Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the extraordinary work of the Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Organizations. Representatives from the Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Organizations are on Capitol Hill this week advocating for the millions of Americans who suffer from mental illness.

The council's work is vital because, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 26 percent of American adults will suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, and approximately 6 percent of Americans will suffer from a serious form of mental illness.

Since 1979, the council has led critical efforts to raise awareness about mental health and emphasize the important of mental health care funding. The council's efforts to integrate behavioral health with primary care has saved lives and cut costs in our State, setting an example for the Nation.

The Rhode Island Council of Community Mental Health Organizations is a true leader in the field of mental health. I believe we must make mental health care and full implementation of mental health parity a major priority as we continue to protect health care as a right for all.

I commend the Rhode Island Council of Community Health Organizations on their work to improve and promote mental health care.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the rich history of Colombia as we mark Colombian Independence Day on July 20. We honor the people of Colombia and those individuals of proud Colombian descent who are celebrating more than 200 years of independence.

Colombians have been immigrating to Rhode Island for the past 50 years, and I would like to thank them for their great contributions to our State. Simon Bolivar led the people of Colombia in the first raising of their flag, signifying their sovereignty and the birth of one of the most culturally rich nations in all of Latin America. Today we celebrate a great country, its people, their traditions, and the mark they have made on cities like Central Falls, Providence, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and others, adding to the vibrancy of these communities. For that alone, I am proud to honor your heritage and the difference you have made.

And as I pay tribute to the people of the great Nation of Colombia, I also want to, again, extend my thoughts and sympathies to Colombians everywhere for the suffering that continues to occur because of the floods in your country. May we continue to be inspired to support the people of Colombia through this difficult time as we celebrate Colombian Independence Day and honor the enormous contributions of Colombian Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a great Rhode Island citizen and a dear friend, the late Malcolm ``Kim'' Chace. My fellow Rhode Islanders and I have lost a great leader in Kim's passing. He will long be remembered for his warmth, humor, and devotion to the community.

Kim was a brilliant business leader. You couldn't be in the same room with him and not realize how intelligent he was.

Equally apparent was his tremendous generosity of spirit. He demonstrated that generosity over again and again in contributions to numerous community and educational organizations, including Women and Infants Hospital, Trinity Repertory Company, Brown University, Bryant University, the Gordon School, the Rhode Island School of Design, to name just a few.

Kim was always happy to donate his time and resources to the service of Rhode Island. He always offered a quiet kindness to me and to all those around him. Kim was a true gentleman.

Kim's most important treasure was his wonderful family. My thoughts and prayers are with Liz and the entire Chace family.

Kim's presence will be deeply missed.

Mr. Chair, I submit these remarks in opposition to provisions in Title V of the Energy and Water Appropriations measure (H.R. 2354) that would rescind unobligated High Speed Rail funds.

Indeed the recent storms and flooding that have ravaged the Mississippi and Missouri River Basins warrant the immediate attention and relief provided by Emergency Supplemental Funding in Title V. And as a representative from Rhode Island, a state that itself suffered and continues to recover from record level flooding in 2010, I wholeheartedly recognize the importance of this funding, which will enable the Corps of Engineers to repair the damage done by these natural disasters.

However, as Ranking Members Dicks and Visclosky noted in their views on the underlying bill, H.R. 2354, I too am disappointed by the decision to offset this important disaster relief funding by rescinding unobligated High Speed Rail funds. Time and again Congress has rightly responded to natural disasters with the emergency funding that facilitates recovery in our communities and reconstruction of critical infrastructure. As a Congress, we must respond to natural disasters with the resources it takes, and we must responsibly reduce the deficit. Yet, we must also make the necessary investments that will create jobs now and guarantee the future strength of our economy.

The fact that our Nation's investment in High Speed Rail remains a target for the budget chopping block is not just disappointing--it is a threat to our economy. We have to commit to paying down our debt. But, we must also commit to putting people back to work, supporting our infrastructure, and ensuring our Nation's ability to compete in the global economy. Some estimates say that each month we spend approximately $8 billion in Afghanistan--just think about that. In just 2 months worth of spending in Afghanistan, we exceed our Nation's entire investment in High Speed Rail. Each year, taxpayers dole out $4 billion in subsidies to big oil companies who continue to enjoy record profits, and yet here we are, stripping communities of critically important infrastructure dollars.

High Speed Rail is not some far-fetched fantasy, or a transportation solution that should be considered more of a luxury than a national priority. High Speed Rail is a reality. And while we hesitate to get on board, our competitor nations are charging further and further ahead of us. We've seen it in the headlines time and again. China now has the world's fastest conventional high-speed trains and longest network of tracks. Next year, just 4 years after beginning its High Speed Rail service, China will have more track than all of the world's high speed lines combined.

High Speed Rail creates construction jobs in the maintenance and operations jobs in the long term, and indirect jobs by growing access to greater labor pools and driving new economic development. High Speed Rail reduces congestion on our highways and skyways. These are key investments to ensure that America has a fast, safe, and efficient transportation network. And at a time when press reports as recently as this morning indicate states like Rhode Island are experiencing a rise in gas prices again, High Speed Rail provides a logical alternative to our oil addiction.

For the First Congressional District in Rhode Island, the provisions of Title V will strip away $3 million in High Speed Rail funds. For the state as a whole, it is estimated this Title will rescind more than $28 million in rail funding. This rescission occurs less than 2\1/2\ months after the initial announcement of the allocation to the Ocean State. Not only is Rhode Island battling high rates of unemployment--some of the highest in New England--and a sluggish economic recovery, we now have to battle against the uncertainty and unpredictability created by unwarranted rescissions such as the one before us now in Title V. All told, it is estimated that this rescission will result in the loss of hundreds jobs in my state alone.

As a former Mayor, I know how detrimental this loss in High Speed Rail is for my district, the state of Rhode Island, the Northeast Corridor, and the Nation as a whole. For the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island, High Speed Rail is a critically important component in efforts to attract the private investment that will help sustain and grow our economy; rebuild the infrastructure that will allow for efficient and timely transport of goods, people, and ideas; and place people in well-paying middle class jobs. Cities and states all across this country are relying on this investment to help improve their economies, relieve transportation congestion, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and compete in the global economy. Unfortunately, the offset contemplated in Title V will derail these efforts.

I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this offset because we must not fall further behind as our competitors speed ahead in the global economy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Patricia Flanagan, Rhode Island's nationally recognized expert in the area of teenage parenting and adolescent medicine. Dr. Flanagan recently received the 2011 Silver Rattle Award from the Rhode Island Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition for her years of leadership and dedicated service to Rhode Island's teen mothers and children.

Dr. Flanagan is rattling the system with her groundbreaking ideas and service to the Hasbro Children's Hospital community. She serves as the chief of clinical affairs at Hasbro; the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Rhode Island Chapter; and a professor of pediatrics at Brown University. As director of the Teens with Tots Clinic at Hasbro Children's Hospital, she leads a team in providing social and medical services to nearly 300 teen mothers and their children, following their lives for up to 5 years.

Today I am pleased to congratulate Dr. Patricia Flanagan for her great contributions to the field of maternal and child health as a pediatrician, a researcher, a teacher, and an advocate.

Madam Speaker, last week's jobs report showing an unemployment rate going in the wrong direction from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent underscores the urgent need to focus on policies in this House that help create jobs and grow the economy.

Part of that agenda should be the passage of the Offshoring Prevention Act of 2011, which I introduced last week. At a time when we should be working to restore our manufacturing sector, we are undermining it because our Tax Code actually rewards companies that send manufacturing jobs overseas.

The Offshoring Prevention Act will close the tax loophole that allows this to happen. It has been 27 weeks since the majority party took control of this House, and they have done nothing to create jobs. They haven't even brought a single jobs bill to the House floor.

While they have been stalling on the most important priority for our country, Democrats have put forth our jobs agenda, the Make It in America agenda, which will help rebuild our manufacturing base, invest in policies that keep good-paying jobs here in America, and allow us to compete in the global economy.

Madam Speaker, this is the kind of legislation we should be pursuing here in this House. Sensible legislation that helps our recovering economy, helps us compete in the global marketplace, and puts Americans back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the rich history of Cape Verde as we mark Cape Verdean Independence Day.

This week, we honor the people of Cape Verde and those individuals of proud Cape Verdean descent here in America and around the world who are celebrating 35 years of independence. In doing so, we honor the many milestones and important Cape Verdean leaders like Amilcar Cabral, who fought for the liberation of Cape Verde. We also honor the lives, work, and rich history of Cape Verdean Americans throughout our country and particularly in my home State of Rhode Island.

Cape Verdeans have made significant contributions in the areas of art and culture, business, and public service. Cape Verdeans have brought jag to local restaurants and added zuca to the music enjoyed by our community.

Rhode Islanders of Cape Verdean descent, like speaker of the house Gordon Fox, have been prominent leaders in Rhode Island politics.

I would also like to take a moment to pay tribute to the late George Lima. Mr. Lima served during World War II as a Tuskegee airman, the first group of black fighter and bomber pilots in the history of what was then the Army Air Forces. He then served our State honorably as a State representative and as head of the Rhode Island NAACP.

Cape Verdeans are generous, skilled, proud, caring members of our community, and I am honored to celebrate Cape Verdean independence with them this week.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to the Afghanistan policy that is funded in the fiscal year 2012 Defense appropriations bill. I join the efforts of my colleagues in a variety of amendments designed to accelerate the end of the war in Afghanistan.

For more than 9 years now, our troops have been executing the American mission in Afghanistan with bravery, dedication and extraordinary competence; but what started out as a ``quick war'' in 2001 to bring Osama bin Laden to justice and to dismantle al Qaeda in Afghanistan has turned into the longest war in United States history. The original mission has now been largely accomplished, and with bin Laden's death in Pakistan, this provides an opportunity to reexamine our ongoing mission in Afghanistan, which some estimates indicate is costing us in excess of $8 billion per month.

We should no longer be sending billions of American taxpayer dollars to the Afghan people for their schools, their hospitals, their roads, bridges, and police at the expense of making those same investments in our own country, especially when the Afghanistan Government, under the leadership of President Karzai, has proven itself incredibly corrupt.

In fact, Transparency International ranked Afghanistan the third most corrupt country in the world; and The New York Times recently reported about a road construction project, just one example in Afghanistan, funded by American taxpayers. It's a 64-mile-long project and is expected to cost $176 million to build, which comes to $2.8 million a mile. Undisclosed amounts of money have gone to pay off local strongmen to buy security while the project is ongoing, and it was reported that the people collecting these bribes staged attacks on the construction crews in order to make the bribes necessary in the first place.

With this kind of corruption and many other examples, we simply cannot afford to finance the infrastructure projects associated with this war. Don't forget, Mr. Chairman, that on top of everything else we're not even paying for this war. It's actually being financed on the national credit card. These are difficult economic and budgetary times. It is time to reassess U.S. involvement in Afghanistan so that we can focus on rebuilding our own economy, putting Americans back to work, and making sure our Nation can compete in the 21st century.

That is why I'm offering this amendment today, which will strike $475 million from the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund. Vital investments to our country's economic stability, the education of our children, the health of our seniors, and the employment of our workforce have time and again been put on the chopping block in this Congress. We're told that we can't afford to adequately repair our crumbling infrastructure here in America; we're told that Pell Grants and student loans are too expensive; and we're told that we need to change the safety nets for our Nation's seniors and most vulnerable populations--and in the same

breath, we're told we should continue to borrow billions and billions of dollars for nation-building in Afghanistan. What we really should be doing is nation-building right here at home. Instead of building roads and bridges and hospitals and schools halfway around the world in Afghanistan, we should be investing resources on the urgent needs of our own country.

Budgets are a reflection of our priorities.

Are we going to pay down our Nation's debt? Are we going to make the much needed investments in our own roads and bridges and ports? Are we going to protect our seniors? Are we going to ensure that access to college remains affordable? If we continue to spend billions and billions of dollars in Afghanistan, then we cannot have a balanced discussion of these priorities and these choices.

As we debate the merits of raising the debt ceiling and as we consider our domestic priorities, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, which strikes $475 million from nation-building in Afghanistan in order to keep those dollars right here at home--to invest in our future and to reduce our debt.

There was a recent report, Mr. Chairman, done by the Eisenhower Research Project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies just this past week. This group's cost of war project has released new figures for a range of costs associated with U.S. military responses to September 11, including our activities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They project that the wars will cost Americans between $3.2- and $4 trillion and cost 225,000 lives.

It is time to end this spending. It is time to make these investments in infrastructure in our own country, and I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Offered By: Mr. Cicilline

Amendment No. 88: Page 133, line 6, insert after the dollar

amount the following: ``(reduced by $475,000,000)''.

Page 161, line 12, insert after the dollar amount the

following: ``(increased by $475,000,000)''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 375th anniversary of the founding of the city of Providence, Rhode Island's magnificent capital city.

Providence, fondly known as the creative capital, the Renaissance city and the beehive of industry, has embodied American values since its founding in 1636. When Roger Williams founded the city of Providence, he could not have known what it would become: the city, built upon Roger Williams' tradition of diversity, welcoming immigrants from around the world into vibrant urban neighborhoods.

Having served for 8 years as mayor of this great city, I am aware of its well-earned reputation as the arts and culture center of New England. Providence has been recognized as one of the coolest cities in America, one of the 25 best cities for arts and culture and one of the 100 best cities for young people--to name just a few accolades. It has also been recognized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors for its innovative after-school programs, its world-class arts and entertainment and its restoration of city rivers, the creation of downtown warfront parks and spectacular historic preservation.

Three hundred seventy-five years after its founding, Providence is, without question, one of America's greatest cities, and it is a true honor to commemorate its founding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Emily Gordon and Dylan Burke, young advocates in the fight to cure type 1 diabetes.

Emily and Dylan are making a significant impact on the research for diabetes, and their work will benefit future generations. That's because they are both delegates representing Rhode Island in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Children's Congress gathered here in Washington this week, and they are with us on the floor today.

Emily, of Lincoln, Rhode Island, and Dylan, of Newport, Rhode Island, are working to raise public awareness of the critical need for diabetes research to eliminate this disease. Diagnosed at 17 months old, Emily has known diabetes for most of her life and doesn't view herself as different from other children. And Dylan has seen firsthand some of the complications of type 1 diabetes since his father also has the disease.

The work that Emily and Dylan are performing during the Children's Congress is critical to the nearly 26 million Americans who have diabetes. I commend and congratulate them for overcoming great obstacles to work towards a cure that will improve and save lives in generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Presidential Scholars Dylan Neel of Moses Brown High School and Sol Taubin of the Wheeler School for the academic excellence.

Dylan and Sol have shown themselves to be some of our Nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. They are two of only 141 students selected as U.S. Presidential Scholars from more than 3,000 applicants. The U.S. Presidential Scholars program recognizes graduating high school seniors for academic excellence, artistic accomplishments, and civic contributions. These young people represent the great hope of our Nation's youth and the promise of the American education system.

I also want to recognize Jennifer Stewart and Christine Barry, who were selected by Dylan and Sol, respectively, as their most inspiring and challenging teachers. I thank these teachers for their dedication to our young people and our schools.

I am pleased to join the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the United States Department of Education in recognizing Dylan Neel and Sol Taubin.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the United States Challenge Cup Junior Golf Foundation headquartered in East Providence, Rhode Island, which provides competitive opportunities for young golfers throughout New England.

Recognizing the need to expand access to competition for young golfers, the Challenge Cup was founded thanks to the vision, passion, and dedication of Dave Adamonis, Senior, in 1980, and continues today under the strong leadership of his older son, Dave, Junior.

The Challenge Cup has enabled thousands of young men and women to grow through the game of golf, resulting in hundreds of alumni advancing to compete at the collegiate level, developing the careers of many golf professionals, and fostering the personal growth of all participants.

As the 2011 United States Open begins this week, multiple Challenge Cup alumni are part of the field, including one of the tour's first participants, Dave Adamonis, Senior's younger son, Brad.

I thank the Adamonis family for their immense contributions to Rhode Island and the national golf community, and I wish Brad Adamonis the best of luck as he battles Congressional Country Club this week in hopes of capturing our national golf title.

I move to strike the last word.

I rise in opposition to the underlying bill.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in defense of 76,000 residents of the First Congressional District of Rhode Island, which I have the privilege of representing who, according to the advocacy group Feeding America, are at risk of losing their ability to feed themselves and their families. That is because this week the majority party in the House is ready to vote on a measure that will undermine the safety net in this country designed for our Nation's women, infants and children.

Mr. Chairman, we all know that one of the greatest challenges before us is reducing our deficit, but we have to do it in a way that is consistent with our values, consistent with the values of our great country. And this week we will be voting on a measure that fails those values miserably.

If the majority party has their way and denies necessary funding to a critical safety net for some of our Nation's most vulnerable citizens, nearly 1,000 women, infants and children in Rhode Island's First District will be denied the assistance they need to survive.

WIC represents the most basic obligation we have to our fellow citizens most in need--food and nutrition. On top of that, it is an incredibly cost-effective program, serving nearly 10 million Americans each year and costing less than $100 per person. In my district, more than 18 percent of the residents suffer from food insecurity and depend on WIC to make ends meet.

At a time when the middle class in our country is being crushed with high unemployment and still reeling from a housing crisis that has left countless families in foreclosure, we are seeing more and more people in need of assistance just to get by. And it is not just affecting people without jobs. It is folks who have a job as well, but they have had their wages cut or they have had their wages diminished or their hours cut.

This is not the time to allow people to lose the lifelines they need to survive. We have helped the auto industry. We have helped big banks. It is time to sustain support for families that are most in need and have been most devastated by this difficult economy.

Yet we see again this week another attack by the Republican majority in

the House on working families while they continue to fight to protect subsidies for Big Oil and to protect tax breaks for the outsourcing of jobs overseas. First they come after seniors by trying to end Medicare, and now they are coming after women, children, and infants who rely on food assistance.

We should not be destroying programs upon which citizens rely for their most basic needs in order to fund tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires or big subsidies for the big oil companies. If we got rid of tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires for one week, we could pay for the entire WIC program for an entire year.

I urge my colleagues to reject this proposal, to ensure instead that families most in need who have been hardest hit by this recession have access to food and nourishment. We have the ability to provide nourishment to families, and that is a cornerstone of a free and decent society. We cannot abandon this great responsibility.

I yield to the gentlelady from Wisconsin.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mike Connolly, an educator at the Charles E. Shea Senior High School in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for his leadership in launching the Voters in the Classroom initiative. Voters in the Classroom is a statewide mock election initiative involving nearly 25 percent of public high schools across the State of Rhode Island.

Mr. Connolly's Voters in the Classroom initiative is an effective classroom-based program helping to prepare students to be engaged public citizens. Students in the Voters in the Classroom program participate in mock statewide referendums on important topics, establish voting procedures through classroom discussions and assemblies, and staff polling places at their schools.

I recently visited the students and educators at Shea High School and have seen firsthand the importance of this program. Civic education programs like this are key to the success of our democracy because they increase the likelihood that young people will engage in the election process when they become of age.

I congratulate Mike Connolly on this achievement and thank him for his forward-thinking commitment to Rhode Island's students and the preservation of our democracy.