Floor Statements

Let me wish everyone a happy St. Patty's Day.

It is unfortunate that we have so much effort here in the House to recite the problem rather than to focus on solutions. We hear this discussion about our national debt. We have these paltry efforts. We cut $6 billion on the same day that the debt went up $72 billion. We have a proposal by the majority to address the debt by cutting 1\1/2\ percent out of a small corner of the budget, doing serious damage to our Nation's

efforts in education and science and innovation.

I would hope that we would think for a minute about what we could actually do to take America's exceptional past and create a real roadmap for our Nation's future, ensuring it on a fiscal footing that will be stronger.

I have introduced this morning H.R. 1125. It is a proposal to address the Nation's debt and create a debt-free America. I invite the House to debate on it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Jim Reed, a respected and beloved member of the greater Philadelphia business and civic community, who will be honored on April 14, 2011, at The Enterprise Center, 4548 Market Street, in West Philadelphia.

Mr. Reed is Director of External Affairs for Verizon Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His service to his community both includes and extends far beyond the workplace. An active and passionate leader, Jim Reed is committed to the well-being of children, youth and adults alike. From board participation to teaching; mentoring, community service and advocating for change, he has proven his commitment to the community.

Mr. Reed is a native of Savannah, Georgia, and was educated in Savannah and the School District of Philadelphia. He is a graduate of The Pennsylvania Institute of Technology and Spring Garden College. He was a math instructor at Dobbins and Edison High Schools in Philadelphia, the Opportunities Industrial Center, founded by Leon Sullivan, and Temple University.

Jim Reed has more than 45 years experience in all facets of telecommunications. He began his career with AT&T and then transferred to Bell of Pennsylvania where he moved to the External Affairs Department as Community Relations Director, and assumed his current position in 1993.

Mr. Reed's community involvement includes a wide range of interests and activities. He has chaired the Mayor's Commission on Services to the Aging. He is an active board member of the Urban Affairs Coalition, West Philadelphia Partnership, Korean Community Center, Citizens Crime Commission, The Men of the 644th Engineer Battalion ``C,'' and many other organizations.

Jim Reed is an active member of Tindley Temple United Methodist Church where he serves as an usher. He is a member of the Methodist Men, and also a board member of Charles A. Tindley Community Development Corporation.

He has been honored by countless organizations including OIC, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, Asian American Women Coalition, Cheyney University, Berean Institute, Operation PUSH, Teenagers In Charge, Concerned Black Men, City of Philadelphia, Frontiers International, the Ducky Birts Foundation, Haddington, Multi- Service Center for Older Adults, Grands As Parents, and many others. He is a concerned community advocate in the Wynnefield neighborhood where he resides.

Jim Reed is an exemplary Philadelphian who has earned the admiration and gratitude of all who know him--and will get to know him as he continues his service--in Philadelphia. I offer my warm and sincere congratulations to Jim Reed for a life well lived and brimming with accomplishment.

Mr. Speaker, the name ``Paterno'' is legend across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The successes of Joe Paterno, as football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions since 1966, compiling an astonishing 401 victories, 24 bowl game triumphs, five undefeated seasons and two national championships, are well known to even the most casual sports fans.

Not so well known, yet equally worthy of acclaim, is the generosity of Joe and Suzanne Paterno in their charitable support for educational institutions and other causes. This amazing couple, often known simply as JoePa/SuePa, has contributed over $4 million, and raised many millions more, to departments, colleges, buildings, libraries and other causes at Penn State. Sue Paterno is recognized as a philanthropist and community leader in her own right. She has served as a champion of Penn State's library system while volunteering for Pennsylvania Special Olympics, United Way, Centre (County) Volunteers for Medicine, and a tutor for student-athletes.

No wonder the American Jewish Committee has selected Joe and Sue Paterno for its prestigious 2011 National Community Leadership Award. This nonsectarian honor will be presented to the Paternos at the AJC Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey's Award Dinner on March 15, 2011, at the Union League of Philadelphia.

The National Community Leadership Award is an excellent example of the service commitment and broad outreach of both the Paternos and the bridge-building, human rights promoting organization that created it. The American Jewish Committee honors stellar achievement in civic and community circles and in the world of philanthropy. Past recipients of AJC National Awards include Sidney Kimmel, Jones Apparel; Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.; Steven Spielberg, Dreamworks; William Clay Ford, Ford Motor Company; Terry Lundgren, Federated Department Stores; Cathie Black, New York City Schools Chancellor; Henry Kravis, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts; and Steven A. Schwarzman, The Blackstone Group, L.P., among many others.

Earlier in my career, as a state legislator, I served on the Board of Pennsylvania State University and got to know Joe Paterno. His fan club stretches from the Delaware River to the Ohio line. In Philadelphia, some of us may cheer for Temple, Penn or Villanova. Every member of this House has his or her favorite college team. But in the fields of philanthropy and community service, I urge all my colleagues to join in cheering for the JoePa/SuePa team and for their AJC National Leadership Award.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

We heard just the other day in this Chamber the leader of our great ally Australia talk about the greatness of our Nation and how it is the belief that we can achieve anything.

This lack of confidence illustrated in the rhetoric here on the floor today about the greatness of America, maybe we need to walk back a minute and look at how we invested and rebuilt Japan and Germany after the war, how we bailed out Mexico, over $40 billion. How, today, this day alone, we are spending $2 billion this week in Afghanistan. We have people all over the world trying to assist others. We will be one of the first nations rushing to help those affected by the tsunami this morning in Japan. This is a great Nation.

We come today, however, to say to law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who lost their jobs because of the shenanigans on Wall Street, that even though we were able to help the banks to the tune of trillions of dollars, we can't provide a small bridge loan to help a homeowner who has been paying their bills, been abiding by the law and has been affected by the actions or inactions of the government and Wall Street.

Now, this is not a new program built on hopes and dreams. This is a replication of a program that has been operating in Pennsylvania for 20 years. It actually has a history in which the State of Pennsylvania has put in $235 million and gotten back $250 million, and in which 44,000 homeowners have been able to secure their homes over a small interruption in their employment by getting help over 24 months.

I yield to the gentleman.

Well, this was started under a Republican Governor, Governor Thornburgh. I introduced this as a young State legislator with no gray hair, and it has worked very well in the State of Pennsylvania. I offered it here in this Chamber. In 2007, we hit a 50-year high in mortgage foreclosures.

It makes no sense to move someone out of their home, ruin their credit for a decade and have their family be homeless when in the Pennsylvania instance, for less than $7,000 on average, you can help them over a period of difficulty.

So here is the Republican majority. They say, look, we can't find it within us as a Nation, even though we help people all across the globe, to actually pause for a minute for a paltry sum and help a citizen in our own country meet a burden, and do it in a way that would actually be more cost effective for our taxpayers.

We should reject this. We should reject the notion that somehow we are so much in debt that we can't afford to help our own citizens. What we should know is we are the wealthiest country in the world. Just yesterday, we should read the story about how we have a few billionaires who have trillions of dollars. We should remember that last week on the front page of USA Today, we had a story saying for a quarter-of-a-million dollars, seats on boards of directors were going wanting in our country because they weren't being paid enough for six meetings a year.

We can afford to pay our bills. The Republican majority says let's cut 1.5 percent of what the Federal Government is going to spend this year in the face of a $1.5 trillion deficit. If they want to balance the budget, they should step forward for a much more aggressive plan. This is not about balancing the budget. It will not get close to balancing the budget. This is about somehow being willing to help big banks when President Bush stepped

forward and said we have to do TARP. But when it comes to helping a homeowner meet their obligation, somehow we have to do less than our best as a Nation.

This is not the America that has come to have great allies like the leader of Australia who spoke from that podium who said we can do anything and how the whole world looks at us as a beacon of hope. We should think again. This is ill advised, and I hope that this House rejects this bill and today stands up for an American citizen who needs a little help.

I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

I continue to reserve.

Madam Chair, I insist on my point of order.

I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI.

The rule states in pertinent part: An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma and his colleague and my colleague from Montana.

Let me say first and foremost that this was a request having to do with the four States on the southwest border. It would not have involved our great friend from Montana in his purchase of rifles. This was limited to long guns that would have detachable clips. Multiple purchases would have been required to be notified. So if someone went to buy 1,000 AK-47 assault weapons and semi-automatic clips that were detachable, they would have to be reported.

Now, this reporting requirement already exists for pistols or for handguns. There was a request made, OMB denied it, wanted to get a series of public comments. So there was no rush on the administration's behalf to rush this through under the cover of some emergency order. It's been out for public comment. And I think that is a reasonable thing to think about whether or not we would want to have a notification to our government if someone was buying large quantities of assault weapons, especially along the border, which many, many of our colleagues have told us about being a place of significant danger related to organized crime to the south of our sovereign Nation.

So this is a request that's been made. It's been met, however, with this amendment. And I think we all know the result of what might happen here in the House regarding this. I hope that we're prepared to live with the consequences of whatever votes we might cast in this matter.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with hunting rifles or guns used in sporting activity. This has to do with long guns with detachable clips used for only one purpose, and that is, shooting large numbers of rounds and killing large numbers of people. So we should be clear about it; it's a request that's been made. It's been noticed on the public record for comment by the administration. It relates only to these four States. It is modeled after a regulation that already exists now for handguns. So I know that some may get paranoid about these issues, but I think we should have at least some paranoia about what this could portend if we don't take reasonable action in the protection of the citizens that we've been elected to protect.

I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu).

Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time remains.

I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi).

Mr. Chairman, 48 hours ago, two officials of the United States Government, ICE agents, were attacked. They were in an armed vehicle which was traveling south of the border. One of those agents died. The assault weapons used in this incident, like tens of thousands of them that have found their way into Mexico, have crossed the border through these legal purchases.

This is about notification to the Department of Justice. It doesn't stop the sale. It notifies the DOJ that large amounts of these guns have been purchased. I think it's a reasonable thing. I leave it to my colleagues to make a reasonable judgment about this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I rise in opposition to the amendment.

One, this is a budget-neutral reorganization of NOAA. Two, a third of our gross domestic product requires accurate information in terms of climate and weather conditions. And the third and most important point, this reorganization, this Climate Service would allow the private sector to get data that NOAA is already collecting and use it to better forecast for their activities.

I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the great State of California, the ranking member on the Agriculture Subcommittee, Mr. Farr.

How much time do I have left?

Thank you.

This is a budget-neutral reorganization that will allow private business to get data that NOAA has already collected. That's all it is. It's critically important information for those businesses. And a third of our gross domestic product is reliant on good information about climate so that they can have it. It's transparency, it makes sense, and it's budget neutral.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.

During the campaign season, there was a meeting with the Wall Street barons by the leaders of the other side. They promised them exactly this: that they were going to essentially go back to an unregulated system. It almost bankrupted the entire country.

I want to yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Massachusetts. And the American public should not be fooled again by people on the other side saying that somehow they're doing this to protect their interests on Wall Street.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Let me thank the gentleman from New York, and I thank the chairman of the subcommittee.

As the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Commerce and Justice, I rise in support of this amendment. I think that the prohibition is an appropriate one. It's a specific carve-out for library records related to American citizens.

These records still would be available under a warrant properly petitioned for and received through the secret court that handles these matters. But this would take away this administrative procedure which has been rarely used. And I agree with the gentleman from Virginia, there's no reason to believe that it would be abused in any way.

The real point here is that we as Americans find that our right to privacy, and particularly as relates to the library and our reading habits--that we do not have a circumstance that we have a fishing expedition by law enforcement.

So I support the prohibition amendment. And it did pass before by bipartisan vote; it's offered on a bipartisan basis, and I hope that the House favorably considers it.

I thank the gentleman and I thank him for his extraordinary leadership on this critical matter.

The Economic Policy Institute says that the GOP plan will cost our country 800,000 jobs. The parts of the CR that relate to Commerce, Justice and Science relate to essentially four areas.

International trade assistance exports. The President has a major initiative to create American jobs through exporting. They want to cut it by $93 million.

They want to cut $1.3 billion out of law enforcement. So if you need a cop and you call 911, there may or may not be one available because if it's one of the 1,300 that will be cut under this bill, they'll be gone.

In legal services, some 80,000 cases reduced--for seniors who will be fighting mortgage foreclosure that would be fraudulent in their case, or domestic abuse violence in their homes, through cuts to legal services.

And a $150 million cut for the National Science Foundation.

Now my colleagues have a tough job. They're in the majority. They've got to make rational decisions. Let me just say this. If spending was bad, we would eliminate all spending. Some spending is necessary. We should be cutting waste. We should not be cutting law enforcement and legal assistance and scientific analysis, and we shouldn't be cutting export opportunities for American workers. And we shouldn't be risking 800,000 jobs in our country; not today, not on any day.

Mr. Speaker, this month in Philadelphia, in the midst of Black History Month and on the cusp of Women's History Month, we will be celebrating the centennial of the death of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper--a great and talented woman of our city and our Nation.

Frances E. W. Harper, born September 28, 1825, was a poet, novelist, lecturer, advocate and activist for the towering causes of 19th century America: the abolition of slavery and the freedom of all people, especially her fellow African Americans. She was the contemporary and equal of such figures as William Still, Octavius V. Catto, Lucretia Mott, the Fortens, William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass (who published her work).

She was a woman of such bravery that she stayed with and comforted Mary Brown, wife of John Brown, in the weeks leading up to his execution. And more: She wrote to John Brown, in a letter addressed ``Dear Friend'' and smuggled into his jail cell: ``In the name of the young girl sold from the warm clasp of a mother's arms to the clutches of a libertine or profligate, in the name of the slave mother, her heart rocked to and fro by the agony of her mournful separations, I thank you, that you have been brave enough to reach out your hands to the crushed and blighted of my race.''

To her list of character traits, one rises above all others: Frances E. W. Harper was a fighter.

In the century since her passing, on February 22, 1911, at age 85, Frances E. W. Harper's achievements may have faded in memory for many, but her luster has never dimmed. The lessons and examples of her life have held special meaning for my family and me, and for Philadelphians who honor history while vowing never to repeat it.

Now, in this momentous time, comes ``A Brighter Coming Day: Rediscovering Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.'' A partnership of nearly 20 organizations and foundations, brought together by Larry Robin and the Moonstone Arts Center, will spotlight her achievements with a dozen events across the City of Philadelphia between February 20 and 27.

For the benefit of my colleagues in the House and for all Americans who may be ``Rediscovering''--or simply discovering--this amazing woman, here is a primer:

Frances Ellen Watkins was born of free black parents in Baltimore in 1825, orphaned at a young age but raised by an aunt and uncle in comfortable circumstances. Her talents and potential were evident from the start. By age 20 she had published her first collection of poetry, ``Forest Leaves.'' In the 1840s and 1850s, as a young abolitionist, she traveled and lectured widely--and sent the proceeds back home to fund the Underground Railroad.

Soon after moving to Philadelphia, not yet 30 years of age, she refused to give up her seat on the city's shamefully segregated horse- drawn trolley system. It was an act of defiance and illegality that helped set in motion the ultimate desegregation of the trolleys. A brave and impressive act in any time, this was when slavery was still legal. In 1854, she was ``Rosa Parks'' a century before Rosa Parks.

Following the Civil War, as a widow raising four children, in a time when even the most dedicated advocates for civil rights for African Americans were cool to women's empowerment, Frances E. W. Harper in 1866 delivered a fierce speech before the National Women's Rights Convention. Then she headed south to spend four years lecturing in Freedmen's schools in the often hostile environment of Reconstruction. Three decades later, still advocating women's rights as well as those of African Americans, she was elected vice president of the National Association of Colored Women.

The writer's muse never left her. In 1892, at age 67, Frances E. W. Harper published the greatest of her three novels, ``Iola Leroy.''

Throughout her life, Frances E. W. Harper was a pillar of temperance and faith, first at Philadelphia's historic Mother Bethel in the African Methodist Episcopal tradition in which she was raised, and later at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia.

The saga of Frances E. W. Harper is a Philadelphia story, and for me, a personal one. It has been the tradition in my family to name the first-born girl Frances Ellen in her honor. And so this great woman of the 19th century has been an inspiration to great women of today--among them my mother, Falaka Fattah, born Frances Ellen, and my daughter, Frances Ellen Fattah, a young lawyer specializing in education issues. My parents, Falaka and David Fattah, have been activists, community organizers and leaders, inspirational figures for generations of young people across Philadelphia. It is fitting that one of the 12 programs of ``Rediscovering,'' to be held on the exact anniversary of February 22, is titled, ``Falaka Fattah and the Political Legacy of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.''

On February 20, I will be privileged to participate in the first program in this weeklong series. I will read from the work of Frances E. W. Harper and join my family in the ribbon cutting for her portrait by Leroy Forney, commissioned by and unveiled at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia.

This week of tributes will raise Frances E. W. Harper's profile and forever stamp her upon the soul of Philadelphians of good will. The final event will be a graveside memorial at Eden Cemetery, Collingdale, Pennsylvania, where so many of Philadelphia's illustrious African Americans of the 19th and 20th century are interred. One of Frances E. W. Harper's earliest and most acclaimed poems, published in 1858, was ``Bury Me in a Free Land.''

I ask no monument, proud and high,

To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;

All that my yearning spirit craves,

Is bury me not in a land of slaves.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper has, indeed, a monument for us to gaze upon: her life's work, her character, an example to finish the work at hand--and in eternal peace, a dream and yearning fulfilled.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2, a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In March of last year I was honored to cast a vote in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This law ensures that my constituents, and all Americans, have access to the medical care they need. The measure we consider on this House floor today is not an effort to improve upon that law. It is not an alternative strategy to protect patients' access to care. It is simply an effort to undo the admirable work undertaken over many years and months by the Members and staff of this body, committed patient advocates, uninsured Americans and hard-working medical professionals. I find it unfortunate that, as our Nation faces many deep and intransigent challenges, the House is debating a proposal which is premised on misinformation and disingenuous posturing. I am hopeful that we will now return to the real work of the people.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to revise remarks I included in the Congressional Record previously and submit the following remarks in their stead.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. William James, a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist who will conclude his term as President of the American Academy of Dermatology in February. He will have held office for one year and also held the same position for the American Academy of Dermatology Association.

After beginning his academic career at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Dr. James earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed a medical internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, DC, and his residency in dermatology at the former Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco. He is the Paul R. Gross professor and vice chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He also serves as the residency and fellowship program director.

An active member of the American Academy of Dermatology, Dr. James has served as a member of the board of directors, the council on member services, and numerous task forces and committees. He is the past chief of dermatology service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He has authored more than 310 publications, including co-authorship of the last three editions of Andrews' Diseases of the Skin. Additionally he served as founding editor-in-chief of the dermatology section of Emedicine.com, a clinical reference developed by WebMD. He lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Ann. They have two children and are expecting a grandchild in early 2011.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. William James, a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist who recently took office as President of the American Academy of Dermatology. He will hold office for one year and also will hold the same position for the American Academy of Dermatology Association.

After beginning his academic career at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Dr. James earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed a medical internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, DC, and his residency in dermatology at the former Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco. He is the Paul R. Gross professor and vice chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He also serves as the residency and fellowship program director.

An active member of the American Academy of Dermatology, Dr. James has served as a member of the board of directors, the council on member services, and numerous task forces and committees. He is the past chief of dermatology service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He has authored more than 310 publications, including co-authorship of the last three editions of Andrews' Diseases of the Skin. Additionally he served as founding editor-in-chief of the dermatology section of Emedicine.com, a clinical reference developed by WebMD. He lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Ann. They have two children and are expecting a grandchild in early 2011.

Madam Speaker, Homer C. Floyd, a champion of civil rights and human relations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the past four decades, is concluding a remarkable career. Since February 1970, Mr. Floyd has served as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. He has an impressive record of accomplishments in civil rights, and has received numerous awards from organizations including the Pennsylvania NAACP, the International Association of Official Human Rights Organizations, and most recently the Talk Magazine 2009 Person of the Year.

Even before attaining his executive position in Harrisburg, Mr. Floyd amassed a wealth of experience and accomplishment that spans North America. A graduate of the University of Kansas, Homer Floyd played Canadian professional football for the Edmonton Eskimos. He worked as a recreation supervisor in Kansas City, Missouri, and directed a civil rights commission with jurisdiction across the Dakotas, Missouri and Kansas. He consulted with the government of the Virgin Islands and worked with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission in Washington. Since his arrival in Harrisburg he has donated his time to a long list of boards and committees and has volunteered on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and numerous community, sports, youth and civil rights organizations in central Pennsylvania. He was married to the late Mattie Longshore and has three children and three grandchildren.

Now Homer C. Floyd is retiring, although it is bound to be a busy retirement based on his high-energy career. His family, friends, colleagues and admirers are gathering for a Retirement Celebration of Audacious Service on Monday December 20, 2010, at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join with me in honoring and congratulating Homer C. Floyd for a valuable and achieving life on behalf of his fellow citizens.