Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Chairman Waxman, I'm pleased, as I know you are, with the work of the Energy and Commerce and Agriculture Committee and what we have done to address the concerns of agriculture producers and forest landowners in this historic bill.

I would like to clarify provisions in this bill regarding section 795, Exchange for Early Action Offset Credits, and section 740, Requirement of Early Offset Supply. These provisions attempt to fairly compensate farmers and others who have been enrolled in voluntary offset programs since 2001.

I have noted the legislative goal of providing equity and fairness to those early actors and believe that further clarity would improve the understanding of those who are eligible under the requirements in section 740. Therefore, to remove the possibility of uncertainty of economic harm to the holders of potential credits under section 740 and those that would be compensated under section 795, it is my understanding that registries like the Chicago Climate Exchange and their partners should qualify in all respects to the provisions----

Provisions in section 740(a)(2). I believe this is in the spirit and intention of the legislation. Is that the chairman's understanding?

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009, which was introduced under the leadership of the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Mr. Filner. I want to thank Mr. Filner and the Subcommittee on Health Care chairman, Mr. Michaud, for their great leadership on this issue.

The Veterans Affairs health care system includes 153 medical centers with a facility in each State, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Almost 5.5 million people received care in the VA health care facilities in 2008, and VA's outpatient clinics registered over 60 million visits. This is one of the largest health care providers in the country.

However, in fiscal year 2009, for only the third time in the past 20 years, VA received its budget prior to the start of the new fiscal year. It isn't reasonable to expect that one of the largest, fastest- growing health care providers in the country can operate in the most efficient and effective manner if they don't know what their budgets will be.

The current budget process continues to hamper and threaten VA health care delivery. When VA does not receive its funding in a timely manner, it is forced to ration its care. So much-needed medical staff cannot be hired, equipment cannot be procured, waiting times increase, and the quality of care suffers.

H.R. 1016 will solve many of these problems and fund the VA 1 year in advance. It will allow the VA to spend money more efficiently while at the same time providing better and more comprehensive care for our veterans. H.R. 1016 will make sure that the VA has the resources that it needs in a timely manner so that it can provide quality care without having to question what funds will be available next month.

I am here today in an attempt to serve our veterans' best interest and to fight to make sure they receive the best care possible. To that end, I stand in favor of H.R. 1016 and strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1211, the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act.

I want to thank Ms. Herseth Sandlin for her dedication on this issue. As more women serve in the military, they are quickly becoming an important segment of VA users. Their numbers will double over the next 2 to 4 years, and many are under the age of 40.

This presents new challenges to the VA system, which historically was designed to serve male veterans. Significant changes to the VA need to occur to properly serve all veterans.

As we heard at the VA committee roundtable on women veteran issues, women veterans arrive at the VA with a variety of unique challenges. Many women veterans do not identify themselves as veterans and seek care outside of the system. Some feel stigmatized and are hesitant to speak out. Women who have sought care at VA facilities have complained that staff lacks understanding of the role of women in combat.

The most pressing of these challenges relate to mental health, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, and behavioral issues. A 2008 VA study reported that 15 percent of women in Iraq and Afghanistan experience sexual assault or harassment, and 59 percent of these women were at a higher risk for mental health problems.

These are tragic numbers and we need to act immediately to address them. The difficulty women face in accessing the VA system and the lack of women-focused health care is unacceptable.

These women have sacrificed so much for our country. This bill takes the first step to meet these challenges and follows up on recommendations provided by Veterans Service Organizations by requiring the Secretary of the VA to study the barriers women face as they seek VA services.

Similarly, H.R. 1211 improves training and education for VA professionals to help treat women veterans. This education will help to address the concerns that many women veterans have that the VA doesn't understand their needs.

This is why I support H.R. 1211 and strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important bill.

General Leave

Thank you. I want to thank Representative Pingree for leading this hour tonight. It's great to join you, as well as our other colleague, Mr. Boccieri.

Health care has been a topic that comes up every year, but yet nobody finds the time to really, really put their nose to the grindstone and get something done about it. It's probably the top issue to all Americans every day, talking about how are they going to afford these skyrocketing costs. It's also an important topic for businesses across our country and especially for our national budget.

Tonight, I want to focus, I think, on the urgent need for health care reform. And it's a personal story for me. It's personal to me and my constituents who are struggling with the medical costs, and it's personal for so many Americans that are struggling with these health care costs across our country.

I know what it's like for someone to struggle with health costs because of a lack of access to good health insurance. I've seen my parents take this battle on. Growing up, my dad was self-employed, and my parents just couldn't afford health care. Being self-employed, it was virtually an expense that we could not take on. In fact, I'm not even sure I remember going to the doctor. It was just something we didn't do.

Later on in life, my mom was only 49 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I can remember my parents spending all their time focusing on how to pay for the bills instead of focusing on her health. And it was very, very depressing for the whole family.

I can remember her talking about--and, remember, she was only 49. She's okay today, but I can remember her spending the next 15 years of her life just wishing and hoping she could make it until 65 so that she would have health care again, because virtually with that preexisting illness she could never have health care again. And that was so sad to our entire family.

And I'm not the only one that's been through it. I hear story after story after story, and certainly true with so many people with preexisting illnesses. My mom was very fortunate. She won her battle with breast cancer. But even today, many, many families find themselves in that same situation, and it shouldn't be that way. Even families who do have health insurance find these rising costs or they have the false sense of security that they have health insurance, only to find some of these costs and some of these tests, that they're denied.

So, in order to compensate for the care for the uninsured, families are paying about $1,000, each family, in additional costs each year in their own health care plans to cover those without insurance. So, it's obvious we need health care reform.

As Congress takes up this health care issue, we have to follow and focus on the following priorities. We need to reduce costs. We need to preserve everyone's choice of doctors and their plans. We need to improve the quality of care. These are the keys to successful reform health care and reforming of health care in America.

The cost for an average American, for businesses, and for our country are out of control, and they're still rising. As Representative Boccieri said, 15 percent of our gross national product, and it's going up every year. And it's just becoming one of the biggest burdens not only on families, but on businesses also. So we need health care reform. We need to reduce these costs.

Secondly, when we're talking about health care, I don't think there's anything more important than a person's relationship with their doctor. And we need the health care reform that's going to allow you to keep that relationship with your doctor and your health care plan if you like them.

Finally, we need to improve that quality of care and we need good access to preventive medicine and we need to encourage Americans to stay healthy. This is a cultural thing, and it's not going to happen overnight. But we really need to invest in health and wellness and help change the culture of our society.

So I'm just so glad that I have the opportunity to spend an hour here with my colleagues talking about some of the things that we need to do.

Representative, thank you for having us tonight to make sure that we talk about this very important issue.

And I think the reason being is because they spend so much time on paperwork, and it is so much like a fee for service. They want to take care of people. That can't even keep them healthy. They spend all their time just curing ailments. So I think as the culture changes how we want to keep people healthy has not been very good for the doctors. Just like with the hospitals, they are seeing so much uncompensated care, they can hardly keep their doors open. In my district, several hospitals have already closed. They are just not able to keep the doors open because people are just not paying their bills. So they feel that if everybody has some sort of insurance, maybe they would get something.

When we talk about reform, do you know how much money we would save if hospitals didn't have to do all that cost shifting? They could spread the costs instead of charge people more who have insurance.

One of the other things we haven't talked about yet is Medicare part D and how our seniors who fall into that doughnut hole very seldom come out of that doughnut hole. And that is something that I brought up last week and that is one of my priorities. It is a huge challenge facing our senior citizens. And I have been working with AARP on trying to figure out how do we close that doughnut hole.

In fact, out of the entire country, Illinois has more seniors who fall into that doughnut hole than anybody else in the country. Thirty- two percent of our seniors fall into that doughnut hole. And very few of them ever come out. So we are working together. We need to do something about helping them. Lately, as you have heard, the pharmaceutical companies are coming out talking about how. So I think we will be able to come up with a very good compromise on how we can all work together to help them. I think that we have to think about that.

We think all of a sudden our seniors have Medicare or Medicare part D and that they are taken care of. Nobody thinks about the fact that once you hit a certain point you are on your own until you get to another point. There is a lot of money in there that you are going to have to pay on your own besides the cost of the premium. So there is a lot that we have to think of. And at the same time, I think there is a lot of places where we can find reform.

That is so true. We hear story after story in our district office. I have a letter that was especially devastating to me. It caused me to actually put in a resolution or sponsor a bill. This constituent was a widowed mother of two. She was actually denied private health insurance because she attended grief counseling. Her husband, who was the primary wage earner, died suddenly at their home in front of the family. As a way to cope with the situation, she enrolled the family in group therapy. And at the same time, she was also faced with trying to find new health coverage for herself and her children because her husband just died in front of the family. While searching for that new private insurer, she was denied over and over again because she was participating in that grief counseling. So that is why I filed H.R. 2236, which we called the Grieving Families Insurance Protection Act, because we do not think health insurance companies should deny you health coverage due to family members needing grief counseling at awful times like this.

She could not get health coverage because she was attending grief counseling, so they would not give her health care. And isn't that a shame. This poor family, actually the father, the husband, died right there in front of them. The family obviously needed some help, and they couldn't get it.

So these are the kinds of things that we should never be putting people through. That is the other thing, it is not just people not having health care. I don't want people to have health care and give them that false sense of security because then they think they automatically will be taken care of, and we need to make sure that people are being taken care of and they have health care, not just necessarily health insurance.

And something else that we haven't talked about is the outreach that I've tried to do--and I know a lot of Members of Congress have done--is with our FQHCs, our Federally Qualified Health Centers. There is a very important place for them because there is so much that they can do in the meantime for those who don't have insurance or those who aren't able to get the health care they need. I've toured so many of them in my district. They do a wonderful job. And so, in the meantime, we should be doing everything we can to make sure that people have a place to go where they can have a medical home, where they can feel comfortable and take their children.

I know in Illinois we have FamilyCare, where every child has health care. There are things, but we should not be doing this State by State. We spend a lot of time and effort doing these things State by State. That is part of the reason I ran for Congress. Even though I was a State senator and I spent so much time working on health care, we knew this was a Federal issue. So this is something that needs to be done on a national level, and it's something that everybody working together is going to be able to get accomplished.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express the urgent need to fix the coverage gap in Medicare part D's prescription benefit plan, especially as we take up health care reform legislation this year.

The coverage gap, better known as the ``doughnut hole,'' is getting worse each year. This gap is tied to health care costs, which are increasing at a rate much faster than inflation. In fact, the costs for people that fall into the doughnut hole are expected to more than double by 2016. In my State of Illinois, 32 percent of Medicare part D beneficiaries fall into this gap, and only a small fraction ever make it out.

Mr. Speaker, in America, no senior should have to choose between their meals and their medication. If we don't solve this issue, this situation will only continue to get worse. We must take the time to address this serious gap in coverage for our seniors.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on this issue as we continue the health care reform debate.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the life of Bishop Roger Kaffer, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Joliet. The Most Reverend Bishop Kaffer passed away at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home in his hometown of Joliet on Thursday, May 28, 2009. He was 81 years old.

Bishop Kaffer was ordained to the priesthood in 1954 at the Cathedral of St. Raymond in Joliet, the same Cathedral in which he was baptized and confirmed and from which he eventually retired as auxiliary bishop.

He was the kind of person that inspired everyone he encountered. As principal for Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Illinois, he made a point to visit every family with a child enrolled in the school. Bishop Kaffer believed that young people are not the future of the church but the now of the church. For this reason, he attended each annual international World Youth Day, his last being in August of 2008 in Australia. Though his health was not good, it did not overshadow his commitment to the youth.

Bishop Kaffer led a spiritually rich life with a deep dedication to prayer and public service. Even in retirement, he continued to mentor priests and bishops and offer spiritual direction through retreats.

Not only has the Joliet community lost a devoted son in the passing of Bishop Kaffer, so has the world faith community. It is with reverent honor that I remember the life and legacy of Bishop Roger Kaffer of the Diocese of Joliet.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize the NAACP for one hundred years of promoting equal rights and fighting for the eradication of racial prejudice within the United States. The NAACP is the largest and oldest civil rights organization in the United States. It currently has more than half a million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world who serve as advocates for civil rights in their communities.

On February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth, the NAACP was founded in response to race riots in Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Illinois. From the time of its founding, the NAACP has recognized that racial justice is important for every single American. This is reinforced by the fact that the organization has always been led by a diverse group of Americans from many races and backgrounds. These leaders came to the organization because, as Dr. King so eloquently described, ``All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.''

The NAACP played a pivotal role in overturning disenfranchisement, racial segregation in public schools, and discriminatory hiring practices. It fought for the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of the 1950s and 60s, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act. The work of the NAACP paved the way for the election of Barack Obama-- another of Illinois' favorite sons--as our first African American President, one hundred years after the founding of the NAACP. The NAACP continues to work on ensuring equal access to education, health care, and jobs.

On the 100th anniversary of its founding, I would like to celebrate the NAACP and its many important accomplishments towards securing equal rights of all persons.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize the Princeton Public Library in Bureau County, Illinois. The Princeton Public Library was recently the host of ``Between Fences,'' an exhibition from Museum on Main Street, a partnership of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Federation of State Humanities Councils. The Princeton Public Library is only one of two Illinois libraries that have been granted the opportunity to host this exhibit.

The exhibit embraces the use and existence of fences as an important facet of United States history. Fences are indicative of the owners lives, their property, and their relationship with their neighbors. For this reason, the Smithsonian Institution and State Humanities Councils chose to highlight fences as an integral part of the fabric of communities through history.

The mission of the Museum on Main Street project is to respond creatively to the challenge faced by rural museums to enhance their own cultural legacies. Princeton, a community of just under 8,000 residents, is thrilled to feature ``Between Fences'' and I am honored to represent them.

Mr. Chairman, thank you, and thank you, Mr. Shuler, for the opportunity to speak.

I rise today in support of H.R. 2352, the Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act.

Consideration of this legislation couldn't have come at a more critical time. During an economic downturn, many people start their own businesses because they are faced with few other options. They've lost their jobs; they can't find new employment, and they need to feed their families. Yet it is the start-up businesses that are most at risk for failure. The legislation we are considering today will give entrepreneurs and new business owners the tools that they will need to succeed.

As a member of both the Small Business and Veterans' Affairs Committees, I am especially pleased that this bill creates a new Veterans Business Center program under the SBA. I commend the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Nye) for his hard work on this section of the bill.

The Veterans Business Centers will provide essential training and counseling to veteran business owners, including assistance in seeking Federal contracting opportunities. The bill includes an amendment I offered in committee to make surviving spouses of Armed Forces members and veterans eligible for assistance from the Veterans Business Centers.

As we celebrate Memorial Day next week, I can hardly think of a more fitting way to honor our men and women

who have served in uniform and to honor their families. I especially thank Chairwoman Velazquez and Ranking Member Graves and Mr. Shuler for their strong, bipartisan leadership on this legislation.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me in supporting the Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize Don Ladas for his service to Joliet, Illinois for over fifty years as an unparalleled sports voice on 1340 WJOL Radio and working for the Herald News, which has made him a sports icon in Will County. Ladas, WJOL's longest full-time employee in history, has recently announced his retirement. Out of all of WJOL's radio legends over the years, none have had the staying power and impact that Don Ladas has had.

For forty-seven years, Ladas has covered a wide variety of sports for WJOL including bowling, football, basketball, baseball, and softball, and has broadcasted thousands of local high school sporting events. He was the host of the oldest bowling show in the United States called, ``Ten Pin Topics,'' which aired Monday through Saturday. In addition to his daily bowling show, Ladas also hosted a weekly sports program called, ``Shooting the Breeze.'' For the past thirty years, Ladas also has been the editor and publisher of his own monthly magazine called ``Will County Sportsman.''

His professionalism and his dedication to sports have earned him a place of recognition in the following: the Illinois Sportscasters Hall of Fame, the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame, the Illinois State Bowling Hall of Fame, the Joliet Junior College Hall of Fame, the Joliet and Will County Hall of Pride, the Will County Bowling Hall of Fame, and the Minor League and Pro Football National Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio for his work in the media. Also, in July of 2008, author Gary Seymour published a book following Ladas' career entitled, The Voice of Joliet: the Life and Times of Hall of Fame Radio Sportscaster Don Ladas.

As one of the most revered figures in Joliet's sports scene history, sportscaster Don Ladas has left his mark on the world of radio and sportscasting and will serve as an inspiration to all individuals just enetering the mass media field of broadcasting. It is with great pride that I recognize all of his many accomplishments upon the event of his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring light to a very important but often overlooked industry that can play a huge role in improving energy efficiency, both in our buildings and through greenhouse reductions on a wide-reaching scale: it's mechanical insulation.

Buildings are responsible for 40 percent of U.S. energy demand and 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Mechanical insulation, as it is used in mechanical piping and equipment for heating and air conditioning in industrial, commercial and other types of buildings, can reduce over 37 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. It can also generate more than $3.6 billion in industrial energy efficiency, saving and creating more than 27,000 jobs annually.

Savings and benefits are swift and can last for many years when properly

implemented. As an advocate of energy efficiency measures, I encourage others to become more aware and utilize this industry in making new and existing buildings and facilities more efficient.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Norm Grimsley for his twenty-seven years of service as Mayor of Aroma Park and dedication to his family.

Under Mayor Grimsley's tenure, the Village of Aroma Park added a sewer system, which has greatly improved the quality of life of village residents. He worked to encourage the growth of new businesses, which brought Aroma Park thousands of dollars in additional revenue each year. Mayor Grimsley showed strong leadership on transportation issues, as evident in Aroma Park's early support and participation in the River Valley Metro Bus System.

Mayor Grimsley has enjoyed a forty-five year marriage to his wife Pam. He raised two successful children: Mike, a health manager and Carrie Grimsley-Jones, a professor of anatomy and physiology. He also has four grandchildren.

Mayor Grimsley has performed decades of superb service for the residents of Aroma Park. I am confident that Aroma Park will continue to prosper under his leadership. He is an excellent role-model in many capacities including, community leader, spouse, father, and grandfather.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the life of David Evans of Joliet, Illinois. Mr. Evans passed away in his home on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. His legacy will continue to flourish in those he left behind: his wife of twenty-five years, Rosie, five children, twenty-three grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Mr. Evans was a community leader in Joliet for decades. He devoted over thirty years to public office, including service on the Will County Board and the Joliet School District 86 Board. His record illustrates a sincere dedication to education and advocacy for children's issues in the community. Mr. Evans was also instrumental in promoting positive change in the community--and stated that one of his proudest moments was the naming of an elementary school in Joliet after African-American actress and Joliet native Lynne Thigpen.

In addition to his involvement in local government, Mr. Evans was also active in numerous community organizations. He founded Joliet Must Vote, co-founded Black Pride Inc., was the vice president of the Unity Community Development Corp., and served as chairman of the Will County Head Start Program. In 2004, he coordinated a Get-Out-the-Vote operation for then-Senator Barack Obama.

The sudden passing of Dave Evans has truly shaken the community. His passion for the Joliet community will live on in the many lives he touched. He is not only recognized for his community activism, but for his life as a husband, father, mentor, advocate, and friend. It is with great pride that I honor the life of Mr. David Evans.

Thank you, Chairman Gordon, for the opportunity to speak in support of the manager's amendment. I applaud the Science and Technology Committee for the hard work you've put into this important legislation.

Water issues are something I hear about often when I'm back in my district meeting with constituents. Many of my mayors have told me that the biggest challenge facing their communities is our aging water infrastructure problems. Residents in many small rural towns do not have reliable access to safe drinking water. This is not only a public safety issue but it is also an economic development issue. Communities with inadequate water infrastructure or an unsafe drinking water supply are unlikely to attract the types of commercial development that will put people back to work.

There is little doubt that the business community has a tremendous stake in the future of our Nation's water supply. That is why I am pleased the manager's amendment includes language I put forward to ensure that the interagency committee created by H.R. 1145 works together with the business community. Small businesses especially need help accessing the information and innovation technologies that will allow them to become smarter and more efficient consumers of water.

As a member of the Small Business Committee, I am proud to play a role in making this process possible. This manager's amendment recognizes that our Nation's water challenges will require not only intergovernmental cooperation, but also public-private partnerships.

Working together, government and the private sector can pool resources and implement the ambitious goals outlined by the National Water Research and Development Initiative Act.

I thank Chairman Gordon again for the opportunity to speak in support of the manager's amendment.

Mr. Speaker, the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition is committed to the adoption of policies that will put our Nation on a path towards energy independence and a prosperous clean energy economy. With legislation to encourage environmentally friendly energy production, we can finally achieve this goal. We can turn our American ingenuity towards a new and vibrant clean industry that will create millions of new jobs.

We cannot ignore the facts of climate change. We have to act now to ensure that our children and their children will enjoy the same Earth on which we live today.

Solar, wind, biofuels, natural gas, advanced coal technology, and others are not just the fuels of the future. They are the fuels of today. They are ready for large-scale use in the global economy.

American companies are ready to lead the way, but Congress must first take action. As a member of SEEC and as cochair of the New Dem Energy Task Force, I encourage my colleagues to participate in the debate for a stronger energy-efficient America.