Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the legislation we are considering today--H.J. Res. 37--is one of the most regressive I have seen, even in a very regressive environment.

H.J. Res. 37 not only stifles innovation but is anti-small business, anti-consumer and, because it brings uncertainty back into the telecommunications marketplace, is also anti-investment and anti-job creation. All of the industry leaders, as well as consumer groups and those for whom an open Internet provides opportunities to start a business and grow, support the FCC rule.

The principles embodied therein have guided the Commission for years now and this resolution, if passed, would set this industry back decades with no benefit whatsoever and without the possibility of rectifying the damage it would do.

The FCC has adopted a framework that will preserve the open Internet and create certainty in an industry that changes every day. Ironically, it is the Republicans who are creating uncertainty by preventing the FCC from fulfilling its statutory mandate.

Using the Congressional Review Act to oppose the FCC's Open Internet Rule is bad politics and sets a bad precedent.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.J. Res. 37.

I thank the ranking member for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, as the representative of a district that has one of the highest greenhouse gas emission levels per square mile in the United States and the Caribbean, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 910, appropriately known as the Dirty Air Act.

As a physician and as a person who has been trained to make decisions on sound science, I have to reject this legislation that is based wrongly on the premise that there is no science that supports the court's decision that greenhouse gases are injurious to the public health. That premise is wrong. Once again, our Republican colleagues deny sound science in their attempt to achieve misguided and, in this case, harmful political ends. Leading scientific academies, associations, and think tanks have all clearly documented a clear connection between these gases and poorer health. They make just as clear a connection of these gases to the acceleration of climate change, which adds another dimension of health challenges, some of which we are already facing today.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle tend to attribute the findings to the EPA administrator, but it is not she who has determined that these harm the public health. It was the scientific community, respected experts in the field.

Mr. Chairman, the reduction of greenhouse gases is particularly important to the poor and racial and ethnic minorities, as it has been shown that polluting industries are more often located in or near our communities.

In committee, and I suppose today, you will hear a lot of talk about CO2, but that is not the only greenhouse gas that we're concerned about. This harmful group of gases also includes methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.

The Virgin Islands have seen dramatic increases in asthma and cancers as the presence of these gases has increased. There is no way I can support this bill. No one should support it. We have a responsibility to protect the health of the American public. I urge my colleagues to reject H.R. 910 and to vote ``no'' to dirty air.

National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People,

March 23, 2011.

Members,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Re: NAACP Opposes H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of

2011

Dear Representative: On behalf of the NAACP, our nation's

oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based

civil rights organization, I am writing in opposition to H.R.

910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011. If enacted as

written, H.R. 910 would block the ability of the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce greenhouse

gases under the authority of the Clean Air Act.

For more than 40 years, the EPA has used the authority

granted to it by the Clean Air Act to protect our health and

our environment. EPA actions to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions are therefore appropriate, and should in fact be

supported. If successful the reduction of greenhouse gases

will help slow global warming, improve Americans' health and

create new jobs.

The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is especially

important to racial and ethnic minorities, as we are

disproportionately affected by the negative consequences of

global warming socially, economically, and through our health

and well-being. One need look no further than Hurricane

Katrina and its tragic aftermath to see that African

Americans and other communities of color are

disproportionately affected by severe weather and other

negative consequences of global warming. More recently, we

can look to the extreme weather patterns experienced

by much of the United States this past winter, with

unseasonable snow, ice and temperatures well below freezing

in Atlanta, GA, and points south.

Rather than focus on legislative initiatives which would

hinder our nation's progress in addressing the dangers of

climate change and the resulting social, health and economic

consequences, the NAACP urges the U.S. Congress to work

toward the enactment of comprehensive climate protection and

clean energy legislation that reduces global warming

pollution. As such, the NAACP looks forward to working with

you to ensure that effective actions are taken. In that vein,

I hope that you will feel free to contact me should you have

any questions or comments on the NAACP position.

Sincerely,

Hilary O. Shelton,

Director, NAACP Washington Bureau &

Senior Vice President, Advocacy and Policy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to remember and commemorate the life of Stanley, J. ``Bud'' Grant who passed away suddenly last month but who in the course of his life worked to help those in need. I knew him as Bud Grant, the founder and President of the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation as he worked to screen disadvantaged populations across the country for glaucoma and other eye diseases. My community, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was one of the places where Bud took his army of mercy since 2001 to test and identify thousands who could not afford to seek those services on their own. People lined up for hours, waiting for a chance to get care for that most precious of human senses, eyesight.

Bud was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from St. Francis College and attended Fordham University and the New York University School of Public Administration. A member of the ``Greatest Generation,'' he served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific theater during the Second World War.

Prior to his work against glaucoma, Bud enjoyed a long career in pharmaceutical sales for Upjohn/Pharmacia. He worked on behalf of the Medical Society of the State of New York, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association, and Pharmacia Corporation and Covance Research Labs. He also served on the boards of Wagner College and New York Hospital Division of Queens.

On behalf of my family, staff and constituents in the U.S. Virgin Islands who were touched by Bud's work, I extend my condolences to Bud's family, especially his son Richard, who will continue the important work that his father began at the Glaucoma Caucus Foundation.

May Bud Grant rest in peace.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I just wanted to start off by saying in response to some of what I've just listened to--and I'm not going to take it point by point. I just want to point out that what we passed last year is not ObamaCare. To the people of this country it is your care. And if you allow it to be repealed, defunded, or picked apart piece-by-piece, President Obama will still have his health care insurance and so will many of the people who are trying to take away yours, your care.

Just remember that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was not to provide care for us. It was to provide care and access to quality, affordable health care for you. It is not ObamaCare. It's your care.

At this time I'd like to yield to my colleague from Maryland, Congresswoman Donna Edwards.

I would like to thank my colleague from Maryland for helping to organize this hour and our colleague from New York for joining us. I was in medical school here in Washington D.C. on the day that Dr. King was assassinated, and it was obviously a very dark day and weekend that followed.

But I recalled, and I think it would have had to have been the Sunday of the following week, was a Sunday dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King. On that day, as you went to church or were out and about D.C., there was such a feeling of fellowship and brotherhood and respect for each other, and even, I would say, love for each other as neighbors in this country and on this planet.

It would be wonderful to see the spirit of that day revived in this Congress and across our Nation as we remember not only the day but, more importantly, the words and the legacy of Dr. King and as we remember all that he was fighting for. Specifically tonight we remember the sanitation workers whose strike he went out to Nashville to support on that fateful evening.

And in his speech he mentioned a few things that he said in that speech the night before he was killed. He called also for his listeners to develop a ``dangerous unselfishness'' and said that the question before them, and I would say the question before us today, is ``not if I stop to help the sanitation workers,'' and I am going to add in here, as we would say today, not if we stopped to help the sanitation workers, the teachers, the firefighters, the policemen and all workers whose rights are under attack in our country today, what will happen to my job?

But he said the question is: ``If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to them?'' And as our colleague from New York said, his concern went beyond that. It was also what would happen to our Nation.

He also then said right after that: ``Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better Nation.''

These words are an urgent call to us today as well, as both of my colleagues have said, to stand with a greater determination on behalf of the working men and women in this country; to stand with a greater determination for help for the poor; to stand with a greater determination for clean air and clean energy for us and our children, clean air for our children and us to breathe, and clean energy and responding to this threat of climate change; to stand with greater determination for jobs and economic opportunity, especially for the most distressed parts of our country; to stand with greater determination for a quality education for every child and to stand with greater determination for equal access to quality health care and wellness for everyone in this country regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity or geography.

Another quote from Dr. King that I use often as we talk about health disparities is this quote. He said:--Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.''

I want to focus on that for a moment because among the many challenges that we face today is that of eliminating the injustice in health care. We Democrats took a major step forward in this effort with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the 111th Congress. Not only does it expand coverage to millions of Americans and families who have never had insurance before, but it also includes provisions that would end the travesty which Dr. Martin Luther King called the most shocking and inhumane.

Now that the health care door is finally being opened to all; now that we have furthered the effort to end the discrimination that exists in our health system; now that we have a chance to end the tens of thousands of premature, preventable deaths in people of color, and the poor, and those who live in our rural areas and our territories; now that we have done all of that, the Republican majority is doing everything they can think of to try and slam that door shut again.

In this 40th anniversary year, the Congressional Black Caucus is committed to building upon the legacy of our founders. In the area of health, we are particularly committed to specifically building on the legacy of Congressman Louis Stokes to not let that door or any door be closed to African Americans or to anyone anywhere in this country. We will not let those doors be closed.

And we know that our Democrats will stand with us with greater determination to protect the Affordable Care law and the lives of countless Americans who would continue to be in jeopardy without that law. And it's time for the good people of this country to stand with us.

Let us not have to repent, as Dr. King said, not for actions of bad people, but for the appalling silence of good people.

This country should no longer tolerate that African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans have a much higher infant mortality than our white counterparts; that diabetes and its complications should be so much higher in those same populations as well as in Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders; or that African Americans should have higher death rates from cancer and diabetes than all of the other population groups; or that Native Americans should have higher deaths from sudden infant death syndrome and chronic liver disease than all of the other population groups combined; or that Asian Americans should have such high incidences of tuberculosis, about 24 times the average national rate, and higher incidences of hepatitis B; and no longer should this country tolerate that in 2010, after 8 years, that the Department of Health and Human Services would still be reporting in the national health disparities report that

fewer than 20 percent of disparities faced by African Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives and Hispanics showed any evidence of narrowing. Fewer than 20 percent showed any evidence of narrowing.

It is time for all of us to rise to our better nature, as Dr. King would call us to do, and to begin to work together to close gaps faced in many different areas by large segments of our population. We must stand in stronger determination to build that better nation and to realize the beloved community that Dr. King envisioned.

In our 40th year, the Congressional Black Caucus remains more committed, more determined than ever to realizing his dream, a dream that still burns brightly in the hearts of all of us who honor Dr. Martin Luther King and the life that he gave to ensure freedom and justice on behalf of all of us.

With that, I yield to the gentlewoman from Maryland.

It should give all of the workers who are fighting for their rights today extra incentive, some extra inspiration as we commemorate this day and all that Dr. Martin Luther King fought for as they continue that fight and we continue to support them in that fight.

I am reminded that on April 7 in the capital of Illinois, in Springfield, I was out there a week ago, they will be having a major rally on behalf of working people in this country. I want to salute the folks in Springfield on that march.

In addition to fighting for workers' rights, when Dr. King died, he was planning the Poor People's Campaign in Washington. I was here studying for my boards. I went over to volunteer in the medical tent. It rained and it poured; but people came in from all over this country, particularly the South, to the Poor People's Campaign to call attention to the plight of the poor in this country.

As we are celebrating as a Congressional Black Caucus our 40th anniversary, we are still carrying on that fight. Our main agenda, theme, is ``Creating Pathways Out of Poverty.'' We have had that as our agenda for the last 2 years, and we continue with that for this Congress as well.

That was a remarkable time as well. I think it did a lot to change my life in the middle of my medical studies and the course of my career. It probably has something to do with why I am here today. I wanted to also just remind everyone that as we fight for the workers, and remember Dr. King's fight for working men and women, he also was steadfastly working to help define pathways out of poverty for those who were poor then; and we continue in our 40th year to fight for the poor and help them find ways to lift them up and lift their families out of poverty.

Thank you.

Just briefly, I want to again thank you for helping us to commemorate not only the sanitation workers' strike but the life and legacy of Dr. King.

It is unfortunate, as we are here tonight, remembering the day that the assassination took place of this great American and great human being, that the day after, we expect a budget that is going to do just the opposite of what Dr. King would have wanted us to do.

In the last Congress, we were able to strengthen Medicare, to expand its solvency 12 years. We were able to pass the Affordable Care Act, which would expand Medicaid and make sure that, even though you were poor, you would have the ability to have quality health care. Tomorrow, we expect a budget that's going to talk about privatizing Medicare, ending it as we know it--sacrificing the health care for seniors and children--making an enormous cut in Medicaid, and really taking away the hope that people had when we passed the Affordable Care Act that they could not only have health care but that they could really aspire to improving their health--their own well-being as well as that of their families and their communities.

So we meet here this evening to talk about Dr. King, to talk about the challenges that our working men and women have, and to talk about the challenges of health care for those who are poor--those of all races and ethnicities--and to recommit ourselves in the memory of Dr. King to fight for working men and women and for those who need that extra hand to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

I just want to say that the Congressional Black Caucus has been doing this for 40 years now.

I want to again recognize our founding members for their perspicacity and their perseverance--we still have two of those members serving with us, Congressman Charles Rangel and Congressman John Conyers--and to let the American people know that we will continue to fight on their behalf tomorrow and every day as long as it is necessary.

Madam Speaker, I rise to speak out against the GOP energy agenda and H.R. 910, the Dirty Air Act.

While consumers around the Nation, including my district of the Virgin Islands, are struggling to make ends meet amidst the rising cost of energy, our colleagues across the aisle are shamelessly using scare tactics to cripple EPA's regulatory authority and gut the Clean Air Act.

H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act, or more appropriately, the Dirty Air Act, will reverse generations of scientific advancement and does nothing to protect the everyday American. In fact, the legislation outright denies the science that clearly demonstrates that greenhouse gases are injurious to health and that they accelerate global warming. This is science that the Congress has paid for.

The Academy of Sciences, a committee of many of the world's leading climate scientists and others, make the indisputable health link that these gases are injurious to our health. So I want to speak out against that agenda. As the President has recently said, we have got to work together to secure America's energy future.

The only ones who benefit from this legislation will be those who already benefit, Wall Street oil speculators and Big Oil allies here in Congress. This is nothing more than polluted politics. The American people deserve better. Let's save American jobs, invest in the green economy, and ensure a clean, not a dirty, future for the children of tomorrow.

Madam Speaker, I rise to speak out against the GOP energy agenda and H.R. 910, the Dirty Air Act. While consumers around the Nation, including my district of the Virgin Islands, are struggling to make ends meet amidst the rising cost of energy, our colleagues across the aisle are shamelessly using scare tactics to cripple EPA's regulatory authority and gut the Clean Air Act.

H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act or more appropriately, the ``Dirty Air Act'' will reverse generations of scientific advancement and does nothing to protect the everyday American.

In fact the legislation outright denies the science that clearly demonstrates that greenhouse gases are injurious to health and that they accelerate global warming. This is science that this Congress paid for. The Academy of Science, a committee of many of the world's leading climate scientists and others make the indisputable health link, not the EPA

administrator, yet the Republicans think they know better, or at least want the public to think so.

Well I live in a place with very high GHG emissions from both our oil refinery and public utility and we are seeing increases in asthma and the severity of it, even deaths, as well as of certain cancers. They cannot tell my constituents that those gases are not harming our health. My constituents and I believe all Americans want them regulated, we want to be healthy and we want our children's health to be protected. These gases must be regulated for the benefit of this and future generations.

The gases are clearly linked to respiratory and other diseases. All who study the impact of global temperature rise, using sound science, predict not only an increase in respiratory diseases but also heart disease and others.

This legislation is not the only attack on regulations that seek to reduce negative impacts on our health or slow down climate change and prevent us from starting the new green revolution that will create jobs and revitalize communities and our economy. All of the Republican CRs include cuts that would hinder EPA from implementing regulations that protect our health. We must not make cuts that destroy our ability to protect our health and our environment

Without a doubt, the only ones to benefit from H.R. 910 and the Republican cuts will be those who already benefit--Wall Street oil speculators and big oil allies here in Congress. As the President said recently, ``We've got to work together to secure America's energy future.'' H.R. 910 is not a step in the right direction. This is nothing more than polluted politics. The American people deserve better. Let's save American jobs, invest in the green economy and ensure a clean--not dirty future for the children of tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the work and legacy of three phenomenal women for their service to the organizations that they serve and their efforts to eliminate health disparities in their communities. Dr. Elnora Hamb, International President of the Women's Missionary Council, The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME); Dr. Barbara Shaw, International President of the Women's Home and Overseas Missionary Society, The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ); and Dr. Jamesina Evans, International President, Women's Missionary Society, The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) simultaneously served in their respective roles for eight years and collectively served over seven million members worldwide--including members in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

These women and their respective organizations serve as examples of how community champions are helping our country to achieve health equity. Seeing the deleterious effect of health conditions such as HIV and cervical cancer on their congregants, these women took unprecedented action to help eliminate health disparities in their community. As a result of the transformative leadership of these women, each organization entered into an innovative partnership with the Balm in Gilead, Inc. to address the health concerns of black women, focusing attention on issues disproportionately impacting the community, and developing the organizational capacity of each denomination to utilize its existing structures to deliver HIV services and other programs addressing health disparities that have long disproportionately affected African American communities. This partnership represents the first time that any black church denomination has partnered with a national technical assistance organization to implement and deliver public health strategies to the African American community.

The leadership of these phenomenal women has resulted in thousands of women and men receiving education and interventions in areas of HIV/ AIDS, cervical cancer, and other health disparities. For example, each Missionary Society has established an office of a National Health Director whose purpose is to coordinate health promotion and disease prevention throughout the denomination. Further each Missionary Society has utilized their information organs to distribute critical information on HIV, cervical cancer, and other health issues which has reached readers worldwide. Additionally, each Missionary Society offers HIV testing and workshops on-site at their annual leadership trainings and many of their affiliated

local churches offer HIV testing as a regular activity nationwide. As a result, the visionary leadership of these women undoubtedly has saved thousands of lives through these health interventions.

Finally, it does not escape me that I am honoring these three great women during Women's History Month whose theme, ``Our History is Our Strength,'' pays tribute to the millions of women who helped create a better world for the times in which they lived as well as for future generations. These women are continuing the tradition of the great women who came before them by standing up and taking action to address one of the pressing issues of our day and to improve the health of African Americans today and in the future. Unfortunately, many of the women who are deserving of recognition remain un-named and unknown. We cannot let the same occur to these three trailblazing women. Thus, it is my honor on behalf of the women of this body, the Congressional Black Caucus and the entire Congress of the United States to recognize the tremendous work and leadership of Dr. Elnora Hamb, Dr. Barbara Shaw and Dr. Jamesina Evans and thank them for their selfless service to their congregants and their transformative work to eliminate health disparities in the African American community.

Mr. Speaker, here the Republicans go again. I guess no one in this country, as they envision, it should ever have a different point of view than theirs. Liberty cannot be just an empty word. It certainly is not to us Democrats. We opposed the elimination of National Public Radio last year and I oppose it today.

Thinking and discerning people like to get their information from different sources and different points of view and then make their own decisions. That is what NPR provides.

The American people are smart and do not want to be spoon fed propaganda and brainwashed by any one ideology or political party.

And they support Public Broadcasting--Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike. When asked, more than two-thirds oppose the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting as this bill would do.

This bill has nothing to do with reducing the deficit. It is an ideological battle--all about

never supporting and always wanting to get rid of public radio and public TV. Republicans are showing again that they are out of touch with the American people.

This attempt to shut down free radio is misguided and based on deliberately distorted information.

Taking funding away from national Public Radio would hurt local stations, small stations--many even in Republican districts--which depend on NPR programming to survive so that they can carry local news, events and programming and even provide the opportunity for any of us to speak to the public.

Colleagues, let's vote for Democracy. Vote ``no'' on this bill

Mr. Speaker, no more short-term continuing resolutions. All respected economists and the deficit commission have told us we should not make cuts in this fiscal year.

Is no one listening? These short and the longer CRs will make our recession worse and destroy jobs. At a time when the recovery is beginning to make small steps forward, these cuts will destroy the progress we have made.

Yesterday, the Republican majority cut wildfire suppression by $200 million. Oklahoma, are you hearing this? Flood prevention, again. Are you hearing that, New Jersey? Funding for police. Don't Americans deserve safe neighborhoods? Programs that protect our food supply. Good for salmonella and E. coli but not for the American people

It isn't enough for Republicans to deny the science on greenhouse gases; H.R. 44 and 48 cut funding from EPA programs that keep our air clean and our water safe. Are we creating jobs? No. Are we making a dent in the deficit? No. But are we hurting families? Yes.

Don't stop the recovery our people need. Listen to the experts. Extend the CR at 2010 levels. No more cuts this year.

I ask unanimous consent, Mr. Speaker, that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to add material to the subject that we are discussing this evening.

Mr. Speaker, this evening we in the Congressional Black Caucus are coming to the floor to honor the women in our communities that have been its backbone and who have employed their foresight, their hard work, and their sacrifice to move us forward, serving as the inspiration for all of us in our individual and collective journeys.

March, as you know, is Women's History Month, celebrated this year with the theme, ``Our History is Our Strength.'' We all know the stories in our families and in our communities of mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, aunts and sisters who pulled together to make sure that everyone within their power was fed, educated and remained healthy. Those with a lot of resources shared what they had. Those with not much gave of their time and their heart to bring generations into existence, to nurture all of the community's children despite all of the odds before them.

As we highlight the achievements of women, we will also speak to our concerns that the gains women have made and the progress we still need to make are being threatened by the actions and the agenda of the 112th Congress under a Republican majority.

Before I yield to my colleague from Texas, I would just like to read some quotes from the Secretary of State and the President of the United States.

First the Secretary, quoting from her remarks on Women's History Month:

``This year we commemorate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, a global celebration of the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. International Women's Day is a chance to pay tribute to ordinary women throughout the world and is rooted in women's century-old struggle to participate in society on an equal footing with men. This day reminds us that while enormous progress has been made, there is still work to be done before women achieve true parity.''

And from President Barack Obama:

``We have to work even harder,'' he says, ``to close the gap that still exists and to uphold that simple American ideal: we are all equal and deserving of the chance to pursue our own version of happiness. That's what Eleanor Roosevelt was striving toward half a century ago. That's why the report on women that was issued this month matters today. And that's why on behalf of all of our daughters and our sons, we've got to keep making progress in the years ahead.''

It is now my pleasure to yield to the gentlelady from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee.

Thank you, Congresswoman Jackson Lee, for your inspiring words, and thank you for being such a faithful participant in these Monday evening Special Orders.

You listed a lot of the very special women in your district, as you said, on whose shoulders we stand. I could also list women from my district who are leaders in the fight for freedom and justice: who are labor leaders, doctors, clergy, writers, nurses, teachers, and those who have just been role models and who have helped to nurture our territory's children.

I do want to spend some of my time saluting a pioneering educator in my district of the U.S. Virgin Islands, one who would have celebrated her 96th birthday on March 26 had she not left us this past January. Like many Virgin Islands women of her generation, Mrs. Delta Dorsch was a force of nature.

Born in the town of Frederiksted in 1915, 2 years before the Virgin Islands became a part of the American family, Mrs. Dorsch was a renowned educator, storyteller and tradition bearer of the territory. She was tall in stature and stood out as a woman of class, of intelligence and excellence in all that she did. In her lifetime, she witnessed the birth, growth and development of the modern Virgin Islands: from the transfer of ownership from Denmark to the United States, to the quest of its people for greater self-government and self-determination, to its welcoming of many people from many shores, to its present position poised at the dawn of a new century with its modern concerns of quality health care and education for all, environmental and cultural sustainability, energy independence, and a future for its children of a life lived in peace and security, with access to a quality life that provides good, stable employment opportunities.

Mrs. Dorsch, who was educated at New York University, at Columbia University and who studied international education at the University of London in England and at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, served for more than 38 years as a teacher and elementary supervisor in the Virgin Islands school system. From 1977 to 1982, she also served as an instructor of elementary education in both undergraduate programs at the University of the Virgin Islands and as Deputy Commissioner for Curriculum and Instruction in the Virgin Islands Department of Education. She was also the chair of the board of directors of the St. Dunstan's Episcopal School in St. Croix.

Her excellent educational resume does not adequately convey the quality of care she gave to Virgin Islands students. She was a mentor and a special friend to many, encouraging them to achieve and to work for excellence. She also worked throughout her lifetime to preserve traditional values and her cultural heritage, taking it upon herself to learn the many folk stories that had been passed down from generation to generation and to share them with the young and with the not so young.

Her message was simple: As you progress and embrace change, don't forget your culture, your way of life, and the everyday things that make you unique and special and identifiable as a people.

In addition to education and culture, she was active in the political life of the community, supporting the campaigns of worthy candidates and giving sage advice to those who, like myself, sought her counsel.

In her lifetime, Mrs. Delta Dorsch received many accolades and awards. The National Junior Honor Society of the Elena Christian Junior High School is named in her honor as is the residence hall at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix campus. She was among the tradition bearers who participated in the Virgin Islands Folklife Festival in 1990 here in Washington, DC, on The Mall, where she told the Bru Nansi and Jumbie stories that are particular to the U.S. Virgin Islands. She authored a book and an accompanying video on the role of the storyteller and of the preservation of the Virgin Islands culture, and she contributed to our town Frederiksted's current edition of the ``Glory Days of Frederiksted.''

Mrs. Delta M. Jackson Dorsch made her mark as a woman of substance in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and left a remarkable trail for the rest of us to follow. It is in her spirit of determination and advocacy that I stand here today to speak about the current state of women, not only in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but across our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, we are now in a time that has shown great progress for women, as I read from our President earlier; but we also find ourselves at a crossroads where there are many areas in which our welfare is threatened. Some of these areas were enumerated by my colleague from Texas.

According to the report prepared for the White House Council on Women and Girls, entitled, ``Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being,'' which was published this month, women have outpaced men in educational attainment, earning more college degrees and graduate education, but they are still more likely than men to live in poverty.

Black and Hispanic females are likely to be poorer than non-Hispanic white females. Black women have a 28 percent rate of poverty, Hispanic 27 percent, white women 11 percent--also too high. While more education increases income for both men and women, the pay gap between the two still exists. More women than men work part time, and of course that means they are less likely to be insured or to have other benefits. At all levels of education, women still earn about 75 percent as much as their male counterparts. The female-headed families have the lowest family earnings among all family types.

Women today face health challenges, with depression, for example, and more women than men report having chronic medical conditions. Yet more of us are uninsured, and many women report not having a usual source of care. Eighteen percent of nonelderly women lack health insurance. Of unmarried women, almost 25 percent are uninsured. Twenty-one percent of African American women and 38 percent of Latinas are uninsured.

So the challenge to improve the lives of all women continues, and we Democrats are proud that in the historic 111th Congress, presided over by the first female Speaker of this House, we passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restores the rights of women and other workers to challenge unfair pay and work events.

We passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which updated the 47-year-old Equal Pay Act, by providing more effective remedies for women who are not being paid equal wages for doing equal work.

We also passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which created 3.3 million jobs, many of them held by American women in emerging industries such as clean energy.

The stimulus package passed by this House expanded opportunities for women and minorities in the transportation industry by investing in on- the-job training for them and even highway construction and transportation technology. It included technical assistance for them to obtain transportation infrastructure contracts, and is helping 3.5 million women students obtain higher education through the increases in the Pell Grant funding. It provided for key investments in early education by providing additional funding to increase Head Start enrollment by 65,000, creating 30,000 jobs for Head Start teachers and staff, while strengthening families, including some of the women-headed families.

Services for families and children were strengthened in the 111th Congress with the increased funding for child care development block grants and for programs to reduce violence against women.

In the 111th Congress, the Affordable Care Act increased access for the high number of uninsured women to access health care. For the insured, it made their insurance more secure, and it made it illegal for insurance companies to charge women more than men for the same coverage or to limit their choices by making caesarean deliveries or domestic violence preexisting conditions.

Our 1.8 million women veterans have the chance at improved health care with the expansion of the VA health care services by removing barriers and providing up to 7 days of care for newborn children of women veterans and by enhancing treatment for sexual trauma for women at the VA.

Much was done in the last Congress to enhance and protect the lives of women; but in this Congress, the 112th, it seems as though we are about to take giant steps backwards when it comes to the health, education, business, and finances of women and their families. The budget cuts being proposed to fund this year's budget and the next are definitely going to adversely impact the women of this country.

I see I have been joined by another of my colleagues, Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, and I would invite her to use as much time as she might consume or to enter in a dialogue if she would like.

I thank you for those words. And I know that those who are listening are really inspired by all of what you had to say. We are so proud and so very fortunate to have you as the cochair of the Women's Caucus in this Congress.

Before we close, to take us back to where we are today, I just want to recap that, among the actions being proposed in this Congress, there are some repeals that--yes, we're going to rise above them--but that will make things very difficult for not only African American women but women all across this country.

To recap: eliminating funding for the title X family planning program. These are the cuts that are being proposed in the CR for the rest of 2011 that eliminate the funding for the program that has provided family planning, breast and cervical cancer screening, and preventive health to low-income women. They propose to eliminate all Federal funding for Planned Parenthood, as we have heard, and to cut nutrition programs for pregnant women and their children; to cut Head Start and child care; to cut job training; to cut funding for college.

All of these are going to make it much harder for our young and our older women to do what Gwen's mom did and move themselves up the educational ladder and help to provide a bridge for the youngsters that come behind. Their plan to cut funding for college and Pell Grants, to halt the implementation of the health care law that, as you have heard, will do so much for not just women but for all Americans, those who are insured and those who are uninsured. It will cut maternal and child health funding and funding that helps school comply with title IX.

The CR that is proposed, the long-term CR for fiscal year 2011, also cuts funding for Social Security offices and support for senior programs, as the majority of Social Security recipients are women and of course are elderly, and many are poor. All of these programs and others are on the chopping block, and women will be greatly and adversely impacted by them.

As we honor the history of women in our country this month, let us not celebrate it with an assault on women and their families. Let's not make it more difficult for poor women and minority women, for children, for students, for seniors, for small business women, for the many who need these necessary supports if they are to be a part of the vibrant future that we envision for our country. These cuts make any praise of Women's History Month by our Republican colleagues mere lip service, no more than empty words in a time when women are vulnerable because of our economic crisis and when we need the programs that they are planning to cut. We need those programs more than ever.

In this month dedicated to women, we are calling on the leadership of the 112th Congress to continue to build, not to tear down, but to build on the gains we have made for women and for all Americans in the 111th Congress. Do not turn back the clock to a time that none of us want to go back to. Do not turn back the clock to a time that our country cannot afford to go back to if we are to be the number one country in this world.

We, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, dedicate this hour to the women of African descent, those known and unknown on whose shoulders we stand, the sturdy bridges that have brought us to where we are today. To them, we dedicate this hour, and we dedicate ourselves and our work on behalf of families and children, African American and all Americans here in this country and around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 8 o'clock and 58 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, March 15, 2011, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to an outstanding leader from my congressional district in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Honorable Terence A. Todman, a Career Ambassador who served our country across the globe for almost 50 years.

On Saturday, March 12, 2011, my community will honor Career Ambassador Todman on the occasion of his 85th birthday. A native son, he began his distinguished career with service in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1949, including a tour as a Commissioned Officer in Japan. He went on to diplomatic service as a Desk Officer for India-Ceylon-Nepal Affairs in 1952 and as a U.S. Government Intern on the United Nations Secretariat in 1954. From 1954 to 1957, he served as an Advisor to U.S. Delegations to the United Nations General Assembly and U.S. Representative on various Trusteeship Council committees. He ended the decade of the 1950s as a Political Officer in New Delhi from 1957 to 1959.

Career Ambassador Todman, who is fluent in many languages, served as the Arabic Language and Area Specialist in Beirut from 1960 to 1961. From 1961 to 1964, he served as the Political Officer in Tunis, from 1965 to 1968 as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d'Affaires in Togo and as the Country Director for East African Affairs from 1961 to 1969.

Mr. Speaker, as United States Ambassador, Terrence Todman served in Chad from 1969 to 1972, in Guinea from 1972 to 1975, in Costa Rica from 1957 to 1971, in Spain from 1978 to 1983, in Denmark from 1983 to 1989, and finally in Argentina from 1989 to 1993.

Although retired since 1993, Ambassador Todman has remained active serving on corporate and community boards from Argentina to the U.S. Virgin Islands. I recall that during one of Haiti's many crises and during the Aristide presidency, he was called back into service to share his expertise and experience as a special advisor to the Organization of American states. His recent focus has been on establishing joint ventures between U.S. and foreign companies with special emphasis on transportation and the environment. He is one of the Directors of the American Academy on Diplomacy, the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, the Constituency for Africa and the Atlantic Council of the United States. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of its International Panel and many other organizations in the diplomatic field.

He serves on the board of Syracuse University, the Duke University Provost Advisory Council and the Advisory Board of the African Studies Program at Georgetown University.

Ambassador Todman has received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the National Public Service Award, the Department of State's Superior Service Honor Award and the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award. He has been decorated by the governments of Argentina, Denmark, Spain, Chad and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1997, he received the U.S. Department of State's Director General's Cup.

Mr. Speaker, as an ambassador extraordinaire who is credited with guiding our country through some difficult relationships and challenges, Ambassador Todman paved the way for other people of color to excel at and eventually lead the U.S. State Department. He is a trailblazer, and has opened many doors for young people who aspire to his level of excellence and dedication to country.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands, I wish Ambassador Todman a very happy 85th birthday and I extend my best wishes to his wife Doris and their 4 children, Terence, Patricia, Kathryn and Michael and his wider circle of family and friends. May God continue to bless him with good health and long life and on behalf of the Congress of the United States, thank him for his long, dedicated and distinguished service to our country.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Democratic leadership for giving the Congressional Black Caucus this time to stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Wisconsin, in Ohio, as well as those in Indiana, and anywhere the rights of workers are being trampled upon. The similarities in what is going on here in the Nation's Capital and in the Wisconsin capital are not only striking, but it's the kind of coordinated attack against working men and women that we have become accustomed to seeing from Republican legislators and Governors.

I don't understand why Governor Walker can't take ``yes'' for an answer. The unions have agreed to most, if not all, of the concessions he asked for; but rightly, they will not--and should not--give up their right to collective bargaining.

No one knows better than the African American community what unions have done to lift people out of poverty, to ensure them decent jobs with decent wages and protections in the workplace. Not only African Americans, but all Americans have benefited from the work of our labor unions.

What Governor Walker is doing is not about balancing a budget or reducing a deficit any more than the cuts in spending are up here. It's about busting unions, thus making it possible for companies to run roughshod over workers' rights--a place no one in this country should ever allow us to go back to.

For the life of me, I can't understand what Republicans have against children--or is it just poor and middle class children? The Governor and his allies in the State legislature would rather take teachers out of the classroom--killing jobs--and jeopardize the education of Wisconsin's children than raise property taxes just a little bit to help cover the cost of providing a quality education even after the teachers

have agreed to give up some of their health and pension benefits negotiated in their contracts.

In fact, it is my understanding that, just like the Republicans here insisted on tax cuts for the wealthy, who did not need them, before anything could be done to help struggling families, Governor Walker also enacted tax cuts as soon as he came into office. The spending cuts, as I understand it, would not have been necessary in Wisconsin if those tax cuts had not been enacted, just as the devastating cuts in health care, education, community economic development, and job creation programs in homeland security and public safety would not have been needed here if we had not given the wealthy a tax giveaway in December.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she might consume to the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, who is always here, standing for the rights of workers, for the rights of children, for the rights of people everywhere, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California.

Thank you, Congresswoman Lee, and thank you for your leadership.

We have a number of women leaders here, and I would like to now yield to the gentlelady from Maryland who has been a leader on many issues, including during the health care reform debate to make sure that those who were insured were protected, Congresswoman Donna Edwards.

Thank you, Congresswoman Edwards, and thank you for those really strong words to encourage our union members in Wisconsin and Ohio and Indiana and wherever else unions are under attack. We appreciate your being here with us this evening and for reassuring those workers that you and the Congressional Black Caucus are standing firmly with them.

At this time I would like to yield such time as she might consume to the gentlelady from Ohio, a former mayor, also a strong fighter for children, for the poor, and for the underserved, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge.

Certainly.

General Leave

And before we begin that, I'd like to just ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to enter extraneous material on the matter under discussion this evening.

And to begin this dialogue, I'd like to turn now to the gentlelady from Wisconsin who feels it and who knows it, Gwen Moore.

If I could just say for a moment it sounds very much like what's happening here.

As the gentlewoman has said and our other colleagues have said, this is not just an issue for Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana; this is an issue for our country. And the same thing that's being done in Wisconsin is what is being done here.

Tax giveaways to the wealthy and to business while we cut health care programs, education programs, community, economic development programs for people across America who need them.

And that's why we have decided today, as a caucus, to come here and to voice our support and to give encouragement to the workers and to your legislators who have had to leave Wisconsin to prevent these devastating cuts that will further damage the health of--and I am sure your State is no different from other States, where the poor people of color, women, are not getting the kind of health care that they need.

What we need is to make sure that the benefits that we passed last year in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are implemented in Wisconsin and everywhere. What your governor is doing is going backwards instead of forward.

And the check is not that big to begin with.

We haven't mentioned it yet.

I'm sure they're not because people across America are not falling for it. The New York Times/CBS did a poll. They showed that the majority of Americans--and I'm sure in the States that are facing these issues--oppose efforts to weaken collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce State budget deficits. They oppose weakening collective bargaining by 60 percent, including large numbers, and not just Democrats but independents, they oppose cutting pay and benefits. The majority of Americans, over 56 percent, oppose cutting pay and benefits. And most of those who were surveyed are not union members and don't have union members in their family. So the American people get it. They don't like what they are seeing.

Surely.

So you did say that the emergency was sort of created?

Do you see the same thing happening here in this Congress?

Thank you.

I want to thank all of my colleagues for joining us this evening to talk about this issue. Again, this is not about budgeting. It is about union busting, and it is the kind of policy that will not only hurt workers in the State and across the country, but it only leads to stalled economic growth and the slashing of jobs. It is the kind of policy that hurts our Nation.

We want to make sure that our workers in Ohio and Wisconsin and Indiana and everywhere know that the Congressional Black Caucus stands with you. We want to let our country's labor leaders, the union leadership know that we stand with them and support them, and that we have the highest respect and support for the Democratic legislators who have drawn the line and did what had to be done to stop the egregious attacks on the middle class and the poor.

Mr. Speaker, it is really an honor for me to join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus here this evening to recognize Black History Month and some of the people who have written that history through their life contribution, but also to talk about how the cuts the Republicans are proposing to everything except taxes for the wealthy threaten to take us back decades, if not centuries, to a place where America was

not in her finest hour, a time when the poor, the rural, and people of color were denied equal opportunities to education, health care, jobs with decent wages and protections, and the possibility of homeownership. We cannot and must not go back there.

I'd like to invite to start this hour with us a leader in his district in South Carolina, a leader of his faith, of this Congress, and of this country, the assistant minority leader, Congressman James Clyburn.

Thank you, Mr. Clyburn, and thank you for raising what Zandi reported today. I just want to quote Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, who said today, ``Significant government spending restraint is vital, but given the still halting economic recovery, it would be counterproductive for that restraint to begin until the economy is creating enough jobs to bring down the still very high unemployment rate.''

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield to the immediate past president of the Congressional Black Caucus who led us with great distinction, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California.

Thank you very much, Congresswoman Lee, for your leadership and for joining us this evening.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, before I recognize the next Member, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material to the subject under discussion this evening.

Now it is my honor to yield to the gentleman from Texas, a person who has long been a fighter for equality, fairness and justice, not only in his own State but for this country, the Honorable Al Green of Texas.

Thank you, Congressman Green.

At this time, I would like to yield to one of our newer Members. We are so pleased that he has joined not only the Congressional Black Caucus but the Congress. He represents New Orleans and brings welcomed insights and energy to the CBC and to the Congress.

Congressman Cedric Richmond of New Orleans.

Thank you, Congressman Richmond, for your contribution to this Black History Month Special Order and for pointing out the injustice in H.R. 1 and the proposed stopgap measure for the next 2 weeks.

At this time, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from Texas, a person much admired by everyone across this country, who represents her district, this Congress, and this country with outstanding distinction, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Thank you. And I'm sure they are inspired by the eloquence of your tribute to them.

And before I speak briefly on the proposed 2-week CR, I want to tell my colleagues and my fellow Americans about the first black millionaire. It's my contribution to the Black History Month Special Order this evening. His name was William Alexander Leidesdorff, and he was born in my home island of St. Croix, which was then part of the Danish West Indies. The bicentennial of his birth was celebrated last year.

His family started out poor. He ended up having to go to Denmark to get an education, and he was an immigrant to this country which had not yet bought the Virgin Islands. Yet through education, enterprise, and the opportunity to use that enterprise, he is credited with not only having become the first black millionaire but, more importantly, was named the African Founding Father of California. He also specifically played a major role in the development of the city of San Francisco.

Today, if one is an immigrant, there is no welcome in this country of immigrants, and they are denied access to programs that would help them to transition into this country.

Today, if one is poor, the cuts in the Republican-passed H.R. 1, the cuts to community programs, health centers, access to higher education, job training, and the support for the health of mothers and babies would ensure that the uneducated, the unhealthy, the jobless, and the poor stay that way. There will be few, if any, Leidesdorffs. Not even a black ``thousandaire'' if the tea party-led Republican majority has their way.

What has happened to the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Does the Republican majority plan to cut that, too, out of the Declaration of Independence?

So here we are just 5 days away--4, really--from a government shutdown if we can't agree on how to pay to keep the government open for the next 7 months. The best, the simplest, and the fairest way to do that, in my opinion, in the middle of a fiscal year when departments are carrying out plans and programs to improve and protect the lives of those who live and work in this country is to continue the spending at last year's levels--no increases, just last year's levels. That essentially adds nothing to the deficit, and most importantly, it does not destroy the small gains we have been making in bringing this country out of a deep and painful recession.

Countless reputable economists, like Zandi, who's been quoted frequently here this evening, have told us over and over again now is not the time to cut the spending that's required to stabilize and begin to grow our economy again. If the Republican majority is successful with the cuts they want to make, they will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and make the already bad situation that they and President Bush created even worse for the American people who are depending on us to bring them relief.

What's happening is that the majority is pretty much demanding that the rest of us accept $4 billion in cuts over the next 2 weeks in order to keep the government from shutting down. And they do have the votes, especially in this body.

In that $4 billion, education takes an over $500 million cut in funding in just 2 weeks. Some of these programs the President plans to end next year. And while I'm withholding judgment on that decision, ending them now means the people working in those programs may be out of work if these cuts are continued. These programs include school improvement, safe schools, and higher education programs. Other cuts are proposed for reading and literacy programs and some that work to improve academic achievement.

I suspect that these programs really need a ``mend but don't end'' approach, because we need to improve literacy and achievement if we are to produce the number of scientists, engineers, and other workers and entrepreneurs this country will need to win the future.

Given the instability in the Middle East and the terrible turn that pirating has taken, can we afford to cut $245 million in the Homeland Security programs even for just 2 weeks? I don't think so. And I am sure the American people we have sworn to protect don't think so either. Coast Guard operations? Customs and Border Patrol salaries and construction projects? All of that sounds like less security and the possibility of more people out of work to me.

FEMA disaster mitigation grants? Emergency operations money? We were to have 70-mile-per-hour winds here in Washington this evening. Storms and tornadoes will not necessarily stop for 2 weeks because the Republicans have to kowtow to the tea party.

In just 2 weeks, there would be an almost $200 million cut in HUD neighborhood and economic development grants. Just in the 2 weeks. And almost $50 million in job training and unemployment services will be cut. With over 9 percent unemployment in many places, some in the double digits, and

in the middle of a recession that has shown no mercy to the poor and the middle class, I guess there will be no mercy from this body's leadership either.

I left health for last on this stopgap measure where I count over $460 million in cuts in these 2 weeks. Close to $400 million of that comes from the agency that provides services, treatment, and trains health professionals. And if the cuts to WIC and Maternal and Child Health were not enough in H.R. 1, children's programs have again been the targets of cuts, including programs in special education. And there would be a $6 million cut from the Administration on Aging.

I don't understand it. If we're not placing a priority on taking care of our children and elderly, what kind of country are we?

So I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: This country's in trouble. It's time to end the politics and do not only what the economists tell us we ought to do, but, more importantly, we need to come together and do what is right. These cuts are not right-- not for 2 weeks and not for the rest of this year.

We really need to put the welfare of the American people in our country ahead of party politics. The times require it, and our people expect it.

You know, I think we ought to change the word ``spending'' and call it ``investment,'' because that's what it really is. Investment is something that's understood and supported, and it's what is on the chopping block.

Investing, not just spending for spending's sake, is what Democrats began to do in the last two Congresses--to invest in health for all Americans, in equal opportunity to a quality education; investing in restoring jobs and building a healthier economy; investing in cleaning up a polluted and unhealthy environment; investing in a better future for us and our children and in a better, stronger, more competitive United States in this world.

We want to win the future.

The Republican agenda looks to the past, not the future. It looks to the past to continue the economic policies that ran our economy into the ground in the first place. It looks to the past to focus on the programs they have long hated: EPA regulations, health care reform that is finally making it possible for many to become insured and secure in that insurance, community programs that help poor areas of our country have a fair shot of just surviving, programs that lift our spirits and call forth our better selves--the arts, the humanities, public broadcasting.

And believe it or not, they're cutting programs like WIC, Head Start, and Maternal and Child Health. We had to fight for these programs every year during the administration of George W. Bush, and so it's no accident that we're fighting for them again.

This whole agenda is not about cutting spending at all. It's a facade for what they are really trying to do; that is, gutting the programs they and their supporters love to hate. And in pursuing this agenda, they are putting the slow recovery that still has to reach urban and rural Main Street in jeopardy, putting us in jeopardy of reverting back to where we started earlier this year, to where their policies took us in 2009, a place that no one wants to go back to.

And my friends, not one thing has this Republican majority done about the biggest crisis facing our country and its families: the economy and jobs.

Talk about the job-killing act of 2011. Well, that was not health care reform, which is actually the biggest job creator we have passed in recent years. The winners in that category clearly are the CR that was forced through this Congress 2 weeks ago and this 2-week stopgap that would cut the Federal budget by $4 billion.

What we need is a clean CR at 2010 levels to the end of this fiscal year so that we can begin to focus on the 2012 budget, which is the more appropriate place to look at deficit reduction and which is due in less than 2 months.

Let me say a word about what their Governors are doing. It doesn't take 20/20 vision to see that this is a coordinated effort. Unions, which created our middle class in the first place, have always been one of the Republicans' targets. The war against the poor and middle class is not just being fought in Washington, my friends, but also in the States by Republican Governors.

Lastly, please don't let our Republican colleagues fool anyone into thinking that Social Security or Medicare needs to be addressed as part of our need to reduce the deficit. They do not. But they too have always been in their bull's-eye. We need to do what is necessary to protect them for the future generations.

But colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we have seen some of your plans to weaken these vital programs. But seniors, the disabled, and we Democrats want to make sure that the tea party and the Republicans keep their hands off Social Security and Medicare.

Black history is not just the commemoration of how far African Americans have come, but also how far this country has come. Most importantly, it is a reminder that we both still have more to do and further to go. Today's Republican agenda for this country threatens to erase all of the gains we celebrate this month, to put up roadblocks in our road to progress, roadblocks to a better future for all Americans, and to ensuring that this country we love regains and retains its number one position in the world. It's time to stop the madness and time to work together to continue to build a stronger America, one child, one family, one community at a time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 8 o'clock and 11 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, March 1, 2011, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the Flake amendment and also to the underlying bill, and I join Leader Pelosi and my colleagues on this side of the aisle in calling this an irresponsible spending bill that threatens job and economic growth, hampers our global competitiveness, and harms the people who are hurting the most: the working families, the middle class, and the poor.

This CR targets vulnerable Americans because it would cut funding for the things they most desperately need, like food stamps, Head Start, and funding to heat their homes, all to keep a reckless tea party- driven campaign spending cuts goal. And at the end of the day, these kinds of hurtful cuts will never get us a balanced budget, and they certainly will not secure the kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren.

As one of the five representatives of the people of the U.S. offshore territories as well as the ranking member of the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the territories, I am particularly troubled by the painful cuts this CR will make to the important programs that the people of the territories rely on.

The bill slashes 8.33 percent from the general technical assistance account of the Office of Insular Affairs. Madam Chair, the technical assistance program provides support not otherwise available to the insular areas to fight such things as the deteriorating fiscal conditions which are facing all of the islands and our ability to maintain the momentum that has been made in making and sustaining systemic changes.

These funds also support student training programs for high school and college students, as well as training for insular professionals in financial management, accounting and auditing, as well as other programs.

The program also provides funds to assist the islands in maintaining accreditation for our colleges and universities. What is critical about this meager program, which has not seen an increase in its budget in more than a decade, is that it is funding that the territories could not get anywhere else in the Federal Government. Sparing this very small but essential program from the majority's indiscriminate, meat cleaver approach to budgeting would do infinitely more good than any harm it might cause to the budget. After all, the small amount of money we're talking about here does not move the meter one blip.

Madam Chair, the people of the territories recognize that the Federal budget cannot sustain the path that it's on, and that reductions in spending must be made. But we have done our part and will continue to do our part to reduce Federal spending.

As you look at the budget for the territories, it has not increased in several years, and it has been cut for a number of those years. But the cuts we're talking about in the CR do not only affect the territories. In addition to cutting jobs, there are also disastrous cuts that the Republicans are proposing to health-related programs that are critical to millions of Americans and are integral to all of our efforts to achieve health equity and to eliminate health disparities. These health disparities, which we know leave millions of people of color, rural Americans, and low-income Americans in poorer health, without reliable access to adequate health care, and at greater risk for premature death from preventive causes, also cost the Nation a great deal from an economic point of view. In fact, we know that between 2003 and 2006, the combined direct and indirect cost of health disparities and the subsequent premature deaths that often result, the cost was $1.24 trillion.

Rather than base budget cuts on measures that will save human lives in addition to precious Federal resources, the Republicans are instead proposing cuts that will achieve the exact opposite. We all know from their efforts to repeal the landmark health care reform law, a law that has already begun to expand access to affordable high quality health care to more than 30 million Americans who were in the ranks of the uninsured, the Republicans either do not care about the importance of ensuring that every American and their families have health

care coverage, or they do not understand the value of such coverage in promoting health, wellness, and thus improving life opportunities, or maybe it's both.

And now, we also know that they don't care about or understand the benefits and the needs for the programs and efforts that will significantly improve the health and wellness of some of our Nation's most vulnerable residents by reducing the very health disparities that cost this Nation so much in human lives and in money. In fact, they want to cut more than $1 billion from the Nation's community health centers, the very centers that provide medical homes to millions of hardworking Americans whose health care needs would be poorly addressed without them, and to cut $210 million from maternal and child health block grant programs, more than $300 million from family planning, and $758 million from the WIC program, all of which would have a detrimental impact on the health and wellness of women and children and young families across this country.

I urge my colleagues to reject this budget CR which does nothing to improve the economy and hurts vulnerable Americans.