Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, more than 12 million Americans are still searching for work. The fiscal cliff and deficit reduction are important for our Nation's economic health in the long term, but we need to remember in the short term, we need job creation to get the economy moving again. We can do that by investing in our Nation's infrastructure.

By investing in our infrastructure, we put people to work and create revenue immediately. More people working lessens the strain on unemployment and family assistance programs and generates more employed persons paying taxes. Putting people back to work is a deficit- reduction plan.

The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that $1 billion in highway investments can create nearly 28,000 well-paying construction jobs. Because infrastructure investment is not only a huge boost to the economy, it's critically needed. Historically, the issue has had bipartisan support because it's so critically important. If you need to get to the other side of a bridge, it doesn't matter if you're a Republican or a Democrat, you need to get to the other side.

Now is the time for America to invest in maintaining and upgrading our infrastructure. Let's put America back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all

Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert material into the Record on the subject of Representative Emanuel Cleaver's retirement as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

I, too, offer my congratulations to Representative Cleaver for his service to all Americans as the CBC chair.

Millions of Americans are out of work through no fault of their own. Millions of Americans are relying on federally funded benefits to make ends meet as our Nation's struggling economy starts to recover. These unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed will immediately and completely stop on December 29, 2012, unless we in Congress act. There is no phaseout. Every individual receiving those benefits now will be cut off cold.

The Department of Labor estimates that over 2 million Americans will lose their emergency benefits at the end of the year, including over 92,000 people in my home State of Michigan. Cutting off benefits for the long-term unemployed will have a devastating impact on middle class families who are struggling to stay out of poverty. They are critically important for necessities of life, rent, groceries, and utilities. Cutting off unemployment benefits will also hurt America's economic recovery, as economists predict that allowing the UC benefits to expire at the end of this year will reduce economic growth next year by $58 billion.

Emergency unemployment benefits provide a particularly valuable economic contribution to the economy because financially stressed unemployed workers typically spend the benefits they receive quickly. Cutting off these benefits will hurt small businesses and add to the downward spiral of a failing economy. The Census Bureau reports that unemployment benefits, both State and Federal, reduced the number of Americans living in poverty last year by 2.3 million, including over 600,000 children. The Congressional Research Service estimates that in 2011, unemployment benefits reduced the poverty rate for families receiving them by 40 percent.

Cutting off unemployment benefits for too many Americans will only substantially increase hardship and poverty in our Nation. Now is not the time to deprive these Americans of a critical lifeline. Federally funded unemployment benefits should be extended by this Congress.

The best cure for unemployment is to create jobs. We can do this by investing in rebuilding our Nation's infrastructure, creating real jobs and real revenue by people working for a living.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize Ms. Carolyn Coleman, executive secretary to the secretary treasurer of the International Union, UAW, on her retirement.

As a Member of Congress, it is both my privilege and honor to recognize Ms. Coleman for her many years of service and her contributions which have enriched and strengthened our communities. Ms. Coleman brings a lifetime of experience to her current position with the United Auto Workers, a career which began in July of 1967 in the UAW's women's department. Carolyn's skill and knowledge led her to be selected to premiere assignments. She directly assisted many great union leaders in their important work, including UAW Vice Presidents Dick Shoemaker and Cal Rapson, as well as UAW President Owen Bieber, and UAW Secretary Treasurer Dennis Williams, her current supervisor.

Her work is impeccable, her advice valued, and her friendship treasured. Carolyn is one of the many unsung heroes of the labor movement. She was never the one who gained headlines for making fiery speeches that inspired the masses or received credit for labor agreements that have lifted so many working families into the prosperous middle class. But behind the scenes, she contributed to both. For 45 years, Carolyn Coleman reported to work for the United Auto Workers with one simple goal in mind: to do her very best work so that working people will have a better life.

Ms. Coleman believes in her community and has shown a commitment which has exceeded the years of her tenure with the UAW. A longtime member of Hartford Memorial, she has long been actively volunteering in numerous ministries of her church. As well as being a member of the Red Hat Club, she has volunteered her time in a broad array of capacities and community activities.

In addition to her service to the community, Ms. Coleman is the proud mother of two daughters and a son: Lisa, Tonya, and Jimmie. She is also a proud grandmother to six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

I ask that my colleagues join me today to honor Ms. Carolyn Coleman for her dedicated service to working men and women. I join with many others who have been blessed to have worked beside her and have benefited from her labors to wish her many more years of health, happiness, and productive service to our community.

Mr. Speaker, the Michigan legislature shamefully passed so-called right-to-work bills in a lame-duck session that insult all Michigan workers without public hearing or listening to the voice of a single citizen. Even more shamefully, Governor Rick Snyder signed the bills into law after clearly stating repeatedly that such legislation was not on his agenda and that right-to-work laws are too divisive to consider.

The final drafts of the bipartisan Michigan labor laws that were in place prior to these despicable acts were crafted by Republican Governor George Romney and State Senator Sander Levin. They served Michigan well, creating a vibrant economy that raised the tide that brought up all ships. Small business thrived, middle class thrived. Good jobs with good benefits spawned world-class hospitals and everything else that comes with a strong economy.

Governor Snyder and his lame-duck Republicans' weak explanations attempting to justify their acts are simply cover. No citizens' group has asked to ram this legislation through, nor have any business groups. The deep-pocketed special interest groups whose only goal is to destroy unions and other labor organizations drove the puppets that created these divisive laws.

Right-to-work-for-less laws are bad for workers, bad for Michigan and bad for America.

Thank you, Congressman.

A few weeks ago, my grandson stood right here with me when I took my oath of office, one of the proudest moments of my life.

Just hours before this horrible act in Connecticut took place, Michigan's lame-duck legislators rewrote Michigan's gun laws to permit persons to bring concealed firearms into schools, college dorms, churches, hospitals, bars, and sports stadiums.

Firearms have absolutely no place in our schools. The tragic massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary school is a chilling and heartbreaking reminder of this. Last week, innocent children, babies, went to school to a safe place where they love to be. Six public servants went to school to the children they love almost as much as their own. Those six heroically died trying to save those precious gifts from God. Twenty of those babies were savagely murdered.

We've witnessed this horrendous tragedy before. Thirty-two innocent people were shot to death at Virginia Tech; 16 were murdered at the University of Texas in Austin; 13 students and faculty were murdered at Columbine High School.

I support reasonable gun ownership, but this bill is unnecessary and goes way too far. Senate Bill 59 is now sitting on Governor Snyder's desk. In the spirit of this resolution, I ask the Governor on behalf of Peyton and Parker, my grandchildren, on behalf of all Michigan children, that he use his power of veto and not sign that bill.

Thank you, and I agree wholeheartedly with what's been said so far, and what I really want to say is Medicare is run more efficiently than nearly any insurance company in the world.

They devote less than 2 percent of its funding to administrative expenses, and you compare that to a private insurance company that costs up to 40 percent of premiums for individuals and small group plans for administration and to pay their executives six- and seven- figure salaries to do the same thing that's administrated by Medicare officials.

Also, the attempt to move Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 sounds like an easy fix. Well, not only, as was spoken earlier, the recipients, those people that are 64, 65, 66, going into that category are people that possibly are already struggling, lost their jobs, they need that health care, they have a preexisting condition, and now their very life is threatened having to wait that much longer.

We all look to take care of small business and private insurance funds, such as VEBAs and those types of institutions that money is forecast to pay for various health care, and you stretch out 2 more years of their coverage, small business now has to pay higher premiums to cover those employees that last those 2 more years. And they either have to make a choice: They reduce what they give in coverage or they eliminate it altogether, or they shift those premium costs to the worker. It's happened over and over and over again, and we need to avoid that in this coming legislation.

Well, again, as we talked earlier, it seems to so many in the public that moving that age--particularly young Americans--that just going from 65 to 67 doesn't mean a lot; but if you look at the statistics of age in this country, that's the baby boomer generation. That's the greatest population this country has ever had is right in that area. I'm part of that, I'm 64. So many of my friends cannot wait 2 more years for health care. They can't afford the out-of- pocket. Some have preexisting conditions. Without question, if we move this, it will be a sentence of death for many, many Americans who won't be able to get the health care that they need.

As I went through and campaigned--I come from a district that was 60 percent Republican--it didn't matter what forum I was in, what group I talked to. There was no great calling to change Medicare, to take benefits away, to raise the age. There was a lot of calling to take the corruption out of Medicare, to take the phony doctors and the phony bills and other systems. This is what we talked about: not having the ability to negotiate prescription drugs; millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars just to make that part of the system competitive. We can't do that by law; that's ridiculous. Those are things that easily we could go in, we could do, and we could make the system much better without touching a single benefit for any American.

Well, I think the great majority of our citizens don't understand that Social Security is not funded by tax dollars. The confusion lies because over the years the contributions made by workers to fund Social Security created a surplus. With that surplus, they loaned that surplus to other government-funded projects, and they're being paid back with government money. That government money every year is now playing into the repayment. That's why people think that you can cut Social Security to take the tax dollars out.

Well, if that was a private insurance company that had a surplus and loaned that surplus to another company, that first company would expect the second company to pay it back. So that cannot be part of this equation. Social Security and the Federal money that goes into Social Security cannot be part of the equation in this fiscal cliff debate.

Now, certainly with the expectancy of Social Security only surviving until 2038, before it has reduced benefits, in the very near future, this great Hall has to discuss how to fix that; and all the great minds in this Hall, I'm sure, can. But it does not need to be a part of this debate. This should not be a part of whatever legislation we settle in this last lame-duck session of this Congress.

Thank you for that, and I thank you for your comments.

But without a doubt, we could take an hour talking about rebuilding the infrastructure, the jobs it would create, the need in America to fix our bridges and our roads. If you are about to drive over a bridge, you want it safe. It doesn't matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat, you want that bridge to hold you and your car up as you go over it. That needs to be done.

Much of our infrastructure is crumbling. The power grid is crumbling. If it goes out, it doesn't matter what party you are affiliated with. You want your lights on; you want your refrigerator to work; you want your house warm.

So all of those things that could be done and would put America back to work and create revenue from people working, when they get that paycheck, then they would have money to send their kid to a dance class or to go get a haircut. All the small businesses in the area spawn off of that money from creating jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure. That should be on the forefront of our agenda, and I certainly hope we have a chance to talk about that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 6429 because I have grave concerns with the bill's elimination of the Diversity Visa program. The Diversity Visa program has given people from around the world the opportunity to win the most precious lottery: the chance to come to the United States, to work hard, and to earn the right to be an American. The program increases our Nation's ethnic diversity and provides one of the few legal pathways for immigration from countries that are impoverished, persecuted, or unfree.

I do support increasing STEM visas to foreign graduates. That will increase our pool of high-skilled workers that will promote new ideas, new technologies, and help our businesses stay on the cutting edge of new things to come. But we should not reward one class of individuals and deny another class that's not so blessed with the opportunity to prove themselves.

H.R. 6429 would actually reduce legal immigration levels by not allowing the rollover of unused visas. It's disappointing that there's no opportunity

to craft sensible, bipartisan legislation on an issue that so many Democrats and Republicans agree on.

H.R. 6412, the Democratic version, requires that employers offer wages to STEM graduates that do not undercut actual wages paid to U.S. workers with similar levels of experience. I have witnessed over the last decade unscrupulous employers who dramatically eroded wages, not for competitive reasons, but solely to transfer wealth from workers to executives. They were successful only because workers were hungry for jobs and willing to work for nearly any wage. The median household income dropped by $3,700 in that time while executive pay skyrocketed, even as our economy tanked. By contrast, the bill we are debating today does not include wage protections and does not adequately ensure that American workers are protected.

Equally important is that H.R. 6412 preserves the Diversity Visa program, ensuring equal opportunity to work in our great land. Democrats and Republicans alike have forwarded great wisdom towards this issue. Now is the time to cooperate with one another and craft a truly bipartisan approach to immigration reform that provides for equality of opportunity for all those who seek the benefit of U.S. citizenship.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. John Cubba, Finance Director for the Charter Township of Redford, on his retirement. As a Member of Congress, it is both my privilege and honor to recognize Mr. Cubba for his many years of service and his contributions which have enriched and strengthened our community.

Mr. Cubba brings a lifetime of experience to his current position with the Charter Township of Redford, a career which began nearly 34 years ago on the finance staff in the city of Detroit. In November of 1987, Mr. Cubba was hired as the Finance Director for the Charter Township of Redford, and served with distinction in that position for the last 25 years. During a tenure which has seen many economic changes in the region, Mr. Cubba maintained a reputation of providing sound financial guidance which has promoted stability and progress in Redford Township.

Mr. Cubba believes in his community and has shown a commitment which has exceeded the years of his tenure as Finance Director. Mr. Cubba has been a long-time member of the Redford Rotary, and is a past President. He has volunteered his time in a broad array of capacities in community organizations including The Goodfellow's Paper Drive, St. Valentine's Parish, Catholic Central, the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, the Government Finance Officers Association, the Michigan Townships Association, Boy Scouts, March of Dimes, and the Clean-up Redford Township Committee, among others. In addition to his service to the community, Mr. Cubba is the proud husband to his wife Candy, father to four sons and a daughter, and proud grandfather to nine grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today to honor Mr. John Cubba for his dedicated public service. I wish him many more years of health, happiness, and productive service to our community.

Today, I will vote in favor of H.R. 6156 and to change Russia's trading status from conditional to permanent normal trade relations. By doing so, we will ensure that American businesses, workers, and farmers will receive the same competitive access to Russia's markets that all other countries receive in the WTO. It is my hope that H.R. 6156 will provide growth opportunities for American businesses and will create jobs for our workers here at home. However, while expanding trade with Russia, we must not lose sight of our American values and our commitment to human rights.

H.R. 6156 has been updated and significantly improved by the adoption of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012. Sergei Magnitsky was a 37-year-old Russian lawyer and father of two, who was tortured to death after he exposed an elaborate tax fraud scheme--the largest in Russian history--that defrauded the Russian people of $230 million. November 16 will be the third anniversary of Sergei's death; and, to date, no one has been punished for this crime.

The act will finally hold those responsible for the embezzlement and Sergei's death accountable by denying them entry into the United States and by freezing their assets. The bill would also hold accountable anyone believed to be responsible for killing, torturing, or committing other human rights violations against anyone seeking to expose corruption or to expand human rights and freedoms.

The act requires the executive branch to publish a list of people who are to be punished under its sanctions, and it gives key Members of Congress the ability to request that the names of other human rights violators be added to the list. Diligent enforcement of the provisions of this act is critical for its success, however, and the State Department must do what is right and hold human rights violators accountable. H.R. 6156 is a powerful statement of support for freedom and democracy. It is a good bill for Americans and Russians alike.

Thank you, Congressman Dingell. It's always been an honor to work with you.

And thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to all my new colleagues, and thanks to all the guests. And thanks to my wife, Sharon, who has been my rock; and my family, who gave me the courage and the strength to get here; and to all my supporters, the hundreds of volunteers, and the many union brothers and sisters that worked so hard to get me elected; and to all the voters, regardless of whose lever they pulled, because they participated in this country's greatest act of freedom--the right to elect their own government.

I spent my entire adult life solving problems for working families, but I am but one man. So when I speak, you will hear the voice of over 500,000 residents of Michigan's 11th District who simply want a piece, their small share of the American Dream. And I know with the genius that works in this great Hall, that together, we can collectively achieve that goal and move this country forward.

I am humbled and honored to be a part of this distinguished group, and I want to thank every one of you. I look forward to working with you.