I want to pay tribute to my colleagues and my friends, Ralph Regula and Deborah Pryce. To be honest, it's a little surreal standing here doing this because I'm joining them in retirement at the end of this term, but I'd like to take a few…
I want to pay tribute to my colleagues and my friends, Ralph Regula and Deborah Pryce.
To be honest, it's a little surreal standing here doing this because I'm joining them in retirement at the end of this term, but I'd like to take a few moments to talk about both of them.
Ralph and Mary showed up in Urbana, Ohio when I was running for Congress. And I pulled up in my pickup truck. I had one too. It was burgundy, it wasn't red. That was my campaign color. With a big sign, Hobson for Congress.
And Ralph's walking down the street, and I never met Ralph or Mary before. And Ralph says, I've been reading about you; and I think we're going to get along just fine. And he was right. We did.
And I came to Congress and I got elected. And I came down here and John Boehner wanted to be on the Ag Committee, and I wanted to be on the Ag Committee. And we got in a little tussle about that. And Ralph says, hey, if he wants it that bad, let him have it. You could never do enough for them, and you can never get off the committee. And by the way, there's a transportation bill coming up this year and he said, I think I can get you on that Transportation Committee. And you're going to get a lot of stuff for Ohio. And I did. I got everything that the Governor asked for. And I got a bike trail I didn't really want in the beginning, but Mr. Oberstar liked bike trails, and I showed up for him on some meetings, and suddenly I got almost as much money for bike trails as I did for highways. And I really wanted the highways, but the bike trails turned out to be a great thing.
Then Ralph came to me later on. And this is the way Ralph is, and this why our delegation over the years has been such a good delegation, because when he went into the Committee on Committees, he worked to place us all around within the committees so that Ohio had a voice when legislation was being done, whether it be on the authorizing committee or the Appropriations Committee. Ralph had us covered so that our State benefited and our people grew on those committees to points where, at one time, I don't know how many committee chairman we had when we were in the majority, but we had quite a number and we had the Appropriations Committee covered. We were the only State that had two cardinals when we were on the Appropriations Committee when we were in the majority. That was due to Ralph because Ralph came to me and he said, would you like to be on the Appropriations Committee? I didn't ask him. He came to me and he said, would you like to do this? And he was sharing, and that's the way Ralph Regula was. He shared. Ralph Regula shared the whole time he was here, and even today, about what we're all about, of doing good for this country.
He's been a mentor to all of us in the delegation. He's been a great friend to Ohio, and he's done a lot of really neat things for Ohio and the country.
One of the things we've both done together and it's actually, some money was put in, most of you didn't see it, but it got in there in the CR to take care of the Everglades, because Ralph Regula is probably the father of most of the restoration in the Everglades. And I've helped him do that when I became chairman of energy and water. And the Everglades we have looked at is not a treasure for Florida, or not even a national treasure, it's an international treasure, and we've saved it for our grandchildren and their children if we could get the things done that we need to do.
He's also worked very hard for things, not just in his district that he felt were good for Ohio, such as the Cleveland Clinic, NASA Glenn, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. He's done great things with the parks all over the country. He's done great things with research, education. He's just been an outstanding Member for many, many years of this Congress. I consider he and Mary true dear friends.
Mary is also very giving. You've heard the good work she's done. But also she was a mentor to my wife when we came. She got my wife into the chairs to become head of the congressional club, all the spouse groups of both the House and the Senate. She got my wife into the chairs, and my wife became president of that, just as Mary had done many years before. Didn't have to do that, but it was their way of sharing and caring for people from Ohio. And we both, my wife Carolyn and myself really appreciate their friendship over the years.
Something that Ralph and Deborah and myself have all worked on together is this GME for children's hospitals across the country. Our delegation, when John was here, John became a convert to that, Kasich when he was here because he had a personal situation in his family, and we all worked on that. We all worked on a number of hospital issues.
And going back to Ralph, I can remember once when I was in the Speaker's office, I was working on durable medical equipment, and the Speaker finally said to me, shut up, Hobson. You got a billion dollars. Shut up. Get it down. And Ralph said, Dave, you'd better be quiet and we'd better move on. So we did move on.
But Deborah, Pat and myself have represented Central Ohio, and Deborah's made a real difference for Central Ohio. And we've all worked together on a number of projects for the community. The Rickenbacker International Intermodal facility is going to create 20,000 new jobs over the next 2 decades. That wouldn't have been done without Deborah's hard work with all of us to try to get this done.
The VA clinic in Central Ohio, again a product that we've all three worked on. We had hearings in Columbus on the VA Clinic. All of our districts were impacted by it. Fortunately, it turned out to be in my district, but we all
worked to make sure that's a reality for the veterans of Central Ohio, so that they can get health care in a better situation in their local community.
We worked on the Defense Supply Center during the BRAC, which most of the people, it's in my district, but most of the people live in Pat and Deborah's district. And again, we worked as a unit, the three of us worked together. We were partners in this. When she ran for leadership, we were partners to help her get into leadership and be the highest ranking female ever in the Republican delegation, and frankly, in this Congress, until Speaker Pelosi was elected. And that's a real tribute to Deborah and her leadership, but also to our delegation, who all worked together to make sure that Deborah got there.
And another place she's been just a tireless advocate on behalf of the Ohio State University and Columbus Children's Hospital. We have great programs in both places that are attributed to Deborah and her hard work. At Children's Hospital in Columbus there's a number of programs there. We just did an autism program that will be great for children with autism, which is afflicting so many young children in our region, and it's going to be working with the Children's Hospital in Columbus, and also with Wright Patterson Air Force base and Children's Hospital in Dayton. And I've had a number of people call and thank Deborah and us for putting this together.
And Ohio State, she's been the premier leader for all the stuff that's happened at Ohio State University, which is her alma mater. And she's been tireless in fighting for better quality education, but also in getting the facilities and the programs there to make sure that Ohio State is a premier, leading institution in our region. And frankly, it has moved up, under her tenure, to be, moved up dramatically in the research that it does for this country while Deborah has been representing that facility.
And that's even true that Pat Tiberi played the trumpet. But you must have played the whole band because we got a lot more stuff there since you've been here working on this.
I think probably in addition to her leadership here of our caucus and working on the health care things that she's done, there's a bill that passed that I think is probably the crowning glory she might share with you of her being here and that was the bill that was named for her daughter, Caroline, and one that dramatically increases funding for pediatric cancer research, and it was signed into law this year. That's a lasting tribute and it's making a great difference in the lives of so many families touched by pediatric cancer.
These are two great Members that I've had the privilege of serving with here.
In closing, I'd like to say I've really enjoyed serving with them, but I've really enjoyed serving in Congress. It's been an honor for all of us, I'm sure, to have been here to work with our colleagues. And I know when you look on TV you say oh, you watch this floor sometimes and you say, all they do is bicker amongst themselves. Well, you see it here, but you don't see the great work that goes on behind the scenes where Members get together and work together, talk together and get the country's work done. And I think it's unfortunate that the public doesn't understand the great friendships that are here across the aisle and within delegations as we do our work in furthering the work of this country on behalf of all the citizens of this country.
So I knew it was time for me to leave. I didn't know Ralph or Deborah, where they were going to be at the point, but I made up my decision. We each made up our own decisions. And I knew that it was time to move on. But I've got to tell you, it's been a pleasure to work with everyone in this Congress, and especially our delegation, both Democrats and Republicans. We have not had the rancor between Democrats and Republicans.
And I'm really saddened tonight when we do this, not for us, but there's two people who are not here that were dear friends of mine, Paul Gillmor. I wouldn't be here if Paul Gillmor hadn't gotten me appointed to the State Senate. And Stephanie Tubbs Jones became one of my best friends. We traveled all over the world looking at military bases together. And she would, if I flew to Cleveland to see my daughter and we were on the same plane, I didn't have a car there, she would drive me to my daughter's house and take me there, and we became true friends. I took she and her husband on their 25th wedding anniversary. She wanted to go on a codel, and I said I'll give you the best party that you can ever have if you'll go on this trip and get Mervyn to go with us. And those were the days when you could do that. We had a great party for them. And she was a wonderful Member of this Congress.
You know, maybe there were some things in the political realm that we all disagreed with. But as people, we all cared about each other, and that's what's important.
So thank you for your service tonight, all of us together, and thank you, Steve, for giving me the time to speak.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a fellow Ohioan and a great American, Congressman Ralph Regula of Ohio. Ralph was elected to represent the 16th Congressional District in 1972 and has served in this body since he was first sworn in as a Member in January 1973. He is the longest serving Member of Congress from Ohio in our State's history with unbroken service totaling 36 years, and he will be retiring at the conclusion of this session.
In his second term, Ralph was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee, an unusual act at that time, as Members had historically served multiple terms before being appointed to the prestigious committee. Over the course of more than three decades of service on the committee, Congressman Regula has made his mark in many areas, and I would like to highlight some of them this evening.
First, after having served on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee since 1975, Ralph became its Chairman in 1995 and served in that capacity for 6 years. As chairman his accomplishments are too many to mention here, but I want to address a few of the groundbreaking changes he made that will have lasting benefits well into the future.
Chairman Regula focused on making critical changes to ensure that the most important issues and problems were addressed by the agencies in the Interior bill. Much of what he accomplished didn't make headlines. He insisted on an emphasis on ``taking care of what we have,'' and made tremendous strides in reducing the backlog of maintenance projects on Federal lands, in Indian schools and hospitals and in cultural institutions like the Smithsonian Institution.
He instituted a pilot recreation fee program whereby the National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, Forests and Bureau of Land Management charged users of those resources modest fees. The fees were then available for making necessary improvements for the benefit of the visitors to those lands. This concept of recreation fees had many naysayers, but Ralph persisted and worked for years to show the merits of the program. He was right, and as of today, nearly $2 billion has been paid in recreation fees, and those fees have resulted in tremendous improvements in visitor services in our National Parks, Forests and other Federal lands.
He was a critical leader on the cleanup of the Everglades in Florida. He insisted that restoration of natural resources should be the primary focus of the program and that the Department of the Interior have a seat at the table to ensure that decisions on water distribution and development were not made separately from, and without consideration of, natural resource restoration needs.
As Chairman of the Interior Subcommittee, he identified management shortfalls in the agencies under the subcommittee's jurisdiction and helped agencies help themselves by addressing management improvements. For example, he oversaw the complete overhaul of the National Park Service construction program. The program lacked a national priority setting process, and its list of construction needs included many projects that were unrelated to construction projects. Chairman Regula made sure that the entire program was changed to incorporate meaningful measurement criteria for identifying and prioritizing projects and that the management structure was streamlined to ensure that the emphasis was on getting the job done rather than designing grand concepts to justify a bloated bureaucracy.
Congressman Regula has had a tremendous impact on energy research and development. He fought for a balanced national energy strategy. He focused limited Federal funds on improving the efficiency and cleanliness of fossil fuels at the same time as we pursued renewable and alternative energy sources. He conducted extensive oversight on what we had gotten for the billions of dollars
invested in energy research since the establishment of the Department of Energy. He continued and expanded critical research on natural gas infrastructure improvements, oil field productivity improvements, developing fuel cells for electric power generation and transportation applications, and decreasing emissions from coal-fired power plants. He recognized that Federal energy research only works when we have a joint government/industry effort and that most major energy breakthroughs have come from industrial research efforts and from small entrepreneurs in the private sector.
Ralph, a farmer himself, was the moving force behind the establishment of the Children's Farm at the National Zoo. He worked tirelessly for several years to bring this exhibit to fruition. It provides a ``hands on'' experience for young children to see what life on a dairy farm is like and has become one of the most popular exhibits at the zoo.
Congressman Regula continuously demonstrated his strong commitment to doing the right thing for both the Government agencies in the Interior bill and for the American taxpayer. He made sure that the Federal land management agencies made tremendous strides in improving those lands, in reducing their maintenance backlogs, and instituting management improvements. He made sure that energy and mineral development on Federal lands was expanded responsibly and in an environmentally sound manner. He made sure that essential science programs--dealing with critical issues such as satellite imagery, earthquakes. volcanoes, the biological sciences, landslides and mapping--in the United States Geological Survey were maintained. He made sure that priority school, hospital and clinic construction for Native Americans were addressed in annual appropriations bills.
Republican term limits in the House required Ralph to give up his chairmanship of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee in 2000. At the request of then-Chairman Bill Young, Regula took the reigns of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee beginning in 2001 and held the position for a full 6 years until 2006.
Regula took the chairmanship, having never served on the subcommittee as a rank and file member, but with a good staff and as a quick study, he masterfully managed a bill with the largest domestic spending level in the Federal Government and with many of the most divisive policy issues.
George W. Bush had just been elected President and had come to Washington with a major domestic policy objective--the improvment and accountability of our Nation's education system on behalf of our children. During that first year, Regula held hearings on the administration's budget request for the three cabinet departments and nearly 500 programs funded in the bilI, putting together a balanced, bi-partisan bill. At the same time, Congress' education commit1ees were drafting and negotiating the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, NCLB.
While endorsing increased accountability and standards for students being included in the new NCLB, Regula, himself a former teacher and principal, knew that the keys to improving student achievement were the teacher and the principal. He provided the necessary funding increases for Title I, Federal funding for the disadvantaged under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind Act, and continued support for School Improvement and Innovative Education grants to help local schools address these new accountability and school improvement standards. Further, he focused targeted funding to improve teacher training and performance within the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act through programs such as Math and Science Partnerships and the Comprehensive School Reform program.
His motto became, ``We need a good teacher in every classroom in this county.'' With this motto Regula knew that a well prepared and well- trained teacher would indeed lead to improved student achievement.
Additionally, he provided funding for innovative demonstration programs to improve teacher education, training and performance which are today infusing our Nation's classrooms with teachers from a host of diverse educational and work backgrounds. These programs include Teach for America, now the largest recruiter of college graduates which brings graduates from our Nation's top colleges into our most challenging schools for a 2 year service commitment and Troops to Teachers which provides financial assistance to those retiring from the military to transition into our Nations classrooms. The Teacher Incentive Fund is being adopted by key school districts around the country to incentivize teachers to teach in the most challenging districts and schools.
When Regula took the helm of the subcommittee, it was the beginning of year 3 of a 5-year commitment to doubling the funding for biomedical research through the National Institutes of Health, NIH. Our country's biomedical research efforts--supported by NIH and carried out in universities and institutes throughout the country--are premier in the world. Over time, however, the increasing costs of conducting research began to erode the ability of researchers to compete for limited grant dollars, resulting in fewer grants and an increasingly difficult climate for attracting young scientists into health research. The doubling effort received bipartisan support from both Congress and the new administration, and, despite very tight subcommittee allocations, Regula oversaw the completion of the 5-year doubling effort that brought the NIH research effort from $13 billion to $26 billion annually. Today, this number stands at more than $29 billion in annual health research funding to improve the lives of all Americans.
While Federal funding for training of physicians and specialists is provided nearly exclusively through Medicare, Federal training for pediatricians and pediatric specialists had been virtually non-existent when Congressman Regula took the chairmanship. He understood immediately, though, that the most important years in one's life are the early years and, without a well-trained pediatric workforce, we are not investing wisely in our Nation's children. Therefore, Regula ensured that Federal dollars were in place every year to assist in training these critical physicians at children's hospitals throughout the U.S. After completing their training, these physicians and specialists are now caring for and treating children across the country, not just where children's hospitals are located. Today, Regula remains one of this Congress' most vocal advocates of Children's Graduate Medical Education funding.
While many in national politics and health policy continue to wring their hands about the number of people in our country without health insurance, Regula saw the value of community health centers in providing healthcare to the uninsured and under-insured. During his tenure as Chairman, funding for these centers rose from $1.2 billion to nearly $2 billion. Today more than 4,000 service delivery sites exist throughout the U.S., providing primary healthcare to over 15 million people.
During Regula's tenure, health policy experts became increasingly concerned about our Nation's ability to cope with newly emerging infectious diseases, especially as we watched how quickly disease could travel across the globe with the example of SARS. Further, in the wake of the September 11 tragedy and the anthrax attacks, these same experts called our attention to our vulnerability to biological hazards. Working with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Ralph provided the key funding to step up the resources of the CDC to protect the Nation and prepare it for possible intentional biological threats against our population. Similarly, with the rise and spread of avian influenza, Ralph's subcommittee appropriated new funding to help the Nation, as well as at-risk countries in the developing world, improve the ability to detect, prevent, and control a potential pandemic flu strain. Today, pandemic preparedness and response plans are in place at the national, State, and local levels of Government, and research and development is ongoing on both a pandemic flu vaccine and new antiviral medicines.
Income support and healthcare payments to the elderly and disabled through the Social Security and Medicare programs are funded through mandatory spending; however, it is the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee that provides the critical administrative funding to ensure that benefit payments are processed efficiently and in a timely manner. While Congressman Regula knew that ensuring adequate staffing to these critical agencies would never be a top media story or even a leading policy topic, he understood that Americans' dependence on these services required his good management of these agencies and financial support to ensure their efficient operation. Following enactment of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit program, Ralph saw to it that the agencies had the financial support necessary to carry out the new program.
Finally, very outspoken in his belief that education is the key to our Nation's future in the global economy, Ralph also understood that educational growth is more comprehensive than a traditional classroom. As a result, he is still a leading spokesman for the One Stop Centers funded through the Department of Labor. These community-driven centers assist workers at all points in their working lives with training to improve their skills or to develop them in new business areas. Their training programs come through community colleges, technical schools and other accredited programs. Throughout his tenure as chairman, Congressman Regula supported these centers with both Federal funding through his subcommittee and through his regular stump speeches about the terrific partnerships these One Stops can have with the businesses and
employees in their communities, thus ensuring the continued economic well-being of these communities.
Ralph's impacts throughout his district and the State of Ohio are too many to name here. Suffice it to say that the residents of our State enjoy benefits of a premier national park in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, improved healthcare institutions, schools, higher education institutions, including medical schools, highway infrastructure and the arts as a result of his work in this body.
Throughout these 36 years of service in the House, Ralph Regula has remained a serious legislator with an open mind and a kind demeanor. He has worked effectively and professionally among his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that the work of our Nation gets done. He has exemplified the words of Ronald Reagan when he said that ``there is no end to what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit.''
This Congress will greatly miss the steady hand, judgment and leadership of Congressman Ralph Regula. We wish him all the best as he leaves the Congress. I am sure that he and his lovely and talented wife Mary will continue to do great things on behalf of Ohio and the Nation. Ralph, I know your colleagues here, the thousands of folks at the Departments of the Interior, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and the countless independent agencies funded in those two bills, and, most importantly, the American people will not forget all you have accomplished and the impacts that your work has had in improving our lives.