Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Blue Diamond Growers, celebrating 100 years of quality service, both domestically and worldwide.

The seed for this American icon was planted on May 6, 1910, by 230 California almond growers, forming the California Almond Growers Exchange, a cooperative created to establish a market for quality almond production.

Sixty percent of California's almond growers joined the cooperative, giving birth to America's first almond brand, the Blue Diamond, named after the world's rarest and most precious of gems, a true symbol of quality.

In an effort to expand Blue Diamond's commitment to innovation and quality, the Blue Diamond forefathers made their first voyage to Italy and Spain, in 1917, to share cultural and marketing information. This marked the first promotion by an American cooperative to provide almonds to a foreign market. Soon after, Spain would become a leading market for California almonds.

Blue Diamond established a partnership with the Federal government in 1928 to obtain better rail rates, thus facilitating the first speech in America aboard a train headed cross country about the importance of equitable almond prices.

With continuing commitment to innovation, integrity, and satisfaction of customer needs, Blue Diamond developed the first cellophane bag to package almonds. The company funded the first nutritional research program, establishing almonds as a viable source of protein and energy. As a result, almonds are now an essential source of food in the Federal School Lunch Program.

Continually searching for new ways to make almonds enjoyable and fun, Blue Diamond introduced the first almond snack, Smokehouse Almond, an American favorite for airline passengers.

In 1950, Blue Diamond established the Almond Board of California, a federal marketing order, which helped to collect market information by funding research and promoting California almonds.

With a commitment to quality and a desire to provide for almond lovers everywhere, Blue Diamond led the way in opening the Japanese market and established its first foreign office in Japan in the 1950s.

Blue Diamond exported California almonds to Russia when it was still known as the Soviet Union. In the 1970s, Blue Diamond provided the Indian market with California almonds, a relationship that still exists today. India now imports over $100 million dollars of California almonds, making almonds the number-one U.S. export to India.

Blue Diamond is currently expanding the almond market in China, which ranks among the largest in the world for California almonds.

From Blue Diamond's modest beginnings as a small industry of three million pounds of almonds in 1910, California is now producing more than 1.65 billion pounds and 80 percent of the global supply. Blue Diamond's business has grown to nearly $1 billion dollars with over half of the state's almond growers owning the cooperative.

Due to Blue Diamond's diligence and commitment to quality, almonds are now California's largest food export and rank as the largest tree crop in the world. Blue Diamond represents the best of the American entrepreneurial spirit and its products have become ingrained in many aspects of Americans' lives. It is a privilege to honor Blue Diamond Growers for its 100 years of leadership in developing and promoting the California almond industry both domestically and abroad.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize California State University, Stanislaus on their Founders Day, celebrating 50 years of service and education to the San Joaquin Valley.

California State University, Stanislaus was established as Stanislaus State College in 1957 as the 15th campus in the California State University system. The new college conducted its first classes at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in 1960.

The State of California and private donors have invested nearly $200 million in new building projects, infrastructure and campus improvements since the move in 1965 to the University's now beautifully landscaped 228-acre site in Stanislaus County.

The institution gained university status and its current name as one of the 23 California State University campuses in 1986. CSU Stanislaus serves a six-county area, including San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties.

Since opening in 1960 with 15 faculty and less than 800 students, 25 of whom graduated in that first year, CSU Stanislaus has grown to an enrollment of over 8,600 students and confers degrees to over 2,000 of them each year. Over 41,000 students have been awarded bachelor's and master's degrees since the first commencement ceremony in 1961.

From a modest start with six undergraduate degree programs, the University has expanded its academic offerings to now include six colleges, 40 undergraduate degree programs, 25 graduate degree programs, and 13 school credential and certificate programs.

CSU Stanislaus has seen its academic reputation grow, with the University ranked by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best 373 colleges--the only institution in the CSU system included in that elite ranking.

CSU Stanislaus has also been recognized by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities as one of 12 campuses nationwide for outstanding graduation and retention rates. CSU Stanislaus generates more than $300 million annual impact on the regional economy.

Today, on Founders Day, CSU Stanislaus marks a half-century of excellence as students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends celebrate the University's 50th Anniversary.

I would like to thank Ms. Kaptur for calling up my amendment. It beat us a little bit in our anticipation of its coming forward.

Mr. Chairman, I will tell you simply that the HUD programs have not worked for the central valley of California. The foreclosure programs by HUD have not worked for the United States people. Many of us in Congress warned the administration that they wouldn't work, and they continued to pursue them in any case, and they have simply failed the job.

Thirty percent of the housing units in my district have been foreclosed on. It is unconscionable that we could not have done more to step in and assist the people of my district, of the people of California, of Ohio, of Florida, and of Nevada. I think that the Secretary should give his full attention to this problem. Last March, he took a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He took a whole delegation on an international housing study conference. I think he should have stayed right here in the United States and focused on the problems of the millions of Americans who are losing their homes.

So, Mr. Chairman, I think it is time for HUD to stay at home and to do their jobs. If it requires us to eliminate their travel funds in order to get their attention to focus on the housing crisis, so be it.

I won't take all of that time, Mr. Chairman.

I will just ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in sending a strong message to the Department of Housing and Urban Development that the foreclosure programs they have put in place have not worked for America. They need to get the message sooner rather than later because people are losing their homes every single day while they dawdle.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1558) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that fruit and vegetable and commodity producers are encouraged to display the American flag on labels of products grown in the United States, reminding us all to take pride in the healthy bounty produced by American farmers and workers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 1558.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in my district my farmers produce a bounty of fruits and vegetables that feed families across the country and abroad. My farmers work hard in the field every single day. They love their families, their farms, and the healthy products that they grow. They also love their country. As with many of my constituents, they are proud to fly the American flag on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

My resolution, the Grown in America Act, encourages farmers across the country to feature the American flag on their packaging so that all Americans know quickly and easily that the food that they are feeding their families is grown with pride right here in the good old USA.

In the U.S., we have 310 million consumers to feed, and much of the food is supplied by our hardworking farmers right here at home. Whether you realize it or not, agriculture is at the center of many of our vital issues: feeding the hungry, improving our health, addressing the crisis of childhood obesity,

emphasizing the importance of the school lunch program and much, much more.

Where does that food come from? From people across the United States who are becoming more curious about their food sources. They want to know more about the food products themselves and who grew it.

This resolution also has a practical application. Starting in 2002, Congress mandated that all food products be labeled with their country of origin. We had a sense that consumers wanted to know the true origins of their food. And when given that choice, consumers will choose an American-made product most every time. This choice strengthens demand and prices for U.S. farmers and ranchers. It is also important that the public understand the vital role domestic agriculture carries out to produce the safest and highest quality food in the world.

Agriculture not only serves the public with high quality food, but it also creates jobs right here. In a time of economic hardship, a strong agricultural sector is needed to ensure employment at multiple levels. We often use the expression ``farm to fork'' in reference to the jobs gained as a certain commodity is grown, harvested, packed, bagged, labeled, shipped, and sold at local farmers' markets and in our neighborhood grocery stores.

With this resolution, consumers can be even more empowered to choose American products over foreign imports. The flag clearly communicates the origin of the fruit or vegetable, and it's easier to read than the fine print at the bottom of the label that reads ``Product of the

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from Ohio, the ranking member on my committee, for her support of this resolution. It's a pleasure to serve with her on the Horticulture and Organic Subcommittee of the Agriculture Committee. I would just say that support of this resolution is in fact, as she said, something that will help promote products, and it is voluntary.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the motion, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4658) to authorize the conveyance of a small parcel of National Forest System land in the Cherokee National Forest and to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to use the proceeds from that conveyance to acquire a parcel of land for inclusion in that national forest, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 4658.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4658, the Benton-MacKaye Cherokee National Forest Land Consolidation Act, authorizes the conveyance of land in the Cherokee National Forest and authorizes the Secretary to use the proceeds of the sale of that land for purchase of other suitable land within the forest. This bill, sponsored by my colleague from Tennessee, Representative Duncan, has the support of the Forest Service.

Specifically, this legislation would relieve the Forest Service of a 66.5-acre parcel of land that has long been maintained by the Towee Falls Baptist Church. The church will purchase the land at a fair market value to make the needed expansion to the property's cemetery and church buildings. The proceeds of the sale will be used to purchase the Doc Rogers Tract within Cherokee National Forest. This tract is close to the Benton-MacKaye Hiking Trail, which feeds into the Appalachian Trail. The local community supports this sale, including the parcel into the forest boundary.

I encourage all my colleagues to support the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5669) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain Federally owned land located in Story County, Iowa, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 5669.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5669 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell a parcel of land that is part of the National Animal Disease Center to the city of Ames, Iowa, in order to facilitate the building of a new water treatment facility.

Faced with increasing demand and aging infrastructure, the city has determined that the most cost-effective solution is to build a new plant. The land owned by USDA adjacent to the National Animal Disease Center is such a suitable location. If Congress does not authorize this land for sale, then the city of Ames may find itself in the unpopular position of using eminent domain to acquire land to move forward with the project.

It makes sense to move this legislation quickly so that a needed infrastructure project can move forward, especially since the United States Department of Agriculture has expressed support for this legislation.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my friend and colleague from Iowa for doing what seems to be a very responsible piece of legislation here.

I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Colonel Thomas C. Chapman as he is completing his post as the 29th District Commander of the Sacramento District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Col. Chapman was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers in 1984. His initial assignments were at Fort Knox, KY, with the 552nd Engineer Battalion, 194th Armor Brigade and 19th Engineer Battalion as Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer and Battalion Assistant S3. Follow-on assignments included Battalion S4 and Company Commander with the 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell and during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was also Project Manager in the Chicago District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Staff Engineer for the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Red Cloud, Korea; and Brigade Operations and Executive Officer at Ford Leonard Wood. Col. Chapman also served as Assistant Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Engineer School.

Col. Chapman commanded the Philadelphia District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from July 2002 to July 2004. Before coming to the Sacramento District in 2007, he also was Assistant Corps Engineer for the NATO Rapid Deployment Corps in Italy, which included serving as Chief Engineer for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Col. Chapman holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the United States Military Academy and a master of science degree in civil engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger, Airborne and Air Assault courses, the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced courses, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces where he earned a master of science degree in national resource strategy. He is a registered professional engineer in Virginia.

Through my professional work with Col. Chapman, I found him to be a consummate public servant dedicated to mission of the Corps and to seeing progress on several flood control projects of utmost importance to my congressional district. I am honored to recognize his service and call him my friend. I wish him continued success and happiness in his future.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring Colonel Thomas C. Chapman for his efforts and dedication to the Sacramento District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Judge Donald Shaver who will retire from the court in August 2010.

Judge Shaver began his legal career in private practice with Diehl, Steinheimer, Riggio, Haydel and Mordaunt in 1981. He continued private practice in 1982 with the firm, Calone and Roster in Modesto. He entered into the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office as a homicide attorney where he remained for 7 years.

Judge Shaver was appointed Judge of the Municipal Court of California, County of Stanislaus, in 1990. He served on the Superior Court and Municipal Court Consolidation Committee from 1996-1998. During this time he was elevated to the Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus.

Judge Shaver demonstrates leadership through many avenues including his recent activities as section liaison to the ABA Coalition for Justice and co-chair to the ABA Section of International Law, International Criminal Law Committee. In 2006, Judge Shaver was the first American judge to work with the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Judge Shaver is highly respected by a broad segment of the justice system based on his honesty, integrity and sense of fair play.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring Judge Donald Shaver for his efforts and dedication to the Superior Court of California and the County of Stanislaus.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mark Phelps who passed away on June 22, 2010. Mark was a resident of Stockton, CA where he served as the Executive Director of the Children's Home of Stockton since 1985. The Children's Home, established in 1882, is a nonprofit, private facility providing educational services and residential treatment to emotionally disturbed children and their families.

Mark was born August 13, 1947 in San Francisco, CA. After serving with the Volunteers in Service to America program, he attended Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to serving as CEO of the Children's Home, Mark served as a Mental Health Staff Psychologist, worked as a Probation Administrator in Colorado for ten years, and was appointed by Kansas Governor John Carlin to the Superintendency of the Kansas State Juvenile Correctional Facility. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at several State and private colleges and universities, and sat on numerous State and local boards for various private and public human service organizations.

Among his many honors, Mark was named ``Kansas Public Administrator of the Year'' by the American Society of Public Administration in 1985, ``Administrator of the Year'' by the California State Council for Exceptional Children in 1986, and was Executive Director of the Children's Home of Stockton when it was honored in 2004 by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate with its national award for exemplary children's services, the ``Angels in Adoption and Foster Care'' award.

Mark is survived by his wife, Susan, and their two children. He will also be greatly missed by the countless children, families, and friends whose lives were blessed by his benevolent work. His life was filled with compassion and service to others and his work will leave a lasting and positive impact. It is with greatest pleasure that I honor his life, his work, and his commitment to changing lives here today.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1495 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman

from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 1495.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1495 provides for consideration of H.R. 5618, the Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010, under a closed rule. The resolution provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. The amendment printed in the Rules Committee report shall be considered as adopted. The resolution waives all points of order against the bill as amended. The resolution provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Finally, the resolution allows for certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules to be considered the same day they are reported. The resolution applies the waiver to any resolution reported through the legislative day of July 3, 2010.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, our country is facing enormous troubles like we have not seen since the Great Depression. At the national level, there is clear evidence that some of the actions that the Democratic Congress have taken are, in fact, working. The economy is again growing, and employers are starting once again to hire.

In 2009, we saw the Nation's GDP grow by 2.8 percent in the third quarter, representing the biggest 6-month turnaround in our economy since 1980. In each successive quarter, we have continued to see positive GDP growth. Since the end of 2009, we have created jobs every single month; and in the last 3 months alone, we have created an average of over 300,000 jobs per month. This is a dramatic change in direction from when President Obama took office and the economy had previously been shrinking at minus 5.4 percent and we were losing jobs at an average of 726,000 jobs per month under the Bush administration.

However, although our economic indicators continue to show that we are making significant progress towards recovery, this does not mean that we are out of the woods yet by any stretch of the imagination. We know that all too well in many pockets of the country, including my own district in the Central Valley of California, the recovery continues to lag well behind the national economic picture. In far too many areas of the country, businesses continue to shed payroll, job losses continue to mount, and hardworking families across America continue to struggle.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we have not seen times like this since the Great Depression. These are extraordinary circumstances, and they call for extraordinary measures. Despite what my friends on the other side of the aisle may say, what people who are struggling right now need is a hand up; and this Democratic Congress, despite all the obstacles from the other side of the aisle and the other body, will continue to reach out and try to assist Americans with that hand up.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5618 would retroactively restore the emergency unemployment compensation benefits and restore funding for the extended benefits program through the month of November of this year. It would also ensure that States do not cut the level of regular unemployment benefits when they receive these extended Federal benefits, and it would protect workers from having their benefits cut if they experience intermittent earnings which requalify them for regular State unemployment benefits. Without the sort of help provided by this bill, more people will lose their homes, fall behind on their bills and be unable to feed their families. There is a very real risk that the economic crisis could get worse, not better, if we pull the safety net out from under the 1.7 million Americans that are facing these economic conditions right now.

Mr. Speaker, never before in our history has Congress allowed extended unemployment benefits to lapse when the unemployment rate was anywhere close to 10 percent; yet here we are again trying to extend this critical program to keep food on the table for millions of households, including millions of American children across this great Nation simply because the other side of the aisle repeatedly can only say ``no.''

The current emergency unemployment compensation program began to phase out at the end of May, and many of those now losing benefits have only received 26 weeks of regular State-provided unemployment compensation or one of the first tiers of Federal benefits. This means individuals exhausting their 26 weeks of unemployment benefits are not eligible for emergency unemployment benefits at all. This bill will retroactively restore those benefits and continue them and the program through November.

Without this extension, as I said before, an estimated 1.7 million individuals who have lost their jobs will lose their unemployment benefits by July 3. Mr. Speaker, that's no way to celebrate America's independence holiday. This includes well over 300,000 people in California, where our unemployment level is over 12 percent, well above the national average of 9.3. In my own district, the unemployment rates are much higher than even that. In fact, we have numbers that are near the 20 percent mark; and I have in my district the fourth, fifth and sixth highest unemployment rates in my counties in the country.

Nearly every economist will tell you that cutting off unemployment benefits will undermine the economic recovery by suppressing consumer demand at a critical time when we should be enhancing it, and by exacerbating problems, like the home foreclosure crisis that plagues many areas of our country.

I want to thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) for bringing this bill forward and for his steadfast commitment to America's hardworking families. It is vitally important that we pass this bill and provide the much-needed help that our constituents need during these trying times.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the gentlelady and her party don't understand what's happening in Middle America. They don't appreciate what's happening to folks like in my district. They may not hang out in places like my family's bowling alley, where a person who loses their job, and 20 percent of my constituents are nearly out of work, there isn't jobs around every corner. She may have plenty of jobs in her home State. She may not have to worry about that for her constituents.

But in my world, Mr. Speaker, when someone who comes to our bowling alley loses their job, they have nothing else. They don't have the Wall Street bonuses. They don't have the big pension, retirement systems, and the big 401(k) set-aside. They don't have the situation that so many of us need.

We have to provide a safety net for these people, these hardworking Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. Speaker, I look at today's Hill newspaper and I look on page 31. And I oftentimes believe that cartoons and political satire speak much more clearly than the words that we can use in big long speeches. And in today's cartoon, although I can't say that it's very funny to the American people who are being affected by it, you see an American citizen bungee jumping off an unemployment benefit bridge. And the elephant in the cartoon, signifying the other party, snips the line as the American's jumping off. And the comment in the caption reads, ``Don't worry, I'm sure you will land on your feet.'' I think too oftentimes we have this situation where we just expect that Americans are going to land on their feet, and we don't care about those who get left behind. That's what my discussion was today.

The gentleman just referred to the President's comments in Wisconsin about Mr. Boehner. And I would just refer to those comments that Mr. Boehner equated the financial bill that we passed yesterday, the regulatory reform bill that so many Americans are yearning for, he said it was a nuclear weapon to be used on an ant. The problem was an ant. Well, my constituents certainly don't think they were ants until they started being walked over by Wall Street.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire how much time each side has remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to respond to my colleague from California by saying that the gentleman is once again talking about the long-term questions--whether we need tax cuts or whether we need to have more stimulus. All of those things are open to debate.

What is not open to debate is the fact that 1.7 million Americans today and over the next 3 days and over the last few weeks have lost their unemployment benefits. That is an emergency. That's why we have emergency spending provisions. We have to take care of those Americans who will not be able to feed their families, pay their mortgage payments. That's why we have an unemployment insurance compensation program, to protect those Americans when they find themselves in this kind of a situation.

We can have the other debates on other days. And we certainly have had and we will have. But on today's question of whether we're going to extend those benefits, we need to have the Republicans join us in supporting the American people, in supporting those out-of-work folks.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to take this time to correct the statistics and the statements that we just heard from my colleague from North Carolina.

My colleague forgets that in the Clinton administration we created-- not ``we,'' because I wasn't here--but the Democrats and Mr. Clinton created 22 million new jobs for America.

Mr. Bush, when he took over, did not, in fact, inherit a recession. That recession happened after he was in office, and it was a severe one. We started to come out of that. Again, the Bush administration policies caused a second recession. When you look at Mr. Bush's term of office, there were some jobs created; but they were not private-sector jobs, as the gentlelady is so fond of talking about. In fact, if you look at the statistics, there were no new private-sector jobs created during the Bush administration. When Mr. Bush left office, he left a recession that was shedding 750,000-plus jobs a month.

When the good lady from North Carolina talks about the fact that there have been job losses during the Obama administration, many of those are the carryovers. You don't turn around the economy overnight. Mr. Obama can't flip a light switch and create the jobs overnight. It took time to get the policies in place to start bringing the country out of the Bush recession. In fact, in the last 3 months, we have averaged 300,000-plus jobs instead of losing 750,000 a month under the last few months of the Bush administration.

This rewriting of history, this total denial of the economic policies that got us into this mess, is something that, frankly, the American people understand very well. The 20 percent of the population which are unemployed in my district right now understand that very well. The 30 percent of my constituents who have lost their homes to foreclosure understand who got them into this situation. I think that we will, in fact, see a situation where the American people will judge what is going on here.

We will have to work hard to create more jobs in the future. As I said before, we are going to debate those policies. There have been discussions on tax cuts and on the stimulus. The statistics tell us that the average American has not paid this low of a percentage of his taxes in quite some time, since Mr. Truman was in office, I believe it is.

So I believe that there are significant facts that we need to set straight here, facts which represent a positive side of the ledger to my party and to the policies we are advocating.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to close today by discussing a little bit of what the gentlelady just talked about with regard to PAYGO. I'd like to point out that I'm quite sure that the gentlelady from North Carolina did not vote for the PAYGO resolution in the House rules that we passed at the beginning of this Congress, nor did she vote for statutory PAYGO. They have always talked about tax cuts as the answer to all of America's problems. We could take the tax cut to zero and my, wouldn't we pay for government well?

The reality is that they only want to pay for things that affect common folks--the common Americans that get up every day, put their shoes on, and just want a job to make a living and pay for their family, pay for their home, and earn a better life. They don't want to pay for the tax cuts for the Wall Street big shots. They never want to pay for that. They don't want the PAYGO rules to apply to them.

As I said before in this debate, I grew up in my parents' bowling alley. I saw firsthand what happened to those folks--those hardworking American folks that would come into my parents' establishment just wanting a little bit of fun on a Friday or Saturday night. I saw what happened when they lost their job. They lost their home, they couldn't feed their family. Families disbanded because of the stress and tension under those economic situations.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted against, for the most part, the financial regulatory reform bill. They were protecting their friends on Wall Street, the very people that got us into this calamity. Thirty percent of my constituents--around that--have lost their home to foreclosure because of the financial collapse that was caused by the greed on Wall Street. Yet my colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to defend them. But, for the most part, they will not vote for emergency funding to put food on unemployed workers' tables or to allow them to keep their homes in this time of crisis. I say that it's not all of them because on June 29, 2010, 30 courageous Republicans voted with the Democrats--the 231 Democrats--to extend unemployment benefits and to protect those workers who have lost their job in this economic situation.

Mr. Speaker, I can't sit here today and tell you that every policy that we've put in place since Mr. Obama has been in place has worked as well as I'd like. Frankly, I've been critical on a number of issues that I thought the administration could have done a better job. But I will tell you that when it comes time to taking care of Americans who are in an emergency situation, who have lost their job for no fault of their own but for the fact that the economic situation was a tsunami that swamped them, it is our party who is standing up to make sure that those workers can survive for another day. And for those workers, this absolutely is an emergency.

Mr. Speaker, no one can legitimately doubt that the situation we face right now is an emergency for the American people who are unemployed. And until our economy is firmly on track and moving forward, I believe we must provide help for those unemployed workers to pay their bills and feed their families. If not, we risk falling further into a further economic crisis and we risk leaving way too many families behind.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this rule and to support the underlying bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question, and on the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

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

Congressional Republicans threaten to take us back to the failed policies that created the economic crisis, siding with special interests, i.e., the Wall Street investment banks. These economic and fiscal policies created the Bush recession, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, with job losses of nearly 800,000 a month and nearly doubling our national debt.

Democrats in Congress will continue to take America in a new direction, creating good American jobs, lowering taxes for the middle class and for small business, and building a strong new foundation for the economy and for Main Street instead of Wall Street.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1460) recognizing the important role pollinators play in supporting the ecosystem and supporting the goals and ideals of National Pollinator Week.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1460, recognizing the important role that pollinators play in supporting the ecosytem and supporting the goals and ideals of National Pollinator Week.

Approximately three-quarters of the world's 250,000 flowering plants require pollinators to facilitate reproduction. In addition, nearly 130 different crops that provide more than $15 billion per year in farm gate value would cease to exist without our pollinators. In California alone, some 1.3 million beehives pollinate over 600,000 acres of almond trees. There is no doubt that without the healthy population of pollinators that we currently have, our Nation's farmers will not be able to continue to grow many of the high quality and nutritious foods that we enjoy today.

The House Agriculture Committee has paid special attention to the issue facing pollinators, holding several hearings in recent years to review the status of pollinator health issues and including funds in the 2008 farm bill to conduct much-needed research on pollinator health. I'm proud to support this resolution brought by my colleague today, which recognizes the importance of pollinators supporting diverse ecosystems and the crops that produce so many of the foods grown across this great Nation. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Oklahoma, my good friend, for his support of this resolution.

At this time, I yield such time as he may consume to the author of the resolution, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), who, without his help, we would not have been able to pass the farm bill in 2008. He has been continuously an advocate for pollinator research and for making sure that specialty crops get their due day in the sun.

Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank my colleague from Oklahoma for his gracious advocacy on behalf of this issue.

And to my colleague from Florida, if your media were to be without the products of these bees, that really, truly would be a news story, Mr. Hastings. I want to thank you for your tireless advocacy on behalf of pollinators and on behalf of agriculture generally.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

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

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In recent weeks we have seen a small but slow and steady improvement in the national housing market while other parts of the country, like my congressional district in the San Joaquin Valley, have continued to deteriorate. I have repeatedly explained to the administration that their programs are not doing enough to stem the problems of the rising tide of foreclosures in areas like the Central Valley in California.

As this economic devastation continues, we must redouble our efforts to help our constituents as we work to improve the fundamentals of the economy and hopefully eventually pull ourselves out of this situation. We must ensure that we are doing everything that we can to help those who are suffering the most.

Counseling services are just one component of this comprehensive approach that we need to deal with this ongoing crisis. People must know their options when faced with foreclosure so that they can make informed decisions based on their own personal circumstances. Navigating these options is often difficult, stressful, and confusing to those who have never had to deal with such issues. Counseling can help some people find ways to stay in their homes while it offers others a path to resolve an impending foreclosure and get back on their feet.

If we are going to incentivize mortgage servicers to provide third- party counselors to borrowers who are behind on their mortgage payments, then we ought to make sure we give priority to those areas who are hurting the most. My amendment would prioritize foreclosure counseling services to areas of the country that have been the hardest hit by the housing crisis.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment and to refocus our efforts on those who need the help the most.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlelady for her comments and her support of my amendment. It is very important that we do move in this direction.

At this time, I yield 1 minute to the chairwoman of the subcommittee, a true champion for those who are trying to remain in their homes, and she's done so much to try to help us alleviate the challenges that we face in my district and throughout our State, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).

This amendment is straightforward and common sense. I believe that Congress must ensure that all efforts to provide assistance during these difficult times actually help those that need it the most.

I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank my friend for yielding.

I rise today in support of the Pingree amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. I understand and respect the passions expressed by my friends on both sides of this issue, but I believe today we must stand firmly on the side of fiscal responsibility and refuse to fund a redundant engine that our military leaders and our Commander in Chief all said is unnecessary and unwarranted.

When I am back home in my district, I often hear my constituents say that we never cut anything, and we never can say no. Today I am saying no, and I think this House should as well. I don't think we need two engines on this plane.

I believe that we need to save $3 billion every time we get a chance. Today we can make a difference for this deficit. Our country cannot afford to waste precious tax dollars funding this program the military says they don't need.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Delfina Telles, former first lady of El Paso, Texas, who passed away on May 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 93. Delfina was a devoted wife and mother who was passionate about her community and work in public service. I am proud to pay tribute today to such a giving woman.

Delfina was the wife of Raymond Telles, who served as El Paso's first Hispanic Mayor from 1957-1961. Mr. Telles was also appointed as ambassador to Costa Rica by President Kennedy, during which time Delfina became active in civil affairs, including leading fundraising drives for a children's hospital and a rehabilitation center for children with disabilities in Costa Rica.

Delfina is recognized and remembered for her commitment to non-profit organizations and charity work. She worked tirelessly on behalf of such organizations as the March of Dimes, was co-chairperson of the annual Easter Seal Drive for El Paso's Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center, served on the Pan-American Round Table and the Woman's Auxiliary

of Providence Memorial Hospital, and was a director of the Chamber of Commerce Women's Department. She is also recognized for her work with the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, and Community Chest. She was also appointed to the Defense Department's Advisory Committee on Women in the Service by President Nixon in 1974.

Mrs. Telles is survived by her husband, Raymond; her daughters, Cynthia Telles of Los Angeles and Patricia Telles-Irvin of Gainesville, Fla.; two sisters, Ana Jones and Noemi Valenzuela of El Paso; and a brother, Jose Santos Navarro of San Jose, Calif.

Delfina Telles was a truly kind-hearted woman whose selfless givings will forever leave a positive impact on the communities she touched. She will be greatly missed by her family, friends, and countless people who were blessed by her life of benevolence.