Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate an exceptional high school choir in my district, Pebblebrook High School Performing Arts Chamber Choir of Mabelton, Georgia, which has been chosen to perform at New York City's legendary Carnegie Hall on March 20, 2009.

Pebblebrook High School Performing Arts Chamber Choir was selected out of dozens of high school choirs across the country for this performance. The concert will feature 200 students from four states, and is the capstone of Carnegie Hall's yearlong National High School Choral Festival. The concert will be conducted by Dr. Craig Jessop, esteemed Director of the Utah State University Music Department and former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who has been working with the choirs and their conductors throughout the year. Apart from their world-renowned performances, Carnegie Hall brings innovative music education programs to students across the nation. I am delighted that these young constituents have been given this opportunity.

Led by George Case, the Pebblebrook High School Performing Arts Chamber Choir performs works from all periods of classical music with a strong emphasis on 20th- and 21st-century compositions with a focus on choral/orchestral masterworks. The Choir has shared the stage with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Cobb Symphony Orchestra, and has entered numerous competitions and adjudications at which they have consistently received superior ratings and awards. Choir members are actively involved in extracurricular performances and are given the opportunity to work with top professionals in the arts from the Atlanta area and throughout the United States.

I am honored to have one of the four schools in the nation chosen for the Carnegie Hall National High School Choral Festival residing in my Georgia district. They should be proud not only of their musical achievement, but their embodiment of the quality musical education the State of Georgia provides. I commend these students and their leaders for their success, and wish them the best of luck on March 20 when they perform at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Speaker, on February 12, 1909, exactly 100 years ago this month, a group of 60 persons came together as a result of a race riot in Springfield, Illinois, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln; very ironic, the emancipator of this Nation.

It is very important for us to recognize that these groups of people came together, 60 in number, to make amends and to address the racial conditions in the United States at the turn of the century and as a result of this riot in Springfield, Illinois. But it's also important to note that of these 60 individuals, 53 were white people and seven were black people, headed up by W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida Wells Bennett, strong Americans who rose to the occasion.

You know, one of the great NAACP writers, Langston Hughes, put it best when he was describing the condition of the African American people when he wrote that, ``Life for me (African Americans) ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it and splinters, and boards torn up, no carpet on the floor, bare. But all the while I've been a climbin' on and reaching landings and turnin' corners, and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't been no light.'' But in February of 1909, there came a light, and that light was the NAACP.

What an extraordinary story. And no greater testimony can be given to the NAACP than to recognize that on this very evening, for the first time in American history, an African American, the President of the United States, will address a joint session of Congress. What an extraordinary tribute on the very time that we are here to celebrate 100 years of the NAACP founding.

So on this occasion we say, happy birthday, NAACP, and thank you.

Thank you very much.

Madam Speaker, this is no joke. To my friends on the other side of this aisle, this is a very serious matter. We've lost 3,673,000 jobs in the last year alone. Madam Speaker, that is 10,000 jobs every day.

Now, what we have here is plain and simple. Our economy has leaks and holes in it all throughout. That's why you've got 1,000 pages there because it's big. Our economy is big.

You say you haven't read it. I would say you have read it. You've come down here and poked holes about it, said this is what's wrong with it and that's what's wrong with it. How do you know that if you haven't read it?

The other point is this, Madam Speaker: last November the people of the United States made a decision and that decision was to put Barack Obama as President, because they wanted a new direction. He has pleaded, he has cajoled, he's gone all across this country asking for help. I say, Madam Speaker, let us give him the help, let us come together, and let us go ahead and pass this bill without delay. The American people are counting on us.

I was up until 3 o'clock this morning reading it. If you had done this, Mr. Dreier, you were here debating it last week----

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

We have had the pleasure of having the distinguished guest chaplain for today from my district in Georgia. Each year, the Reserve Officers Association presents a Chaplain of the Year Award, which is selected by the Chief of Chaplains of each military service.

And the award goes to a chaplain--a special chaplain--with special qualities. He is selected for extraordinary contributions to the welfare, the morale, and effectiveness of the Military Reserve Services. This year, the award went to Military Chaplain Major James Boren Higgins, who delivered our wonderful prayer this morning.

Dr. Higgins graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1983. He earned his master of divinity degree in 1986 from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He received his doctor of ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. And he has received the following outstanding awards. And, America, listen to these rewards.

He is a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal. Dr. Higgins is a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal. He is also the recipient of the Army Achievement Medal. And he is the recipient of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. And for his distinguished duty in Iraq, he received the Iraq Campaign Medal.

What an extraordinary minister. Not just a minister of God, but a minister of the world. A minister to bring peace and comfort to his fellow soldiers at a time of great stress on the battlefields, as well as here at home.

Reverend Higgins currently lives in my district in Powder Springs, Georgia, with his lovely wife Pam and their three children. Reverend Higgins is the senior pastor and chief executive of the 3,200 member McEachern Memorial United States Methodist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.

We are so proud to have Pastor Major James Boren Higgins as our guest chaplain of the day for the United States Congress. What an extraordinary individual at an extraordinary time, who has given an extraordinary service. We are so proud to have him serve as our guest chaplain of the day.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a very, very joyous and celebratory occasion, an occasion to wish happy birthday to an extraordinary person, a great American, and a leading world citizen, and that is home run king Hank Aaron.

For on February 5th of this month, Hank Aaron will celebrate his 75th birthday, and I am sure all of us in this Congress and across America and around the world would love to take this opportunity to say, ``Happy birthday, Hank.''

Hank Aaron was born in 1934 in the midst of the Depression in Mobile, Alabama. In that same year, a gentleman by the name of Babe Ruth swatted his last home run for the New York Yankees. Who would have thought that this young, black kid in Mobile, Alabama in 1934 would one day beat the record that many said never would be broken?

Then World War II comes along; Pearl Harbor is bombed. While Hank Aaron's father is in the shipyards of Mobile, Alabama, fixing up the boats and the ships to help win World War II, Hank Aaron is playing his very first ball game as a 7 year old in Mobile, Alabama.

Then 1947 comes around, and Jackie Robinson comes on the scene, and Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier, and creates a great gleam and hope and inspiration in the heart of this young 13-year-old kid, Hank Aaron, to think that, one day, I can play Major League Baseball because Jackie Robinson is with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He grows up in 1951, and at the tender age of 17, this young man signs a contract, Hank Aaron. His mother packs his suitcase and sends him off to play in the Negro league for the Indianapolis Clowns. What an historic and extraordinary life.

Two years later, three years later in 1954, when the Supreme Court brings down that great decision in the Kansas Board of Education to integrate the schools and to start America on the movement to where we have seen this crowning achievement this year to elect the first black President, Hank Aaron signs with the Milwaukee Braves.

In 1957, he has shown such skill, such tenacity to be one of the leading players, star players, in all of Major League Baseball in just 4 short years, and he leads the Milwaukee Braves to their first and only world championship, and he gets the crown as the Most Valuable Player in the 1957 World Series.

Then in 1966, the South beckons. We want a major league team. The South is in the major leagues. Atlanta beckons. Mayor Ivan Allen makes a trip to Milwaukee, not to talk to the mayor, not to talk to the general manager or to the owner but to go knock on the door and to sit in the living room of Hank Aaron in 1965 and say, ``We are building a stadium, but we need a team.''

Hank Aaron says, ``Let's go south, boys,'' and history was made, and the South becomes a part of Major League Baseball because of this great American, Hank Aaron, in 1966.

In 1974, the night is April 8, and then we flash back to that year 1934 and remember the great bambino strikes his final home run the year Hank Aaron is born. 714, they said, would never be broken, but on that night on April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron shatters Babe Ruth's record and hits 715. It is the shot heard around the world and the accolades. A great achievement. One of the greatest sports achievements in history.

In 1976, he hits 755.

All America join me in saying, ``Happy birthday, Hank Aaron, on your 75th birthday.''

Madam Speaker, bipartisanship is important, and we are reaching out for it. There is no President in history that has reached out and has done more to reach out and to show them than President Barack Obama. He has done so.

On our side, the amendments that you wanted, many of those were included by Chairman Obey, Chairman Rangel and the other chairmen in this. There were some objectionable items.

Well, thank you very much, I can certainly use it.

Because of this, this country is looking for us to provide the kind of leadership that is needed. They don't want us to hang around the docks like little boats. They are looking for us to go way out where the big ships go. We must think big and bold. Our economy is crumbling around us.

Let me speak for a moment about what we need in Georgia. I don't know about your States, but Georgia's economy is crumbling and is in need. We will get just more than $6 billion in construction, and these are ready-made construction projects. Let me read what we have in the law.

It says these new starts and priority projects would be under construction, and, we would be able to award contracts at least within 120 days so that we are moving forward and making sure that these jobs are created in the areas that are needed most.

Now, we don't have a choice in this. The wrong thing for us to do is to do nothing. We have got to act big, we have got to act bold, and the American people are looking to us. We have got to move with confidence.

I would yield.

Well, tax cuts are good, but they are not the only thing. Every economist that we have talked with has said it is spending, because when you spend, you are putting money directly into the economy, creating jobs, and those jobs will yield back tax receipts as well.

When you have tax cuts, it's discretionary. A person can use it to save, they can use it to do whatever. But when you inject money directly into the economy, you are, in fact, stimulating that economy.

Does the gentleman have more time to yield?

I am so glad you pointed that out, because let me show you, let me just illustrate to you, everything is different, every State is different.

My State has over 6 billion shovel-ready projects ready to go. In one county alone, in Clayton County, we have got $43 million ready to go; in Cobb County, $50 million; Henry County, $12 billion; in Douglas County, $11 million and in Fulton County, $62 million. These are shovel-ready projects ready to go that will create jobs.

Thank you very much, Mr. McGovern.

I think it is very important for us to get our hands around exactly what the situation is now. Our house is on fire. There are two things we need to do. We got to get the water, and we got to get the water quickly and put this fire out. Our economy is crumbling right before our eyes. We are losing 6,300 homes to foreclosure every day. We are losing almost that many jobs every day. Each day there is a new headline, 5,000 jobs here, 6,000 jobs here. Ladies and gentlemen, we can't wait.

Now, let us talk about this economic recovery and investment package, because that is what it is, and let's be fair and accurate with the American people as we talk. We have a new administration that is saddled with the responsibility of leading and applying the executive decisions. This administration, the Obama administration, has come to Congress, and with them, together, we have put together this package, a package that has a great many things in it because our economy has a great many things in it.

Now, if you want to stimulate the economy, there are only three basic ways to do it: You can cut taxes, which is in here; you can do huge government spending, which is in here; and you can also use the Fed to cut the interest rates, which we have already done and they are frozen at zero. So we are left with these two things. And this package is equally balanced in terms of the impact that is needed. We need to get stimulus in as quickly as we can.

Madam Speaker, if I may just share with you a little letter I received from one of my constituents in a high school in Clayton County in Forest Park. Let me just read this.

It says, ``Dear Congressman Scott. I am a high school student that attends Forest Park High School here in Clayton County, Georgia. This school is in bad shape and I hope you can help us get money for the school. The school needs new tile for restrooms and new

windows. The hallways need new lockers so that the lockers that don't open can be replaced. Classrooms need new desks so that some of the desks that have graffiti and old gum stuck to them can be replaced. We need more space in the lunchroom. Congressman Scott, the lines are so long in the lunchroom that when some students just get their food, it is time for them to go back to the classroom.''

Well, in this package we have $43 million into this Clayton County school system. In another county in my district, $50 million. And I am sure every Member of this House can get a letter saying the same thing.

Madam Speaker, our country is riveted with those moments that try men's souls. We are at such a moment in our history. And when the history books are written on this moment, let it be said that both Republicans and Democrats came together and responded at this moment with the confidence that the American people are looking to us with a way out of this dilemma that we are in. That is why they elected us, to lead, to lead with confidence and with boldness, and to rise to the occasion of this moment that tries men's souls as those moments in our past history from the foundation of this country to now have.

Let us move with quick dispatch and get this measure off, passed and over to President Obama, so he can execute this plan immediately.

Mr. Chairman, let me just take up where my good friend from the other side left off. I take great umbrage with what he has said.

This is a very good measure that is timed for this extraordinary time that we're in now. We are in the worst economic crisis in the history of this country, many say since the Depression. But from what I understand, at the rate of losing 6,000 homes to foreclosures every day, we're losing 7,200 jobs every day since the beginning of this year, there has been nothing like that in the history of this country. The American people are expecting us to act and move with boldness, with confidence, not whining, not saying, oh, woe is me.

Now, Mr. Chairman, let me tell you that these are, indeed, the times that try men's souls. In the history of this country we've had those moments. When the history is written on this moment, what do we want them to say about what the Congress did when we faced the greatest economic crisis of our time? Do we want to say we whined and said no and did nothing? Or do they want to see where we did the practical thing of stimulating the economy by investing in its infrastructure, in its schools, in its health care, that not only creates jobs, but creates wealth and gets our economy well?

And, yes, we understand there's another way to stimulate the economy through selective tax cuts, but Mr. Chairman, those tax cuts needed to be targeted down at the level of the people at the lower incomes and the middle incomes that are going to be most likely to spend the money.

Now, Mr. Chairman, we've taken care of the banks; let's take care of the American people and pass this measure.

Mr. Speaker, as I stand here, it is very important for us to remember the words of our first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, for it was Alexander Hamilton who said the greatness of a strong, centralized government shines at its most brilliant at the moment and time of a nation in crisis.

We are in a crisis. We are in an agonizing, convoluting, economic crisis of staggering magnitude. It is going to take us to have the wisdom and the smarts, just like our Founding Fathers did, to be able to respond.

Now I want to just bring this into perspective so the American people will know exactly what it is we are doing, in a most responsible way, because I take great umbrage with some of my friends on the other side of the aisle, some of my Republican friends, who want to question the actions of us on the Democratic side of not being good stewards of the taxpayers' money. We are being good stewards of the taxpayers' money. Unlike the first batch of the $350 billion that the previous administration had, you talk about not being good stewards of the taxpayers' money, there you go, no strings attached. Nothing. The Secretary of the Treasury comes over and says he wants to use that $350 billion to get the toxic assets, and does nothing but change his mind in the middle of the stream before we can get out of town, before we can even put the oversight and put the inspector general in, and changes the direction of the money away from that, putting it into direct injections into the banking system, which one would say had some effect, but it was not being good stewards of the taxpayers' money.

So now we come with a brand new administration, the Obama administration, whose first order of business is to deal with the significance of this economic crisis. He is asking for this tool, a tool, by the way, which is the same tool that we gave to the previous administration. And I say to you, this is surely, as we honored the request of the previous administration, President Bush, because we knew that we had a crisis, we know that crisis is 10 times worse today and we should be moving 10 times faster to give it to the Barack Obama administration.

Let me say this because there has been a whole lot of talk about we need to make sure that we do it right and we have the proper tools in place of oversight. Under the leadership of Chairman Frank we have done that with the TARP bill we passed yesterday. Here is what it has got. It has got the oversight in it. It has got the quarterly reporting. And yes, to the dismay of some of our friends on the other side of the aisle, we have a requirement in here that we will have Federal observers sitting in the boardrooms when the decisions are made because we found out they are not going to do as we say. Just like the Super Bowl, you have got to have the referees and umpires on the field to make sure that they follow the rules of the game. We have that in.

And more significantly, right to the core of my heart, I tried as hard as I could on the last bailout, the first $350 billion, I tried to get moneys in to deal with the core of the problem, which is home foreclosures. Under the leadership of our Financial Services Committee, we made sure that up front, we are saying to the Obama administration, make sure that you use up to $100 billion to make sure that we can keep folks in their homes. Put the moneys into the community banks and the small businesses which create most of the jobs in this country.

This is an important day. It is an important time. I ask you to remember the words of Alexander Hamilton and let us vote down this obstructionist piece of legislation and move forward.

I will reserve the balance of my time.

I would take 1 minute to respond just very briefly. I think what the gentleman is referring to is exactly what we are doing. No one has given up authority. We, in fact, yesterday, passed a bill that reclaimed that authority that we thought we had had when we attempted to put some of these same measures in place with the first $350 billion. And as you so eloquently articulated, the Bush administration disavowed all of that.

We had many of the oversight measures we have got in this. We said it would go for the spoiled assets. But as you said, it didn't. Because of what we have learned from that experience, we have done exactly what you are asking here. The banks wouldn't lend, and this measure that we passed out yesterday to accompany this, we have got a mechanism in place in which we can measure the difference between the decrease and the increase of how much money these banks are lending, that we would get to that.

As far as oversight is concerned, we made one step with AIG. It worked out when we put Federal observers in the boardroom, and we have incorporated that feature throughout, Mr. Speaker. So we have responded exactly to what the gentleman is saying.

I would yield myself 30 seconds just to say to the gentleman and to the people of this country that we have a new administration in place, and the Obama administration has met and has communicated with us, and we are in concert with what is involved in the TARP measure, with the oversight, with the monies going to foreclosures, and so there is an agreement on how the fund should be used going in. We think the measure we passed yesterday will act as a good guide for that.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I would yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

(Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I just want to make note that we certainly have reserved the right to close on this debate.

I'd like to just respond very briefly to a couple of points that have been made by the distinguished gentlelady from North Carolina, as well as Mr. Manzullo. Apparently, I am sort of reminded at this time of the great movie, starring Paul Newman, called Cool Hand Luke. There was that enormous scene where the jailer says, ``What we have here is a failure to communicate.'' I think that what we have on each side of us here is a failure to communicate.

Ms. Foxx, you continually point out that we don't have accountability. And, in the bill that we passed, the TARP bill we passed on yesterday, are clearly pointed out mechanisms in place for accountability, for transparency, quarterly reports on how the money is spent, and agreements on how the funds are spent.

We have a requirement that, in spite of all that we have said, that we will have Federal observers in the boardrooms where the decisions are made on how the money is spent. How much more transparency, how much more accountability can we have?

We didn't have this in the first section. We found out that it worked, as you know so well, with the AIG agreement. We have Federal observers there. We know how that is done. It keeps individuals honest. And on the three most important areas that there was failure on the first $350 billion, not a dime going to help foreclosures. We have more than made up for that by writing into the TARP law that up to $100 billion will be going out of this $350 billion to deal with the most pressing problem, the most pressing problem that caused the problem in the first place, and that is home foreclosures and getting help in a variety of different ways to sustain people to stay in their homes.

The other area of concern was that there was no way we could measure or determine the banks would lend the money. Well, we have got a mechanism in place here that will measure the difference between the increase and the decrease of the amount of moneys that the banks are lending under the program. So, to say that there's no accountability, that there is no oversight here, is totally, totally misleading.

I say that respectfully to Ms. Foxx, because I have great respect for her.

Yes, I yield to the gentlemen.

Yes, we do. I am sure the gentleman would agree that not only are Federal observers there to see that the money is going to foreclosures, but they are also there to see that the banks are lending, to see that it's going to community banks, to the smaller banks, to see that it's going to small businesses.

We have got car dealerships that are going out of business, which are job-sensitive. That is basically what they do, create jobs and have jobs there. So we want the money to be in a position where we have access and we have direct attention and observance to make sure this money is going to the places where it's needed most, which is keeping folks in their homes and keep folks in their jobs.

I appreciate the gentleman as well.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Announcement By the Speaker Pro Tempore

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to the Nation and to honor the South Cobb High School marching band--the Blue Eagle Band--for being selected to march for Barack Obama, the first African American to be elected President, in this extraordinary and historic inaugural parade.

This is an extraordinary story, Madam Speaker, but it is not just a Georgia story; it is an American story. For, when these young people were recognized and were selected for marching in this parade, they didn't have the money to come and no means, but people all across this country, from as far away as Arizona and California--over 16,000 donations and over 85 corporations--provided a way for these young people to come, young people who happen to come from the lower end of the economic stream. So you see, Madam Speaker, I am so proud to represent this extraordinary school from Austell, Georgia, from Cobb County, my district.

Next Tuesday, when we're watching this parade and when we see this Georgia high school band go by, it will not just be a Georgia story; it will be an American story. It will not be just a story of small achievement; it will be a story of America. People will say, ``There goes America's band,'' because they got here and made it, because they practiced the values that made this country great with the spirit of the American people behind them.

Madam Speaker, what a great day this is, to be able to finally, finally, pass this much-needed bill.

Madam Speaker, we have over 300,000 Georgia young people and children who desperately need this legislation. We worked hard in the past sessions to be able to get this bill passed, but to no avail. But now we will be able to get this passed, and hopefully it just might be the very first bill that our new President, President Barack Obama, will sign.

But let me just tell you the improvements on this bill and what we have so the American people will know. It will eliminate the 5-year waiting period for low-income people insured to be part of the program. It will add 4 million new additional uninsured low-income children, to bring that total up to 11 million. There will be a 4\1/2\-year reauthorization period that extends all the way through 2013. It will add dental and mental health parity, which is so greatly needed, because so many of our health needs and diseases and challenges come when the teeth are not there.

Madam Speaker, it is a great day. I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) for his leadership on this and urge passage.

Madam Speaker, I represent Georgia, which has 300,000 children who badly need coverage in this legislation. Let me take a part of my moment here, if I may, to respond to what I think are some misstatements from the other side because this is, indeed, a children's health program, and they've mentioned about adults being on this program.

One category of adults, Madam Speaker, is pregnant women. Of all adults, a pregnant woman with child in her womb, they need care. They should be and are covered in this.

As far as the other category, here's what the bill says as far as parents. No new waivers to cover parents in the CHIP program will be allowed. That's in this bill.

What about childless adults who don't have? The bill says the current law, that prohibition on waivers to cover coverage of childless adults is retained. Childless adults are prohibited in this law.

Issue of illegal immigration; only legal immigrant children and their pregnant immigrant legal immigrant women are covered under this bill.

First let me address a couple of points that the other side has mentioned. The first erroneous statement is that this is a one-person bill, the chairman's. Nothing could be further from the truth. This has been an open process. Many of the amendments and concerns of the other side have been added to this bill.

Tomorrow we are going to have amendments that the chairman has made allowable for the other side to be debated on this bill. Many of the concerns that I had raised in the early part of the first expenditure of the first $350 billion are incorporated in this. Many of the ideas that Congresswoman Maxine Waters and I, in our concern about the housing and the home foreclosures, are a part of this bill, any number. We've had hearings. So I think it is very important for that statement to be shot down as erroneous and unfair to our distinguished chairman, for

he has certainly had a very open process.

Now, I've listened to the other side, and you talk about putting a plan together. You talk about not making the mistakes that we've made before. The mistakes we made before were in the hands of this administration, with this Treasury Department that came in and said he wanted the $350 billion for one thing, which was to take the spoiled assets off the books, he didn't use it for that. Before we could get on an airplane and get out of Dodge he had changed the whole plan, gave the banks $290 million just like that, before we could even put the Inspector General in place, before we could put the oversight in place.

What this bill does is correct that mistake, puts a plan in place that will bring the reporting, bring the monitoring, the accountability and the transparency to this and will have upfront agreements on how these funds will be used.

And let me just state for the record that in this morning's Politico there is an interesting poll that drives home the basic need and the substance for this bill. In that poll it says that 5 percent of the American people--only 5 percent of the American people--believe and have a great deal of trust that the Federal Government will handle its financial responsibilities responsibly. This measure goes right to the heart of that and makes sure that we put in place a way in which we guarantee that we will make sure that this $350 billion is handled responsibly.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to a very talented and energetic member of the committee, the gentlelady from Illinois (Ms. Bean).

I yield the gentlelady an additional 30 seconds.