Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Mr.

Marvin Daniel Price, who passed away July 21 at the age of 81. Mr. Price came to my attention because he is the youngest known person ever to play professional baseball in the United States of America. At the age of 14, Marvin played with the Chicago American Giants in 1946.

One might wonder how this happened. Well, his sister, Ms. Gloria Price Simpson, tells the story that one day Marvin couldn't come out to play because he was sick. The other kids looked up to him, so they spotted him in the window and asked him if he would call the balls, and so he called out, safe, foul ball, fair ball.

He always imagined that baseball would play a major role in his life, and in fact it did. At the age of 14, professional baseball soon became a reality for Marvin when he was spotted playing baseball in Washington Park by the legendary Chicago Giants outfielder Jimmy Crutchfield. A tryout was soon arranged with then-owner J.B. Martin at Comiskey Park where manager Quincy Troupe originally thought he was the new bat boy.

It didn't take long for him to show that he wasn't there just to distribute the equipment. Marvin put on such a show that the Chicago American Giants decided to take him on a barnstorming trip to the South where he could play without jeopardizing his amateur status back in Chicago. Playing against hardened black baseball veterans in the South, Marvin displayed an awesome hitting performance.

After a week he returned home to Englewood High School, where he graduated and went on to play professionally with the Cleveland Buckeyes, New Orleans Eagles, and Chicago American Giants where he batted .390. Just as it looked as though Marvin was headed for baseball stardom, he enlisted in the military and spent 4 years in the United States Coast Guard.

After his stint in the military, he continued to play semi- professionally; and over the next 30 years, he worked as a supervisor with the Chicago post office while working part-time with the Chicago Park District teaching young people not only about the game of baseball, but the game of life.

On Friday, October 11, at U.S. Cellular Field, formerly known as Comiskey Park, there will be a memorial ceremony in Price's honor. Family members, friends and supporters, members of the White Sox and others are invited to come and celebrate his rich life and history. He was indeed a legend before his time, and so we salute you, Mr. Marvin Daniel Price, the youngest known professional baseball player in the United States of America.

Let me first of all thank you for the leadership you have provided and continue to provide. Those of us who know you well, we often joke and say we don't know anybody that has got as much energy as you have got. You are here this minute. You are someplace else the next minute. You were dealing with a group of ladies in the hallway the other day from Houston. They were the wives of ministers. One happened to have been a lady who had once lived in the community where my office is located in Chicago, and so I said, Hey, you went out to Houston and found yourself a minister who is a preacher and you have got a husband and so it must be a good place for people to go.

But I just want to join you in highlighting that we talk a great deal about low-income people, and we talk a great deal about the safety net; and it seems to me that our colleagues have decided to attack every safety net program that there is, no matter what it is. They believe that it is providing too much and that government really ought not be a government of service, that government should be a government of coordination and should just be a government of rules and regulations, but it should not provide any help, any assistance to those individuals who have fallen on hard times and tough times.

I have always believed you could measure the effectiveness of a government by how well it treats its young people, how well it treats its old people, and how well it deals with the needs of those who have difficulty caring for themselves.

But I represent a very diverse district, and so not only do I have all of these individuals who have all of the needs that we just mentioned, but I also represent the futures industry--the Board of Trade, the Mercantile Exchange, and the stock market. I was sitting beside a trader on the airplane last week, and he was moaning and groaning and talking about how devastating this shutdown is on the overall economy of our country. You know, you think in terms of the individuals who receive the benefits of a WIC program; but, guess what, if those who produce the food, if they can't sell it, if they can't move it, if they can't do anything with it, what is going to happen, it sits in somebody's warehouse and rots. It sits in somebody's warehouse and spoils. And so this slows down the economy. In order for the economy to get a lift, to pick up, people must be buying and selling, providing services, exchanging goods, exchanging ideas, moving money, moving money around, otherwise the economy goes flat. Nothing is happening.

So I don't know how we think that shutting down the government, and Chicago is a big town and of course it is a regional office town, and so there are a lot of government workers. We are the regional headquarters for Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. A lot of government workers are there. Now, all of these individuals are laid off. They are not able to ride the CTA. That takes money out of the transit system. Them not having to

come downtown and park their cars, that takes money out of the parking garages, just like it is around here now. It is practically dead. All of things that people would normally be doing, the people who work in the cleaners, they can't work because there is nobody here to bring their clothes. The restaurants are practically empty. And so it seems to me that there is an effort not to move the economy, but to shut down the economy of our country. It makes no sense at all. None whatsoever. And so we have actually seen a shift now.

People are finally beginning to decide that, hey, ObamaCare, as they like to call it, but let me tell you, for me it is the best thing that ever happened to health care since the Indians discovered corn flakes. It provides an opportunity for millions of people to get care who never, ever had health insurance during their lifetime. Never, ever. And so now we see that that is going to stay. I mean, there are so many people signing up in Illinois, we can't even keep up with them. Our county government has signed up more than 100,000 people in one county, in Cook County alone. They started before we really started because they got a waiver and were able to do it.

I want to commend you again for the leadership and for the dynamic way in which you function, helping the American people know that we can't stand still, we can't stop, we have to keep moving and that struggle, struggle, strife and pain, as Frederick Douglass would say, are the prerequisites for change. So if we want change, we have to keep struggling, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

Let me say one thing about the farm bill, because I am very sympathetic and empathetic with farmers.

I grew up on a farm, so I know a little bit about farming and how valuable. Of course, Illinois is a great farm State. But I am not in favor of all of these great big subsidies that we give to some people, like sugar growers that help to keep the price of sugar so high until the candy makers and the cookie makers and ice cream processors and all these people have serious difficulty making or producing the products that they sell.

There is a lot of give-and-take in these decisions that we make, and there ought to be enough give-and-take to know that it can't just be my way or the highway. It can't just be my thoughts and ideas. It is time to really put behind us all of the difficulty that we have had. I am hoping that the next time I go home that I can tell the people in my district, Yes, we have reached an agreement. The government is going to reopen. We are going to function, and America is going to move like we know it can, like we know it will. That is going to be the legacy of this shutdown, that we are going to cut it off and reopen.

I thank you for the opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, Concordia University of Chicago is an American private Lutheran liberal arts university, located in the village of River Forest, Illinois, 10 miles west of downtown Chicago.

In 1855, Lutheran ministers Friedrich Johann, Carl Lochner, and Philipp Fleischmann established a private teachers seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to train day school teachers for Lutheran schools. In 1857, the responsibility for the operation of the school was taken over by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The synod moved the school to Fort Wayne, Indiana, uniting it with a theological seminary which had been founded there by followers of Johann Konrad and Wilhelm Lohe. In 1861, the theological seminary was moved to St. Louis, Missouri, later to Springfield, Illinois, and then back to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1864. The teachers seminary was moved to Addison, Illinois. Concordia University makes its foundation with the 1864 move to Addison, Illinois.

Originally called Concordia Teachers Seminary, then Concordia Teachers College, the institution is the oldest in the Concordia University system. The original building is gone, but a monument still stands on the site of the seminary in Addison, Illinois.

In 1913, the college moved to its present campus in River Forest, Illinois. In 1979, the institution expanded its education-centered program to become a full liberal arts institution, and it changed its name to Concordia College. In 1990, having experienced a tremendous growth in its graduate offerings, the school recognized and changed its name to Concordia University. The university was officially known as Concordia University, River Forest until 2006, when the current name was adopted.

In 2006, CURF was the only university in the 10-school system to achieve the rank of top tier on U.S. News & World Report's ``best college'' list. They were also awarded this ranking in 2010.

Concordia University Chicago has a prominent and a prestigious music department among schools of a similar size. However, education is still Concordia's largest academic program. Other programs include business, communications, theology, and many other undergraduate degree programs. Concordia University's enrollment for the 2012-2013 academic year is 5,454 students, and many of these students plan to become church workers.

I am inspired when I read the university's mission statement, which is:

As a distinct, comprehensive university of the Lutheran

Church-Missouri Synod, centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ

and based in the liberal arts, Concordia University equips

men and women to serve and lead with integrity, creativity

and compassion in a diverse, interconnected and increasingly

urbanized church and world.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate and salute Concordia University on its 100 years of teaching and service in the Chicagoland community.

I thank the gentlewoman from New York for yielding.

I oppose this rule, and I oppose the bill. I don't oppose it because my district does not need the assistance. I represent one of the most impoverished and disadvantaged districts in America. We have great need. Fortunately, many of my constituents know the difference between genuinely trying to help them or, as the guys in the barber shop might say, ``gaming them.'' Or they may say, ``Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.'' Or they could say that this piecemeal approach is not going to cut it.

Poverty in my State of Illinois is at nearly 15 percent. And in my district, child poverty is 40 percent. Women, 28 percent; African Americans, 38 percent. Twenty-three percent of Asian Americans and 24 percent of Latinos in my district live in poverty. Overall, 196,478 people in my district live in poverty.

So you can see we need the assistance. But we also need affordable health care. We need LIHEAP. We need mortgage assistance. We need to get homeless people off the street during Chicago's cold winters. Therefore, I cannot support this piecemeal approach. What we need is a clean CR so that our employees can return to work and our people can receive the services and benefits that they so greatly need and rightly deserve. We need a clean CR.

Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to express condolences to the family, friends, and parishioners of Bishop Raphael Bell, who passed away this past Sunday while preaching a sermon in his pulpit. As a matter of fact, his wife had suggested that he not go to church, but he indicated that he would go because he thought it might make him feel better.

He was 90 years old. He grew up the son of a sharecropper in Mississippi, moved to Illinois, founded several schools and colleges, became the senior bishop of a diocese, well-loved, well-respected, a tremendous personality. I came to know his family when I taught his nephew 40 years ago and have observed him ever since.

I just wanted to say to his family, friends, and parishioners that they have been graced by the presence of a tremendously great individual who died doing what he liked to do, and that is preach the Gospel.

Mr. Speaker, born Dennis Raphael Bell, in Leflore County, Mississippi, on July 9, 1923; to sharecropper parents. Dennis was raised by his grandparents.

In spite of the absence of a dream of better conditions; something within him, at a very early age, rebelled against the status quo. He discovered in the South, if Black people refused to sink in despair and accept things as they were, then they had better have a ray of light from above. Bishop Bell is convinced it was that ray of light that brought him from the backwoods of Mississippi to the glorious heights of Pentecost; from a Mississippi plowboy to a Prince of the Church of God.

In 1938, after living briefly in Morley, Missouri; a fifteen-year-old Dennis returned to Mississippi to find a new girl had moved into the area; Darlene Griffin. On July 20th, 1942, Darlene and Dennis were married. To this union were born two sons, Harvey and Curtis, and nine grandchildren. Shortly after Harvey was born, Dennis was drafted into the U.S. Army. After training, he was sent to Europe, where he saw action in the campaign of Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe. He was honorably discharged December 9th, 1945.

Bishop Bell received the Holy Ghost on April 1, 1949. Since that day, God has continually perfected that which concerned Bishop Bell. It has not always been easy, but the ray of light has never gone out.

Bishop Bell has constantly sought to improve himself. After finishing his high school

education at LaSalle University in Chicago, one of his teachers told him ``if the elevator to success is not running, take the stairs.'' Bishop Bell was conferred his Bachelors degree with honors from Southwestern College in Oklahoma City, OK. As a straight ``A'' student at American Bible College, he was conferred a Masters of Theology. He continued onward and was conferred a Doctoral degree in Theology and Philosophy by Toledo Bible College and Seminary. Bishop Bell was the first person in that school's history to earn two doctorate degrees in one year.

In August of 1990, after 48 years of marriage and a lengthy illness, a grieving Bishop Bell buried his beloved Darlene. In God's timing, the Lord saw fit to send a ray of sunshine into Bishop Bell's life, in the form of Jacqueline Collins of Cincinnati, Ohio. They were married in April of 1991.

An Apostolic preacher for over 55 years, Bishop Bell has spent a great part of his life serving the people of God in many ways. In addition to serving his church, he also serves the community as a Chaplain for the Chicago Police Department. Bishop Bell came up through the ranks of Christ Temple Church, serving in such positions as Sunday School teacher, Assistant and then Superintendent; Vice and Chairman of the Youth Department; Trustee; Assistant Pastor; Pastor in 1958 and now Senior Pastor. He is the founder of the Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Joliet, as well as, the founder and President of Midwest Apostolic Bible College in Chicago. He also founded Samuel Barnes Christian Academy, a K-8th grade school named in memory of his pastor and he created the Mother Darlene Bell Scholarship Fund to assist the educational dreams of deserving students.

Dr. Bell served as the Assistant Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith, for 19 years, along side his best friend, the late Bishop Elzie W. Young. Thereafter, his tenure as the Presiding Prelate was from January 1990 to July 2000. He now holds the title of Senior Bishop.

Bishop Bell has preached the Gospel from the street corners of Chicago to 49 states in America, over 50 countries, on all five inhabited continents, and to the isles of the sea. His chief joy continues to be the opportunity to share the life of Jesus Christ with someone. The sentiments of his heart play almost like the lyrics of a song which says, ``if I can help somebody as I travel along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can tell somebody that he is traveling wrong, then my living shall not be in vain.''

It has been my great pleasure to be associated with Bishop Bell and his family since the 1960's when I was his nephew Fred Davis' Social Studies teacher.

Bishop, we all love and revere you for having been a great leader of your people and a blessing to all.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, Dr. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, and I, introduced a bipartisan bill, H.R. 2734, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Reauthorization Act, on July 19 of this year. This legislation would reauthorize the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act to help State and local governments and universities to continue to provide and develop suicide prevention programs. This current bill is budget neutral and would revise and extend provisions of the original act signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2004. It is named for former-Senator Gordon Smith, Republican of Oregon's 22-year-old son Garrett whose life was ended in September of 2003.

Every year, over 38,000 Americans die by suicide, and many more are treated for self-inflicted injuries that result from suicide attempts. As you may know, suicide still remains the second leading cause of death for our adolescents and young adults between the ages of 10 and 24, and results in 4,800 lives lost each year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also, the same agency reported that youths in grades 9 through 12, in public and private schools in the United States, found that 15 percent of students reported seriously considering suicide, 11 percent reported creating a plan, and 7 percent reported trying to take their own life. The 2010 American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment II noted that 45.6 percent of the students surveyed reported feeling that things were hopeless and 30 percent reported feeling depressed.

The Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization grant program has assisted 35 tribes, 45 States, and 85 institutions of higher education to develop suicide prevention and intervention programs, which are often the first line of defense for those with this troubling disease of mental illness concerns, who are distraught and aren't certain about what to do.

Again, H.R. 2734 is budget neutral, and I come to the floor to ask all of my colleagues to cosponsor the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. We can disagree on some things, but I don't think we need to disagree on this.

Please, sign up as a cosponsor.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, the clean CR that would end this Republican government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I have been told that when elephants fight, the grass is bruised. And when Democrats and Republicans fight beyond what is reasonable, people are hurt. And many of them will not survive.

It's time for us to move beyond this debate.

Somebody said the other day that justice delayed was justice denied. I can tell you that treatment for a stroke victim that's delayed, treatment for cancer, treatment for dialysis, and treatment for liver ailments that's delayed, all of those are trips to an early grave.

It's time to vote in the Senate resolution, forget about shutting down the government, and breathe life into our process and life for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that Obama does, in fact, care, and that care is evidenced by the fact that we passed the most major piece of health legislation that we have done since the mid-1960s, since Medicare and Medicaid.

So it's amazing to me that I continue to hear colleagues in both the House and the Senate who are attempting to deny the existence of this legislation, legislation that was passed by both Houses of Congress, signed into law by the President of the United States of America, upheld by the Supreme Court, which says that it is indeed constitutional, and still there are colleagues trying to deny the existence of this law. That is amazing.

As a matter of fact, it's real. It's passed. It's been affirmed. And it's going to stay.

My county government, Cook County government, has already, with a waiver, signed up more than 100,000 people, just waiting to get enrolled into its county care program--100,000 people, none of whom will have to worry about preexisting conditions; 100,000 people in Cook County, none of whose children under 26 will have to worry about having health insurance coverage because they can have it on their parents' policies; 100,000 people, none of whom will have to worry about running out of benefits; 100,000 people in Cook County, one county, who will have their own primary care physician, who will be able to see a doctor and go to the clinic on a regular basis.

But that's nothing compared to the more than 30 million people in this country who, for the first time in their lives, will have health insurance coverage. I hear all of the discussions about the negative impact. Well, you ask a person in need of health care who has never been able to get it how much of a ``negative impact'' it's going to have on them.

I agree that the Senate has passed a continuing resolution which does not fund the government for the extended period of time that we'd like to see and need to see. But I can tell you, I would rather have that than to have people worrying and wondering whether they're going to be able to see a doctor when they need to see one or go to the hospital or take their child to a regular doctor rather than having to go to the emergency room.

So I would urge my colleagues, let's be in agreement with the Senate. And let's move right now, today--and if not today, tomorrow--to pass a continuing resolution that keeps our government funded.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the X Ukrainian World Congress on its meeting which was held on August 20-22, 2013 in Lviv, Ukraine, with the participation of 208 delegates representing 27 countries. The delegation was joined by 350 guests who traveled from around the world, including all regions of Ukraine, to participate in the proceedings and learn about the work of the UWC. The X Ukrainian world congress provided an opportunity for participants to share accomplishments, exchange ideas and develop plans for the further consolidation of the 20 million strong Ukrainian Diaspora. Among the guests were also representatives of Ukraines' governing authorities and leaders of the opposition. The X Ukrainian world Congress, which was dedicated to the memory of the victims of Holodomor of 1932-33 on the 80th anniversary of this genocide, began on 20 August with a procession and memorial service at the Taras Shevchenko monument in the citys' main square. The opening ceremony that same evening was held before a packed audience at the solomiya Krushelnytska Lvin National Academic Theatre of Opera Ballet during which Ukrainian World Congress President Eugene Czolii gave the keynote address. Three themes relevant to the global Ukrainian community were the focus of round table discussion. They included Euro-integration securing Ukraines' independence and furthering its democratization, a global Ukrainian community promoting common interest and Holodomor 1932-33 the truth prevails.

Delegates elected the following members of the Ukrainian World Congress Executive Committee: Eugene Czolii President--Canada, Jaroslova Hartyanyi 1st Vice President--Hungary, Orysia Shushaku 2ND Vice President--France, Stefran Romania Secretary General--Australia, Bohdan Watral Financial Officer--USA, and Wnon Potocny Treasurer-- Canada.

On behalf of the Ukraian diaspora, the Ukranian World Congress expressed gratitude to the citizens of Lviv for their hospitality, the Ukrainian World Congress expressed a special thank you to the chair of Lviv regional administration Victor Shemchuk, the rector of the National University Lviv Polytechinic, Yuri Bodale and Director of the International Institute for Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, Lviv, Polytechnic, lryana Kluchovaska.

I commend the Ukrainian World Congress for its continuous development of unity and cohesiveness of Ukrainians throughout the Diaspora. I am also pleased to know and congratulate a member of the community that I represent in Congress, Mr. Bohdan Watral on his election as Financial Officer for the X Ukrainian World Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with the Democratic leader and chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in congratulating Team USA on winning the America's Cup.

I rise today to inform my colleagues about a consumer protection initiative of the Federal Trade Commission to address underage drinking in the United States known as ``We Don't Serve Teens.''

People may not think of underage drinking as a consumer protection issue. But We Don't Serve Teens is an annual educational effort each September as teens head back to high school and college. The goal is to sustain and build on the progress our Nation has made in combating underage drinking. In my hometown of Chicago, Crown Imports is leading an effort to publicize the We Don't Serve Teens message.

We need the active involvement of parents, older siblings, relatives, educators, and other adults. Years of government surveys show that a significant number of young teens get alcohol from their own homes or the homes of friends or extended family members. Most parents are extremely careful about watching what their younger children eat or drink. For our teens, maintaining vigilance over the refrigerator, the wine rack, or the liquor cabinet is equally important.

Illegal underage drinking among older teens is a more formidable challenge. They are mobile and often able to obtain alcohol from older friends and family members, including older students in colleges and universities.

With that access and mobility comes sad statistics.

An August 2012 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicated that 839 drivers under the age of 21 were killed in drunk driving crashes in the United States during 2010. Several thousand were seriously injured, some with permanent disabilities. These tragedies are 100 percent preventable. But as every parent knows, our teens do not always make the best decisions, and some simply need more active supervision.

Back in 2006, when bipartisanship was still a hallmark of this body, our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Frank Wolf, teamed up to enact the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Reauthorization Act, better known as the STOP Act. They are still committed to reauthorizing that legislation, which has helped align the policies of several Federal agencies involved in reducing and preventing underage drinking. The reauthorization bill introduced this year is H.R. 498. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation to sustain momentum in efforts to combat underage drinking.

In the district I represent, an organization that has benefited from the STOP Act grant is the Brighton Park Drug-Free Community Coalition. Their efforts embody the spirit of the We Don't Serve Teens initiative. Civic-minded adults have organized ``block clubs'' to monitor neighborhood conditions that can contribute to illegal underage drinking and other substance abuse. They also enlisted neighborhood retailers for assistance and a shared commitment to prevent illegal underage sales to minors.

In many metropolitan areas around the Nation, those who sell and serve alcohol beverages have been supportive of the We Don't Serve Teens initiative. I mentioned that Crown Imports is leading the effort in Chicago with a media campaign that includes outdoor advertising, radio, and television messages that will be seen by millions of adults. Other brewers and importers are taking the lead in New York, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and other metropolitan areas.

I commend the FTC for its leadership on the We Don't Serve Teens and all who support this valuable program. It is worth the effort.

Mr. Speaker, when the voting took place for H.R. 3102, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013, unfortunately, I was unable to be present to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted no for the following reason:

The bill, H.R. 3102, would cut $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which will adversely affect poor people and lower benefits to households with children. Seventy-six percent of SNAP's recipients are households with children. SNAP is an anti-hunger program that is immensely effective in providing assistance to a minimum of 47 million individuals and families across America. In addition to food benefits, SNAP educates people on ways as to how one may use food dollars wisely and live a healthier lifestyle by promoting the importance of nutrition. A key component of SNAP is their ``No Kid Hungry'' campaign, which, aims at fighting against childhood hunger in America by partnering with communities to enroll eligible families with half of the program recipients being children. Reducing spending over the next few years by billions of dollars will affect the lives of Americans who depend on these programs to help put food on the table for their families.

The current legislation under consideration for today would deny food benefits to least 4 million low-income Americans and make certain working adults with an average income of about $2,500 per year and no guardianship of children ineligible to receive food benefits. This may include our veterans, Native Americans and many individuals that live in areas where there is chronically high unemployment. H.R. 3102 is a bill that is unreasonable and beneath the conduct of a Congressional body to impose such a policy initiative that will not help the poorest and neediest Americans among us.

Additionally, H.R. 3102 contains language that permanently bars formerly incarcerated individuals convicted of certain federal or state crimes and their families from receiving full SNAP benefits. As you may know, SNAP is about children and helping the poor and the needy. Why should anyone think that children should be denied adequate food and nutrition just because of the sins of the father or mother or caregiver, especially after they have paid their debt to society and reentered into normal community life? If this bill becomes law, it would restrict and deny the basic needs of children based on the parentage's criminal history of certain crimes and not on the essential eligibility requirement of income resulting from their financial status. As a result, H.R. 3102 would develop unintended consequences resulting in ancillary hardships to our neediest population. Given our nation's economic recovery, high unemployment rate, and the wide prevalence of food insecurity among children, all are directly problematic to the SNAP program. Every $1 in SNAP new benefits would generate up to $1.80 in economic activity. Every time a family uses SNAP benefits for healthy food on the table, it benefits the store and the employees where the purchase was made including the truck driver who delivered the food, the warehouses that stored it, the plant that processed it, and the farmer who produced the food. Each $1 billion increase in SNAP benefits is estimated to create and maintain 18,000 full time jobs including 3,000 farm jobs. SNAP benefits have a powerful anti-poverty effect that the Census Bureau reports would lift 3.9 million Americans--including 1.7 million children--out of poverty. SNAP

alleviates hunger and improves nutrition by increasing the food purchasing power of low-income households, enabling them to obtain a more nutritious diet that contributes to the prevention of obesity, diseases, and food insecurity.

Cutting funding is a threat to SNAP's mission to alleviate the health problems many children face in America. Studies indicate that children who are provided with healthier food are less likely to develop health problems and more likely to excel better in school. Sixty-two percent of teachers in a survey said that they have children in their classrooms that come to school hungry regularly because they are not getting enough food to eat at home.

Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Halbert as they celebrate 60 years of togetherness. During this period, they have been blessed to have three children; Debra Patrice Halbert Evans, Michael A. Halbert and Jerome Halbert (deceased). They have also been fortunate to have four grandchildren; Patrice Imani Evans, William Samuel Evans III, William Samuel Evans, Jr., and Debra, Paris Elizabeth Halbert, Michael A. Halbert and Kristen Nicole Halbert (deceased), Jerome Halbert (deceased), and Georgette Halbert.

The Halberts have a loving, committed and enduring marriage that has been an inspiration to all who have known and observed them. Both of the Halberts have been blessed to have the love of their families, brothers and sisters; Perry Halbert (deceased), Bessie Lenoir, Dessie Amos, Lillie Pruitt (deceased), Ora D. McGavock (deceased), Joyce Wilburn, Cozine Prince, Charles McGee (deceased), Verdell McGee (deceased), and Leedall McGee, throughout the history of their marriage. Both Mr. L.J. and Mrs. Melva Jean have been cause-orientated and have devoted much of their lives to civic involvement through organizations like Stone Temple Baptist Church, Austin Lions Club, Westside Business Improvement Association, Organization for a better Austin, Chicago Teachers Union, Menard Ave Block club and many other groups and organizations.

I am pleased to note that the love and devotion displayed by Mr. L.J. and Mrs. Melva Jean Halbert throughout their 60 years of marriage has been an inspiration to their nieces and nephews, in-laws, coworkers and all who know them. I extend my congratulations for 60 years and wish them many more.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the X Ukrainian World Congress on its meeting which was held on August 20-22, 2013 in Lviv, Ukraine, with the participation of 208 delegates representing 27 countries. The delegation was joined by 350 guests who traveled from around the world, including all regions of Ukraine, to participate in the proceedings and learn about the work of the UWC. The X Ukrainian world congress provided an opportunity for participants to share accomplishments, exchange ideas and develop plans for the further consolidation of the 20 million strong Ukrainian Diaspora. Among the guests were also representatives of Ukraines' governing authorities and leaders of the opposition. The X Ukrainian world Congress, which was dedicated to the memory of the victims of Holodomor of 1932-33 on the 80th anniversary of this genocide, began on 20 August with a procession and memorial service at the Taras Shevchenko monument in the citys' main square. The opening ceremony that same evening was held before a packed audience at the solomiya Krushelnytska Lvin National Academic Theatre of Opera Ballet during which Ukrainian World Congress President Eugene Czolii gave the keynote address. Three themes relevant to the global Ukrainian community were the focus of round table discussion. They included Euro-integration securing Ukraines' independence and furthering its democratization, a global Ukrainian community promoting common interest and Holodomor 1932-33 the truth prevails.

Delegates elected the following members of the Ukrainian World Congress Executive Committee: Eugene Czolii President-Canada, Jaroslova Hartyanyi 1st Vice President-Hungary, Orysia Shushaku 2nd Vice President-France, Stefran Romania Secretary General-Australia, Bohdan Watral Financial officer-USA, and Wnon Potocny Treasurer-Canada.

On behalf of the Ukraian diaspora, the Ukranian World Congress expressed gratitude to the citizens of Lviv for their hospitality, the Ukrainian World Congress expressed a special thank you to the chair of Lviv regional administration Victor Shemchuk, the rector of the National University Lviv Polytechinic, Yuri Bodale and Director of the International Institute for Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, Lviv, Polytechnic, lryana Kluchovaska.

I commend the Ukrainian World Congress for its continuous development of unity and cohesiveness of Ukrainians throughout the Diaspora. I am also pleased to know and congratulate a member of the community that I represent in Congress, Mr. Bohdan Watral on his election as Financial Officer for the X Ukrainian World Congress.