Floor Statements

Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 5715, the ``Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008.''

This legislation will go a long way in helping to ensure the continued availability of Federal student loans. But it is only a first step and more needs to be done so that any student anywhere in America can attend the college of his or her choice.

Today, 80 percent of all Federal student loans are made through the Federal Family Education Loan Program--commonly known as FFELP. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 6.8 million college students and their families will borrow nearly $60 billion from State, non-profit and private lenders who participate in the Federal student loan program.

Ninety-five percent of all student loans made in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and nearly all student loans made at schools in my district are made through the FFEL program. Unfortunately, earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency--which was the second largest provider of Federal student loans in Pennsylvania last year--was forced to stop making Federal student loans. PHEAA's exit, along with others, from Pennsylvania's student loan market, means that nearly one-third of all borrowers in the Commonwealth must find new lenders for the upcoming academic year.

In responding to the student loan credit crunch, the Administration has said that there are 2,000 lenders. That was true, but over the past few weeks, 52 lenders, including 23 of the top 100 lenders have simply stopped making Federal student loans. This represents over 13 percent of all FFELP loans made last year.

Nineteen lenders have stopped making private education loans.

In just the days since the Education and Labor Committee approved this bill and sent it to the floor, five major participants in the FFEL program have either stopped making Federal student loans altogether or have announced plans to dramatically scale back their ability to offer Federal student loans.

In responding to the student loan credit crunch, some have said, we can make the State guaranty agencies ``Lenders of Last Resort,'' but this system has never been implemented, let alone tested.

Others have said that if lenders stop making loans, students and schools can switch to Direct Lending. Yet Secretary Spellings recently testified that Direct Lending can only accommodate about one-third of the FFELP loan volume. If that is true, what will happen to the 4.5 million students who may find themselves unable to get a Federal student loan?

And still others have said that no students have been denied college loans yet so there is no need to act.

I think most of my colleagues agree that the best time to prepare for a hurricane is before the storm hits.

That is why the stated purpose of H.R. 5715 is to ensure continued, uninterrupted access to Federal student loans. One of its provisions would authorize the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Treasury, to purchase student loans if there is not enough loan capital to meet the needs of students and their families.

While I am pleased that the manager's amendment includes a provision that will provide borrowers with a continuity of loan servicers, and thereby keep default rates down, I am concerned that the provision authorizing the Secretary to purchase loans does not provide enough information or certainty to the marketplace to help increase access to college. Without this information, lenders may be financially unable to make new loans to new students this fall.

During the consideration of this legislation by the Rules Committee, I offered an amendment that, had it been approved, would have defined the terms under which the Secretary of Education could exercise her temporary authority to both purchase student loans and maintain a continuity of servicing in order to minimize any disruption for students and schools.

As this bill makes it way through the legislative process I hope that we will incorporate this language to define the terms under which the Secretary can exercise her temporary authority to purchase student loans more clearly than what is before us today.

Madam Chairman, I am supporting this important legislation today, but our work is not done. While we may not be in a student loan crisis today and we certainly do not want to be alarmist, the responsible thing for Congress to do is to give the Administration all of the tools necessary to head off a student loan crisis. If I am wrong about the direction of the student loan market, and we incorporate my amendment, we will have a very strong back-up plan for a rainy day. If I am right and we do nothing, millions of students could be unable to go to college.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1038) recognizing the fifth anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security and honoring the Department's employees for their extraordinary efforts and contributions to protect and secure our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to recognize the fifth anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security. This is an opportunity for us to praise the tireless employees who, day in and day out, are working hard to prevent another terrorist attack on our soil, in our skies, and on our waters, and to also ensure that we're prepared should a catastrophe strike again.

Congress is often critical of DHS, and we have had some harsh hearings in the Homeland Security Committee. But our criticism of the management at DHS is only because we hope to ensure the department's employees have the resources they need to do their jobs and to keep America safe. The department is still in its formative years and still experiencing expected growing pains.

When DHS was established, it was the largest reorganization of the Federal Government since the creation of the Department of Defense 60 years ago, with 180,000 employees and 22 agencies that merged to form one new department. That number has grown by nearly 30,000 since then.

Let's take a moment to honor DHS in its 5-year anniversary but also to recognize these employees for their dedicated service.

To the Customs and Border Patrol officers and the Border Patrol agents protecting our borders, at our ports of entry and in between; and to our Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ensuring that criminal aliens are accounted for and removed; and to our Transportation Security officers, protecting millions of passengers daily and quickly adapting to threats to prevent future hijackings or worse; and to our Federal Air Marshals, quietly protecting our skies; and to our Secret Service, called upon earlier than ever to protect presidential candidates; and to the men and women of the Coast Guard, protecting 360 ports and over 90,000 miles of coastline, ready to respond at a moment's notice; and to the first responders of FEMA, who have again proven themselves in their response to the California wildfires and the recent Midwest tornadoes.

Thank you. We know all too well the long hours you've committed to our country and the time away from your homes and families. We sincerely appreciate all of your work and your service.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers.

If the gentlewoman from Michigan has no more, and she is ready to close, I will close after she does.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I might consume.

I would like to talk about what the department does for a few moments. It is imperative that we honor and recognize the fact that the Department of Homeland Security and all its components provides the awareness for our Nation to prevent threats and identify our vulnerabilities. It prevents threats through detection and deterrence, and it mitigates those accidents and those attacks that might happen. It protects people and/or critical infrastructure and, of course, the economy. It responds to terrorism. It responds to natural disasters and certainly any other emergencies. It provides us the opportunity and the ability to recover from terrorism and from natural disasters. And it serves the public by facilitating lawful trade, lawful travel and lawful immigration.

It is committed to organizational excellence, and through that organizational excellence, we are all protected.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks of this resolution and include any extraneous material.

I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank Mr. Altmire for his leadership on this position.

Hunting and angling are beloved traditions. They are activities I enjoyed with my grandfather and my father, and I enjoy them with my children.

Hunting and angling are not just sports, however. They're also a way of life where fathers and mothers can spend quality time with their children and pass on some knowledge of what they learned as children themselves.

There are over 34 million hunters and anglers in the United States, and they spend more than $76 billion a year in hunting and fishing.

It is safe to say that hunters and anglers are an economic powerhouse, driving the economy from big businesses to rural towns, through booms and recessions. They are directly supportive of 1.6 million jobs, which is twice as many jobs as the combined civilian payrolls of our Air Force, our Army, our Navy and our Marine Corps.

Because of hunters, 28,000 jobs are supported in Pennsylvania alone. Over $425 million of tax revenues is generated that can preserve land and wildlife.

Now, our bill, this amendment does several things. It codifies the National Landscape Conservation System, the NLCS, under the control of the BLM. But it will ensure that nothing in the bill will limit, in any way, access to hunting, fishing, trapping or recreational shooting on the 27 million acres administered by the BLM, the Bureau of Land Management.

It also ensures that the bill will not infringe on a State's right to manage, control or regulate its hunting, fishing, trapping and recreational shooting activities. That is why I urge all my colleagues to support this important amendment.

I would like to thank the gentleman from Texas for the opportunity to engage in this colloquy. Thank you, Mr. Edwards.

It is sort of ironic that under the previous Congresses, their idea of fiscal discipline was to raise the debt ceiling to $9 trillion, I find that interesting, while at the same time we have seen homeland security funding only being paid lip service to and not really being taken care of.

As you know, nine out of 10 Americans live in areas that are prone to natural disasters, and of course we're not prepared to take care of them. The Coast Guard itself said that we are only 25 percent along the way to meeting the needs to protect our ports, that 75 percent of those needs have gone unmet in homeland security.

We can fulfill the 9/11 Commission requests here, H.R. 1, take care of those funding priorities that make us all safer.

The cuts to first responders I can't believe. I worked my way through college, actually, as a paramedic/EMT back in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It's unconscionable the kinds of cuts that have been done. The State Homeland Security grants, I just want to make a quick list here, the administration cut it by $705 million. The Urban Area Security Initiative, cut by $9 million. Fire grants, the very grants that protect us in the rural areas, cut by $463 million by the administration. The Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, zeroed out, eliminated entirely. The COPS program, cut by $599 million. We make sure we put $417 million back into the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, the administration zeroed that out, the very program that enables local communities to handle undocumented criminals that they capture.

Finally, the President's budget only funds $210 million of the $400 million authorized to make sure the Coast Guard takes care of our ports. This is irresponsible, never mind unconscionable.

I'm proud of this budget. This budget goes a long way towards protecting this country, a lot further than previous budgets.

Thank you, Mr. Edwards.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act.

In recent years, many brave Americans serving in the National Guard and Reserves returned home after fighting for our freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. They return to their civilian jobs and are subject to their private health insurance. The all-too-common tale, however, is that our veterans have witnessed horrors that many cannot even imagine. One in six of these veterans will experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, that can impair them for many years beyond their homecoming.

Many of these veterans choose to seek treatment at their local VA hospital or clinic. But for some of our veterans in rural areas of our country, like mine, it is far easier to use their private insurance and seek treatment from their local private doctor. Unfortunately, some of these veterans quickly find that PTSD is not covered in their health insurance plan.

Our veterans shouldn't have to travel for hours simply to meet with a qualified mental health professional. H.R. 1424 fixes this injustice and ensures that our veterans have the choice to seek treatment for PTSD through their private insurance plan.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Department of Homeland Security Component Privacy Officer Act of 2008.

In the Homeland Security Act of 2002 Congress created within the Department of Homeland Security a Chief Privacy Officer.

The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring that an individual's privacy rights are not infringed upon by the creation of Department of Homeland Security policies and programs.

The DHS Chief Privacy Officer is unique within the structure of the Federal government insofar as it is a statutory position that is intended to be involved at all levels of the Department's activities-- from policy formation to its implementation.

However, time has shown that the Chief Privacy Officer needs help in achieving this goal.

This bill will create Privacy Officers that will report directly to the Chief Privacy Officer in the following DHS Components: TSA, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, CBP, ICE, FEMA, the Coast Guard, the Science and Technology Directorate, the Intelligence and Analysis Directorate, and the National Protections and Programs Directorate.

The level of public confidence and trust in the Department's handling of privacy matters remains abysmally low.

Moreover, there is also a major concern regarding the Privacy Office's involvement at the outset of the policymaking process, as intended by Congress.

This was made clear in testimony before the Committee on Homeland Security when it was

revealed that the Privacy Officer was not brought into the development of a new National Applications Office, NAO, that would monitor the use of spy satellites for homeland security purposes, until almost 2 years after the development stage began.

Bringing in the Privacy Office at the 11th hour is not the proper way to blend in privacy protections and appropriate safeguards before policies and programs are underway.

Placing Privacy Officers in the component agencies that make up the Department of Homeland Security is the first step to ensuring that privacy protections are in place at the beginning of the process.

The Component agencies are the pulse of the Homeland Security Department. Most homeland security efforts stem from Component Agency actions.

Privacy Officers need to be where the action is happening, not waiting for a phone call after decisions have already been made.

Under the current structure, the Privacy Office has to rely on Component Agencies for information concerning programs and policies that impact privacy rights. Sometimes this happens; sometimes it does not.

When it does not happen, the risk is clear:

Recently, the Department's Inspector General determined that the Science & Technology Directorate's ADVISE program should be cancelled due to privacy concerns.

This determination was made after the Department spent $42 million on the program.

It was also determined that the Chief Privacy Office was not brought into the process until almost 2 years after the system had been deployed.

This bill would put a Privacy Officer in the Science & Technology Directorate.

Moreover, the Automated Targeting System, which is a Customs & Border Protection program, has been heavily criticized by privacy advocates, and after two separate requests for public comments, the future of this program remains unclear. Again, this was a program that had operated for some time in the dark without proper safeguards and departmental oversight.

Pursuant to this bill, CBP would get a Privacy Officer as well.

Quite frankly, there has been a litany of DHS programs that have been cancelled, delayed, or discontinued due to privacy concerns. Almost all of these were the products of Department Component Agencies that do not have a Privacy Officer within their ranks.

Additionally, the DHS Privacy Officer is responsible for conducting Privacy Impact Assessments on DHS programs and policies affecting privacy.

There are currently over 150 Privacy Impact Assessments that need to be completed. To put this number in perspective, in all of 2006, the Privacy Office only published 25.

This bill will help in decreasing that overload.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation that is critical to not only the privacy rights but the security of our country as well.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Brenna Aileo, a U.S. recipient of the International Committee of the Red Crosses, ICRC, 41st Annual Florence Nightingale Medal. Every 2 years, this medal is awarded to qualified nurses who have shown exceptional courage and devotion to the wounded, sick, or disabled or to civilian victims of a conflict or disaster; and to those who have shown a creative and pioneering spirit in the areas of public health or nursing education.

Mrs. Aileo earned a BSN degree from Eastern Washington State University and an MA in Health Services Management from Webster University in St. Louis. She served as a nurse in the U.S. Army for 21 years, including 2 years of enlistment and 19 years as a commissioned officer in the Army Nurse Corps where she achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. Her posts included the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC and the 85th Evacuation Hospital in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia she treated wounded U.S. soldiers, including many from a Pennsylvania-based unit who were injured in a mortar attack.

In response to the attacks on September 11, Mrs. Aileo began volunteering with the American Red Cross. She worked with disaster relief at Ground Zero and at other disaster locations throughout the United States and Guam. During a flood in my district in 2006, Mrs. Aileo heroically managed a shelter at Blue Ridge High School in New Milford, PA.

Since 2001, she has worked at the local, regional, and national levels. As the first appointed service area staff health volunteer consultant in Susquehanna County, Mrs. Aileo distinguished herself by developing and presenting key disaster training programs. In 2004, Mrs. Aielo worked as a health consultant for the Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services, where she reviewed and cleared staff for overseas deployment. No staff member who Mrs. Aielo cleared has returned from a deployment due to medical reasons.

Mrs. Aileo's professional experience includes working as a community health nurse administrator for the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Northeast District and as a nursing supervisor for the Northeast Veterans Center in Scranton. She also worked as a charge nurse in the Montrose General Hospital ICU and as an instructor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

As an active member of our community, Mrs. Aileo sits on the Board of Directors of the Garden Club Federation, Susquehanna County Library, and her church. Her interests include gardening, wine making, and travel. Her son, Jason, continuing Mrs. Aileo's tremendous dedication to public service, served in Iraq from 2003 to 2004.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Brenna Aileo for her continued service to our country.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Madam Speaker, like so many before me, I rise today in support of the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act, H.R. 4040. As the father of five, I am very concerned about our children's safety. This legislation creates the toughest lead standard in the world for children's products, and I could not be prouder to support it.

I have held town hall meetings all across my district in Pennsylvania, and lead in children's toys remains a constant concern for parents. We need to know that our children are not playing with hazardous toys. We all know that lead poisoning can be extremely dangerous. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, lead poisoning in children is associated with behavioral problems, learning disabilities, growth retardation and even death.

As the holidays approach, this legislation is even more urgent. Requiring mandatory safety standards for nursery products and mandatory third-party testing of children's products will help stop the problem of lead toys before they hit the shelf. In addition, this legislation requires tracking labels to aid in recalls. I have been working with the CPSC to ensure that recalled items are removed from store shelves as quickly and as safely as possible.

My office has worked to make sure the public knows when there is a recall and how to take action. This holiday season, I urge all parents to check where the toy has been made and keep up to date with the recall e-mail notices provided by the CPSC. I am proud to offer my strong support for this critical legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman and appreciate the comments of our friends on the other side.

Dennis Veater is somebody we are very proud of from the 10th District, and I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 3911.

I would like to take a moment to talk about and honor Dennis Veater

and those from Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District. He was born in Quantico. He moved to Pennsylvania where he graduated from Abington Heights High School in 2004. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves. Dennis proudly followed in the footsteps of his father, a retired marine sergeant major.

Unfortunately, as we have already found out, 2 weeks before his scheduled return, he was mortally injured while conducting combat operations in the Anbar province, Iraq. He died of his wounds in Fallujah. Lance Corporal Veater died fighting for our freedom. He is truly a hero, and he represents what is best about Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District.

It is my hope by naming the post office at 95 Church Street in Jessup, Pennsylvania, as the Lance Corporal Dennis Veater Post Office, future generations will remember what this brave young man did for them.

I urge all Members of Congress to honor this hero and vote in favor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise today in strong support of H.R. 3793, the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act. As a lieutenant commander still serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve, I know full well the hardships and dangers our troops face.

Our country has made a promise to these brave men and women; and this promise simply states that if you protect us and defend our freedom, we will provide you with the benefits you have earned. Unfortunately, that is not happening right now. These brave men and women and their families deserve their bonuses, especially if they were killed or wounded in action.

The Veterans Guarantee Bonus Act ensures our soldiers will get the money they deserve and earned, and it does so in a timely manner. I applaud Congressman Altmire's leadership on this issue, and I urge all Members of Congress who care about our troops and the sacrifices they make to vote in favor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I do rise today in support of the 2008 Defense authorization bill, H.R. 1585. This bill addresses many of the problems facing our military, as we have seen today.

As we know, the bill has many strong provisions. I would like to take a moment to address one in particular, increasing education benefits to our National Guard and Reservists. The GI Bill has provided education to many of our Nation's fine and honorable men and women. Indeed, in my own family, I grew up knowing what a difference it could make. Unfortunately, the GI Bill has a provision which excludes our National Guard and Reservists from receiving their GI Bill benefits after they have left the military.

One of my first actions in Congress was to introduce bipartisan legislation

to give the National Guard and Reserve members up to 10 years to take advantage of their GI education benefits. This proposal is similar to the benefits extended to active duty members of the military.

Under current law, a Guardsman or Reservist loses their benefit when they decide to leave the service or shortly thereafter. The National Guard and Reserve are becoming indistinguishable from active duty now, and these men and women serve their country only to return to realize their education benefits are set to expire. This legislation fixes that, and I am proud to be a sponsor.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud here today to stand with my colleagues to consider a number of child safety bills on the floor. I especially want to thank the House Judiciary Committee and particularly Chairman Conyers and his staff for their help.

As a proud father of five, I know how important the safety and well- being of our children is for our Nation. That is why I have introduced the Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography Act of 2007. This legislation will allow the Department of Justice to more effectively prosecute people who produce child pornography or knowingly access child pornography repeatedly with the intent to view it.

We are trying to dry up the source of demand for child pornographers. This legislation addresses a component of the problem that has been difficult for prosecutors to combat, the repeat consumer. We need to stop child pornography at the source and we need to stifle the demand. This is not about playing ``gotcha'' games with anyone accidentally stumbling across a mistyped Web address. Rather, this is going after those who repeatedly seek out child pornography and those that continue to produce it.

No one disagrees that we need to protect our children and we need to stop pornography at its source, especially child pornography. I want to encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Thompson and certainly my good friend and colleague, Chairwoman Harman, for this legislation, and for our friends across the aisle. As a freshman, it's very instructive to watch what we can do in a bipartisan manner to protect this country. I do appreciate that. A lesson not lost on me, certainly.

This past May, six suspected terrorists were charged with conspiring to attack Fort Dix. Their goal was to bring about significant destruction and mass casualties to that critical military base. These six men lived less than an hour away from my home and trained right in the Pocono Mountains of northeast Pennsylvania.

In June of this year, four men were charged with plotting to attack civil aviation by blowing up jet fuel pipelines that serve JFK. In both cases the accused individuals planned, plotted, and attempted to perpetrate their crimes on American soil. More troubling is that, according to media reports, neither cell received any assistance or had any contact with al Qaeda or any other overseas terrorist group. These two recent events demonstrate the troubling presence of homegrown terrorism in the United States.

Members of such groups are indistinguishable from traditional terrorists in that they are radicalized and sympathize with the al Qaeda cause. However, that said, they undertake their terrorist plots without training or support from a central foreign terrorist group.

Given the civil rights and liberties protections that we enjoy as all Americans, the Federal Government must be creative in its approach to combating homegrown terrorism.

H.R. 1955, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, protects the civil rights and civil liberties of Americans and lawful permanent residents, while providing solutions for preventing future violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism.

The act creates a national commission to examine the cases of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism. The commission will be tasked with proposing concrete recommendations and legislative strategies for mitigating these types of domestically nurtured threats.

The act also establishes Centers for Excellence for the Prevention of Radicalization that will study the social, criminal, political, psychological, and economic roots of the problem. Additionally, it will provide Homeland Security officials across the government with suggestions for preventing future radicalization and homegrown terrorism. It requires our Homeland Security officials to thoroughly examine the experiences of other nations that have experienced homegrown terrorism so that our government can learn from those experiences. I look forward to the passage of this vital piece of legislation and others that will make this Nation even more safe.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 150th anniversary of the town in which I grew up, Coggon, Iowa. Coggon's motto is, ``The One and Only.'' Indeed, there is only one Coggon, but like so many small towns across our country, it is a place people are proud to call home.

I know that the people of Coggon appreciate the genial nature and the proud history of the town. The name Coggon was agreed upon at a banquet held at the Clemons House in 1888. Superintendent T. Spaulding suggested it. He had received a letter from his cousin, William Coggon, and thought the name would be appropriate. At that time, Superintendent Spaulding was supervising the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad through the town. This railroad would later prove to be an economic engine for Coggon, bringing in economic development and encouraging the growth of businesses. And on July 24, 1888, the settlement became Coggon, Iowa.

Today, this small, wonderful town is populated by 745 people. Small towns have been the lifeblood of America. Even now, my own family and I live in Dimock, Pennsylvania, a town with a population of about 70. We take the time to get to know our neighbors, we are a community of values and we work hard to support our families.

Coggon, Iowa is the small town that lives in all of us. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Coggon's 150th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a bipartisan resolution that honors our hunters for their commitment to safety. I want to particularly acknowledge the significant bipartisan support from the members of the Pennsylvania delegation, a great number of whom have signed on this bill.

This resolution honors our hunters for their commitment to safety and stewardship of the environment. Hunting is a beloved tradition. It is something I enjoyed both with my father, when I was growing up, and now with my own children.

But as any avid sportsman knows, hunters must have a commitment to safety. We recognize that this sport requires maturity and responsibility. In 2006, there were over 16 million hunters in the United States, of which only .0013 percent incurred an injury. This low injury rate demonstrates a clear commitment to safety. In fact, in 2006, hunters in Pennsylvania set a safety record, and for this I commend them.

State fish and game agencies have been offering hunter safety programs started in 1949, and since then more than 35 million people have been certified. That is why I introduced this resolution.

I want to thank hunters for their commitment to safety, and honor those who teach hunting safety. Hunters have shown that they can proudly represent the sport and put safety first, and that is something that I am proud to support.