Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged concurrent resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment prohibits any further funding for the alternate F-35 engine.

In 2001, Pratt & Whitney won the award for the primary engine for the Joint Strike Fighter through a competitive bidding process. This process was set up to save millions in taxpayer dollars. Since then, Congress has authorized an astonishing $1.3 billion of unrequested funds for the development of this extra unnecessary engine. The Bush administration opposed this program. The Obama administration opposes this program. And yet if this amendment fails today, we will continue to fund a defense program that is a complete waste of money.

I could not put it any better than the Secretary of Defense put it himself: Given the many pressing needs facing our military and the fiscal challenges facing our country, we cannot afford a ``business as usual'' approach to the defense budget. Tough choices must be made by both the Department and Congress to ensure that current and future military capabilities can be sustained over time. This means programs and initiatives of marginal or no benefit, like the F136 engine, are unaffordable luxuries.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and finally end this wasteful, unnecessary program.

Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) and thank him for his leadership on this incredibly important issue.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about H.R. 4213 and the impact it will have on an economy that may be improving but has not gone far enough yet. This important bill will put the folks in Maine back to work by increasing investment in our communities and businesses and by closing tax loopholes.

Because of this bill, small businesses that are the backbone of our economic recovery will have increased access to credit. The Build America's Bonds program will continue to allow towns to invest in improving their infrastructure and provide good-paying construction jobs for many Americans. In my home State of Maine, extending the research and development tax credit helps important businesses like IDEXX in Westbrook to grow and develop innovative new products.

I am proud to say this bill also cracks down on tax loopholes that allow hedge fund managers to avoid paying income tax on much of their salaries, and the bill makes sure that multinational corporations don't avoid paying taxes by shifting their profits to offshore tax havens.

Closing tax loopholes generates billions of dollars to pay for the provisions that create jobs in our communities. I look forward to voting ``yes'' on this important bill.

Madam Speaker, today I am proud to be introducing a bill that

prohibits the closure of the commissary and exchange programs at Naval Air Station Brunswick in my home State of Maine.

Unfortunately, before I was a Member of Congress, Naval Air Station Brunswick was selected for closure during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process. We are saddened to see the base close and so many active duty members, who have made Maine their home transfer to Jacksonville, Florida. However, a significant active duty population will remain whose mission still requires them to be stationed in the midcoast area. These units include Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, which is a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command located in Bath, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines located in Topsham, and units of the Maine Army National Guard that will soon construct a joint reserve center at Naval Air Station Brunswick. Additionally, there are thousands of military retirees who depend on this fundamental part of their pay and benefits package.

Military families count on the commissary and exchange programs to deliver costs savings. Access to these programs is not a fringe benefit, but a critical part of the pay package we have promised the men and women who serve.

The fact that Brunswick has been selected for closure is no excuse for these men and women to go without the same programs their counterparts across the globe depend on. Many of the retirees in the midcoast Maine area relocated there after their service specifically for the commissary and exchange programs. We must honor the promises that we made to these individuals, and not abandon them now during these difficult economic times.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming weeks to pass this important legislation in the House.

Madam Speaker, today I am proud to be introducing the Equal Access to Pre-Separation Act of 2010. This bill requires the Department of Defense to give benefit information to members of the Reserve Component before they separate or retire.

For too many years, members of the Guard and Reserve have left the service without a clear picture of the benefits their service has earned them. This legislation ensures that these individuals and their families are educated on how to access benefits like VA health care and Tricare health care programs.

For years the Guard and Reserve have played a critical strategic role in our national defense. I am grateful to these individuals for their service to the Nation. They have made great sacrifices, and I believe that Congress has a moral obligation to educate these heroes on the benefits they have earned. This bill is just one way we can begin to re-pay them for all that they have done to protect this country. I strongly believe that Congress has a moral obligation to keep the promises made to our troops in return for their service.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming weeks to pass this important legislation in the House.

Thank you to my colleague, Representative Matsui, for yielding the time, and to my colleague, Peter Welch, for doing such a great job on this bill.

I want to talk a little bit about how this affects my home State of Maine.

Madam Speaker, with long, cold winters, some of the oldest housing stock in the country, and the highest reliance on oil heat in the country, paying heating bills can be a real struggle for many families in my State of Maine. Recently, I heard from a family with three kids who live in a 100-year-old home. From the street, their house looks like every other house in the neighborhood. In fact, it not only looks like every other house in the neighborhood, it pretty much is just like every other house in the neighborhood: old, leaky, and hard to heat.

By mid-December of last year, they had already gone through two tanks of oil to heat their 1,200-square-foot home, and they were wearing wool hats on the inside. Facing high heating costs and a new mortgage, they are forced to make tough decisions about improvements.

But energy-efficiency improvements can make a world of difference. Another Maine family told me that by removing inefficient fiberglass insulation and replacing it with cellulose insulation, they turned a drafty 200-year-old house into a snug and comfortable home.

Weatherizing homes isn't just good for the homeowners; it's good for the economy. For example, a company called WarmTECH in Yarmouth, Maine, is a strong supporter of this bill. According to the owners, with the creation of the Home Star program, they expect to increase their staff by at least 30 percent and purchase additional equipment.

Thankfully, my State is taking the lead on helping families save money by making their homes energy efficient. Maine has undertaken an aggressive campaign to weatherize every home in the State and half of all businesses by 2030. With the help of the Recovery Act funding, which I was proud to support, my State has created a program to provide rebates of up to $3,000 for energy efficiency improvements, and it is in the process of setting up a revolving loan fund that will make it easier to finance those improvements and pay them off more quickly.

Improving our Nation's energy efficiency benefits our economy, our national security, and our environment; but much remains to be done, and this bill, the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010, is one more step in the right direction. By creating rebates and incentives that will make it more affordable to weatherize your home, this proposal will help families start saving money on their heating bills right away and at the same time will create good-paying jobs that can't be exported.

When people are able to invest in making their homes more energy efficient, that creates good business for contractors, energy auditors, and building supply stores. It stimulates the local economy, saves families money, and reduces our dependence on oil. This bill will allow 3 million families to save over $9 billion on their energy bills over the next decade and create 168,000 of those good-paying jobs right here at home.

Madam Speaker, sometimes I think the word ``investment'' gets a little overused around here; but the Home Star program is, in the truest sense of the word, an investment, and it is an investment that will begin paying dividends immediately by creating jobs, saving working families money, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, this week we marked Equal Pay Day, a day when we recognize the unequal pay of women in this country. Today, women still only make 77 cents to every dollar earned by men. But this disparity is not a women's issue. It's a family issue.

There are just as many women as there are men in the workforce now, and women are the breadwinner or co-breadwinner in about two-thirds of all American families. That is why all of us, men and women alike, have such a big stake in eliminating this gap.

I was proud that my first speech as a freshman in this body was in support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and when that legislation became the first bill that President Obama signed after taking office. I was proud when Maine had Lilly Ledbetter herself to visit our State last month. And I am proud of the fact that Maine has passed a comparable worth law and made great strides towards ending pay discrimination in our own State.

But for all we have to be proud of, we have so much more to do because when women are paid less, everybody suffers.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1248 and ask for its immediate consideration.

For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Dr. Foxx. All time yielded for consideration of the rule is for debate only.

General Leave

I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous materials into the Congressional Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the resolution provides a structured rule for consideration of H.R. 4715, the Clean Estuaries Act of 2010. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI and provides that the bill should be considered as read. The rule waives all points of order against the bill itself.

The rule makes in order the seven amendments printed in the Rules Committee report and waives all points of order against those amendments except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. With respect to the amendments reported to the House, the question of their adoption shall be put en gros and without division of the question. The rule provides for one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

The rule provides that the Chair may entertain a motion that the committee rise only if offered by the chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure or a designee. The Chair may not entertain a motion to strike out the enacting words of the bill.

The requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII for a two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee on Rules on the same day it is presented to the House is waived with respect to any resolution reported through the legislative day of April 16, 2010, providing for consideration of a measure relating to an extension of unemployment insurance.

Finally, it should be in order at any time through the legislative day of April 16, 2010, for the Speaker to entertain motions that the House suspend the rules relating to a measure addressing the extension of unemployment insurance.

Mr. Speaker, many of the Nation's estuaries are in poor environmental health. An impaired estuary not only impacts commercial and recreational fishing, it also harms small businesses that rely on clean water and reduces the number of tourists coming to the State. Degraded coastal wetlands result in increased flooding, shoreline erosion, and damaged infrastructure.

Estuaries are unique places where freshwater mixes with salt water from the oceans. The mixing water provides a productive and dynamic habitat for a wide variety of fish and wildlife. Lobsters, clams, and striped bass all depend on the estuaries as a habitat. They also provide critical habitat and breeding areas for hundreds of species of birds and other wildlife.

We're here today to discuss a bill to help restore our Nation's estuaries by promoting comprehensive planning efforts in nationally significant estuaries such as Casco Bay and the Piscatisqua River Estuary on the Maine-New Hampshire border. Many of these estuaries are part of the National Estuary Program and provide an excellent example of how a stakeholder-driven, collaborative program can successfully address water quality problems.

Estuaries provide habitat for 75 percent of the U.S. commercial fish catch and 80 to 90 percent of the recreational fish catch. Estuaries and associated coastal areas help drive the Nation's economy. In my State alone in Casco Bay, the economic value in a good year of just one species of shellfish, the softshell clam, is estimated to be between $1.6 and $15.7 million annually. Without clean water, the men and women who depend on these resources lose their jobs. We cannot let that happen. We owe it to these hardworking individuals to invest in these precious areas.

Investing in the National Estuary Program, the NEPs, is a good investment in our communities, and the NEPs make good use of their Federal funds. Between 2003 and 2009, NEPs leveraged $1.98 billion from $140 million in EPA grants.

The Casco Bay Estuary Partnership is truly a partnership and they work with our local towns. The estuary partnership and Brunswick, West Bath, Phippsburg, and State and Federal agencies are working together in the New Meadows River Watershed Partnership. The partnership works on coastal protection, especially related to water quality and keeping clam flats open for harvesting. This effort has been largely funded by the estuary partnership.

Beyond providing habitat and a place for commercial activities, estuaries are great places to kayak, boat, swim, or go bird watching. It is important to know that much of the value of estuaries declines if people, if the public, cannot access them.

The underlying bill requires the consideration of sustainable commercial

businesses and the management planning process, and it is important for the estuaries programs to explicitly recognize the role working waterfronts play in providing jobs and access to our estuaries. Without working waterfronts, we lose access to the estuary and the economic and cultural heart of many coastal communities.

As an organization with strong ties to its community, the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership relies on the participation of a whole range of stakeholders, local governments, State and Federal agencies, environmental groups, businesses, schools, and local universities. These stakeholders come together to develop a comprehensive conservation and management plan. The management plan provides the framework for protecting and restoring the estuary and identifies discrete activities to address priority problems such as water quality, nutrient loading, and habitat restoration.

The Casco Bay Estuary Partnership exemplifies the watershed focus, and the partnership works closely with the Portland Water District, local land trusts, and other organizations who all share the common interest of a healthy watershed. These partnerships pay off when the partners come together and tackle multiple issues with the same solution.

The estuary partnership also helps to create good jobs through restoring the health of our estuaries. The Casco Bay Estuary Partnership is working closely with the town of Brunswick to replace an undersized culvert on Adams Road on the Thomas Cove salt marsh. The existing culvert is in need of replacement for purely engineering reasons. The partnership carried out local investigations and funded design work, developing a vision of how replacing a structure with a larger one would increase tidal flow and fish access to the salt marsh landward of Adams Road. The estuary partnership's work helped the town with a grant application to NOAA's Gulf of Maine Program restoration fund to raise additional money to support the effort. The success of these and other projects across the country show how much we can achieve by working together.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I appreciate the thoughts from my good friend from North Carolina, but I have to disagree with her.

First, I want to remind her that we are here today to debate and talk about the rule for the National Estuary Program, and as someone from North Carolina who also represents a lot of coastal communities, I am sure that your fishermen and your tourism industry depend just as much on clean water and healthy estuaries as we do in the State of Maine. And I don't want to underestimate the importance to jobs, to job growth and to a healthy economy that the estuary program has in a coastal State.

I also want to say that this merely increases the authorization for the funding. This isn't spending the money today, and decisions can be made down the line. But important decisions do need to be made to protect more estuaries in our country to make sure that these vibrant areas that produce much of our fishing stock and are critical to our tourism industry continue to thrive and are vibrant.

Estuary counties only make up 13 percent of the Nation's land area but account for 49 percent of the GDP and support 28 million jobs. So if you want to talk about jobs and you're from a coastal State and you're going to neglect taking care of our estuaries, I think you need to go home and talk to the people of those coastal districts, commercial fishermen, people who depend on the tourism industry and know what a critical bill we're talking about today.

But if you want to sidetrack the debate and you want to get into a debate about the deficit, I want to remind you that when my party left office, we had a surplus and we were comfortably moving ahead with the economy. But for 8 years, we had a tremendous amount of unpaid bills in this country. The majority of our deficit came from two wars that weren't paid for, of which we have people who disagree with our involvement in these wars today; tax cuts for some of the wealthiest people in this country who didn't need those tax cuts, but those tax cuts were not funded; a prescription drug program that was not paid for. And, in fact, when the Republicans passed that bill, they didn't even require that we negotiated with the pharmaceutical industry.

In fact, we pay the highest prices in the world, and you wonder why our economy and our deficit is in bad shape? I think you have to look at the last party in power when you are looking at where to place the blame.

Look, people in my State are hurting. We have a tough economy. We have lost a lot of our manufacturing industry to jobs overseas, to a tremendous change in that economy, and I don't want to say for one minute that the people in my State are comfortable with the job situation. They are hurting, and they want more help.

But, unlike the Republicans, the Democrats put forward the Recovery Act. Much of that money has come to

my State and yours. And while we are not there yet, it's had an effect. It's helped us rebuild some of our roads and bridges. It helped keep teachers and firefighters and policemen in their jobs. It has funded research and development. It's gone to a whole host of necessary clean water infrastructure development. The list is long of how that money has been invested in our State.

We have $35 million to extend our train service, which is very important. Extending Amtrak in the Northeast has been a great boon and will be very helpful to our economy.

To say that the Democrats aren't, one, paying attention to the deficit and, two, doing all they can to assist in the job creation in this country is to neglect exactly what those facts are. I, again, will not say that we are where we want to be in this economy, but, last month, the U.S. economy gained more jobs than any other month over the last 3 years, an increase in 162,000 jobs. That is a sign that the labor market is at least moving in the right direction to stabilize.

Let's remember, though, when President Obama took over when I was first elected as a freshmen, the economy was losing 700,000 jobs a month; and the previous President had already had to go in and bail out the banks because of the lack of oversight of our financial services industry. So we took over an economy in very tough shape, and at least it is moving in the right direction.

There are other numbers that, while they don't give us all that we need, they are a positive sign. In the last month, the manufacturing industry added 17,000 jobs, retailers have added 15,000 jobs, and leisure and hospitality accounted for another 22,000 jobs. We are moving in the right direction.

When I go home to my district, I ask the people who work in the tourism industry--tourism is now the largest industry in our State, and I am sure it is a big industry in North Carolina. I ask them how they are doing; and they say, well, we are getting some positive signs. We have more bookings, more people are coming in this spring. People are feeling a little bit more comfortable about the economy. And while that's not where we need to be, at least we have people moving in the right direction.

We also have gained the confidence of people who say, thank goodness you passed some health care reform, health care reform that will cut the deficit in the long run, stabilize Medicare. And I can tell you from my small businesses what I hear more than anything else is from people who say how am I going to cover my employees, how am I going to cover myself as an individual? And I can now go back home to my State and say, if you have 25 employees or less, you will get a 35 percent tax credit this year. You are going to get real assistance in providing your employees with health care. And we are doing it with also cutting the deficit and cutting the instability in the Medicare system.

I just want to say that, A, we are here to talk about estuaries, which, in my opinion and from my coastal State, is a very important job creator and revenue enhancer and critical to our fishing industry, which is very important in our State. I think you have to look at where you are laying the blame when you talk about this tough economy. Nobody likes the situation we are in, but nobody is working harder to change it than the Democrats.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

We can go back and forth all day about he said, she said, who has lowered taxes more, who has cut the deficit, who has done what, but let's just recall when the Republicans were in office. They cut taxes for the wealthiest people in this country, which contributed considerably to the deficit. And while the Republicans did not vote for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, one-third of that and more is our tax cuts for the middle class. So if one of my colleagues was on the floor saying that this was the largest tax cut ever enacted, it may or may not have been, but I think it was the largest tax cut for the middle class and the group of working people in our country who need it more than anybody.

I just want to read a quote here from Bruce Bartlett, the domestic policy adviser under President Reagan and Treasury Department economist under President George H.W. Bush. He said on 3/19/2010: ``Federal taxes are considerably lower by every measure since Obama became President.'' According to the JCT, last year's $787 billion stimulus bill, enacted with no Republican support, reduced Federal taxes by almost $100 billion in 2009 and another $222 billion this year.

Let's just talk a little bit about what's in there because people love to talk about these abstract notions of did you or didn't you lower taxes. Well, here's what's in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, one-third of which was tax cuts. Congress has enacted more than $800 billion in tax cuts with another $285 billion working its way through Congress, and this Recovery Act had 25 different tax cuts for Americans in this country.

The Making Work Pay tax cut provided immediate and sustained tax relief to about 95 percent of all American workers and their families. It's a refundable tax credit up to $400 per worker or $800 per couple filing jointly. That has already been enacted. Over 110 million working families, that's about 95 percent of Americans, now are getting the tax relief they need right now.

The Child Tax Credit: I hear from so many people how difficult it is for working families to be able to afford the cost of childcare. Republicans decided to vote against the childcare tax credit, which cut the taxes of families of more than 16 million children through an expansion of the Child Tax Credit, a very important thing, I think, that we enacted this year.

The Earned Income Tax Credit: expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, providing tax relief to families with three or more children and increasing the Marriage Penalty Relief. Now, again, that's for working- class families. Those are tax cuts for the wealthiest in this country, which is what the Republicans did during their time, making sure the rich got richer. No, we went for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The American Opportunity College Tax Credits: how often do we hear from working class families today struggling to provide for tuition for their kids' college? That helps more than 4 million additional students attend college with a new $2,500 tax credit for families, which is partially refundable, already been enacted.

The Alternative Minimum Tax Relief, protecting 26 million middle class families who are being hit by the alternative minimum tax.

And we all know about the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit which allowed the first-time homebuyer $8,000, moved it up from $7,500. That has been extended. Now, maybe you don't hear this in your district; but you wouldn't be listening if you didn't hear from real estate agents who talk about how beneficial that has been in moving the stagnant housing market. I hear about it all the time. I hear about it from them to want to make sure that we continue to extend that tax credit that went directly to working families, to those people who needed the benefit, who wanted to invest in a new home, who wanted to have that opportunity. And I know I hear all the time about what a great benefit that has been.

Incentives to buy new cars were in there, to provide a tax deduction for State and local sales taxes and excise taxes paid on the purchase of new cars. We all know we had to do everything we could to get Detroit working again to help American manufacturing.

Now, that is just what individuals benefited from. Let me just talk about a few of the business tax incentives to create jobs. That was $10 billion over 10 years, supported by the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. That was in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was voted for by the Democrats and opposed by the Republicans. And I'm sorry to see that, because this was an important issue for the Chamber of Commerce, certainly important for our businesses. That included bonus depreciation, helping businesses to quickly recover the costs of new capital investments by extending the increased bonus depreciation for businesses making investments in new plants and equipment in 2009. I don't know about you, but we're anxious to have new capital investments in our plants and equipment, and so I was very proud to stand behind that.

Small business expensing: spurring small business investment by extending small business expensing, doubling the amount that small businesses can immediately write off on their taxes for capital investments and purchases of new equipment. The write-off has helped many of the businesses in all of our districts.

Buying back debt: providing assistance to companies looking to reduce their debt burdens by delaying the tax on businesses that have a discharged indebtedness which will help those companies strengthen their balance sheets so they can invest in job creation.

Small business loss carrybacks, which increase the cash flow for small businesses by providing a 5-year carryback of net operating losses. I know I hear about this frequently and was proud to support it and help those businesses in my district who felt this was essential. Sorry to see that the Republicans didn't want to vote for yet another small business and business tax investment.

We had the small business investments, spurring investments by small businesses by cutting capital gains tax on investors in small business who buy stock in the next 2 years and hold it more than 5 years.

We had a tax credit for jobs, for recently discharged, unemployed veterans and disconnected youth. How often do we hear about those people who served our country, many of whom are unemployed? How important is that to make sure that we give more jobs to recently discharged, unemployed veterans? Those are just a few of the tax measures that were enacted under the Recovery Act.

For a party, the Republicans, who say they want to cut taxes, they seem to only want to do it on the wealthiest people in this country. Or big corporations who ship jobs offshore, I guess it's okay to cut taxes there; but when it comes to the middle class, when it comes to helping people with tuition, when it comes to childcare tax credits, the very difficult price that working moms and working families pay to

keep their children in childcare--which we know is a growing expense for young families--giving them a tax credit, that's where I think our tax credits should go.

And what about the renewable energy and energy efficiency tax incentives to spur energy savings and create jobs? I don't know how people feel in your district, but I know in mine they want to end their dependence on foreign oil. They want to invest in making their homes more efficient, and those energy-efficient tax credits have been very helpful in my State. I meet up with people all the time who say, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to invest in winterizing my home. I know it doesn't get as cold in North Carolina, but in Maine we're a cold State. We're about the most dependent State in the country on oil.

So for those of us in Maine, in New England, we actually may have the oldest stock in the Nation as we are 38th in per capita income and as we have the greatest percentage of seniors in this country, so we have a perfect storm. We have a lot of very old people without much income who are living in very old houses. Our State is basically 80 percent dependent on oil. So, when the costs of oil rise, people are left struggling in their homes, unable to pay those bills. Many of them have to decide whether to heat their homes, to buy their prescription drugs, or to put food on their tables. For them, having energy-efficient home tax credits has been great. It has allowed a lot of people to put on new storm windows, to add that layer of insulation in order to tighten up the home, to really find ways to reduce the costs of getting through the winter, and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

We have the plug-in hybrid tax credit, which spurs the next generation of cars by providing tax credits for people who purchase plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles. What more could you ask for in this country but to spur on innovation and new technology and to help out our ailing automobile and manufacturing industries.

There are tax credits for renewable energy, easing the credit crunch for renewable energy. I am in a State that wants to develop our wind power capacity, that wants to have more solar power, and that wants to have tidal energy. These very tax credits are helping our individuals and businesses to do it, and this is just the beginning. Then, as we talked about earlier, we also enacted health insurance reform.

So I think this is the party which is thinking first of the middle class, of small businesses and which is very worried about how people get through Tax Day. This party has done a variety of things to help that along, and I hope that we can find some Republican votes to do more in the future in order to continue to spur on job creation and to cut taxes for our middle class.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague on the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee).

I am glad to yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to say that this bill,

the bill we started talking about, about estuaries, which is very important for economic development in my State, will also help the NEPs keep their management plans current by requiring them to be periodically reviewed and updated. This will make them more dynamic, more responsive to changing conditions in the estuaries. Updating the plans will include identifying estuary vulnerability, climate change impact, preparing adaptation responses, as well as working to educate the public on estuary health issues.

One such issue that is emerging as an important issue nationally is the role of toxins from plastics like flame retardants like Deca. Deca is found in increasing amounts in many coastal estuaries. While this legislation does not require the NEPs to address toxins like Deca, it does provide them with the opportunity to further consider the impacts and any actions, including education, that the NEP might take.

I am proud of the good work being done in Maine and across the Nation to protect and restore our estuaries. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill. I urge a ``yes'' on the previous question and the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 4715, the Clean Estuaries Act, is an important step towards restoring our Nation's most critical estuaries. This bill will create jobs and strengthen communities. I strongly support the bill and want to commend my colleagues, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bishop) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo), for their hard work in crafting this legislation.

One way to improve the efficiency and ensure the program is functioning at its highest level is to share information. The local estuary partnerships work closely with the Federal Government, but all too often the detailing of what works well in one estuary is not formally shared with the other estuaries.

That is why Representative Cuellar and I are offering an amendment that requires the EPA to collect best practices and then share them with the estuaries. The amendment improves efficiency and smooth operation of the NEPs by helping them connect with other estuaries and build on work that has already been done.

Like many of you, in my district I have a mall, the largest mall in the State. It is built around a stream that flows into Casco Bay. And when it rains, the water runs off the roofs and parking lots, washing the oil, salt, and other contaminants on the pavement into Long Creek. Because of all this development, Long Creek is an urban-impaired watershed, and this means until the water quality is improved, the mall, businesses around the mall, as well as State and local government who own the roads face tougher storm water management restrictions.

This amendment will keep the businesses and local governments in the Long Creek watershed from having to start over when faced with questions on how to manage storm water. By using tested, known best practices, the businesses will save money and water quality in Long Creek will improve faster. The amendment reduces the costs of improving water quality and saves these important businesses real money.

The amendment helps to ensure that all of our estuary stakeholders, including those in Long Creek, have access to the very best tools and methods for protecting and restoring water quality.

I thank the hardworking chair of the Rules Committee, Ms. Slaughter, for yielding me the time.

As we get ready to cast a vote to finally reform our health care system and rein in the insurance companies, I want to tell you what I hear from my home State of Maine where people are frustrated and struggling.

A woman named Margaret told me about her small business. She said, ``I own a small business that employs 10 Maine residents. Anthem has announced a 23 percent increase in my rates. In 4 years, rates with Anthem have almost doubled. I cannot afford to provide health insurance for my employees.''

A man named Mark told me about his latest letter from the insurance company. ``My wife has been paying more than one-third of our entire income for her health insurance and that doesn't cover the high copays and prescription drug costs. She just received notice from her insurance company that they are raising her rates another 30 percent. It's impossible. We can't do it.''

And Ron told me about living on the edge. He said, ``I was out of work and lost my insurance, for 18 months. I am a cardiac patient and have other chronic illnesses that require constant care and constant prescription drugs. After 18 months with no insurance, I lost everything.''

These people wrote to me from Maine, but the stories are told every day in every State. Americans are denied insurance, have their coverage canceled, or find themselves bankrupt just because they got sick.

Today we will change that with our vote. Today we will start to end the worst practices of the insurance companies, like denying coverage for preexisting conditions or canceling your policy when you get sick. Today we will improve health care for our seniors, strengthening Medicare, closing the doughnut hole, reducing prescription drug prices, and making sure they don't have to pay to get a checkup or get screened for diseases like cancer or diabetes. Today we will make sure that Americans don't go bankrupt because of medical bills. And today we will make it easier for small businesses and individuals to afford coverage, bringing the largest health insurance tax break in history for small businesses and individuals.

We have a chance to truly reform our system. I will be voting ``yes.''

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from California, for yielding her time to me and thank you for this great bill. We are veering from the conversation a little bit. But first I want to talk about the Capps bill and just say how important it is to a State like mine, with a tremendous amount of ocean coastline, with an enormous number of young people who grow up on the waterfront, who are fishermen, who work in waterfront communities. This is a great program. I wholeheartedly endorse this particular piece of legislation. I know it's going to be great for our coastal communities, and I commend you for doing it. So thank you very much for what you're doing on the floor today.

I just wanted to take a little bit of time to answer my freshman colleague from Utah, who is also my office neighbor, and just talk about how seriously we disagree on this topic of health care. I, for one, am thrilled that we are here this weekend to finally take up an issue that is of such great importance to my constituents. I mean, frankly, when I go back to my district, I find that the more people hear about this health care bill, the happier they are. They are thrilled to know that as a small business they're going to start receiving subsidies to help support the cost of health insurance. My seniors are saying, Thank goodness we no longer will have to pay for preventive care under Medicare. Thank goodness we're going to get rid of the doughnut hole that was created by the other side, predominantly when they passed the Medicare prescription D plan.

We hear a lot about process, but I just want to talk a little bit about the process of insurance companies because that's what makes my constituents mad. When they hear about the fact that people are constantly denied coverage because of a preexisting condition--in many States, being a woman, a woman of child-bearing age is a preexisting condition. That will be gone with this bill. Immediately we'll say children are not a preexisting condition. None of them can be denied coverage. And by 2014, no one can be denied under this piece of legislation. We're going to get rid of lifetime caps, people who have a long-term illness who find that their insurance runs out in spite of the fact that they've been paying these high premiums.

Mr. Speaker, thank you to the gentlewoman from California for allowing me this opportunity to talk a little bit about the topic that has taken over our debate about a post office today. Normally, we would be discussing the naming of a post office; but because we are on the eve of this historic vote and very likely to proceed forward on the issue of reforming our health care system, we have been spending most of the day talking about that. And I just want to say in spite of the rhetoric and the anger that flares up across the different sides of the aisle, I personally, as a freshman Member of this legislature, can't imagine my good fortune to be here, to be here this weekend with the hopes that we may finally move forward on reforming our health care system.

I feel like the first entire year and a half I have been in office, more than anything else in my district, people say to me, when are you going to do something about that health care bill? When are you really going to fix the system? And much of this comes from people who are struggling in this economy. They are out of work. They are worried about being out of work. They are small business owners trying to figure out how to cover the cost of health care.

I have been working on this issue for a lot of years, and I can't believe how exciting it is that we might be here this weekend and finally move forward on reform.

I think back to 1992 when I, like my colleague from California, was a former member of a State legislature. And in 1992, I was running for office for the first time as a State legislator, and it was the number one issue that year. President Clinton, the future President Clinton, was running for office talking about reforming the health care system. Every door I knocked on in the 19 towns in the legislative district where I ran, people said something to me about the cost of health care. And think of that, that was almost 20 years ago. If they thought costs were high then, if small business owners thought it was difficult to cover their employees, what does it look like today?

I got elected to that State legislature. And for 8 years, my State, the State of Maine, struggled to reform the health care system. We created our own plan, the Dirigo health care system, to expand the number of people we covered. We passed a bill to regulate the price of prescription drugs, to negotiate for a better price for prescription drugs. And what did we get from Congress? We got a failed health care plan in the nineties, and then we got 8 years of a majority party that decided not to do anything.

In fact, when they decided to do something about prescription drug pricing, they said you can't even negotiate with the drug companies. They didn't do anything to lower costs, and they decided in the dark of the night to do something about that.

But here we are today. We have the chance to begin to close the doughnut hole in the prescription drug plan. That will take effect when we pass this bill. That will begin to take effect and completely close by 2020.

We are going to be able to move forward on advances in Medicare, eliminate copays for preventative care under Medicare. We are going to see real savings for our senior citizens, and I can't be more excited than to go back and say to my State legislators, do you know what? We've finally done something at the Federal level. We are going to do something to help a struggling State like Maine.

I can't tell you how happy I will be to go back and tell those State legislators who have tried to carry on in the face of this difficult era in a State where jobs are being lost, where businesses are struggling to cover people, they're saying to me, when I visit the State legislature, they are saying, when are you going help us at the Federal level? When are you going to realize that you are part of the responsibility as our State as struggled to cover those costs?

Do you know what is really exciting? I hear every day people say, nobody in America wants this. Well, the fact is when I go back and talk to small business owners, individuals who have coverage, individuals who struggle with their insurance company dropping their coverage, I hear people who say, do something about it. In fact, in my State, people think we haven't gone far enough. When they polled the doctors in my State, these are physicians, and we have heard a lot of talk about doctors today and what they would do, the physicians in my State, over 50 percent of them say, why don't you do single-payer health care? They say this isn't going far enough.

So the fact is, I couldn't be more excited to be here this weekend. In fact, I think it's my responsibility, not to complain about being here on a Friday afternoon.

I'm not complaining about being here on a Friday afternoon. In fact, my constituents would say to me if I went back home, why don't you get down to Washington and finish the job? Why don't you get down there and handle this difficult issue, go through all the difficult procedural issues, do what you have to do to pass this bill? And by Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening, I want to see you casting a vote to reform the health care system to change the way our insurance companies do business, to help out struggling State budgets, and to make sure that people in this country once and for all have coverage for health care and we move forward in our system.

Mr. Speaker, I want to read a letter I got from a doctor talking about the disproportionate effect of our health care system on women. She says, ``As a health care provider, I see patients in my office frequently who need surgery or medicine but who cannot get the health care they really need because they do not have insurance.

``These are young, otherwise healthy women who are coping the best they can with their personal health issues. It doesn't make the national press, but the idea of these women suffering day after day tugs at my heartstrings.

``We all have sisters, daughters, and cousins without insurance. We are all touched by someone who does not qualify for government insurance or cannot afford a private policy. At what point do you decide that enough is enough and that private insurance companies aren't doing their job?''

That doctor is right. That is why I support this bill. There are many provisions in the health care bill that we will be taking up this week that make sure that women are not disproportionately affected by the lack of coverage.

I look forward to voting for this bill.

Madam Speaker, I couldn't be more pleased to have spent the last year and a few months working on this issue and to be here this month where we may get the opportunity to vote on this bill.

Because I want to tell you, Madam Speaker, what I hear from my constituents is get this bill done. When are you going to move forward on this? It is not a perfect bill. In fact, 50 percent of the doctors in my State wish we were passing a single-payer health care bill. But this is going to go a long way.

We have heard a lot of talk about process. When are we going to talk about the process of insurance companies? The process that denies my constituents coverage because of a preexisting condition. The times I hear from people who say their health care was cut off. And in my State, where Anthem Blue Cross wants to continually raise rates. You know, last year they asked for a 23 percent increase. When our insurance commissioner said no, you know what they did? They sued the State of Maine.

Well, I am ready to make sure that we are standing for our constituents, passing this health care bill, and doing away with the bad process of the insurance companies.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to come together and finally pass a health reform bill that provides Americans with the stability, affordability, and access to high quality choice in coverage they so richly deserve.

We must act now. We absolutely cannot afford to wait any longer.

Over the last year, we saw what happens when you give pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and entrenched special interests time to spend millions of dollars on ad campaigns that spread misinformation, fear, and confusion.

In my home State of Maine, our largest insurer, Anthem, used this time to demand a 23 percent rate hike on individuals. And they weren't alone. Last year, profits for the five biggest insurance companies rose by 56 percent over the year before.

Enough is enough. Americans are counting on us. They sent us here to

work hard and make difficult choices, entrusting us to represent them with integrity and to set aside partisanship and pettiness to do what is best for the American people. And I, for one, look forward to showing them that their trust was not misplaced.