Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, a personal matter prevented my presence in the House this past Thursday, April 15, 2010. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' during Rollcall vote 211 on final passage of the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (H.R. 4851).

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of a real American hero, SSG

James S. Clark of Aco 1/17 IN. I ask that this poetic tribute penned by Albert Caswell of the Capitol Guide Service, be placed in the Record in honor of Staff Sergeant Clark. On October 15, 2009, James lost his leg and almost his life, in an IED explosion in Khandahar Afghanistan. Like many of our fine sons and daughters, who have been injured, he has, and will continue to, inspire us all with his faith, courage and determination during his recovery. James plans to move to San Antonio, Texas to live with his wife Kae-c and their children Samarra and Izeyah and their family to receive treatment. We welcome another great American veteran and his family with open arms, to our community of heroic heroes--patriots who have served our Nation over the years.

I Stand

Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer my words of congratulation to one of San Antonio's most distinguished citizens. Manuel ``Maber'' Bernal was born in Veracruz, Mexico, on November 19, 1904. In

1930, he began his career in broadcasting when Mexico's Radio XEW-AM first went on the air. Over the next 23 years, Mr. Bernal's fame, both in Mexico and in the United States, grew. He was well known for his radio performances, as an actor, author, and producer for XEQ and Radio Cadena Nacional. His voice was known to millions from his dubbings of Disney movies into Spanish.

In 1953, after years of business trips here, Mr. Bernal made the United States his home. He settled in San Antonio, Texas, where he helped to build the radio station KCOR, the first full-time Spanish- lanugage radio station in the United States. In addition to authoring several novellas and radio jingles, Mr. Bernal was dedicated to bridging the gap between his Spanish-speaking audience and their government. He worked with the local Social Security Administration District Manager to produce ``Su Seguro Social,'' tapes which introduced Americans to the Social Security Administration and explained its workings.

As America transitioned into the television era, so did Mr. Bernal, and he continued to ensure that his work benefited the community. His program on KCOR-TV--once again the first full-time Spanish-language television station in the country as well as the first UHF station--was called ``Escuadron de Auxilio,'' ``The Help Brigade.'' KCOR would become the foundation of the Spanish International Network and, later, Univision.

Manuel Bernal turned 105 years old on November 19, 2009. Over more than century, he has seen tremendous changes in the world and, often enough, he was at the forefront of those changes. I may be late in saying it, but I want to congratulate Mr. Bernal on a lifetime of accomplishment. I hope that his 105th birthday was a joy and I wish him many, many more.

Madam Speaker, on December 11, 2009, San Antonio lost a great public servant when Balbina ``Barbie'' Hernandez passed away at the age of 62. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Barbie Hernandez as we celebrate her life, which was highlighted by decades of community service, philanthropy, and leadership.

Balbina Hernandez was born on November 2 and was named after her paternal grandmother. She was nicknamed ``Barbie'' in high school and was by known by this name the rest of her life.

She was an active member of her community, serving countless organizations and served the City of San Antonio for 18 years, which included being part of then Mayor Henry Cisneros' administration. As a single parent, Barbie passionately worked to be a role model for young women and boldly carried a red purse to remind people of the disparity in pay between men and women. Also, as a proud Vok, Barbie was dedicated to Lanier High School and worked to make a difference for the students attending her alma mater.

After working tirelessly to earn her bachelor's degree from the University of the Incarnate Word she set out to work for the Mexican American & Hispanic Physicians Association, MAHPA, as Executive Director. At MAHPA, Barbie took great joy in working to make college and medical school a reality for so many kids.

The City of San Antonio and the State of Texas feel a little emptier now, but we have all lived richer, better lives because of the life of Balbina ``Barbie'' Hernandez. Her life may have ended, but her contributions will live on and generations shall enjoy the fruits of her labor.

Madam Speaker, a personal matter prevented my presence in the House this past Thursday, December 03, 2009. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on final passage of the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009 (H.R. 4154).

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Henry R. Munoz III, a public servant who has dedicated his professional career and philanthropic efforts to serving others, on the special occasion of his 50th birthday.

Born in San Antonio on December 14, 1959, Henry Munoz has honored us with his vision and leadership for decades, benefiting our cities, state and country. As a longtime friend, I know firsthand his track record of service to this nation and especially to the great State of Texas.

Throughout his life, Mr. Munoz has engaged in a number of different professions: entrepreneur, artist, philanthropist, and activist. From his appointments to the Texas Department of Transportation, VIA Transit, Smithsonian National Board, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, and many more, Mr. Munoz has dedicated his passion and efforts to raising funds for these prestigious organizations. Mr. Munoz has also raised over $5 million in student scholarships, allowing young leaders in our communities pursue their dreams through higher education.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Henry Munoz III as we celebrate his 50th birthday, a life highlighted by decades of community service, philanthropy, and leadership.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak of sad tidings. The south Texas legal community lost a great leader and a great friend on October 16, 2009, when Judge Solomon Casseb, Jr. passed away at the age of 94.

A native San Antonian, Judge Casseb graduated from Central Catholic High School and St. Mary's University before earning his law degree at the University of Texas Law School in 1938. After several years in private practice, he enlisted as a private in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, and was honorably discharged as a Major by the time he returned from overseas. He then practiced law until his appointment and two subsequent elections to serve as a Judge of the 57th District Court in Bexar County. He presided over many important cases during his career, though none may be more famous than 1984's Texaco case, which resulted in what was the largest award of damages in history.

During his time on the bench, Judge Casseb was repeatedly honored by his colleagues in the legal community time and again as an outstanding jurist, and the endowed Judge Solomon Casseb Jr. Research Professorship in Law at the University of Texas Law School stands as a tribute to the esteem in which he was held.

Before and after he obtained senior status in 1985, Judge Casseb worked to improve the lives of the people of South Texas outside of his official duties as well. He was a co-trustee of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust and was a bold and diligent advocate for the poorest citizens of his community.

Solomon Casseb Jr. was a great judge, a great friend, and a great man. His family, friends, and all those who had the privilege to know him will miss him deeply.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, to report the passing of the Revered E. Thurman Walker after a long illness. For more than 22 years, Reverend Walker was a leader in the city of San Antonio, first as assistant pastor and for the past 16 years as the senior pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.

Under Reverend Walker's leadership, Antioch grew to three thousand members and opened the Christian Academy, a private school at the Church, in 1995, and the Antioch Community Transformation Network, an organization dedicated to community service, in 2000. Reverend Walker was the spiritual leader of his congregation, but he insisted that the church play a role in the whole community and in the daily lives of all San Antonians. The church has been a pillar in the San Antonio community for a long time, but its role and reach increased under Reverend Walker as well. He forged alliances with other churches, particularly through the Community Churches for Social Action, and with other religious and social service organizations and with the city's political and business leaders. As his wife, Jo Angelia Walker, recalled his words, ``If the church is doing nothing to serve and minister to the community then we might as well lock up the doors, close down and go home!''

Reverend Walker gave a voice to so many different groups of people in San Antonio's community, uniting people around their shared ideals and helping them to productive discussions even when their views diverged, always seeking out the best path for every one. He touched the lives of so many men, women, and children during his too short life. Though he may be gone, that legacy will live on forever.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the end of an era. For just shy of 35 years, Chris Marrou has anchored the news broadcast at San Antonio's KENS-5 television. On November 24, 2009, he will give his final broadcast.

Though he spent his youngest days in San Marcos, TX, Chris was born in San Antonio and has lived in the city for most of his life. He was among the first students at Robert E. Lee High School. After being voted ``Most Likely to Succeed'' by his graduating class, it was off to Princeton University where he began his career in broadcasting on the campus radio station, WPRB. Upon graduating, Chris returned to San Antonio, working first in radio, for KITE and KBAT, before moving into television with WOAI, where he soon began covering sports. San Antonio lost him briefly when a Dallas radio station lured him away, but he soon returned, taking over the anchor spot at KENS-5 television on December 24, 1973. And what a Christmas present that was.

Over the past 36 years Chris has been one of the most trusted and respected voices in San Antonio and South Texas, even during his brief sojourn in Boston. He has won numerous awards from the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters and other organizations. Not content with just one career, however, Chris began attending St. Mary's University School of Law, graduating with his Juris Doctor in 2007, the same year he was voted ``Best TV News Anchor'' by the San Antonio Express-News. After passing the Texas bar later that year, he founded the firm of Ramiriz, Marrou & Martinez de Vara, P.L.L.C. with some of his law school classmates.

Chris Marrou has been a great friend to the City of San Antonio, a familiar and trusted friend, welcomed into the homes, and hearts, of millions of people at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. every night. He will be greatly missed, though we wish him the best as he moves into the next phase of his life.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the substitute.

This substitute includes medical liability reforms that draw on the Texas model. I'm from Texas. Let me tell you about the Texas experience.

We were promised that medical malpractice reform in Texas would result in attracting doctors to underserved areas. Today, Texas ranks 43rd out of the 50 States in the number of doctors per capita.

We were promised that it would rein in health costs. Health care costs in Texas with Medicare alone rose 24 percent in the 3 years after Texas tort reform.

We were told that it would reduce the cost of health care insurance for Texans. Premiums actually increased 86.8 percent from the years 2000 to 2007. The average insurance policy for a family in Texas went from $6,638 to $12,403.

We were told that it would make health insurance plans more readily available for Texans. Today, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured adults and the highest rate of uninsured children.

If ever there was a time not to mess with Texas, it is tonight. Vote ``no'' on the substitute.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Tibotec Therapeutics, part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, for demonstrating continued innovation and corporate responsibility in the fight against HIV/AIDS by conducting the groundbreaking GRACE study. GRACE, which stands for Gender Race And Clinical Experience, is the largest study to date in treatment- experienced women with HIV to examine gender and race differences in response to an HIV therapy. Findings from this historic study were recently presented at the International AIDS Society conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

In the United States, women are increasingly affected by HIV/AIDS, accounting for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses, with African American and Latina women representing seventy-nine percent of women living with the disease. People of color, both women and men, have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials in the United States, and HIV/AIDS disproportionately impacts our African American and Latino communities. In my home state of Texas, there are about 73,000 people living with AIDS, and Latinos represent almost one- quarter of these cases. There are over 5,000 people living with HIV/ AIDS in San Antonio, and many more in the surrounding counties. In terms of new HIV infections, Latina women are infected at a rate almost four times as high as white women.

Through innovative strategies, the GRACE study was able to enroll approximately seventy percent women, sixty percent African Americans and twenty-two percent Latinos. The trial was designed to help overcome some of the barriers which have historically deterred women and people of color from participating in clinical studies, including stigma, language and cultural barriers, and lack of child care, transportation, and personal support systems. Based upon advisor and community input, study participants could obtain assistance to cover costs associated with their participation in the study, including funds for travel and childcare, as well as food vouchers. I am very proud that one of the study sites in this historic clinical trial is located in my congressional district.

Results of the GRACE study showed that there were no statistical differences in the safety, tolerability, or effectiveness of the HIV regimens used in the study between male and female participants, or for people of different ethnicities. Importantly, from my perspective, the GRACE study clearly showed that, with the appropriate commitment from the trial sponsor and input from affected communities and providers, clinical trials can, indeed, enroll meaningful numbers of women and racial and ethnic minorities.

With the GRACE study, Tibotec Therapeutics and Johnson & Johnson continue to demonstrate their leadership and corporate social responsibility as innovators and leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. I commend them for their continuing commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS and for their leadership in addressing the disproportionate impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women and people of color.

Madam Speaker, Central Catholic High School has a long and glorious history in San Antonio. On March 25, 1852, it became the first boys' school to open in the city and it has served generations of San Antonio's young men. Now, one of Central's distinguished alumni, Edward C. Ybarra, Jr., is poised to become its 35th principal.

Mr. Ybarra first came to Central as a freshman in 1979 and, after graduating in 1983, went on to earn his degree from Texas Lutheran University. Central had clearly put its hold on him, however, and Ybarra returned to the school in 1987 to coach the basketball, football, track, and golf teams. He started teaching history the next year and, after earning his Master's Degree in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio, became Assistant Principal for Student Development in 1997.

Over the years, he helped to forge Central into a second family and safe haven for its students and their families, efforts that earned him a nomination as Assistant Principal of the Year from the National Catholic Educational Association.

Edward Ybarra's successes stand as a testament to the strong foundation of his schooldays at Central as the successes of his thousands of young charges reflect the quality of his leadership as a teacher and assistant principal. Both augur well for the successes to come to him and to Central under his leadership as president. The depth of his connection to the school over the past thirty years also speaks to the strength of community at Central Catholic High School.

Henry Adams once wrote, ``A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.'' Edward Ybarra has affected eternity, and the world is better for it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Fr. Francis Theodore ``Ted'' Pfeifer, a public servant who has dedicated his life to serving others as a spiritual advisor and as an American missionary in Southern Mexico. Fr. Pfeifer has been a passionate advocate against the drug cartel in Mexico, a dedicated priest and kind friend to the San Antonio community.

Born in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, he moved to San Antonio, where he completed his theological and pastoral studies at the Oblate ``De Mazenod Scholasticate,'' now the Oblate School of Theology. He served bravely for more than 23 years as an Oblate Missionary in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, tending to his pastoral duties as a missionary and assuming the additional duties of doctor, dentist, electrical journeyman, mechanic, construction foreman, expert in livestock, and most notably as a courageous leader against the drug cartel.

Fr. Pfeifer made history when he began preaching against the infiltration of the drug traders on the Southern Mexican villages in the early 1980's. His outspoken words from the pulpit against the drug cartel brought him face to face with death on numerous occasions. Once Fr. Pfeifer miraculously escaped with his life when bullets riddled the cab of his truck; rather than cowering at the death threats, he fearlessly persisted preaching against the cartel. He continued to fight the drug cartel with the Gospel and encouraged 15,000 locals in his vast parish to resist the threats, massacres and the alluring offers to use their farmland to grow the plants used for drugs.

The severity of the escalating drug cartel activity in the area prompted Fr. Pfeifer to reach out to my father, the late Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez. The Oblate's outreach to the U.S. government caught the attention of not just my father, but the then U.S. Speaker of the House Jim Wright and Congressman Albert Bustamante, who together played a pivotal role against the infiltration of the drug cartel in Mexico.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Fr. Pfeifer as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of his priestly ordination, a lifetime of bravery and the launch of his book ``When the Wolves Came,'' a detailed chronicle of the rise of the illegal drug trade. He fought hard his entire life for the causes he believed in and never retreated at the sight of danger. Fr. Pfeifer's dedication to justice and the ongoing battle against the drug cartel are remarkable and I wish him continued success in all his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Chief Justice Alma L. Lopez, a public servant who has dedicated her professional and personal life to empowering Hispanics in the spheres of law, education and politics. Justice Lopez has been a passionate advocate, a dedicated jurist and kind friend to the San Antonio community.

Born in Laredo, Texas, she moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she was raised and educated. Justice Lopez began her higher education at San Antonio College and then went on to graduate from St. Mary's University with a B.B.A. and from St. Mary's Law School with a J.D. She practiced law for 25 years, twenty of those as a solo practitioner prior to being appointed to the court. She credits her choice of the law as a career to her maternal grandmother, who noticed that even at the age of five she had the skills of a mediator and negotiator.

Justice Lopez made history when she became the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Fourth Court of Appeals. She has been a true leader becoming the first Hispanic woman to serve as Chief Justice in the State of Texas, as well as the first Hispanic woman to serve as a Chief Justice in the United States.

Justice Lopez has been a strong advocate for the Hispanic community serving on a number of local, state, and national boards of directors. She is committed to being a role model not just for Hispanic women, but for the entire community.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Chief Justice Alma Lopez as we celebrate and honor her career and outstanding contributions to the community. Her dedication to justice and the City of San Antonio are remarkable and I wish her continued success in all her future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, after 92 years of service to others, the Reverend Claude William Black Jr. died on March 13, 2009. A lifelong San Antonian, Reverend Black was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, working with A. Philip Randolph, the

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others. But to all of San Antonio, Reverend Black was so much more than the associate of great men; he was a great man and a great friend.

After graduating from the Andover Newton Theological School, Reverend Black spent eight years ministering to congregations in Massachusetts and Corpus Christi before returning to San Antonio to become the minister of the Mount Zion First Baptist Church in 1949. He would lead the congregation as its pastor for the next 49 years and as pastor emeritus until his death. Under Reverend Black's leadership, Mount Zion would become a cornerstone of San Antonio, providing day care, senior citizen services, and, since 1966, a church-owned Credit Union.

Reverend Black was a leading voice in San Antonio's civil rights movement, protesting segregation and bigotry in the face of threats and assaults on himself and his family. When arsonists burned Mount Zion to the ground in 1974, Reverend Black began the process of rebuilding while the ashes were still warm, telling the city council that, while the building might be gone, his church lived on.

As a member of San Antonio's City Council from 1973 to 1978, Reverend Black was the city's first black mayor pro-tem. He left the Council so that he might dedicate more of his time to other projects and to provide opportunities for the next generation of leaders to make their mark in the City's government.

And that was the kind of man Reverend Black was: indefatigable in working for the causes in which he believed, yet always conscious of the roles that others might play and ready to encourage their involvement. Generations of San Antonians have benefited from his work and his tutelage. While Reverend Black himself is now gone, the foundation he laid down will serve our community for generations more.