Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the rich history of the Jewish American experience in the United States as we mark Jewish American Heritage Month.

It is fitting that the words of the Jewish American poet, Emma Lazarus, are immortalized on the Statue of Liberty, ``Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,'' because here in the United States we recognize the powerful impact of the Jewish American experience--people who escaped persecution, arrived here as immigrants and prospered.

Jewish Americans formed strong communities, became involved in their neighborhoods, and have made lasting contributions to our country. Jewish Americans represent some of this country's, and indeed the world's, foremost innovators in health and science, business and industry, politics and government, arts and culture. This spirit is also found in many Jewish Americans who work tirelessly to seek a better life for future generations.

In celebrating the many milestones of Jewish Americans this month, we honor the lives, work, and rich history of Jewish Americans throughout our Nation. And that's why this month we take time to remember the unique Jewish American identity, steeped in history and faith, and their tremendously important contributions to our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, over the last several weeks, my Rhode Island constituents and Americans all across this country have been nervously eyeing their neighborhood gas stations, waiting and watching as the gas prices steadily rise, now forcing many to fill their tanks for no less than $4 per gallon.

This news underscores the concerns voiced by hundreds of men, women, and families throughout Rhode Island and all across this Nation in recent weeks. They can no longer afford the price of gasoline, and urgent help is needed.

Yet as gas prices climb, profits continue to soar for Big Oil. We've got to find solutions now to lower the cost of gasoline and to end the $4 billion in tax breaks that are paid to Big Oil.

Mr. Speaker, I am delivering a letter today to the Speaker asking him to bring legislation already drafted to the floor for a vote that would release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and legislation aimed at preventing Big Oil from engaging in price-gouging schemes which drive up the price of gas at the pumps.

These are just two measures, Mr. Speaker, that have been introduced in the House which would provide immediate relief to consumers from the rising price of gasoline that threatens our economy and the well-being of hardworking middle class Americans all throughout this country.

I certainly hope the Speaker will put these on the calendar so we can vote on them and provide relief immediately to the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor National Guardsman Specialist Dennis Poulin, a recently fallen hero of our country.

Dennis ``Danny'' Poulin, a 26-year-old native of Cumberland, Rhode Island, gave his life for our Nation, on Thursday, March 31, 2011, while serving in Afghanistan.

He, like so many of our brave men and women in uniform, executed the mission in Afghanistan with dedication and extraordinary competence. Specialist Poulin certainly did all we asked of him. This brave young man served our country with honor and made the ultimate sacrifice. He served as a mortarman in the Guard's Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry Regiment.

I want to take a moment to recognize Specialist Poulin's parents and family and to thank them for his service to our country. Besides his parents, Doris Poulin and Richard Renau, Specialist Poulin leaves his son, Nikolous Cullen Poulin; fiancee, Ashley Shylene Simmon; two sisters, Jennifer Poulin and Angelique Renau; and extended family, all who mourn his loss.

Let us honor his life, service and sacrifice, and let us help those who mourn by joining together in thanks for Specialist Poulin's valor and courage on behalf of our great Nation. All who knew him, and those who didn't but who know the sacrifice he has made, will miss him and will remain grateful for his service to our country.

I thank the gentlewoman from New York.

I rise in opposition to this rule and against this budget. This Republican budget no longer honors our commitment to our seniors and doesn't reduce our deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that the Republican plan will add $8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade because the proposed cuts in spending are outpaced by gigantic tax cuts for the richest Americans.

You also can't say you care about seniors and then fight to enact policies that hurt seniors. Under their plan, they'll slash support for seniors in nursing homes while giving away tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas.

And what else? American seniors will literally be paying more for their health care and getting less in order to finance additional tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, also reflected in this Republican budget.

A budget is more than just about dollars and cents. It's a statement of our values and our priorities as a Nation. This Republican budget does not reflect the values of our great Nation. My friends on the other side of the aisle would rather cut benefits to seniors than cut subsidies to big oil companies and big corporations that ship our jobs overseas.

They can quarrel with that argument, but these are the choices made in this budget. It ends Medicare as we know it. It slashes funding for nursing homes. It preserves tax cuts for the richest Americans and makes it even more generous. And it increases our debt. We have a responsibility to honor our commitment to our seniors. I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if we can't protect our Greatest Generation and keep our promise to them, what is next?

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the Disabled American Veterans, an organization representing our Nation's wartime disabled vets.

Disabled American Veterans works to ensure our government fulfills its promise to those who so bravely served our Nation. And I am pleased to honor their service at their 67th annual convention this week in Rhode Island.

The greatest tribute that we can pay to our disabled veterans is providing them access to quality health care and education and mental health services, housing, and employment assistance. For their courage and commitment, and for the burdens borne by their families, our disabled veterans and their

loved ones must receive the support and the services they rightly deserve.

These men and women of valor have made tremendous sacrifices in the name of freedom and in advancement of our Nation's security. We live in a free society today because of the service these men and women and their families have given our Nation.

I applaud the work of the Disabled American Veterans for their dedicated service to our Nation's heroes and their families.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in defense of our Nation's seniors, who are currently under attack. And the worst part about it is many of them are just waking up this morning to the nightmare that faces them. And why is that? Because the Republican budget proposal released this week is literally balanced on the fragile backs of our Nation's seniors. That's right. It ends Medicare as we know it. That's the simple truth. It no longer honors our commitment and our promise to our Nation's seniors.

As Americans now know, we are in the midst of a serious budget battle, and the Republicans are even threatening to shut down government. And there are real differences between our approach to the budget and the Republican budget released earlier this week. The Republican budget replaces Medicare with a voucher system. Seniors will have to use this voucher to buy insurance from private insurance companies.

Under the Republican plan, Medicare as we know it will end. And in the same budget proposal, the Republicans give away tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to big oil companies. And under their plan, they will slash support for seniors in nursing homes, while giving away tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas.

And what else? America's seniors, more than 150,000 in my home State of Rhode Island, will literally be paying more for their health care and getting less in order to provide additional tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, also reflected in this Republican budget.

To make matters worse, the Republican plan does not reduce the deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that this budget actually adds $8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade because its cuts in spending are far outpaced by the gigantic tax cuts for the richest Americans.

Our seniors cannot afford this Republican budget. It would deny them health care, long-term care, and the benefits they've earned and deserve.

The Republicans' choice to privatize Medicare, turning more power over to the insurance companies, will result in reduced coverage and exposure to greater financial risks for our seniors.

The Congressional Budget Office determined that under the Republican budget seniors' out-of-pocket expenses for health care would more than double, and could almost triple. To put that into context, the Congressional Budget Office found out that by 2030 seniors would pay 68 percent of premiums and out-of-pocket costs under the Republican plan, compared to only 25 percent under current law. And it found that the Republican plan means seniors will pay more for their prescription drugs because it reestablishes the doughnut hole.

Even Alice Rivlin, the former Office of Management and Budget Director under President Clinton, who worked with the Republican architect of this budget on a deficit reduction proposal, said she could not support his Medicare proposal because it eliminated the traditional Medicare choice and lowered the rate of growth beyond what's defensible.

And the conservative Wall Street Journal concluded earlier this week, quote: The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.

Under the guise of deficit reduction, Republicans are recklessly attacking the vital supports for our seniors.

We all agree that we have to address the deficit. The issue is not whether we reduce the deficit but how we do it. We can't cut what helps us create jobs, innovate for the future, and remain competitive in the global marketplace. And we cannot balance this budget on the backs of our Nation's seniors.

The Federal budget is about more than dollars and cents. It's a statement of our values and priorities as a nation. Republicans in this budget have set the wrong priorities. They would rather cut benefits to seniors than cut subsidies to Big Oil or corporations that ship our jobs overseas. The Republican budget breaks the promise we made to our seniors to protect them in their golden years.

I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: If we can't protect our Greatest Generation, I ask you, what's next?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my Republican colleagues: Which child pictured here would you deny an early education? Why would I ask that question? I'll tell you why. As it stands now, the Republican budget proposal would kick 218,000 children out of Head Start and prevent them from receiving an education, some of these children right here on this poster.

It will close 16,000 Head Start classrooms, classrooms in which these children learn. It will fire 55,000 Head Start teachers, teachers who teach these kids here.

A budget document, my friends, is not just about dollars and cents. It reflects our priorities as a Nation. Our children are our future and must be our top priority. Head Start is a key investment in improving their educational outcomes.

But if the Republican majority has their way, Head Start programs in my home State of Rhode Island will have to cut three kids from each classroom right now.

So I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Which of these children would you deny an early education to?

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center for their outstanding service to the heroic men and women who serve in our Armed Forces.

The Providence VA Medical Center is an award-winning health care facility in Rhode Island providing personalized outpatient and inpatient health care to our veterans. Recently the Providence VA received the National Center for Patient Safety's 2010 Cornerstone Recognition Program Bronze Award for successfully providing high quality health services to our veterans.

The men and women who serve in the Armed Forces put their lives on the line every day to protect the freedoms that we enjoy here at home. We owe our troops, veterans, and their families our utmost gratitude and respect, in addition to exceptional medical care for their great sacrifices on our behalf.

I commend the Providence VA Medical Center for their excellent service to our veterans. Congratulations on your achievements, and thank you for your commitment to Rhode Island's veterans.

I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that we can address this important issue of currency manipulation and trade.

Manufacturers in my home State of Rhode Island and those across the Nation are working hard and playing by the rules, and they are suffering disproportionately because their Chinese counterparts refuse to play by the same set of rules in the global economy.

One way Chinese businesses cheat is by keeping their currency artificially low so that their imports are cheaper than U.S. goods. That is simply not fair, and this practice must end. Artificially low Chinese currency contributes greatly to the global trade imbalance, which puts U.S. businesses and workers at a significant disadvantage.

China's unfair currency manipulation has destroyed millions of good- paying American jobs and jeopardizes the future of the American middle class. Employment in manufacturing shrank from 20 million jobs in 1979 to fewer than 12 million jobs today. In Rhode Island, we experienced the loss of more than 30,000 manufacturing jobs in the last decade alone.

Despite these sobering statistics, the American manufacturing sector is in the midst of a resurgence. If this vital economic engine is to be sustained, Congress must continue its investments in programs that help manufacturers compete in the global economy, ending currency manipulation. And by doing that, we can level the playing field for American manufacturers, give them a fighting chance to compete, and speed up our economic recovery and create jobs.

With so many factories shuttered, small businesses barely hanging on, and Rhode Island workers continuing to look for jobs, we can't afford to wait any longer for the Chinese to correct their unfair trade practices. That's why I am proud to cosponsor this legislation to end China's unfair currency manipulation, because in States like Rhode Island, we have to fight back against countries like China that won't stick to their obligations under international agreements and play by the rules.

If our country is going to compete in the global economy, we have to guarantee that manufacturers are not disadvantaged by an uneven playing field in foreign trade. We must demand that China play by the rules.

I thank the gentlelady from California.

I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1076 to defund National Public Radio. Overwhelmingly, my Rhode Island constituents agree, this legislation is no more than an ideological attack on public broadcasting masquerading as a fiscal issue. That is because Federal funding accounts for less than three-thousandths of one percent of the annual Federal budget. In addition to that, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says this legislation will not reduce the deficit by a single penny.

Without as much as a hearing, this legislation undermines public broadcasting, a system that 34 million Americans turn to weekly and in which Americans across the political spectrum place high trust.

These funding restrictions will devastate the economy of public radio. It will harm local stations. It will inhibit their ability to attract audiences, develop stable local revenue bases, and, most importantly, their ability to continue to produce local programming. Public broadcasting gives voice to the smallest and most diverse communities in our country. I know firsthand the high quality broadcasting the NPR provides in Rhode Island and all across this country.

It would also endanger 9,000 jobs at local public radio stations and communities across the country.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this assault on the free exchange of ideas and instead support a democracy that continues to listen carefully to its people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the rich history of the Italian American community in the United States as we celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph--La Festa Di San Giuseppe--on March 19. St. Joseph was credited with preventing a famine in Sicily in the Middle Ages, and the Feast of St. Joseph is celebrated widely among Italian Americans--including my family and many others across my home State of Rhode Island--and is an opportunity to recall the many contributions of Italian Americans to our country and to honor the patron saint of the family.

Here in the United States, we recognize the powerful impact of the Italian American experience, which began five centuries ago with the explorations of Vespucci and Verrazano. Italian Americans represent some of this country's, and indeed the world's, foremost innovators--in health and science, business and industry, politics and government, arts and culture.

In celebrating the many milestones of the Italian American heritage on this Feast of St. Joseph, we honor the lives, work, and rich history of Italian Americans throughout our Nation.

Buona Festa Di San Giuseppe, Happy St. Joseph's Day, to everyone.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in strong opposition to the bill to end the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. It is time for Americans to seriously question the Republican leadership's dedication to job creation. After 11 weeks in Congress, they've offered no jobs plan, no jobs bill.

What's worse, by their own expert witness's testimony, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP, supports 93,000 jobs nationally. In light of this estimate, I submitted an amendment to the NSP Termination Act that would require the Congressional Budget Office to study and report to Congress the impact of this legislation on job creation or job loss. However, my friends on the other side of the aisle prevented consideration of my amendment on the floor of the House.

Last week, the Republicans waged an attack on American homeowners by voting to eliminate foreclosure mitigation programs that help underwater homeowners refinance their mortgage as well as assist temporarily unemployed Americans to remain current on their mortgage; all of this in the midst of one of the worst housing crises in the history of America. And now the Republicans are putting our most vulnerable communities at even greater risk. Terminating the Neighborhood Stabilization Program will damage our neighborhoods, devastate home values, and will slow our economic recovery.

Now is the time to protect our most vulnerable neighborhoods, families who are struggling, and now is the time to invest in the future of our communities and help to restore the American dream of homeownership, recognizing that stabilization of our housing market is key to our economic recovery.

I urge my colleagues to vote against the termination of this program. I've seen it work in Rhode Island. It's worked well. It's making a difference.

Mr. Speaker, today we will consider proposals to cut foreclosure prevention programs during one of the worst housing downturns in our Nation's history. A safe and affordable home is central to the American Dream and central to a strong neighborhood and a thriving economy.

In Rhode Island, that dream has been fading because our State has been extremely hard hit by the national foreclosure crisis. Last year alone, there were more than 4,700 foreclosures in Rhode Island; and according to Housing Works Rhode Island, one in every 10 mortgaged homeowners was in foreclosure or serious delinquency by the end of last year. The fact of the matter is that we still face a serious housing crisis all across this country.

Today, my friends on the other side of the aisle will cut mortgage relief and refinance programs that help the very homeowners who need them most. That will leave homeowners with no other choice than to turn to those who created these unfair and predatory mortgages that got us into this mess in the first place.

At a time when our economy is beginning to recover, we should not be cutting from these programs because the housing sector is key to our economic recovery. These programs deserve increased funding because a successful housing sector will be one of the major factors that will pull us out of this recession.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the creativity, effort, and resourcefulness of two local housing authorities in the First Congressional District of Rhode Island.

At a time when Rhode Island and many other States across our country are experiencing unacceptably high foreclosure rates, there are some beacons of light in the housing sector, beacons like the Town of Lincoln Housing Authority and the Housing Authority of the City of Providence, which are both being recognized by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment officials as Awards of Merit winners for being well-positioned to meet the demand for safe and affordable housing for low- and very low-income families.

The Lincoln Housing Authority has instituted innovative programming for seniors, and the Providence Housing Authority has put in place energy efficiencies and cutting-edge health and fiscal planning programs.

These housing authorities are leaders in the development and maintenance of cost-effective approaches to responding to the variety of today's housing and community development challenges. Lincoln and Providence Housing Authorities not only effectively address local housing and neighborhood redevelopment challenges and concerns; they have also set a national example for similar organizations to learn from so they can meet the unique needs in their communities.

I congratulate you for your leadership in our State's housing industry, which proves yet again that Rhode Island innovation can combat both our State and national housing challenges.

I thank the gentleman from California for organizing this Special Order. I'm new to this Chamber, I've been here 2 months, but I think the poll that was released today, the Bloomberg poll released this morning, again found that America's top priority is jobs and getting people back to work.

We've been here 10 weeks and the Republican-controlled Congress has presented zero jobs. It hasn't presented a jobs bill. It has presented a spending plan that will cost 700,000 jobs. That's an analysis done by respected economists across the country.

Rhode Island is a State that has a very rich manufacturing history. We are the place where the Industrial Revolution began, home to some of the greatest manufacturing. I think, like many States, we have suffered in this recent economy. Rhode Island has been particularly hard hit. But I think if we are going to remain a world economic power, we absolutely have to make things again in America. If you ask people who believe that we're losing that position as a world economic power, you ask them, who do they think is the world economic power, they say China. If you say, why China? They say, because China makes everything.

I asked my constituents during my campaign, go into a store in Rhode Island, try to find something made in America. It's almost impossible. I really hope that the 112th Congress will be the Congress that revitalizes manufacturing in America. That means working hard to be sure we have a national manufacturing policy, to be sure that we provide manufacturers with the tools that they need to compete in the 21st century, to be sure that we have trade policies and workforce investments that allow them to compete globally, and to be really making the kinds of investments in manufacturing that are necessary not only to create jobs in the short term but to ensure the long-term economic health and prosperity of our country.

What I am afraid the Republicans have proposed in their budget proposal,

in an effort to make cuts now, are seriously compromising our ability to lead the world as an economic power. Look, we have to cut spending. We have to be responsible about managing this deficit. But we have to do it in a smart and strategic way that protects our investments in education, in innovation, in science and research so that we can make the new discoveries, develop the new products, and then manufacture them and lead the world as an economic power.

This is an opportunity to really understand the urgency of supporting manufacturing so that we can start making things again in this country, start selling goods. That's how the middle class was built in America, was through manufacturing. That's what built this country, a strong middle class. And the ongoing decisions that have been made by my friends on the other side of the aisle are undermining the middle class, are weakening the ability for manufacturing to grow. And I think they are the wrong decisions for our country.