the back of not just the producers but the American consumer. We're talking about a tax of $20 billion on an industry that can ill afford this kind of burden, especially at this time. We're talking in California alone 112,000 jobs, and something that all of us will say later if we lose these jobs, Oh, my God, how could we have done this. More importantly, we are talking about those lives of the people who depend on not just those devices that are out there today, but those that will be out there in the future.

Is there anyone here that can assure themselves that their children or grandchildren or granddaughter or grandson or even their mother or father won't need to have medical devices somewhere down the line, not just to improve the quality of life, but to ensure life extension? Or the fact of just being able to survive certain medical crises? Those are all questions that we need to ask ourselves individually. But as a Nation, we need to ask ourselves: Was this the right step for us to take at this time or at any time? And if it wasn't, we have to be brave enough to do what Washington doesn't do enough, and that is go back and correct the mistakes and move on in a much better and much more secure form, something that can be substantiated.

Let me be very blunt, as someone who has a major medical device industry in my community, that there are ways we can correct these things. Anna Eshoo and I, back in the 1990s, actually did tort reform for medical devices. There was a kind of bipartisan support of it saying put politics aside and put people first, and when it comes down to it, you do not provide health care to the public by taxing it out of the country. You're not going to make those kinds of opportunities available to either the people who need the jobs or those who need the medical breakthrough.

I want to say again that I look forward to working on this, and I look forward to working on a bipartisan effort with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, things like FDA reform, which is going to be another essential step that we have to do to make sure that we keep this vibrant industry here, or we will all rue the day, Democrat and Republican, if we allow it to leave the country and the jobs and medical breakthroughs go with them.

Also, the huge resources that we have for more research and development to be brought back into this country by repatriating American money that is overseas, that is being kept overseas, but because of punitive actions of the Federal Government here in Washington, D.C., $2 trillion that could come back to help do research and development, to save lives, to develop the next generation of medical devices, to be able to create that opportunity in economics and in medical breakthroughs, that's the kind of thing that we need to see Democrats and Republicans work together on.

I look forward to building on the cooperation we see in this bill, and work on it in other bills related to public health and the economic opportunities of creating jobs in America with American jobs on American soil.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize Up2Us--a leader in sports-based youth development--on the occasion of its annual awards ceremony for its Coach of the Year contest to be held here in Washington, D.C. As America's youth continue to be hit hard by the bad economic climate, it is encouraging to see an organization like Up2Us rise to the challenge.

Up2Us is leading a national movement to advance sports as a tool for addressing the critical issues facing youth in this nation, including childhood obesity, academic failure and anti-social behavior. Up2Us supports a national network of nearly 500 member organizations in all 50 states, serving 25 million youths through a plethora of sports.

In order to help serve this vast network, Up2Us launched its ``Coach Across America'' initiative (CAA) which is an AmeriCorps program that is the first nationwide effort to mobilize a workforce to promote positive youth development through sports. In partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service and Nike, CAA coaches use sports as a means to promote health and nutrition, education success, civic engagement and personal and social development among youth in some of the nation's poorest neighborhoods.

Last year, CAA directed 250 AmeriCorps members to serve as coaches in 105 youth programs across 20 states to work with more than 35,000 kids. In exchange for college tuition awards and a living stipend, coaches completed a total of 170,000 service hours, which is equivalent to $3.5 million in national service. AmeriCorps recruited more than 1,000 program volunteers, connected roughly 500 new parents to their respective programs and conducted more than 250 service-learning projects totaling 35,000 hours of youth volunteer service effort.

The 35,000 kids served by CAA coaches have access to the programs they need for their full development. They are provided a safe place to acquire new knowledge and skills and gain a heightened sense of competency and self-respect through working to make a difference in their communities. They build relationships with caring adult role models, develop leadership skills on and off the field; and have a better understanding of healthy eating and the importance of physical activity and exercise. In recognition of the powerful role that coaches have on the lives of youth, Up2Us runs an annual ``Coach of the Year'' contest to honor the unsung heroes who devote their lives to the positive development of youth through sports.

Mr. Speaker, as Up2Us and its participating members honor the winners of this year's Coach of the Year contest here in Washington, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating this year's finalists. They are among a distinguished group of individuals dedicated to improving the lives of our youth through sport. Two of the winners hail from San Diego, America's Finest City.

Lisa Hawk is the Exercise & Health Science Department Chair, Athletic Director and lacrosse coach at the Preuss School at UCSD. The Preuss School is a nationally recognized school that serves a diverse, low- income population. Lisa received her Master's degree from the University of Maryland, where she also served as a coach and administrator. Lisa is a proud advocate for sports as a tool for positive youth development and is changing lives through her work. Her athletes recognize how special Lisa is. ``She sees the potential in each of her players and does not quit until that spark she sees within us is released for the public eye to see,'' one of the athletes said. ``She has helped me through the turbulence of a teenage life to the hectic lifestyle at home and has given me a comfortable place to go as well as someone to turn to.''

Renato Paiva is the Executive Director of Access Youth Academy, a program designed around three pillars: academics, the sport of squash and community service. He joined Access Youth Academy in May of 2007 from Harvard University where he was the Assistant Coach of the squash team. Originally from Brazil, Renato was a Brazilian Junior Champion and a top junior in South America. Renato graduated from Ruy Barbosa University with a business degree. Many of Renato's students submitted nominations with personal stories of how their lives have been changed. ``Renato has completely transformed the lives of underprivileged inner city children in the San Diego area by teaching them the game of squash and getting them to excel in the sport, and in life,'' a grateful mentee said.

In light of all the struggles today's youth face, it is time we recognize quiet heroes like Lisa and Renato as they help better the lives of thousands of individuals across the country. By encouraging programs like Up2Us and their Coach Across America initiative, we can help make the lives of many young Americans healthier and brighter.

Madam Speaker, first of all, this is not offshore, this proposal is next door. These are our neighbors.

Second of all, this is not just about great opportunities economically for America, but we hear people talk about the environment. When you recycle, so-called ``replace'' your cell phones, where do you think they go? They get rebuilt and they get shipped down to our neighbors to the south so they can have the economic opportunities, they can have the learning opportunities. This is the kind of cooperation we want to see in our hemisphere.

But to attack Panama, which is the leader of showing how they can stimulate an economy, with almost 10 percent growth, to attack Panama, allowing the working class access to recycled material, environmentally friendly but economically upper lifting, to attack that kind of agreement on this floor and then say that you're for the environment and you're for helping the poor, don't come to this floor and say you care about the environment, you care about the needy, and you care about our neighbors and oppose this proposal.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 726, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to congratulate Genomatica for being selected as one of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2011 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award winners. As America and the world faces the difficult challenges of addressing problems with our environment, it is reassuring that there are companies such as Genomatica taking the initiative and working towards a cleaner environment.

Green chemistry is a philosophy of chemical research and engineering that encourages the design of products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances. This technology includes improvements to the environment such as cleaner processes by using safer raw materials. Green chemistry technologies also reduce cost and in most cases are less expensive when compared to conventional chemical products.

For the past 16 years, the EPA has commemorated innovative, clean technologies by presenting its Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. Together, the program's 82 award winners annually:

Eliminate on average 199 million pounds of hazardous chemicals and solvents--enough to fill a freight train nearly 11 miles long;

Save over 21 billion gallons of water--enough to meet the annual needs of over 820,000 people;

Eliminate more than 57 million pounds of carbon dioxide--equal to taking 6,000 automobiles off the road.

Collectively, the winners, as well as the nominated technologies, annually reduce the use or generation of more than 1 billion pounds of hazardous materials.

Genomatica received the Greener Synthetic Pathways Award for its production of High-Volume Chemicals from Renewable Feedstock's at Lower Cost. The company's 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) is one of those green chemicals. BDO is a high-volume chemical building block that is used to make many common polymers, such as spandex. Genomatica has developed a microbe that makes BDO by fermenting sugars. When this is produced at a commercial scale, Genomatica's Bio-BDO will be less expensive, require around 60 percent less energy, and produce less than 70 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than BDO made from natural gas. Genomatica is now partnering with major companies to bring Bio-BDO to the market.

Let history show that this year will be the year Congress makes progress on Green Chemistry and cleaning up the environment. All Americans want to come together to keep the environment safer and cleaner for both the present and the future. With influential companies like Genomatica leading the way, our nation is on its way to a greener tomorrow.

Thank you.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to speak to the words of my dear colleague from Arizona, and I appreciate that he not only quoted Shakespeare but that he also made a nautical reference to the facts of life when the tides change. As a child of the ocean, I appreciate that.

Let me just say we've all got to understand how we got where we are today. The fact is, in '06, the American people were fed up with the Republicans spending too much, not because we had raised taxes or cut taxes, but they were fed up with our spending habits. Four years later, the same voters threw out the Democrats, not because they hadn't raised taxes but because they had expanded expenditures extraordinarily. So I think, if there were one indication that we ought to understand, it's that when you navigate on the ocean you've learned to know which way the waves are coming, which way the wind is coming, and you learn from your experience that there are some things that you don't want to fight.

One is the will of the American people.

As we look around the world, everybody celebrates the Arab Spring where the average person in Arab countries is standing up and saying, Not just ``no,'' but ``hell no.'' We're going to stand up and say, We've had enough. What's happening there is happening in America, too. The fact is that the average citizens in America, just like around the world, now can communicate through the Internet, and no big government, big operation, big cartel can keep them from communicating. So there is an energy let loose not just in Arab countries but here in the United States that says, America, we've got to live within our budget. You're not going to tax us anymore.

Madam Speaker, I think we've got to remember that the American people saw this coming. They saw starting in '08 a spending spree of extraordinary spending that went off for 2 years. Actually, even before the new administration went in there, the American people saw that there was going to be spending done by Republicans or Democrats that was going to be used as an excuse to raise taxes, and that's why they said, We're taxed enough already. So we need to get down to the fact that we're talking about where is the credibility of this government. It has to be reinstalled by the fact that we can be trusted with the budget--not trusted with raising taxes, but trusted with spending control. That is going to be the real crisis.

Notable economist Art Laffer just said recently that he almost compares what's being proposed by some in Washington to a couple going out to Monaco and then to Italy and then to France and running up a big bill and then coming back to their boss and saying, Oh, by the way, Boss, we spent all this money. We need a pay raise--or how about this: why don't you split half of the expense of my vacation with me. You pay half of it and I'll pay half of it.

That kind of logic doesn't sell when you're facing off with your employer. It darned well doesn't wash when you're facing off with your employer here in Washington, which is the American taxpayer, and I think we need to recognize that.

So, in all fairness, there are things we can do, Madam Speaker, to stimulate the economy without borrowing money from China. We can bring back almost $2 trillion of American money to create American jobs here on American soil. Congress and the President just have to agree to do it. The money is out there. It's not being taxed, and it's not coming back if we don't eliminate the 35 percent penalty for it coming back.

Here is a place where we can invest in research and development, like the President wants, and in construction. We can go into manufacturing expansion--things for which the President and the Democrats in the past have borrowed money from China in order to create that kind of stimulus to the economy. We can create a stimulus to the economy, we can create jobs and help to balance the budget, but first we've got to understand that taxing people to death is not the answer to prosperity.

The answer for this family, called the American Nation, is just like that of every other family: living within your means, understanding your limits, spending within those limits, and not asking people to pay for your extravagances.

So as we face a lot of challenges, I've just got to say to everybody that you can look at what's going on in California today. Madam Speaker, it is a State that is controlled by the left, that has driven business out of the State, and the money now has run out. Not only did citizens lose jobs when those businesses left; but because those jobs are not there to pay the taxes, the

citizens of California, who have depended and expected to have their health care paid by the State now are being told they have to expect less because there is no more money to pay for those social benefits that they were promised--promised in such inappropriate ways. As we destroy businesses, we destroy jobs. Even those who are on public assistance will be affected by this kind of destructive behavior.

The difference between raising the debt limit today and in the past is that, in the past, all you had to do was raise the debt limit to have groups like Moody's be able to talk about addressing this issue. Fine, that's enough. Now the people who are raiding our dollar are saying, You can't just raise the limit. You've got to show us that you are serious about controlling the spending. Now this Congress has to do something that no Congress has been forced to do in the past:

We have to address the issue of the debt limit but address the issue of the debt at the same time.

Madam Speaker, we are really at a threshold of making decisions of: Are we willing to do what it takes to prove to the American people that this Republican form of government actually can function and address the long-term needs of America?

We're at a point to where we have to be able to show not just the American people, but to people around the world, that our Republican experiment, the Republic that we call the United States of America, can function not just for 200 years but for hundreds of years on top of that because we can make the tough decisions not just to go to war, not just to respond to disasters, but to take care of our financial well- being and that the elected representatives cannot use tax money to buy votes and cannot be bullied by scare tactics away from doing what is essential for the future of this country. That is a real test.

And remember, when we talk about Washington taking money, and I think this is one thing Republicans and Democrats don't talk enough about. I used to be a mayor. I was a mayor in my twenties. We forget that this is not government--and I say this to my Republican colleagues. We say that too much. This is not government we're talking about, but this is Federal Government. This is totally different than your city council. This is totally different than your county commissioners or supervisors. This is not going to your school board. There, if they tax you, you can go to their meetings and you can stand up at a podium and you can tell that mayor what you think about his spending habits. You can tell the county chairman what you think. The school board member is required, by law, to hear your opinion about that.

But when your money is taken to Washington, you don't have the right to even stand up and speak to the Congress. You try to stand up without getting permission, they've got security to drag you off. There is a big difference between sending your money to city hall and sending your money to Washington, D.C. One, you are vested with rights to participate in how that money is spent. Here in Washington, you are disenfranchised except for one person, your Congressman. And that person darn well is diluted and cannot speak for you personally but has to represent you as part of a group.

So when we talk about Washington taking money, remember you've got school boards, you've got counties, you've got cities. But Washington is not just taking it away from the business community; it's taking it away from the local government agencies that provide the baseline services that are essential to all of us.

We keep talking about Washington is the great safety net. Excuse me. Your city and your counties are the great safety net of civilized services that we get into. The Federal Government, anybody that's lived in Washington, D.C., understands that, that the local government is where the essential services have gone. And when we take money out of a community and bring it here to Washington, we're depriving those same mayors and school board members and county commissioners the essential services that make every day possible for our citizens. And when we do that, even more importantly, we deprive the individual the ability to participate in how their hard-earned money is spent.

So we should take as little as humanly possible to execute the responsibilities and the mandates of the United States Constitution. And maybe if we looked around a little more and focused on the responsibilities that the Constitution gives us, Washington, D.C., as opposed to mayors, council members and State legislators, maybe if we didn't try to be everything to everyone, maybe we wouldn't be so greedy at taking so much from the citizens of the United States. So I think that that is one of those items we've got to constantly try to remember.

And I say this to my Democratic colleagues and my Republican colleagues. When we're talking about the Federal budget, we're not talking about government. We're talking about Federal Government taking these funds. And I think those are the central issues.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Les Cross, the CEO and President of DJO Global, Inc., one of the leading global providers of high-quality, orthopedic devices with a broad range of products used for rehabilitation, pain management, and physical therapy. Under his leadership, DJO's impact on the San Diego region has grown tremendously. He is a true testament to the American entrepreneurial spirit.

During his time at DJO, Mr. Cross has implemented a business model that demonstrates creativity and innovation in product development and services. DJO is unique in that it offers healthcare professionals and patients a diverse range of orthopedic rehabilitation solutions to address the entire spectrum of preventative, pre-operative, post- operative, clinical and home rehabilitation care.

Most impressive are his philanthropic efforts. Les Cross has made the Community Outreach Program a priority at DJO. This program has provided exceptional support to communities in and around the San Diego Area. Some of DJO's largest multi-year contributions to date have been to support the Vista Community Clinic, and the U.S.S. Midway Educational Programs, with employees raising thousands of dollars for Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and many other charitable organizations. Les Cross and DJO have also done extensive work to end the homeless cycle including recognizing North County Solutions for Change with a multi-year sponsorship, and The Monarch School, which provides accredited education to homeless and at-risk kids while caring for basic daily needs. Furthermore, since September 2001, DJO has provided multiple scholarships each year to San Diego children through the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.

Les Cross has received many honors from the San Diego community including Ernst & Young Master Entrepreneur of the Year, and Boys & Girls Clubs Man of the Year. Most recently in 2010, the Boy Scouts of America and the City of Vista, CA named him Distinguished Citizen of the Year.

Not only has Les Cross played a significant role in the benefit of our community, but he has professionally developed a culture of urgency, accountability, high performance, continuous improvement and teamwork to drive growth and profits through DJO's people. I wish Mr. Cross well in his retirement and thank him for his many years of service to the San Diego area.