Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3639, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009. I thank the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, for his leadership on this issue and so many others, and Senator Dodd for championing this issue in the Senate.

This bill would simply move up the effective date of the remaining provisions of the Credit Card Reform Act, which we passed earlier this year, from February 2010 to December 1, 2009, just in time for the holiday shopping season.

It is truly unfortunate that we are on the floor today having to take this step, but the credit card companies brought it on themselves. Rather than use the months after the date that it was signed into law in May to update their systems to get ready for the new reforms, they have used this time to raise interest rates unfairly at any time and for any reason on consumers retroactively on their balances, capturing many of them in never-ending cycles of debt. They are practicing the double-cycle billing, charging rates on interest that has already been paid and raising rates for unrelated reasons. Consumers are justly outraged, and they have come to their Congress Members and to this Congress asking for relief.

Just last week, the Pew Foundation issued a report that showed that interest rates have shot up by 20 percent--the average interest rate is 20 percent--and 90 percent of all credit card

debt that is out there has had an interest rate increase since the President signed the bill into law.

The Pew report also found that 100 percent of bank cards were using practices that the Federal Reserve has called unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive. This troubling information followed report after report from other not-for-profits, from other Members of Congress, from our constituents, and from the news media that have showed that interest rates have climbed 18 percent--in some cases 30 percent--for absolutely no reason for customers that are paying on time and not going over their limit.

The original implementation date for the bill that I proposed was 90 days after enactment, but many Members of this body wanted to give the credit card companies more time to implement the reforms to get their systems in place, yet they have used this time to gouge consumers and to raise rates. We had ended up, in deliberations with the bill, with a staged implementation rate, that in August of 2009 a notice would go in of 45 days of any rate increases, but the bulk of these reforms would go into place in February of 2010. What we are doing is moving this date up by 5 months, giving relief and protection to consumers and working to help them.

The extraordinary breadth and depth of the interest rate hikes that consumers are suffering from speak to the importance of passing this important bill. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that have been supportive, and especially to the chairman.

I join the chairman in congratulating our colleague on the other side of the aisle for this amendment. I think it's a good one. I support it. If credit cards want to decrease interest rates for their customers, there is absolutely no reason that they should have to wait 45 days. We certainly accept it. The problems that we are trying to address in our underlying bill today are the increases that are coming at any time, for any reason without notice. This is a good amendment, and I accept it.

I rise in support of my colleague from the great State of New York and applaud his work to protect consumers.

The banks and credit card companies have earned this regulation and earned this amendment because they did not use the time allocated to them to upgrade their systems. They used the time to raise rates unfairly, any time, any reason, retroactively on existing balances.

The bill that I proposed would go into effect in 5 weeks, the gentleman moves it up immediately, but I think consumers deserve relief as soon as possible, and I support his amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the gentlelady's amendment. It merely gives more responsibility and control to consumers to better manage their own credit. FICO scores should not go down if consumers are trying to do the right thing by getting out of debt. What I hear from my consumers and friends and people who write my office is that they want to cancel a card because of unfair fees and interest rate increases, yet if they cancel their card, then their credit score suffers. This is absolutely wrong when they are doing the right thing of trying to get out of debt, to better control their own finances, to stop unfair fees and unfair interest rates retroactively on their balances.

This is a good amendment. I support it. It would be an important step to take even in a stand-alone bill. It is a very important step and a responsible step to help consumers better manage their own finances and level the playing field between consumers and credit card issuers.

Madam Speaker, today I am reintroducing bipartisan legislation, the Osteoporosis Early Detection and Prevention Act of 2009, along with my friend and colleague from West Virginia, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito.

The Osteoporosis Early Detection and Prevention Act of 2009 will require private insurance plans to cover bone density testing for individuals most likely to develop osteoporosis. This bill will ensure that the individuals most likely to develop the disease will have access to screening tests, which could both improve health outcomes and save significant amounts of money.

Forty-four million Americans either suffer from osteoporosis or are at risk of developing it. One of every two American women and one of four American men, aged 50 or older, will suffer a bone fracture because of osteoporosis. This means that osteoporosis causes 1.5 million broken bones every year.

Osteoporosis has no symptoms and cannot be detected by an ordinary X- ray until 25 to 40 percent of bone mass has already been lost. As bone mass decreases, the risk of fractures increases exponentially. The disease is usually not diagnosed until a fracture occurs--but

by then, the disease is so advanced that another fracture is extremely likely.

While there is currently no cure for osteoporosis, there are effective and inexpensive techniques both to detect and prevent. A bone density screening is non-invasive, painless, and reliable. If osteoporosis is diagnosed early, drug therapy can reduce the risk of hip and spine fractures by 50 percent. The screening test costs, on average, between $59 and $300--compared to the more than $35,000 it would cost to repair a hip fracture.

I believe that when we can improve health and save money at the same time, we should do just that. By requiring private health insurance plans to cover bone density screenings for the men and women who are most at risk for osteoporosis, we can prevent millions of painful hard- to-treat, costly, and completely unnecessary injuries.

Madam Speaker, on October 20, 2009, I missed rollcall votes numbered 790, 791, and 792.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes No. 790, to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide for an exclusion from Red Flag Guidelines for certain businesses; No. 791, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 440 South Gulling Street in Portola, California, as the ``Army Specialist Jeremiah Paul McCleery Post Office Building;'' and No. 792, supporting the increased understanding of, and interest in, computer science and computing careers among the public and in schools, and to ensure an ample and diverse future technology workforce through the designation of National Computer Science Education Week.

Madam Speaker, due to the death of my husband, Clifton H.W. Maloney, I did not vote from September 29, 2009 through October 13, 2009. I missed rollcall votes numbered 740-771.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall votes Nos.: 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 755, 756, 757, 758, 759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 770, 771, 772, 773, and 774. I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall votes Nos.: 746, 754, and 769.

Thank you so much for yielding.

This is a very important day for women's history. Today, we are recognizing the immense contributions women have made to our Nation by voting to help create the National Women's History Museum.

I am grateful to Chairman Oberstar for his support in moving this bill through committee. And of course I thank my partner in this, Chairwoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, whose dedication and commitment in creating a museum about women has been persistent and strong. And I thank her staff, Susan Brita, and mine, Orly Isaacson, for their hard work.

We have been working on this effort for well over 10 years to provide women, comprising 53 percent of our population, recognition of their many contributions that are the very fabric of our country. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bipartisan bill and bring the Women's History Museum to the National Mall.

There are 211 statues in the Capitol Building, each honoring a leader from our Nation's history, but only 11 of these statutes are of female leaders. Of America's 2,004 historic landmarks, fewer than five chronicle the achievements of women. Even more troubling, a recent study revealed that only one of every 10 people identified in the 18 most commonly used U.S. history textbooks is female.

The museums and memorials in Washington are one measure of what our society values. We already have museums for stamps and for spies, but not one dedicated to women. This bill would honor our Nation's foremothers and inspire future generations of women leaders by providing a space on the National Mall to honor women's contributions to American history.

From Susan B. Anthony to Sojourner Truth to Oprah Winfrey, from Hattie Caraway, the first woman elected to the United States Senate, to Sonia Sotomayor, our Nation's first Latina woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the story of what women have contributed to the American way of life is a very long, overdue story.

The bill directs the General Services Administration to sell property located across from the National Mall at 12th and Independence to the museum at a fair market price. Reasonable time frames are included for the transfer of the property and the beginning of construction. The museum will be built and maintained with private funds.

I urge my colleagues to support the National Women's History Museum, and in so doing, honor our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters.

I am really thrilled that it is here before us on the floor today. For too long, women's history has been missing from textbooks, memorials, museums, exhibits, and many other venues. With this bill designating a permanent building site, this museum will bring to life and tell all the stories of American history, male and female alike.

I would also like to recognize and thank the National Women's History Museum, and especially Joan Wages, their president. The museum played a leading role in moving the suffragist's statue out of the basement into the living room of the Capitol, Statuary Hall. They have been working with me and Eleanor Holmes Norton on this project well over 10 years. I look forward to continuing our work together as we see the museum built right across from our National Mall, and that we have, for the first time, a national museum dedicated to the many contributions of women.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 209, bipartisan legislation I introduced, with Hellenic Caucus cochair, Congressman Gus Bilirakis.

This resolution recognizes the significant contributions of American citizens of Greek ancestry and Philhellenes, and the Daughters of Penelope to the United States.

Founded November 16, 1929, in San Francisco, California, the Daughters of Penelope was established to improve the well-being of women and provide them with the opportunity to make significant contributions to American society.

Today, its mission is to promote the ideals of ancient Greece, education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, family, and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism.

As a cofounder and cochair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, I have had the privilege to see the significant contributions of the Daughters of Penelope in the Greek American community.

The Daughters of Penelope (DOP) is a preeminent international women's organization and affiliate organization of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the nation's leading association of American citizens of Greek heritage.

Over its history, the Daughters of Penelope has achieved remarkable accomplishments. It has strengthened the status of women in society, sheltered the elderly and the abused, educated our youth, promoted Hellenic heritage, and raised funds for medical research.

With their strong work ethic, Greek-Americans have risen to become leaders in their respective professions, from government to business to the arts. The Daughters of Penelope has been a vehicle through which this advancement has occurred in our society.

I want to thank Chairman Towns and Ranking Member Issa for their support of this bill and for moving it through the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

I urge my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise to pay tribute to the late Marjorie D. Kogan, an outstanding New Yorker who devoted herself to her city and her country throughout her life. With deep sadness but also a profound sense of gratitude for her inspiring example, I ask my distinguished colleagues to join in mourning Marjorie D. Kogan's passing earlier this month at the age of 95.

A remarkably devoted and effective activist and philanthropist, Marjorie D. Kogan made an enduring contribution to the civic life of our nation's greatest city. She dedicated her life to serving others in countless ways, frequently seeking to help those shunned by many elements of society. Whether directing the volunteer program at the Brooklyn House of Detention for Men, chairing a program for adolescent inmates at Riker's Island, or serving as the longtime President of the philanthropic Brand Foundation of New York, she was a tireless and selfless volunteer.

Mrs. Kogan was deeply involved in the political life of New York City. She was campaign chair for her close friend, the esteemed late Federal Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American woman to serve in the New York State Senate and in the office of Manhattan Borough President. Mrs. Kogan served as Executive Aide in the Manhattan Borough President's Office to both Judge Motley and to her successor in that post, the Honorable Percy Sutton.

Marjorie Kogan was a founding member of Manhattan's Community Planning Board Eight, on which she served for many decades. She was appointed by Mayor Abraham Beame to the New York City Board of Corrections. She sought throughout her life to improve the quality of life for her fellow New Yorkers, and bequeaths an enduring legacy of compassion and dedication.

Throughout her long career as a community leader and civic activist, Marjorie D. Kogan remained committed to her family. She was devoted to her late husband Nathan B. Kogan, who predeceased her, and to her sons, Michael and Barton Kogan, and her sister, Jeanne R. Theodore. She was also a wonderful friend whose wit, warmth, and grace will truly be missed by all whose lives she touched.

Madam Speaker, I ask my distinguished colleagues to join me in recognizing the enormous contributions to our civic and political life made by Marjorie D. Kogan, a true humanitarian and philanthropist in the finest traditions of our great republic.

Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Virginia Granato, an outstanding New Yorker who has distinguished herself through her dedication and service to her community and to our nation. Virginia Granato is being honored this month by the membership of the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA) on the occasion of her retirement from its presidency, a post in which she served with distinction for a decade.

Virginia Granato is a revered figure among the residents of the very special Roosevelt Island community, a unique enclave in the most densely populated county in the nation. She delivered extraordinary and effective leadership to the large population of people with disabilities on the Island. In addition to her devoted and effective service as President of RIDA, Virginia served on the Board of Directors of Wheelchair Charities and on the Community Advisory Board of Coler- Goldwater Hospital.

Virginia Granato was one of the original pioneers of Roosevelt Island, first moving into the Island's Eastwood housing development in 1976. She became a powerful and respected voice for Roosevelt Island residents with disabilities, pressing to make the Island's transportation more accessible, counseling planners on the design and layout of apartment complexes, and facilitating a lending program for residents in need of wheelchairs and walkers.

In leading the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association for a decade, Virginia Granato carried out RIDA's vital mission of improving the quality of life of Roosevelt Islanders with disabilities. As RIDA President, she helped organize and secure funding for regular field trips by Association members to athletic contests, cultural institutions, musical performances and recitals, amusement parks and other recreational venues.

For more than a third of a century, Virginia Granato has been a leader of the Roosevelt Island community that she loves. She has volunteered for various worthwhile civic causes and selflessly devoted thousands of hours of her time. Virginia Granato offers an example of the finest impulses of the human spirit, and through her dedication and compassion, thousands of lives have been affected for the better.

Madam Speaker, for her leadership, dedication and volunteer service over the years, I ask that my distinguished colleagues join me in recognizing the enormous contributions to the civic life of her community and our nation made by Virginia Granato.

Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the ``Newspaper Revitalization Act of 2009,'' the companion to legislation introduced in the Senate by Senator Cardin (D-MD). This legislation will help newspapers across the country that are closing down or facing bankruptcy at an alarming rate by allowing them to become non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations similar to public broadcasting. Large cities whose newspapers include, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Post- Intelligencer, The Rocky Mountain News, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Baltimore Sun are at risk of losing their dailies. Unless something is done soon, it is possible that many metropolitan regions may have no local daily newspapers.

Many bloggers, Google news, and punditry get their original news from the diligent work of beat reporters for daily newspapers who have invested years on their beat and provide the best information on an issue from many perspectives. This type of beat reporting requires commitments of both time and money, and unfortunately, the current economic climate has only worsened the already precarious business situation for many newspapers. This bill would provide for a voluntary option for newspapers and a way for a community or foundations to step in and preserve their local papers that are rapidly disappearing.

Newspapers are an essential component to our free democratic society. Studies have shown that areas where daily newspapers have gone out of business there has been a rise in corruption in government and plummeting civil engagement in politics. With the state of the current newspaper model, dependent on advertising and circulation revenue, it will be difficult for newspapers to maintain and produce high quality news without bold changes. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation as an important first step in saving them.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize an extraordinary organization, an amazing group of donors and the launch of a new musical. The Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) is the single largest source of private funds for cancer research in Israel, and its generous donors have raised nearly $37 million for cancer research by Israeli scientists. Tonight at the 2009 Barbara Goodman Annual Scientific Awards & Donor Recognition evening, ICRF is announcing this year's cancer research grants and celebrating the magnanimousness of ICRF's remarkable benefactors. The evening's festivities will feature a preview performance of Wallenberg, The Musical, a new musical about the courageous efforts of Raoul Wallenberg to save a significant portion of the Hungarian Jewish community from the Holocaust.

Since its founding in 1975, ICRF has become the largest single source of private funds for cancer research in the State of Israel. The Fund has provided tens of millions of dollars worth of grants in thousands of separate awards to top-notch scientists at all of Israel's leading research institutions. ICRF awards are often the first grants young scientists receive following completion of their academic studies, and allow them to establish labs, begin their professional research and attract grants from other sources, while remaining in Israel. Grant recipients include the first Israelis ever to receive the Nobel Prize in the sciences. Some remarkable breakthroughs of ICRF-supported researchers include the development of drugs that treat multiple myeloma; that target cancer cells directly; and that are encapsulated in a liposome for direct delivery to tumor sites. Other projects have helped scientists conduct cutting-edge cancer research on genes, leading to the identification of the p53 gene as a tumor suppressor; the discovery that a minor mutation in the RAD51 gene increases the risk of breast cancer; and pioneering work on DNA Methylation, a molecular process that turns genes on and off. In addition, ICRF provided critical support to the development of a novel bone marrow transplant technique that significantly expanded the donor pool for leukemia treatment.

Barbara S. Goodman lost her battle to pancreatic cancer on July 18, 2002 at the age of 51. She was a loving wife and mother and a devoted friend who made the people she loved the center of her life. Ms. Goodman had

also fought bone cancer and survived the disease for fifteen years. She would be proud to know that research is being conducted in her name that will advance our ability to treat pancreatic cancer and help those afflicted with the disease. Her husband, Kenneth Goodman, who is serving as Chairman of the evening's festivities, has demonstrated remarkable generosity and great dedication to the noble effort to expand cancer research funding.

The award recipients, donors and attendees of tonight's event will be treated to a preview performance of Wallenberg, The Musical, book and lyrics by Laurence Holzman and Felicia Needleman, and music by Benjamin Rosenbluth. Wallenberg tells the fascinating and uplifting story of Raoul Wallenberg, one of the heroes of the 20th century, a Swedish diplomat who singlehandedly saved more than 100,000 Hungarian Jews in a sixth month period. His courage demonstrates that one person can have a monumental impact and suggests that history could have been different had more people acted as valiantly as Mr. Wallenberg. The presentation will take place at the historic Hudson Theatre, a landmarked theatre built in 1903 by Henry Harris, that later became a radio playhouse, a television studio, a burlesque theatre, a rock club and most recently, an elegant venue for special events. Mr. Wallenberg's niece, Louise Von Dardel, is flying in from Paris to be present at the event.

Like Raoul Wallenberg, the donors, ICRF and the scientists are proving that individuals can make an extraordinary difference. Raoul Wallenberg succeeded through personal heroism and audacious ploys, while ICRF's heroes make a difference through their benevolence, volunteer work and scientific research. The work that these extraordinary people are doing will save thousands of lives.

Madam Speaker, I ask my distinguished colleagues to join me in recognizing the exemplary work being done by ICRF and the scientists it funds, and the extraordinary generosity of its donors.

Mr. Speaker, the Joint Economic Committee heard last week some very sobering findings from the latest Census data on health coverage. The number of Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 who are without health insurance increased significantly last year to over 20 percent. More than one of every five nonelderly adults lacked health insurance in 2008. Those millions are one accident, one major illness away from financial ruin. The majority of those uninsured adults without health coverage worked full time or part time.

At the same time, the share of employment-based health insurance declined significantly to 58.5 percent in 2008. The current expensive, inefficient and indifferent system is failing us. Americans deserve better, and we deserve it now.

Thank you, Chairman Towns, for yielding and for your leadership on this important issue and in so many other areas, and I thank the ranking member.

This bill actually saves taxpayers money. This is not a bailout as we have seen before this Congress many times. No taxpayer funds will be provided to the postal service. The service operates on revenues from sales of its products and services, and it receives appropriations only in reimbursement for free services for the blind and other services.

The post office remains the only government agency or private company that is required to prefund retiree benefits on such an aggressive schedule. The fund now currently contains over $32 billion.

This amendment to H.R. 22 will lower the payment for 2009 to a level that is close to that recommended by the IG, and it will prevent the post office from defaulting on a $5.4 billion payment due on September 30. Even with the lower payment for 2009, after including the payments for 2007 and 2008, the postal service will be on track to prefund the trust fund through 2016 by over $9 billion, more than the IG's recommendation.

This bill is long overdue. It is good government, and I strongly support it.

I thank the gentlemen for their leadership on this bill, and I rise in support of it.

Also, I just missed the FHA Multifamily Loan Limit Adjustment Act of 2009. This would create jobs, address the issue of affordable rental housing, and fix the lingering problems with better financing and liquidity. It would turn the hopes of homeownership into a reality and raise the limits on FHA loans that will help build more housing.

I rise today in support of a bill that will: Help create jobs in the hard-hit construction trades; address the longstanding issue of affordable rental housing in major urban and rural centers; and help fix lingering problems with better financing and liquidity.

H.R. 3527, the FHA Multifamily Loan Limit Adjustment Act of 2009 does all that and more, so I am proud to be a cosponsor along with my colleagues, Representatives Weiner, Miller and Frank.

The FHA's current limits on multifamily loans were certainly well intentioned, but they significantly restrict the ability of developers to use FHA insurance programs to finance badly needed affordable rental housing in high-cost areas such as New York City and State. In 2007 and 2008, HUD data shows that only 3 non-subsidized high rise construction or rehabilitation projects received FHA insurance approval in the whole country!

That's in part because the current FHA multifamily loan maximum of $68,070 per two-bedroom unit is simply not high enough in high-cost areas. This puts a damper on new construction and badly needed rehabilitation in urban and suburban areas--where construction costs are higher.

But by simply increasing the loan limit as this bill does to $93,029, FHA can facilitate construction and rehabilitation of apartments where financing is not available. I am told that there are currently 11,000 units in elevator structures across the country on hold with a combined mortgage amount of more than $3 billion. In New York City, there are a total of 14 projects worth $628 million stalled in NYC. This would build 2088 rental units in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.

When this bill becomes law these construction projects can move forward, create jobs and build new and more affordable homes.

In order to thrive our major cities depend on a supply of decent rental housing in buildings that are well maintained. Let's give the FHA the tools they need to move forward and enable these projects, these jobs, these American dreams.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, President Obama inherited a labor market in free fall. When President Bush left office in January, job losses peaked as employers slashed a stunning 741,000 jobs.

Congress worked quickly with the new administration to restore financial stability and to pass a recovery package that is beginning to take hold. The pace of job losses has eased from its decline at the end of the Bush administration. Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified that the unemployment rate would be higher right now without the legislation Congress enacted.

By restoring financial stability and by implementing stimulus measures and a responsible budget, we will make the investments necessary to lay the foundation for economic recovery that will put Americans back to work now and that will create the jobs of the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill.

In recent years, a series of outbreaks of food-borne illnesses have made clear the need to effectively secure our nation's food supply.

From spinach to cookie dough, foods have become contaminated and have threatened the health of the American people, exposing widespread problems with the food safety system in this country. H.R. 2749 will fundamentally change the way we ensure the safety of the foods we eat.

This bipartisan bill will provide the FDA with new powers and the tools it needs to protect the food supply by providing for more frequent inspections of food-processing plants here in the U.S. and by ensuring the safety of foods imported from overseas.

H.R. 2749 will also provide a new focus on the prevention of food- borne illness by putting systems in place that allow us to better track the source of these outbreaks. This legislation is critical to the health and safety of the American people, and I urge my colleagues to support it.