Floor Statements

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1284, legislation to increase the spending cap imposed on the San Gabriel Basin Demonstration Project. The funding level for this program was capped at $38 million in 1996. With the increase authorized by H.R. 1284, communities in southeast Los Angeles County are assured of continued financial support for their groundwater cleanup projects.

I extend my compliments to the gentlewoman from California for her tireless work on this bill and also wish to recognize the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo), the ranking member, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer for their assistance. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, we have no objection to S. 434 and support the passage of this bill by the House today.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, S. 1466 is intended to accelerate the transfer of millions of acres of Federal lands to Alaska natives, the State of Alaska, and to native corporations. Those individuals and entities are entitled to receive lands from the public domain under past acts of Congress.

As described by the sponsor's floor statement when the bill was introduced in July 2003, the land conveyance program in Alaska is the largest and most complex of any in United States history. Yet notwithstanding the complexity of this subject matter, there is very little legislative history concerning S. 1466. The bill was not reported by the Senate Energy Committee. An amendment was adopted on the Senate floor on October 10, but there is no statement or debate to explain what changes were made. And the House Resources Committee has neither held hearings nor a markup on this legislation.

Despite the curious absence of regular order, the majority has brought S. 1466 before the House today and intends to pass it along to the President without further scrutiny. S. 1466 is exclusively the product of the other body and apparently we have little choice but to hope that they got it right.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, in 1948, then Chairman George Gillette of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, North Dakota, wept as a contract was signed to sell over 150,000 acres of tribal land to the U.S. Government to build the Garrison Dam. Through his grief, Chairman Gillette stated, ``We will sign this contract with a heavy heart. With a few scratches of the pen, we will sell the best part of our reservation. Right now, the future does not look good for us.''

Chairman Gillette was correct as 80 percent of the tribe was forcibly relocated, 94 percent of their agricultural land was destroyed and their hospital flooded. Today, 56 years later, Chairman Gillette can now smile as we finally authorize this health care facility.

Over this period of time, there has been one reason or another not to fulfill this promise made to the tribes. In fact, we are only here today because of the hard work and determined persistence of several people. The North Dakota delegation, led by Senator Conrad, the sponsor of this bill, has worked tirelessly to get this passed. Senators Conrad and Dorgan and our colleague, the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy), deserve much of the credit. I also want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) for allowing this bill to come to the floor today.

I would truly be remiss, however, if I did not credit Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, and Ranking Member Rahall of the Committee on Resources for all of their efforts to get us here today. Certainly there is a connection through the years from Chairman Gillette to Chairman Hall which has kept the drumbeat alive and steady not to give up the fight for this facility. Ranking Member Rahall heard that drum and took heed, making this bill a high priority. You see, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from West Virginia knows all too well how promises made when resources are desired can quickly turn into devastated lands and broken promises. With that empathy, the gentleman from West Virginia kept pushing to get this bill heard today and I thank him.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my fellow colleagues in support of S. 2302, also known as H.R. 4156. I first would like to thank Senator Conrad and Congressman Jerry Moran for sponsoring this important piece of legislation. I would also like to thank the committees jurisdiction for their quick actions in allowing this bill to come to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, over the tenure of my congressional career I have come to the floor repeatedly to demand that Congress act to address the needs of the medically underserved and to ensure that we do everything possible to eliminate arbitrary barriers which give rise to healthcare disparities.

As there is a vast amount of research on the subject of rural physician recruitment and retention, this bill is by no means a comprehensive policy. Rather, the purpose is to be a temporary stop gap measure to allay the crisis of rural health and healthcare providers.

Mr. Speaker, more than 51 million Americans live in areas classified by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as nonmetropolitan. They comprise one-fifth of the U.S. population. Rural populations are found to be older, poorer, sicker, less educated and to have a perception of worse health status than their urban counterparts.

They also have higher infant mortality and injury-related mortality rates, fewer hospital beds and physicians per capita, and are much less likely than urban residents to have private or public health insurance. Moreover, while the number of individuals living below the poverty line is disproportionately high in rural areas, the number receiving Medicaid benefits is disproportionately low.

In a study of the utilization rates of 28 categories of medical services, found that, with the exception of major surgical procedures, urban residents received between 20 percent and 30 percent more of each type of service than did rural residents.

With at least 20 percent of the population living in rural areas, less than 11 percent of the Nation's physicians are practicing in nonmetropolitan areas. Today, more than 2,500 physicians were needed in nonmetropolitan areas to remove all nonmetropolitan health professional shortage area (HPSA) designations for primary care. More than twice that number are needed to achieve a 2,000-1 ratio in those HPSAs. This is the current situation and does not factor in the aging physician population serving rural areas, nor does it factor in the statistical designation dealing with counties as the main reference point.

As a medical doctor, I understand that nonmetropolitan physicians derive a larger share of their gross practice revenue from Medicare and Medicaid patients than metropolitan physicians. These public programs pay physicians at lower rates than private insurers. There is a decreased ability in nonmetropolitan areas to perform economically enhancing procedures (hospitals with decreasing obstetrical and surgical units, etc.), which further decreases relative reimbursement rates. Thus, nonmetropolitan physicians, on average, work more and earn less than their metropolitan counterparts.

Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in designated HPSAs and medically underserved areas (MUAs), and differential Medicare payments to qualifying rural areas have helped to enhance reimbursement. But currently, the mandate that States pay RHCs and FQHCs their reasonable costs under Medicaid is being phased out. Medicare managed care program reimbursement to RHCs has threatened to be lower than the current reimbursement. Both of these payment changes will put providers in jeopardy.

Mr. Speaker, I along with my Congressional Black Caucus counterparts have consistently pushed the Congress for more equitable fee reimbursement and to fully fund Title VII and Title VIII health profession training program. We have also called for the strengthening, expansion, and reauthorization of these programs in our minority health bill H.R. 3459, the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act, which I look forward to moving on the 109th Congress.

S. 2302/H.R. 4156 acknowledges that international medical graduates, through State initiated J-1 visa programs, have initially met some unmet needs of rural areas. But Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight a recent study published by the Council on Graduate Medical Education that stated that although international medical graduates have made an important contribution to the provision of medical care in some rural areas, training these graduates is an inefficient way to expand physician supply in rural areas. Although many inner city hospitals are dependent on international medical graduates for providing care to underserved urban populations, more direct avenues exist for meeting the needs of these hospitals. The funds would be better targeted to programs that increase the flow of U.S. health professional graduates to underserved rural areas.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker while I strongly support the underlying bill, I again call on Congress to move legislation in the 109th that will do the following.

Increase ORHP funding for research related to physician recruitment, retention and networking should be supported and enhanced.

Reevaluate how designation of HPSAs and MUAs are given so the designated areas accurately reflect underserved status.

Increasing the Title VII funding for AHECs and health education training centers should be supported and enhanced.

Encourage and mandate that medical schools confront their obligation to target admissions and training to underserved populations, both rural and urban, in the primary care professions.

Encourage medical school environments to encourage individuals into primary care and encourage early and long-term rural exposure to positive rural physician role models, and such educational programs should be adequately funded.

Increase scholarship programs to place medical students with mentoring physicians in rural or remote practices during an elective or vacation period should be encouraged.

Support medical schools' and residencies' efforts to integrate community orientation and a team approach to health care. To achieve the full benefit of this effort, there needs to be further infrastructure building of rural allied health teams and rural communities' commitment to meeting the challenges of a changing health care system.

Encourage family practice residencies to offer rural electives, rural emphasis and rural training tracks.

Direct the Bureau of Health Professions (BHP) funding for residencies that are building rural-based programs and funding for those programs that have a history of producing

rural physicians should become a staple rather than be at the mercy of national budget politics. An aggressive plan to increase funding should be sought.

Increase support by the BHP to primary care residencies to be continued and enhanced.

Decrease professional isolation by supporting teleinformatics and outreach education programs of states and by the use of nonphysician providers.

Increase retention through more appropriately rural-trained candidates.

Identify care needs at the community level. Use state and federal funds to assist rural hospitals where access to care would be threatened by hospital closure and physicians would be further deprived of opportunities to utilize their professional skills.

Develop and use innovative delivery systems that emphasize coordination and cooperation among providers, institutions and communities.

Develop programs allowing rural clinicians to undertake periodic rotations through academic hospital services (with locum tenens backup) in order to learn or update procedures.

Provide for those areas that do not qualify for RHC or FQHC status but still are faced with the disproportionate numbers of Medicare and Medicaid patients, there should be enhanced Medicare and Medicaid payments to rural providers.

Evaluate the enhanced reimbursement available through RHC and Community Health Center designations needs to be adequately maintained to retain providers and avoid decertification as the area's needs are met. If the same level of Medicare and Medicaid and uninsured patients persists and the area is decertified because of an adequate supply of physicians, a cycle will develop leading to economic unfeasibility, provider dissatisfaction and lower retention rates.

Mandate the States to pay RHCs and FQHCs reasonable costs under the State's Medicaid program.

Ensure that Medicare managed care reimbursement must equal or exceed the RHC and FQHC Medicare reimbursement.

Increase the supply of primary care providers in rural areas by lessening speciality and geographic differentials in physician income.

Establish relocation grants, especially for remote areas, to defray the costs of moving and setting up a practice.

Mr. Speaker, in the 109th Congress I will introduce a bill that codifies these recommendations among others and will hopefully begin the process of ensuring that we provide healthcare for all Americans within or close to current expenditures.

Mr. Speaker, the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 is misnamed as it relates to my congressional district, the U.S Virgin Islands, because of changes it makes to our Economic Development Program. These changes could ``likely cripple our Economic Development Commission (EDC) program, robbing it of many of the incentives it uses to lure mainland businesses to the islands, if companies decide to pull their investments, jobs and money out of the territory.''

The conference report contains a new provision, not previously considered by either the House or Senate, which poses a serious risk to our EDC program. The Government of the Virgin Islands strongly opposes this provision as currently drafted. This provision, which was added in a closed door meeting with House and Senate tax writers over this past weekend and unveiled in the draft conference report late last Monday night, would require V.I. taxpayers to be physically present in the Virgin Islands at least 183 days in any tax year in order to be deemed a ``bona fide V.I. resident'' under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The new provision eliminates the alternative 3-year 122-day test included in the original Senate bill.

The new provision also restricts the type of income that can qualify for EDC benefits to V.I. source income. It would eliminate the possibility that some of an EDC beneficiary's U.S. source income that is ``effectively connected'' with a V.I. trade or business could qualify for tax reduction under the EDC program. The 1986 Tax Reform Act specifically permitted the Virgin Islands to reduce tax liability on income ``effectively connected'' with a conduct of a V.I. trade or business even when such income is sourced outside of the Virgin Islands in certain circumstances. Neither the House nor the Senate bill contained any provision on source of income rules.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize and accept that the genesis of this new provision is the fact that there have been participants of our EDC program that have taken positions that they are bona fide Virgin Islands residents when they did not in fact spend a significant amount of time in the territory. We also acknowledge that there have been situations where individuals have received EDC tax exemptions even though they continued to live and work in the United States. We agree that the rules governing this situation need to be clarified and made certain. And to that end, we look forward to working with the Treasury Department in crafting reasonable regulations which accomplishes these goals while preserving the essential elements of our program which was designed to promote fiscal autonomy for the Virgin Islands.

We encourage the Treasury Department to develop reasonable rules, post haste, that will ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the Virgin Islands EDC program and promote both tax compliance and economic growth. Without such rules, the impact of the conference report language on legitimate businesses in the Virgin Islands or on local government revenues could be enormous, creating the financial equivalent of a massive hurricane leveling the islands.

Mr. Speaker, today in the U.S. Virgin Islands, on my island of St. Croix, residents from all walks of life will gather to remember and pay tribute to Frank J. Fox.

Frank Fox was the president of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce from 2002 to 2003. But his service to St. Croix and the entire Territory did not begin or end there. He lent his time and talents to a variety of task forces, commissions and committees such as the Governor's Economic Development Committee, The Cruise Ship Task Force, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Navy League, the Landmark Society, Our Town Frederiksted, and St. Croix Friends of Denmark to name but a few. He was also a member of Rotary Mid Island.

But even beyond these Frank and his beloved wife, Beverly were everywhere. They truly adopted St. Croix as home, and did everything they could to make it a better, and more vibrant place for everyone.

Mr. Speaker, Regrettably, due to pressing matters up here, I will not be there at the memorial service. And I know that this is where Frank would insist that I be.

Frank lent his expertise to me, during a very difficult political time--when I had introduced and was shepherding the bill to create a Chief Financial Officer for the Virgin Islands. Often as he offered his opinion or advice, he would preface it with ``For whatever it is worth.'' I can tell you, and others who benefited from his counsel would attest, whatever he said was worth a lot!

I had the pleasure of serving with Frank on the VI EpsCor (Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research), where he was the first Chairman. He gave generously of his time, and expertise, and led us through a very successful launching in which the University received the first ever grant to a territory.

He will be fondly remembered for all of the above, but never more than every August when we as a community gather to greet new teachers. It was during his tenure as Chamber president that this activity, which is now tradition, began. It demonstrates the depth of his insight into what is important to the future of the Virgin Islands, and more importantly his commitment to that future. He knew and showed us through his life and service, the importance of the ``village,'' and its responsibility to our children.

Mr. Speaker, we were all shocked to hear that this man, so full of life, had left us. We will always be grateful for his friendship, and for his service to our community.

We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife Beverly and his family. And we thank her for sharing this wonderful man with us so generously.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4520 for the damage that it does to our EDC program and the loss of jobs in my territory.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 211 to authorize a single new National Heritage Area in New Mexico. While the bill combines a number of Heritage Area in New Mexico. While the bill combines a number of Heritage Area proposals, I am particularly pleased to see my legislation, H.R. 1594, to provide for a study of the suitability and feasibility of establishing my home island of St. Croix as a National Heritage Area was also included in this package.

The island of St. Croix has a long, distinguished, and varied history, including being the site where Christopher Columbus first stepped onto what is now American soil. There is significant interest in preserving and enhancing the natural, historical and cultural resources of the island on a cooperative basis and such a study would provide guidance on how we can best achieve those purposes.

Even though each of the U.S. Islands can make a good case for designation as a National Heritage Area, the island of St. Croix with its two historic towns--Christiansted built in 1734 and Frederiksted built in 1752--is richly blessed with all of the attributes that would justify this designation.

The town's historic architecture matured over a 100-year period. The town of Christiansted is one of the finest examples of Danish architectural designs in this hemisphere. Its history can be traced back some 4,000 years to 2500 B.C.

In 1493 Columbus arrived at what is now the Salt River National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, making it the only site under the American flag where his men went ashore, as well as the first recorded hostile encounter between Europeans and Native Americans.

Frederiksted has the distinction of having been the first jurisdiction to have raised its flag in salute of the new Republic of the U.S.A., and indeed the first designed flag was done by a resident of that Island.

Mr. Speaker, S. 211 as amended, also includes important legislation to conserve and interpret important cultural and historical resources in Pennsylvania, Ohio and South Carolina. Many of our colleagues, including Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and a new Member of this Congress, Tim Ryan of Ohio, have worked long and hard to shepherd these measures through the legislative process.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Full Committee Chairman Pombo, Ranking Member Rahall, as well as Subcommittee Chairman Radanovich for their efforts in moving S. 211 to the floor of the House today.

I urge our colleagues to support S. 211.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleague Congressman Robert Menendez of New Jersey in the passage of H.R. 918, the Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2003. As you know, Mr. Speaker, I have come to this floor on numerous occasions to express my outrage concerning racial and ethnic health disparities in this Nation and legislative solutions to address them. For years, research has told us that minorities and low-income populations are the least likely to receive the health care they need to live a long, healthy life. We've done a very good job of identifying this problem and finally we have a bill that will begin the process of solving them.

The bill we are passing today while greatly modified enjoys strong support from the American Cancer Society, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the National Hispanic Medical Association, the National Medical Association, Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Coalition, the Intercultural Cancer Council and their Caucus, the National Council of La Raza, 100 Black Men of America, the National Rural Health Association, Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, and the National Patient Advocate Foundation.

This bill addresses what many of us believe are the root causes of health disparities in minority and underserved communities: Lack of access to health care in general--and particularly lack of access to prevention and early detection--as well as language and cultural barriers to care.

In the 2002 IOM report Unequal Treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in care, research explained that there are a number of explanations for the higher rates of disease among minority populations, including higher rates of uninsured, reduce access to care, and lower quality of care. But all of these barriers point to the same underlying problem, minority patients are less likely to receive early screening and detection, so their disease is found at a much later stage and they have less chance of survival.

This bill we're passing today will be the process to ensure that all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, language, income, or geography, will have access to prevention screening and treatment, and that they will have an advocate at their side, helping them navigate through today's complicated health care system.

The bill before us ensures that navigators are available to help patients make their way through the health care system--whether it's translating technical medical terminology, making sense of their insurance, making appointments for referral screenings, following up to make sure the patient keeps that appointment, or even accompanying a patient to a referral appointment.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to acknowledge that the original concept for the legislation comes from Dr. Harold Freeman's ``navigator'' program, which he created while he was Director of Surgery at Harlem Hospital. It is our hope that Dr. Freeman's navigator concept and its laser shape focus on comprehensive modeling of prevention services will eventually be fully translated in legislative terms. To this end, it is my sincere desire that this body would move expeditiously in holding hearing on H.R. 3459 the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act of 2003. It is our firm belief that H.R. 3459 expands and accents the comprehensive components that Dr. Freedman's navigator program embodies. As you know, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3459 enjoys the support of 104 Members in this body, was created by the Congressional Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American, and Native American Caucuses, and included the introduced version of the bill before us today.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Karissa Willhite of Mr. Menendez's office and John Ford and Cheryl Jaeger of the Energy and Commerce Committee along with other staff that enabled this bill to come to the floor. It urge my colleagues to vote for its adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleague Congressman Cliff Stearns of Florida in the passage of H.R. 2023, the Asthmatic Schoolchildren's Treatment and Health Management Act of 2004. Mr. Speaker, as a medical doctor I know of nothing more important to a patient than the ability to access his/her medication. The bill before us today underscores this critical component in the continuum of care as it relates to asthma and school-age children.

I am grateful to Mr. Stearns for introducing this important piece of legislation and will be working forward to its impact in African American and medically underserved communities. As you know, Mr. Speaker, asthma is the 6th-ranking chronic condition in the U.S., and the leading serious chronic illness of children in the U.S., and has a significant impact on African Americans. Not only do African Americans have a higher asthma prevalence rate than Caucasians, but they are also more likely to be hospitalized or die due to asthma.

Data released in 2003 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the lifetime prevalence rate is 29 percent higher in African Americans than in Caucasians. The asthma attack prevalence rate in African Americans is 37 percent higher than in Caucasians, and the asthma attack prevalence rates in African-Americans are highest among children under the age of 5.

The CDC also noted that African Americans have nearly four times the asthma-related emergency room visits than Caucasians and that African Americans are more than three times more likely than Caucasians to be hospitalized for asthma. Finally, African Americans are three times more likely than Caucasians to die from asthma and more African American women die from asthma than any other group.

A recent study by Guido R. Zanni and Jeannette Wick, entitled Counseling Inner-City Youth with Asthma, found that approximately 1 in 13 school-age children is affected--an increase of 72.3 percent since the 1980s. Asthma-related absenteeism amounted to 14 million missed school days in 2000.

The researchers noted that the inner cities have unique challenges with asthma-causing agents: Tobacco and cooking smoke, indoor allergens, bioaerosols and other air pollutants, respiratory infections, and stress. Up to 59 percent of inner-city pediatric asthma sufferers live in homes with environmental tobacco smoke. Sensitivity to allergens is typical of pediatric asthma. Most inner-city children (94 percent are highly sensitive to inhalant allergens, and 76 percent are sensitive to 3 or more allergens. Approximately 36 percent have cockroach sensitization. Combining cockroach sensitization with regular exposure significantly increases asthma-related hospitalizations, emergency room visits, school absenteeism, and lost sleep.

The researchers noted some of the causes of nonadherence to asthma medication regimens by school-age children are created by parental health beliefs, the use of multiple care providers, the lack of a comprehensive asthma-management plan, psychosocial stressors, inadequate attention to triggers and early warning signals, and inadequate environmental allergen control. They also noted that many schools have a zero-tolerance drug policy, forcing students to smuggle and take their asthma medications discreetly or leave their medications at home.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that H.R. 2023 is a step in the right direction towards eliminating health disparities by making grants available to States, with a preference to States that require public elementary and secondary schools to allow students to self-administer medication to treat that student's asthma or anaphylaxis under specified conditions.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I believe that this bill is a measure that safeguards the health of children with asthma and urge my colleagues to support it.

I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to join the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy) in urging the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 34, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that private health insurance companies should take a proactive role in promoting healthy lifestyles.

Madam Speaker, we know as a society that our lifestyle choices disproportionately account for the excess death and disease burden in this country. Recent studies have documented that of the top 10 killers in America, many such as heart disease, injuries, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, strong perinatal conditions and lung diseases can be reduced or eliminated through healthy lifestyle choices.

I want to take this opportunity to commend and thank the gentlewoman from Missouri for introducing this important piece of legislation. As chair of the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus, I know that it can help my constituents, African-Americans in this country, all people of color and all Americans who are fortunate enough to have health insurance.

Recently, the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities at the University of South Carolina noted that, in the 20th century, public health advances eradicated diseases through sanitation, immunizations, health education and advances in medical technology. This led to enormous improvements in people's lives. However, the 21st century has brought a new set of public health challenges which include tobacco- and alcohol-related diseases as well as sexually transmitted ones. We have also seen that sedentary lifestyles and diets high in calorie-rich foods have produced a generation of Americans who are increasingly obese. The health problems associated with weight-related diseases are multiplying by epidemic proportions.

Madam Speaker, between 50 and 66 percent of African-American women can be classified as being overweight. More than 2.8 million, or 13 percent of African-Americans, also have diabetes. Finally, we and other people of color suffer disproportionately from complications and death due to this illness. We also know that lifestyle choices relating to poor nutrition and obesity can be associated with three of the other 10 leading causes of death, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

It is clear that we need all hands on deck to address this health care crisis in our country. That is why I am urging my colleagues to support House Concurrent Resolution 34 which urges private health insurance companies to do more to encourage people in the United States to lead a healthier and more active lifestyle to prevent expensive and painful illness; two, to provide discounted premiums to those who exercise regularly; and three, to encourage frequent screening for diseases that are easily treatable in their early stages. We still have to do more to cover everyone and to pay providers for their time spent in counseling patients on good disease prevention and health promotion, but, Madam Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 34 is a step in the right direction by giving the insurance industry a stake in the fight to eliminate health care disparities, to ensure better health for all Americans and to reduce the skyrocketing costs of health care. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1630 as it is being brought to the floor today is not the same bill that passed the Committee on Resources in July. An issue was raised by the majority on the acquisition of the private lands within the park, but I am pleased that the language has been worked out and that it is language that is acceptable to both sides.

So, Mr. Speaker, we will support this new amended version of H.R. 1630.

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

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

(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, Taunton, Massachusetts, is a city rich

in its significant cultural and historical resources. As a result, we support authorizing the National Park Service to study this area to determine how these resources might best be conserved and interpreted for generations to come. I join the gentleman from West Virginia (Ranking Member Rahall) in congratulating the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for his hard work on behalf of this legislation and this community, and we look forward to working with him on legislation to implement any recommendations which come out of this study that we are authorizing today. So we urge the passage of H.R. 2129.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), the sponsor of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is a very minor boundary issue left over from rights-of-way granted in the 19th century. We have reviewed the legislation and we do not oppose the passage of H.R. 4817.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.