Floor Statements

As Congress struggles to come up with this deal over government debt, we all know that all we have to do is raise the debt ceiling and that the chaos the country is being thrown into is not necessary. Simple: raise the debt ceiling, protect the credit of the U.S., and then debate how to cut our debt afterwards.

We're trapped in a debate where there's another game going on over our heads, and that game involves the rating services, in particular, Standard & Poor's.

Rating agencies help put the U.S. economy in the dumper in 2008. Dodd-Frank was the first effort to hold rating agencies accountable when, in fact, they should have been subject to civil fraud charges as well as revocation of their license at the SEC.

Just a few months after Dodd-Frank passed, Standard & Poor's strikes back

with a threat to downgrade U.S. debt, which would cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars a year in extra interest payments.

The U.S. is sovereign. Standard & Poor's is not.

When we work to raise the debt ceiling, we should also raise questions about Standard & Poor's. Maybe it's time to downgrade Standard & Poor's to junk status.

Here is how we can take a couple steps back from the brink of a default.

First, raise the debt ceiling until December 31, 2012, without its being contingent on cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, or increases in taxes, or cuts in taxes, or cuts in spending. The attempt to resolve all of these issues at once as the moment of reckoning arrives was never a good idea. It guarantees that the people we were sent here to represent will lose either in the details of a rushed grand bargain or through the consequences of default.

Take the debate to the American people in the next election. Ask the American people if they want cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, increases in taxes, what kind of cuts in spending, what kind of jobs, programs.

For those who say, ``well, that's what we were sent here to do,'' claim your victory. You've come here and you've changed the terms of the debate. You lose the debate if America defaults.

You win if you bring this debate into every district in America in the 2012 election.

When you go home, people will thank you for being able to focus America's attention on these fiscal issues, but you may be surprised to learn that the American people did not want us to burn down the house in an argument over the height of the ceiling.

Here's what we should do to avoid default: increase the debt ceiling with no strings attached. Here's how to get out of debt: end the wars, save $1 trillion in 10 years; repeal tax cuts to the wealthy, save another $1 trillion; Medicare for all, end the $400 billion yearly subsidies for the health insurance industry; renegotiate trade agreements with workers' rights, human rights, and environmental quality principles to save millions of jobs and billions of dollars.

The Fed creates money out of nothing and gives it to banks. Why should our country go into debt, borrowing money from banks when we have the constitutional power to create money and invest in jobs? We could have another New Deal, putting millions to work, rebuilding America's roads and transportation system. We could have a Works Green Administration where NASA is the incubator of jobs, designing and engineering wind and solar microtechnologies for private sector manufacturing, distribution, installation, and maintenance in millions of homes, saving money and energy and protecting the environment.

We are the United States of America, the greatest country on Earth. We envision wealth; we don't default. We create wealth; we don't default. We build wealth; we don't default.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Mrs. Joanne Nolan, a loving wife and mother and an active member of the Northeast Ohio community.

Joanne was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 5, 1933. She grew up in Cleveland's West Park neighborhood and attended John Marshall High School. After graduating, Joanne worked for the Erie Railroad writing reports on accidents.

Joanne married Earl Nolan, on August 2, 1957. This year would have marked their 54th anniversary. A few years later, their daughter, Janet, was born and Joanne left Erie Railroad.

Mrs. Nolan was active within her community throughout the years. She was extremely active in the PTA and could often be found at community parades. Joanne was also a dedicated member of Ward 19 Democratic Club.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in remembrance of Mrs. Joanne Nolan. I offer my condolences to Joanne's husband, Earl, their daughters, Kathy and Janet, and the entire West Park community. Joanne will be sorely missed.

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

Mr. Chairman, Americans are turning to the Federal Government for relief from high gas prices. However, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline will lead to exactly the opposite result; it will actually raise gas

prices--principally in the Midwest. In fact, some of the States that will suffer the worst gas price increases are the same ones that will have to bear the environmental burden of this pipeline.

This is not just my conclusion, this is the conclusion of TransCanada, the company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline. This is the conclusion of international energy consultant Purvin and Gertz, Inc., the company that TransCanada hired to evaluate its Keystone XL pipeline. And this is the conclusion of respected oil market economist Philip Verleger. That is why TransCanada wants to build this pipeline.

My amendment simply requires the Secretary of Energy to analyze the effect of the proposed pipeline on increased gas prices for American consumers and to determine if this pipeline is just an effort to manipulate the market for crude oil in the United States.

The proposed pipeline would carry up to 900,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada over 2,000 miles to refineries on the U.S. gulf coast. Proponents have claimed that it would bring down oil prices.

However, TransCanada's permit application to the Canadian Government for the pipeline included documents and testimony which said Canadian oil companies could use the pipeline to increase America's fuel bill by up to $4 billion per year by limiting the supply of Canadian crude to Midwest refineries and rerouting it to gulf coast refineries. This benefit to Canadian oil companies was used by TransCanada to argue that approval of the pipeline was in Canada's interest, but this information was conveniently hidden when TransCanada applied for the U.S. Presidential permit from the State Department.

This information comes from a report by international energy consultant Purvin and Gertz, Inc., the company that TransCanada hired to evaluate its Keystone XL pipeline.

In section 3.4.3 of their report, they concluded that there was an oversupply of crude oil in the Midwest that resulted in lower prices for Canadian crude oil and that the Keystone XL pipeline would remove this oversupply and raise crude oil prices in the market. In section 3.4.5 of their report, they recite that ``Keystone has reviewed the PGI assessment and agrees with its conclusions.''

Through manipulation of U.S. oil markets, the Keystone XL pipeline will increase U.S. gas prices by 10 to 20 cents per gallon across the United States, according to respected oil market economist Phillip Verleger. However, the greatest price increase--twice as much by one estimate--will occur in 15 States, including my State of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. It is estimated to increase prices by $6.55 per barrel of crude oil in the Midwest and $3 per barrel across the U.S.

This market manipulation will gouge American consumers, forcing them to hand over up to 3.9 billion hard-earned American dollars to foreign oil companies every year. While this boon may benefit TransCanada and Canadian oil shareholders, it will only further devastate the American people, our economy, and farmers who are already struggling financially and can't afford a gas price hike.

Americans want low gas prices. Permitting the Keystone XL pipeline will deliver the opposite by increasing prices at the pump and making Americans pay more and more for almost every commodity they purchase.

I urge my colleagues to protect Americans from being further gouged by foreign oil companies and to support my amendment.

I reserve the balance of my time.

How much time remains?

The bottom line is the people whose jobs depend on their being right, and a company with billions of dollars at stake, all concluded that increases in price of gas will especially hit the Midwest as a result of this pipeline. These aren't just employees of TransCanada; these people are experts, legal experts who put this in an application. This is not a bogus argument.

If that is a bogus argument, to my friend, then that information should be conveyed to the Government of Canada, because TransCanada's permit application to the Canadian Government for a pipeline included documents and testimony which said that Canadian oil companies could use the pipeline to increase America's fuel bill by $4 billion per year by limiting the supply of Canadian crude to Midwest refineries and rerouting it to gulf coast refineries.

Stand up for the American consumer.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Mrs. Irene Morrow who is being honored at this year's American Nationalities Movement's awards dinner.

Mrs. Morrow began her work in the public sector in 1964 when she was appointed as Deputy Registrar for the Board of Elections and began working for the Notary Public Commission. During the same year, she began serving as Deputy Auditor in the Cuyahoga County Auditor's Office where she would remain for eight years. Subsequently, Irene worked as the Personnel Administrator and Secretary of the Civil Service Commission for seventeen years. In 1978 she was elected Executive Secretary and Treasurer of the American Nationalities Movement, a post which she retained until 2011. In 2004, Irene established the Ralph J. Perk Foundation, an organization which works to fund free mammograms and prostate screenings for the inner-city poor.

Mrs. Morrow has received numerous awards and honors throughout her decades of public service. She was presented with the Keys to the City of Cleveland from Mayor Ralph J. Perk and then Mayor George V. Voinovich in 1977 and again in 1985. In 1982 she was honored as one of the forty most outstanding women in Ohio by Mrs. Barbara Bush. She has also received accolades from the Polonia Foundation of Ohio in 1985, the American Nationalities Movement in 1988, and she was presented with an Appreciation Award from the United Hungarian Societies in 2007. Last year, she was inducted into the International Hall of Fame of Greater Cleveland.

Irene is married to Mr. Edward Morrow, and together they have six children and six grandchildren. She continues to serve on the Advisory Board of Fairview Park and Lutheran Hospitals.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring Mrs. Irene M. Morrow, a woman who has done so much for her community and for her country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor and remembrance of Mr. James T. Molloy, the former Doorkeeper for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. Molloy was born in South Buffalo on June 3, 1936, the son of Matthew Molloy (a Buffalo firefighter) and Catherine Hayden Molloy. He graduated from Bishop Timon High School and proceeded to work in waterfront grain elevators. He also joined the Buffalo Fire Department before continuing his education at Canisius College. Upon graduating, Mr. Molloy began teaching in Buffalo and Lackawanna, New York.

Mr. Molloy was a member of the Erie County Democratic Party and later moved to Washington, DC, where he became the Chief Finance Officer of the House of Representatives. In 1974, he became the Doorkeeper of the House, a position that he would hold for the next 20 years. Throughout his tenure as doorkeeper, Mr. Molloy was able to make many friends in Washington, including Speaker Thomas O'Neill, Jr. and President Reagan. He was known around Washington as a ``Buffalo Guy.'' Tom Brokaw called him ``the pride of South Buffalo'' each year when he introduced Mr. Molloy as the President walked out for the State of the Union.

Mr. Molloy has received many awards throughout his lifetime, including having a U.S. post office building on South Park Avenue named after him in 2006. He was also recognized by the New York AFL-CIO, the New York State Federation of Police and the United States Senate Youth Alumni Association.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring Mr. James T. Malloy, a man whose presence in Washington will be sorely missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the first African-American national fraternal organization with roots in a historically African- American college.

The Omega Psi Phi fraternity was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on November 17, 1911. As illustrated by the prominent careers of its four founders, Bishop Edgar Amos Love, Dr. Oscar James Cooper, Professor Frank Coleman and Dr. Ernest Everett Just, members of Omega Psi Phi are known to go on to successful careers.

Omega Psi Phi is dedicated to the principles of ``manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift.'' The fraternity has also shown a strong commitment to philanthropy and community. It began a National Social Program in 1945 to aid with health, housing, civil rights and educational issues of the African-American community. Furthermore, the fraternity has made annual donations of $50,000 to the United Negro College Fund since 1955.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in recognizing the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, whose members have been strong community supporters and leaders since the fraternity's origin. I wish the alumni and current members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity the best in all of their future endeavors.

The latest attack on elderly beneficiaries of Social Security is a scheme by which seniors' cost of living benefits would be cut through something called a ``chained'' consumer price index--the CPI--chained involves a formula which recalculates the cost of living.

The theory behind the chained CPI is that as the cost of living goes up, consumers--in this case, seniors--buy cheaper products. For example, if poor seniors cannot afford to buy and eat steak but can only afford to buy and eat cheaper cat food, their cost of living benefit would be chained to the cost of the cat food because it's cheaper than steak; and as a result, seniors will see their cost of living benefit reduced to the cheaper product and get a smaller Social Security check.

The chained CPI sets up seniors for a reduced standard of living. If you must afford less, you get less Social Security benefits.

The chained CPI, chaining seniors to poverty. It's time to break those chains.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Paul Burik, who is being honored at this year's American Nationalities Movement's awards dinner.

Mr. Burik, was born in Budvar, in what was then Czechoslovakia. In 1968, during the Soviet invasion, he and his father managed to escape and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from Kent State University with a degree in architecture, Paul spent much of his professional career working as Chief Architect for the City of Cleveland.

Mr. Burik is currently the President of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation, an organization consisting of more than two dozen gardens representing various nationalities. Among the gardens is a Czech Garden. Since he became President, the Cultural Gardens have expanded annually for the past four years and several more nationalities are waiting to build a garden. Mr. Burik is also the President of the Cleveland Chapter of the Czech and Slovak Society of Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit cultural organization.

Mr. Burik currently resides in Avon, Ohio, with his wife, Fran, with whom he has two children and two grandchildren. In Avon, Paul is the co-Founder and Secretary of the French Creek Development Association, an organization dedicated to the improvement and promotion of downtown Avon.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring Paul Burik, a man who has dedicated so much of his time and talents to his community and its betterment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the American Volunteer Group (AVG) known in China as ``The Flying Tigers,'' on the occasion of its 70th anniversary.

In 1941, Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek authorized retired U.S. Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault to create a group of American pilots and airmen to assist and train Chinese aerial forces. With President Franklin D. Roosevelt's permission, Armed Forces members were allowed to volunteer for this assignment. In total, 97 pilots and 185 ground personnel from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps volunteered.

The group faced many initial challenges. To start, the group had 100 P-40 fighter planes (painted with the now-famous ``shark's face'' nose), many of which were in less than ideal condition. Additionally, the group had only four months to train and prepare before action started. However, the AVG was able to establish three separate squadrons: Adam and Eve, the Panda Bears, and Hell's Angels.

The group first saw action on December 20, 1941, just 12 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. While U.S. air forces and the Royal Air Force were generally unsuccessful against the Japanese at the war's onset, the AVG was notably successful, largely due to Chennault's innovative fighting tactics.

For their efforts, at the group's 50th anniversary, the AVG was rewarded veteran status for service in World War II. The following year they were also rewarded with the Presidential Unit Citation. In 1992, each member of the AVG ground personnel was awarded the Bronze Star and pilots were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring the American Volunteer Group ``Flying Tigers,'' whose bravery and courage in the face of incredible difficulties will inspire future pilots and military servicemen and women for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Mr. William Denihan, who is being honored as a Home Grown Hero for his

work with Cudell Improvement, Inc. As founder and the first president of the organization, Bill has shown his commitment to ``neighbors helping neighbors'' and revitalizing the Cudell/Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland.

Bill has held various leadership roles at the state, county, and local levels for years, always displaying his passion for the public good. He has served as Director of Public Service for the City of Cleveland, Director of Human Resources for the State of Ohio and Cuyahoga County, Executive Director of Ohio's State Employee Relations Board, and Acting Chief of Police. Bill has also taught at Cleveland State University's College of Urban Affairs and at the Ohio Certified Public Managers Program.

Bill founded Cudell Improvement, Inc. in 1974 and served as its first President. The organization is committed to providing assistance primarily to the Cudell/Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland in a variety of areas, including real estate development, crime prevention, commercial revitalization, and youth services.

Bill currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County. He is married with 11 children and 34 grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, join me in honoring Mr. William Denihan who has spent his career serving the people of Ohio and the Cleveland area.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to submit letters I have sent to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, regarding the U.N.- sanctioned war in Libya.

Congress of the United States,

House of Representatives,

April 12, 2011.

Hon. Ban Ki-moon,

Secretary General, United Nations, New York, New York.

Dear Secretary General: On March 19, 2011 the United Nation

(UN) Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 which

authorized the international community to act to ``to protect

civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of

attack'' in Libya. That measure allowed member states to act

``nationally or through regional organizations or

arrangements . . . in cooperation with the Secretary-

General.''

However, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO), which has acted under the authority of the UN

mandate, have expressed a desire to remove Muammar Gaddafi

from power, a demand that was not authorized by the United

Nations Security Council. The Libyan Transitional National

Council yesterday rejected a cease-fire proposal because it

lacked a requirement for Gaddafi to leave power. The United

States did not have a full accounting of the cease-fire

proposal, but Secretary Clinton continued to call for regime

change. Today, news reports indicate that France and Britain

are urging NATO to expand their operations in Libya. The

British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, was quoted by The

New York Times as saying that ``[a]ny viable future for Libya

involves the Departure of Colonel Qaddafi.''

It is imperative the UN remind France and Britain that

regime change is not part of the UN mandate. An attempt at

regime change would likely expand a civil war creating a

large number of civilian casualties on both sides. NATO is

not authorized to go beyond the UN mandate and France and

Great Britain should not demand they do so. The UN Secretary

General must intervene to stop an expansion of the war even

though two member states, for whatever reason, appear intent

on pursuing that expansion.

Sincerely,

Dennis J. Kucinich,

Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the men and women who have served the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO) located in Columbus, Ohio, since 1965 when the office opened. As a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision, DISCO must relocate to Ft. Meade, Maryland, in September 2011.

The majority of the 160 employees and contractors plan to remain in Ohio and not relocate to Maryland, seeking either retirement or employment elsewhere. On Wednesday July 20, 2011, at 11:00 a.m., there will be a ceremony in Columbus to recognize their, and their predecessors', achievements over the last 46 years.

Located in Columbus, Ohio, DISCO processes requests for personnel and facility security clearances for industry contractors under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP). The NISP is a partnership between the federal government and private industry to safeguard classified information. It was established through an Executive Order signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1993 and affects all executive branch agencies. The major signatories to the program are the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Defense, and the Central Intelligence Agency. There are over one million cleared personnel and approximately 13,000 cleared facilities under the NISP.

DISCO is a Central Adjudication Facility responsible, on behalf of the Department of Defense and 23 other departments and agencies, for determining the facility and personnel clearance eligibility of contractors and their employees for access to classified information, foreign or domestic. It is responsible for maintenance of facility and personnel clearance records and processing security assurances, clearances and visits involving the United States and foreign countries.

To demonstrate the volume of work processed by each employee at DISCO on a daily basis, the 160 employees and contractors at DISCO rendered nearly 250,000 clearance decisions in Fiscal Year 2010. The men and women who do this work have a major impact on individuals who seek clearances, the private companies who employ them, and the government agencies which contract for the work. All of this has a major and lasting impact on our national security.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in recognizing and appreciating the important work which has been done in Ohio since 1965 to help ensure national security through the issuance of security clearances for those working with some of the most sensitive information in the nation. We thank these individuals for their service and wish them much success as this important agency makes its transition.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of the 80th birthday of Mrs. Annette Lantos, a praiseworthy individual and dear friend of mine, who has devoted her life to fighting for human and animal rights.

Born in Hungary in 1931, Annette came to the U.S. at the age of 16 after surviving the Holocaust. She graduated from high school and went on to receive her bachelor's degree and teaching certificate from San Francisco State University.

Annette was married to the late Congressman Tom Lantos for nearly 58 years. Congressman Lantos was also a survivor of the Holocaust, and shared his wife's commitment to human rights. Annette worked full-time in her husband's office for the nearly three decades that the late Congressman held office. She served as Executive Director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which was co-founded by Congressman Lantos, and helped her husband in co-founding the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus.

Outside of Congress, Annette has worked tirelessly to help human rights victims and to further human rights causes. In 1977, she founded the International Free Wallenberg Committee to raise awareness of Raoul Wallenberg's humanitarian efforts in Hungary during World War II. Today, Annette is Chairman of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. She continues to uphold the Lantos legacy of furthering human rights throughout the world.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in recognizing this remarkable woman as she celebrates her 80th birthday surrounded by friends and her wonderful family.