Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the Joint Economic Committee just concluded a hearing highlighting a GAO report that analyzed the performance of subprime loans in all 435 congressional districts, as this map illustrates. This report that I requested provides a sobering snapshot of the ongoing foreclosure crisis inherited by the Obama administration. The dark red is where there are high instances of foreclosure.

So we see that California, Florida, and Nevada are the places where the most nonprime loans were originated with noxious prepayment penalties and exploding interest rates. The end results are obvious. The hearing reviewed past Federal regulatory failures and identified the actions that the administration and Congress have taken to reduce foreclosure rates and prevent a future recurrence. The report is online by congressional district with the hearing Web site at the JEC Web site, www.jec.senate.gov.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 3293, the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriation bill for fiscal year 2010. In tough economic times, it is this important spending measure that makes critical investments in job training, strengthens health and social safety nets, and provides the educational opportunities that are critical to the nation's long-term prosperity. I want to thank Chairman Obey for his tireless work on this always challenging legislation.

I also want to thank Chairman Obey for including $70.7 million in the bill--the President's request--for the World Trade Center (WTC) Health programs, which provide medical monitoring and treatment to WTC responders, community members, and others who have become ill because of the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001. While the New York Delegation works toward a long-term legislative solution in passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847), this funding to continue the current WTC Health programs is absolutely critical in ensuring that the heroes and heroines of 9/11 receive the health care they need and deserve.

Again, I am pleased to support this bill and thank Chairman Obey for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, America's small businesses are facing a health care crisis, and they need our help. Small businesses pay 18 percent more for the same health insurance benefits as large businesses, hampering these incubators of recovery and growth. We must fix the broken health care system to help our Nation's entrepreneurs and their employees.

Half of all Americans work for a small business. That's half of the Nation's private, nonfarm gross domestic

product. Economic recovery and sustained growth depend on strong small businesses. Health reform could save small businesses up to $855 billion, growing the economy and creating new jobs. Our small businesses are in critical condition. If we fail to treat this crisis, we put our Nation's economic well-being and recovery at risk.

Mr. Speaker, the American Medical Association has given a ringing endorsement of H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act. This legislation contains a strong public insurance option which would guarantee that quality, affordable health care is available to all Americans.

The AMA has not always been on board with health care reform. Many of us remember their opposition to President Clinton's efforts. Yet the AMA and the millions of doctors it represents now realize that the status quo system is broken. They understand the urgency of the problem, and they recognize that the pending bill is a major part of the solution.

The AMA's strong voice joins the chorus of Americans who want this Congress to pass a health care reform bill that includes a public option. Nearly three-quarters of all Americans want the option to participate in a government-administered health insurance plan that competes on a level playing field with private insurers. Popular support for the public option is not a partisan issue. Seventy-one percent of independent voters support the public option, and so do half of all Republican voters.

Americans want this bill. They want the public option, and they want us to act now.

Americans understand the critical role the public option plays in slowing skyrocketing health care costs. A government-administered plan can provide quality insurance at a low cost, leading by example to make the health care market more efficient.

Efficiency will save families money. If we fail to act, the cost of health care for the average family of four will rise by $1,800 annually for years to come. The public option is not just important for families. It's also key to putting our Nation's economy on the road to a full and sustainable recovery. If we don't contain health care costs, then our Nation's budget deficit will continue to spiral out of control.

Let us be very clear. The public option is not an attempt to drive private insurers out of business. Some State governments already offer their employees a choice between public and private health insurance, and private insurers have fared just fine.

A public option is critical to containing the health care costs that weigh so heavily on our Nation's families and on our Nation's economy. The public option does what a good private policy should do. It promotes primary care. It caps out-of-pocket spending so that a family medical crisis no longer means a family financial crisis. It establishes shared accountability between doctors, patients and the insurer. It institutes new payment structures to promote critical reforms. It will ensure that patients are able to get the medically effective treatments their doctors recommend. In short, it provides high-quality care at an affordable price.

Just like private plans, the public option will be financially self- sustaining, receiving no special government funding beyond a loan to get it off the ground. The public plan will be bound by exactly the same rules that regulate private insurers. In other words, the public plan will compete on a level playing field with private insurers.

Some powerful industries have spoken out against the public option. They prefer the status quo where decisions about treatment a patient receives are determined according to a company's bottom line rather than according to what a patient needs.

On the side of meaningful reform, the most important voice of all is calling for the inclusion of a public option. That loud chorus is the voice of the American people. Now is the time to listen to them. Now is the time for health reform with a strong public option.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 125th Anniversary of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

I have the privilege of serving as the Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, a committee that has a unique relationship with the BLS. The JEC was established by the Employment Act of 1946 to study matters relating to the US economy, so we are indeed a much younger sibling to the Bureau.

For roughly six decades, the Commissioner of the BLS has testified before the JEC in hearings examining the monthly Employment Situation. As Chair, I have welcomed Commissioner Keith Hall and his colleagues to the committee this year as we have closely tracked labor market conditions in the current recession.

The BLS staff is a dedicated group of public servants who themselves do important work for our nation. The numbers they provide represent real people and the trends they report on provide valuable insights into the economic well-being of families across the country.

I look forward to the first Friday of the month to arrive when the Employment Situation shows our economy has stopped shedding jobs and that more Americans are going back to work.

Policy makers from both sides of the aisle rely on the high quality, timely and non-partisan data produced by the BLS to make informed decisions that affect the millions of Americans around the country.

Too often, lawmakers fail to recognize that the data produced by BLS and other agencies are crucial to making meaningful, effective policy. But it is for that reason that I have worked to preserve funding for vital statistical programs at the BLS, like the American Time Use Survey--our most extensive source of data on how Americans are balancing all demands on their time, from work, to child care, to recreational activities.

The JEC has fought for and will continue to fight for the funding that BLS needs to maintain its international reputation for quality data that keeps pace with our always-evolving economy. We could not fulfill our mission in Congress without the hard work of the BLS.

I want to thank JEC Vice Chair Schumer, Senate Ranking Member Brownback, and House Ranking Member Kevin Brady for joining me in this bipartisan concurrent resolution, I hope all of my colleagues will join us in congratulating the Bureau of Labor Statistics on a job very well done for the last 125 years.

Madam Speaker, this week, after consultation with leaders in the business community, organized labor, health care providers, patient groups, insurers, pharmaceutical makers, and small business owners, Democratic leaders introduced America's Affordable Health Choice Act, which will expand access to health care, protect consumer choices, provide a public option, and enable over $500 billion in Medicare savings.

And what is the Republicans' answer to the health care crisis in America? A color-coded chart of the Democratic plan. Here is the chart of their plan. Absolutely nothing.

Our bill addresses the needs of all Americans, including the nearly 46 million without health insurance, by maintaining the freedom to choose individual health providers, improving care, and increasing choice and competition with the new public option.

It's time for our Republican colleagues to join us in getting serious about health care coverage.

Madam Speaker, today, I am pleased to reintroduce the Access to Books for Children Act (ABC Act), which strives to make buying books for kids as easy as A-B-C. The bill would provide vouchers for purchasing educational books to low-income mothers of infants and children participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends daily reading to a child beginning when the child is just 6 months old. Children who are exposed to books and reading before they start school are much more likely to graduate from high school than those who are not. The ABC Act will put books in the homes of children who may not otherwise have them, in order to help those children develop the reading skills to set them on the path to success.

Madam Speaker, I rise today along with Representative Chris Murphy and Representative Tammy Baldwin to introduce the Women's Health Office Act. This critical bill which will help close the serious gaps in health care for women, by providing statutory authorization for the offices of women's health in five federal agencies which currently are not protected by law.

Many people are shocked when they learn that women were excluded from most medical research studies until 1985. That means it has been just 24 years since we began to understand that women are more prone to ailments like osteoporosis, lupus, and depression. Just recently in 2004, we learned that women who were treated in emergency rooms were less likely than men to receive life-saving medications for heart attacks because doctors did not fully understand the different symptoms of a heart attack in women.

How much do we still not know?

For years, the offices of women's health in key federal health agencies have been conducting vital research to identify disparities in women's health care, and spearheading innovative programs to close those gaps. However, only two of those offices are federally authorized and protected by law: the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health, and the Office for Women's Services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

This bill will give permanent authorization to the federal offices located in the Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration. Without it, those five offices will always be vulnerable to understaffing, underfunding, or complete elimination.

Recent initiatives like the establishment of the White House Council on Women and Girls shows that we're finally starting to get it--women have unique experiences, needs, and interests, and these need to be considered and addressed. In no area of public policy is this more true than with health care. I urge my colleagues to support the Women's Health Office Act, to put those offices of women's health on a secure footing and give women the kind of health care they need and deserve.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

Thank you for offering me the opportunity to talk about the merits of the energy conservation and efficiency upgrade of the HVAC controls project.

This has been vetted by my office, the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, and the Department of Energy, and they have decided that it will not only directly and positively impact my district but the Nation at large.

Included in the energy efficiency and energy renewable account, this project will use solid-state sensors and controllers in direct digital control systems which have considerable energy-efficiency advantages over conventional systems. These features will yield energy savings of up to 15 percent when compared to conventional systems, thus a significant savings to the environment and a substantial reduction in energy use by a major museum.

One of the goals of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is to reduce the energy consumption of its buildings while improving cost-effectiveness. To achieve these goals, the museum is seeking to use energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, recycled and sustainable materials, and site-sensitive design to minimize the burden on the environment. And one major piece of this energy-efficiency effort is the upgrade of the various systems to boost energy output, while allowing greater control per building in the complex.

And this will reduce energy waste. This conversion project will also help generate 20 employment positions, which is needed in this time of job loss.

Finally, I would say that the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a national treasure. It is a cultural and artistic center in our country, and even if the gentleman or others do not recognize the value of funding art in our society, which I certainly support, it is part of the economic lifeblood of New York and this country. It pays considerable taxes, and it also generates revenues in our city from the over 5 million annual visitors to the museum. It is one of the top tourist attractions in the country, and by supporting this funding request, you support the thousands of small businesses in the community that will benefit from the many who visit it.

I might also say that the museum is considered one of the finest in the world, and it includes not only the art history of America but the historical art from around the world, and it is also a center that helps other museums, including Texas.

The museum recently volunteered its help to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, which draws attendees from Congressman Hensarling's district, and exhibited the first known painting by Michelangelo. This painting was cleaned, transported, restored and hung by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Without the contribution of the Met, the Kimbell museum in Texas would not have been able to support the exhibition of this invaluable work.

I am confident this project is a valuable use of taxpayers dollars, investing in creating jobs and helping other museums, and helping the economic development of the district that I am proud to represent.

In response to the gentleman's other points, our economic problems were not created in the 5 months that President Obama has been in office, and they're not going to be resolved in 5 months either. We are facing the most severe recession since the Great Depression, and it will take time for the Recovery Act to take hold.

Likewise, the Recovery Act was not designed to work in 5 months. It was designed to work over 2 years, and the Recovery Act was designed to provide a boost necessary to stop the free-fall and lay the foundation for recovery.

We are working as quickly as possible in my district and across New York State to move the stimulus money into the economy as quickly as possible. Economist Zandi estimates that in the last 3 months alone over 500,000 jobs were saved as a result of the stimulus spending. So far, $43 billion of the recovery spending has come in the form of tax relief to America's working families and businesses. Let's imagine the situation we would have been in if we had not had the TARP money to stabilize our financial institutions and let them fail. The failure of our financial and credit systems would have followed the failure of institutions, crippling our economy with millions of losses of jobs in so many directions and unemployment to millions of Americans.

So I strongly support this. I believe it's a good investment in energy efficiency and job creation and the economic development of our country.

I thank the gentlelady for her leadership on this bill, and I rise in support of this bill, and particularly commend the chairwoman for her leadership on the United Nations Population Fund, which was denied funding for 7 years under the prior administration, and will save women's lives; and her focus on helping the women under the oppressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan with over $100 million focused on female NGOs and the security of our country and the help for our allies. A great bill. I appreciate your allowing me to include my statement.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill and commend Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger for their hard work in crafting this important bill.

I am particularly pleased that it includes $60 million for the critical work done by UNPFA (the United Nations Population Fund).

Every minute of every day, a woman dies needlessly in pregnancy or childbirth, most in the developing world--this translates into 10 million women lost per generation.

4 million newborns also die every year of similarly preventable causes. UNFPA has worked to end these deaths since it became operational in 1969.

It has provided significant assistance to improve the health and quality of life and to promote the health and rights of women worldwide.

UNFPA is the largest source of international assistance for women's reproductive health in the world and despite the past 7 years during which the previous Administration withheld funding for UNFPA, the United States Congress has demonstrated its strong support of the organization by approving U.S. financial support for UNFPA each year.

Fully 42 percent of all pregnancies worldwide suffer complications and in 15 percent of all pregnancies, the complications are life- threatening.

In too many places, maternal health still receives inadequate attention and funding.

Fortunately for women around the world, UNFPA operates in 154 countries specifically to combat maternal mortality and to promote safe motherhood.

The impact of losing U.S. funding over the past 7 years has been devastating.

For each of these years, UNFPA could have helped to prevent 2 million unintended pregnancies, 800,000 abortions, 4,700 mothers' deaths, and more than 77,000 infant and child deaths.

In 2001, the U.S. Agency for International Development estimated the global economic impact of maternal and newborn mortality at $15 billion per year in lost potential production, half associated with women and half with newborns.

Investing in UNFPA actually reduces healthcare costs, and teaching and promoting safe motherhood enables adequate time between births for women's bodies to better carry another pregnancy.

Mr. Chairman, this funding will help to restore the United States' standing in the global community while demonstrating its commitment to the lifesaving work of UNFPA.

Madam Speaker, on June 26, 2009, I missed rollcall vote No. 466. Had I voted, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 466, on agreeing to the resolution, H. Res. 587, providing for consideration of H.R. 2454, American Clean Energy and Security Act.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. economy shed 467,000 jobs in June, yet the economic climate would have been worse without the economic recovery legislation we passed in February. One leading independent economist reported last week that our stimulus measures prevented the loss of some 500,000 jobs in the last 3 months alone.

Many State and local governments, retailers, and service-providing employers have been able to save thousands of jobs that otherwise would have vanished without money provided in the stimulus package to communities and consumers. As a result of our action, the legislation's broad approach will leave the unemployment rate 2 percentage points lower by the end of next year. The stimulus impact has and continues to be an economic lifesaver for families all across this country.

Madam Speaker, today, our nation takes a historic step toward a clean energy economy. The American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act will revolutionize American energy policy, combat climate change, and provide a unique opportunity to revive our economy and create millions of clean energy jobs.

Some key provisions of the bill include a requirement for electric utilities to meet 20 percent of their electricity demand through renewable energy sources and energy efficiency by 2020, a cap-and-trade global warming reduction plan designed to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020, and a new building efficiency standard requiring new buildings to be 30 percent more efficient by 2012 and 50 percent by 2016. These and other provisions will encourage new renewable requirements for utilities, studies and incentives regarding new carbon capture and sequestration technologies, energy efficiency incentives for homes and buildings, and grants for green jobs.

In my home state of New York, clean-energy investments will create tens of thousands of jobs. A total of $150 billion in clean-energy investments across the country is estimated to result in about $10 billion in investment revenue and 109,000 jobs in New York State. These additional jobs in the New York labor market would have brought the state's unemployment rate down to 4.3 percent from its actual 2008 level of 5.4 percent.

In addition to creating millions of new jobs, the ACES Act will make our nation more energy independent. Under this legislation, we can significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil by promoting renewable energy, including wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass energy. New clean energy and energy efficiency technologies, along with more efficient vehicles, will also help reduce our need for oil.

Now, you'll hear some say that this bill will tax individuals for using energy. The truth is that the energy-efficiency and consumer protection provisions in the ACES Act will actually cut the electricity bill for an average New Yorker by around $5.60 every month. In these tough economic times, the ACES Act is both environmentally sound and economically responsible.

I thank Chairmen Waxman and Markey and Speaker Pelosi for their leadership in negotiating this important bill, and I am pleased to vote in favor of it.

Madam Speaker, today, I am reintroducing bipartisan legislation that I hope will resolve the question of whether there is any link between the increased incidence of neurological disorders, including autism, and the use of certain vaccines and/or multiple vaccine schedules. Vaccines have been instrumental in reducing the incidence of many once-common diseases. However, there continue to be questions raised in numerous media reports, and by medical professionals, regarding the safety of vaccines and multiple vaccine schedules while there have been no comprehensive studies comparing the health outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.

We owe it to parents and children to study and resolve the question of a possible link between vaccines and neurological disorders. The comprehensive national study comparing outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated children mandated by this legislation would help resolve this controversy once and for all. As the most scientifically advanced country in the world, we should be jumping at the chance to conduct a comprehensive national study and help ensure absolute trust in our nation's vaccine program. Parents deserve answers, and children deserve no less than absolute certainty and safety when it comes to their health, which is why I am pleased to reintroduce this legislation today.

Mr. Chairman, I have a amendment at the desk, No. 39.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This amendment would establish an overseas voting advisory board to provide guidance and oversight to the Federal Voting Assistance Program's efforts to increase ballot access for military and overseas voters.

I would like to thank the distinguished Chairman Skelton for his support of this amendment.

The Voting Assistance Program, which is part of the Department of Defense, is the government's primary entity for assisting overseas voters' access to the ballot, including men and women serving in the military and Americans living abroad, who are our unofficial ambassadors. With the global economy, more and more Americans will be living abroad, and we need to make sure that their voices and votes are counted.

While the State Department cannot give an exact number, there are estimated to be between 4 and 6 million Americans living abroad. There are also hundreds of thousands of brave men and women abroad from Afghanistan to Germany, serving our country in the Armed Forces.

In recent election cycles, the Voting Assistance Program has failed to bring about increased overseas voting participation, even with extreme and increased cost to the taxpayer.

For example, in 2004, the Integrated Voting Assistance System, created by the Voting Assistance Program, cost over $500,000 with only 17 overseas voters participating. In 2006, the Voting Assistance Program did even worse by spending over $1.1 million on the same voting system, but it accounted for an increase of only eight votes placed in the system.

In 2008, the Voting Assistance Program Web site to help active members in the military to vote wasn't even put up and operative until July, just 4 months prior to the November election. From July 23 through November 4, 2008, of the roughly 1.6 million servicemembers across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, only 780 servicemembers requested ballots through the program. This really is disgraceful and disrespectful to the sacrifices made by our fighting men and women.

Mr. Honda and I have offered this amendment to address the issues to overseas military and civilian voting now long before the next election. This panel will provide oversight for the Federal program that has struggled in a mission to ensure greater ballot access for Americans overseas and our military. The program's longtime director resigned her post in 2008, and at that time it appeared that the next director would be chosen in a closed process.

Along with many Members of this body on both sides of the aisle, we sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates urging him to conduct a fair and open hiring process for the program.

I am pleased that Secretary Gates did a national search and selected Mr. Robert Carey to be the next program director. I know and I respect his experience, and I believe he will bring fresh ideas and workable solutions to improve ballot access for all Americans living abroad.

And while he is very capable and will certainly bring long-awaited and much-needed overhaul of the program, the advisory panel will add additional strength, expertise, and depth and support for his efforts.

By passing this amendment, which will establish an oversight board, we can guarantee that the best policies are being pursued to provide better access to the ballot by bringing greater attention and support for the Voting Assistance Program for Americans living abroad for our military.

I thank my colleagues for supporting this amendment, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Absolutely not. The purpose of the board is to increase voter participation. And in a global economy, believe me, there will be more and more Americans living abroad. We now have hundreds of thousands of military living abroad.

Reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for his support.

It certainly is a bipartisan effort to increase voter participation in our country, particularly for our brave men and women living abroad and serving in the military. In this new global economy, more and more Americans will be working abroad. This is a common goal for our Congress and for our democracy.

I thank the gentleman for his support.

I yield back the balance of my time.