Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, ensuring students can afford college is vital to ensuring our Nation's competitiveness in a global economy. A majority of new jobs in the next decade will require a college degree, which makes higher education an economic necessity for most Americans. Ensuring all students have the opportunity to go to college will strengthen our economy, grow our middle class, and invest in our future.

Yet, education costs continue to rise year after year, pricing some people out of an education. College costs have dramatically increased. Over the last decade, the cost of attending a 4-year institution has increased 66 percent over the rate of inflation. For 2-year institutions, tuition and fees for students have increased 47 percent beyond the rate of inflation. According to the College Board, the annual cost of attending an in-State public college is now well over $22,000 a year. These rapidly rising costs are pricing hardworking families and students out of an education.

Congress can--and must--act to ensure college remains affordable for hardworking families, and there are things that we can do to do just that.

First, Congress must act immediately to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1. I've supported the Student Loan Relief Act, which would extend the current student loan interest rate, 3.4 percent, until 2015. Unfortunately, the Republican plan passed last week, the Making College More Expensive Act, would put college out of reach for many of my constituents and students across this country. I opposed the Republican plan, which would create a variable

loan interest rate system, letting student loan rates spike, forcing students to pay higher interest rates.

I continue to believe that students deserve the certainty of a fixed student loan interest rate. An ever-changing rate, as the Republican plan would provide, would create more anxiety and uncertainty for millions of families, and that's just the wrong approach. Hardworking students and parents have already been saddled with $1 trillion of student loan debt. Congress should be working to ease that burden.

It's time that Congress return to regular order and prevent student loan interest rates from doubling at the end of the month. That means doing what we were sent here to do: going to conference to work out the differences between the House-passed version and the expected Senate version of this bill. The clock is ticking, and rates for millions of students will double on July 1 if we don't act.

Congress shouldn't let rigid partisanship get in the way of preventing what equates to a massive tax hike on students and their families. Instead, let's do our job and legislate. Disagreement on parts of a bill is not an excuse for delay.

Second, we should enact legislation to allow families to save more for college. Recently, I introduced a bill with my Republican colleague, Congressman Tim Walberg, giving greater flexibility to families to save money for tuition, books, and other educational expenses. This bill, the Helping Families Save for Education Act, would increase existing caps on Coverdell savings accounts and allow families to contribute more over longer periods of time.

These types of accounts offer families a tax-advantaged choice to save for a child's educational expenses.

Currently, families or beneficiaries can contribute a maximum of $2,000 a year. Our legislation would increase the maximum contribution annually for most working families. Families and students, under our legislation, would also be able to save for college for an additional 4 years, until the student turns 22 years old.

Third, we must continue to provide and fully support Pell Grants, which provide needs-based grants to low-income students. No one who wants to go to college should be priced out of doing so. So I, along with my Democratic colleagues, stand ready and eager to ensure a college degree remains in reach for every student, no matter what their means.

Finally, we must keep the cost of attending college low by continuing direct State and Federal support to universities. In my home State of Michigan, we are blessed with great public institutions that provide a world-class education to our citizens.

Unfortunately though, in recent years we've seen direct financial support to these universities slashed. Such cuts are then passed on to students and families. If investing in education remains a priority for this Nation, we must invest in college for our students.

I ask a simple question: What's more important than the education of our children?

I move to strike the last word.

I come from Flint, Michigan, a working class community. I represent Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, and it's a community that's proud of the fact that in this area--and it's true across the country--the notion has been that, if you work hard, if you train yourself, if you focus on a trade or go to school, you'll be paid a wage or a salary commensurate with the contribution that you make to the work that you're doing.

We live in a time when we're seeing decreasing compensation for the value that the worker brings to the working place. Between 1945 and 1975, we saw worker productivity rise in this country by 97 percent, and we saw household income rise in that same 30-year period by 95 percent. There was some parity in the contribution that workers made and the compensation that they received. You fast-forward to the last 30-year period, and we've seen a period of economic growth and expansion, increased productivity--80 percent over the last 30 years-- but in real wages, a 10 percent increase in productivity.

One of the reasons that we've seen such a drop is that we are not compensating the average workers for the quality and the work that they do and that they contribute to the highly productive society that we live in. This is yet another attempt to continue the race to the bottom, where we continue to see real wages go down and productivity continue to rise.

I have done a tremendous amount of work in local development. As a public and private citizen, I have been involved in lots and lots of construction projects involving hundreds of millions of dollars, and I will tell you one thing: there is absolutely nothing sacrificed by making sure that the people who do this important work are paid wages that are fair and that fit the marketplace. It is not only good for those families that benefit from a decent and fair wage, but it supports those local employers and those small businesses that we all talk about every day that we're trying to support.

Where does the money come from into communities that support those folks?

It comes from the fact that the workers have a decent living wage that allows them to pay their bills, set a little money aside for their families and contribute to a local economy. Davis-Bacon wages contribute to the ability for workers to be trained as well.

This is the wrong direction for this country. This is certainly the wrong direction in this particular budget connected to the work that our Nation does when what we fought for in this country was a society that rewards people for the quality and the quantity of their hard work and their training that they put to work in doing these tough construction jobs particularly. When we're already seeing private sector wages go down, we ought not as a Nation participate in this race to the bottom.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today we're considering the Republican's latest attack on workers' rights. Republicans are calling this bill the Working Families Flexibility Act, but a more appropriate name would be the More Work, Less Pay Act. This bill is bad for middle class families and would make life worse for workers.

It would essentially end the 40-hour workweek by permitting employers to not pay overtime to workers who exceed 40 hours per week. Instead, it would allow employers to hold earned comp time in their control. It would allow employers to refuse the right of workers to take time off to help a family member in need or attend a parent-teacher conference. That's wrong, Mr. Speaker.

Productivity of our Nation's workers is at an all-time high, yet again we see efforts to whittle down the rights of hardworking families.

Instead of focusing on attacking workers, maybe we should focus on creating good-paying jobs. That's what our constituents want. That's what Americans want.

Mr. Speaker, my constituents and the American people deserve a budget. One of our principal duties in Congress is to pass a budget. Yet Congress has already missed the legal deadline this year because the Republican leadership has not yet appointed conferees to continue budget deliberations.

Yesterday, I joined many of my colleagues in signing a resolution calling on the GOP leadership to appoint conferees to a conference committee to continue working on the fiscal year 2014 budget.

After years of calling for regular order and for the Senate to pass a budget, which they did in March, I now find it ironic that Republicans are dragging their feet and stalling budget negotiations by refusing to appoint conferees.

We certainly have differences of opinion regarding budget priorities, Mr. Speaker; but that's no excuse for continued dysfunction and delay.

I ask you to appoint conferees today, and let's work to find a bipartisan compromise on a budget. Democrats stand ready to act to pass a budget that grows our economy, creates jobs, strengthens the middle class, and replaces the reckless, across-the-board sequester cuts.

Mr. Speaker, on April 9, 2013, I unfortunately missed three votes, which included rollcall votes 90, 91 and 92.

If I had been present, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 90.

If I had been present, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 91.

Lastly, I would have voted in favor of rollcall vote 92.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Mershon Chapter of Trout Unlimited on the 50th anniversary of their founding. The chapter, located in my district in Saginaw, has played a key role in the birth and growth of Trout Unlimited nationally. This great achievement is a testament to their dedication and passion to fight for clean water, healthy trout and the continued enjoyment of trout fishing. Their contributions to our community and the Great Lakes region over the past 50 years are achievements to be celebrated and commended.

The chapter has worked hard over the years to improve trout habitat and maintain Michigan's waterways, and I thank them for their efforts in community education and stream restoration projects. As a leader in environmental conservation, the Mershon Chapter has made great advancements in the scientific understanding and responsible treatment of trout. I commend the chapter's tireless work to restore the Au Sable River and Rifle River banks by dredging loose sediment, planting cedar trees, and moving rocks to combat run-off. Their work shoring riverbanks, by cabling structures that support the banks, has ensured that the rivers can continue to be used each spring for the transportation of timber to ports and mills. This work significantly benefits our economy, our environment and our community.

Along with the entire Trout Unlimited organization, the chapter has dedicated thousands of hours to provide happiness and to improve the well-being of the people of Michigan, and the contributions the chapter has kindly donated to environmental restoration efforts has helped to ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy and benefit from Michigan's freshwater ecosystems. Furthermore, the waterways that they help protect assist in the state's commerce and provide fresh drinking water to millions of people who live in the Great Lakes area, which is essential to all residents in our state.

Their leadership and influence will serve as an example to others in our area and has earned them the highest respect and honor. I want to thank the Mershon Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and congratulate them on their 50 years of service. I wish them another 50 years of success in the future.

Mr. Speaker, today, the Senate is taking up commonsense legislation to help reduce gun violence in America.

I have and always will be a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, and I strongly support the constitutional rights of my constituents to own guns. This bipartisan legislation to expand background checks does not infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Instead, it strengthens our existing system of background checks to help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous offenders.

Forty percent of guns sold in the United States currently don't go through background checks. Failing to act means that just anyone can continue to buy weapons at gun shows or over the Internet without being subject to a background check. The vast majority of Americans support background checks. Democrats and Republicans support background checks. The vast majority of responsible gun owners support background checks.

It is commonsense legislation that should be enacted, and it will make our country safer. I urge the House to take this up as soon as the Senate completes its work.

Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, the House Republicans and Congressman Ryan released their budget, which, unfortunately, once again seeks to balance the budget on the backs of seniors, the middle class, and the most vulnerable among us. The GOP budget presents the same failed policies that Americans rejected last fall.

This budget is full of false realities, fuzzy math, and the wrong priorities. Instead of closing the corporate jet loophole, the Republican budget ends Medicare as we know it, turning health care for seniors into a voucher program. Instead of ending billions in tax subsidies for Big Oil, the Republican budget slashes Medicaid for the most vulnerable among us, turning it into a block grant program. And instead of asking the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share, it wants to kick millions of people off health care plans by repealing the Affordable Care Act--well, actually, repealing the parts of the Affordable Care Act that provide care for people but somehow preserving the cost savings and the revenues that it delivers.

Instead of targeting the most vulnerable communities and placing the burden entirely on the middle class, Republicans should work with Democrats to put in place a balanced and bipartisan budget that puts Americans back to work.

Mr. Speaker, it's now March 5, and sequestration cuts are starting to take effect. Instead of working together to find a compromise that would avoid these automatic spending cuts, House Republicans stood by and watched the March 1 deadline come and go.

Now, $85 billion in deep, indiscriminate cuts that will eliminate 31,000 Michigan jobs are upon us. These cuts will harm Michigan families and slash programs that my constituents rely on every day. And many of the most dire consequences of the sequester won't be felt immediately. The truth is, due to Republican inaction, the wheels are now in motion, and we are on a course that has real negative impacts on millions of Americans.

Congress should be working to find a bipartisan solution to avoid these indiscriminate cuts. Democrats put forth a plan to stop the sequester. I know, I cosponsored it. House Republicans would not even let it come to the floor for a vote.

Mr. Speaker, we need to work on an approach that will fix sequestration while reducing the deficit responsibly. I stand ready to act. So do my Democratic colleagues. Let's get to work.

Mr. Speaker, there are just 3 days before $85 billion in harmful

across-the-board spending cuts take effect. And here we are again, with an all-too-familiar manufactured crisis poised to strike our economy with another self-inflicted wound. Month to month, crisis to crisis, this is no way to run the world's largest economy.

Letting sequestration happen is not responsible government. The sequester was designed last year to scare Congress into responsibly reducing the deficit. It created a doomsday scenario: draconian damaging cuts--disliked by both parties--intended to force Democrats and Republicans to come up with a balanced alternative to reduce our deficit.

Sequestration cuts are not targeted to eliminate waste or unnecessary programs. Rather, they slash programs across the board, regardless of their effectiveness. This threatens our economic progress, jeopardizes our military readiness, and reduces funding for national priorities like education and medical research.

Mr. Speaker, sequestration would be devastating for Michigan and our Nation's economy. The sequester eliminates jobs at a time when Congress should be working to create them. Our country has been moving in the right direction: 35 straight months of private sector job growth; 6.1 million private sector jobs created. There's no doubt we can do more to grow our economy and the middle class, and letting sequestration happen is a giant step backward for our economy.

Economists across the political spectrum agree that letting sequestration happen will slow our economy. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that sequester would reduce our economic growth by a third this year alone.

Sequestration cuts affect the most vulnerable people: middle class families, seniors, students, people with disabilities, the unemployed, and those who may become unemployed if these cuts go into place. We can't pretend that these cuts are just numbers in a budget.

If sequester is allowed to happen, Michigan alone stands to lose 31,000 jobs in just 6 months. There will be 750,000 jobs lost nationally by October. Michigan schools would lose $22 million in funding, eliminating 300 teachers and aides in the classroom. An additional $20 million would be cut for educational support for children with disabilities. Head Start would be eliminated for 2,300 Michigan children. Almost 2,500 low-income students in my State would no longer receive aid to help them pay for college.

These cuts are real, Mr. Speaker. Just last week I cosponsored legislation with my Democratic colleagues to avoid the sequester, but Republicans won't even bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

The Democrats plan to avoid sequester through responsible spending cuts, increased revenues, and promoting economic growth. Our plan eliminates taxpayer-funded subsidies for big oil companies. In a time of record oil profits and $4-a-gallon gasoline, it baffles me that our country continues to subsidize companies like ExxonMobil and BP; yet Republicans are willing to pink-slip 750,000 American workers just to protect billions of dollars in handouts for these five big oil companies. It's time to end these subsidies.

There's no question that we need to cut the deficit, but we need to do it in a balanced way that protects the middle class. The Budget Control Act passed before I came to Congress reduced the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion, mainly through spending cuts. There are certainly other areas that should be cut, but we should be strategic in cutting spending to reduce our deficit. Sequestration takes the exact opposite approach. It irrationally cuts programs that have proven to be effective and are worthwhile investments.

Congress needs to act immediately in order to avert the sequester. Republican inaction threatens to leave these indiscriminate cuts in place, killing jobs, undermining public safety and first responders, and injecting more uncertainty into our markets, harming our economy.

Our Nation cannot afford any more uncertainty, obstruction, and delay. Democrats are interested in real solutions, not sequesters.

Mr. Speaker, now is the time to act.

Madam Speaker, it's deja vu all over again. Here we are just 2 weeks--5 legislative days--away from sequestration, and yet the House is about to leave town for a 9-day recess. That's unacceptable. We should be working every day to avoid this sequester and to avert it.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem determined to make sequestration a reality. Democrats stand ready to work in a bipartisan manner to avoid this.

Yesterday I met with Federal employees and college leaders from Michigan who are deeply concerned about how the cuts will affect middle class families, students, and senior citizens. Here's sequestration by the numbers:

750,000 jobs eliminated by October;

20 percent reduction in the Pentagon's operating budget;

70,000 children kicked out of Head Start;

21,000 fewer food and drug inspections;

4 million fewer meals served through the senior nutrition programs.

We need to find a balanced and responsible approach to reduce our deficit, for sure, but not let irrational, across-the-board cuts take effect. Doing so will devastate this economic recovery.

Madam Speaker, last night at his State of the Union address, President Obama outlined a real job creation plan to grow our economy and strengthen America's middle class. However, sequestration is just 15 days away, threatening to stall our economic recovery.

Sequestration would be devastating for many programs and services that my constituents and all Americans rely on: Head Start; the Women, Infants and Children--WIC--nutrition plan; medical research funding; Indian Health Service; police officers; and food inspectors. Funding for all these crucial areas would be decimated.

Sequestration would also make our country less safe by implementing reckless, across-the-board defense cuts. We've already reduced the deficit by $2.5 trillion, mostly through spending cuts. There's no question we can eliminate additional wasteful spending. However, we should be strategic in finding ways to reduce our deficit. With sequestration looming, Madam Speaker, Americans need real solutions, not another eleventh hour cliffhanger.

Mr. Speaker, America's manufacturing sector has played an invaluable role over the last century in propelling our economy and creating a strong and vibrant middle class.

Manufacturing continues to be a bright spot in our economic recovery. Since 2010, the U.S. has added over half a million manufacturing jobs. That's progress. But in a time where millions of Americans continue to struggle, we can and must do more.

Congress should be working every day to rebuild our economy and create good paying jobs right here in America, not overseas. That's why I support the Make it in America agenda, which will strengthen manufacturing and rebuild our infrastructure. It will also maintain our Nation's leadership in innovation and educate a 21st century workforce.

The Make it in America agenda is a real jobs plan for this country. Democrats stand ready to act.

Mr. Speaker, my constituents and all Americans cannot wait any longer.

Mr. Speaker, last week on the fourth anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, I met with women leaders in my district to discuss the importance of ensuring women earn equal pay for equal work.

The women I met with told personal and powerful stories of how continued wage disparities have affected their families. In cities like Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City, women still only earn about 74 cents for every dollar that men do. That is unacceptable.

Mr. Speaker, the time is long overdue for women to be paid equal pay for equal work. Women make up half of our workforce, yet they are not paid the same as men for the same work. This means women have less money for groceries, for rent, for child care, and for the everyday needs of their families.

Mr. Speaker, that's why I have cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act, which seeks to close disparities in pay. It's time to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Until women receive equal pay for equal work, we will not be the just society that we ought to be.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the day our Nation honors one of our greatest civil rights heroes. This is also a special year, as Martin Luther King Day coincides with the inauguration of our first African American President, Barack Obama.

While just one man, Dr. King made an extraordinary difference in all of our lives. And while he, himself, was silenced, his dream lives on and serves as an inspiration that every person can indeed make a difference.

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, Dr. King reminds me often of the Flint sit-down strikers of the 1930s in my hometown who also stood up to the injustices that they saw. Their efforts helped create the labor movement and made our country a better place, as did Dr. King.

Mr. Speaker, no matter our political differences, we can all unite on Monday to fulfill Dr. King's dream. This Martin Luther King Day, let's honor the man who continues to inspire us all.