Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, first of all, congratulations on your retirement and the best of luck. I thank you for your friendship while I served in Congress.

I stand in support of this bill, and I want to congratulate both my dear friends, the ranking member, Nita Lowey, and the chairman, Harold Rogers, for working many hours on this bill. I am very happy that as we are about to close this session, that we are working on a bill that will keep our government funded and bring some tranquility to the economy of our country for the remainder of fiscal year 2015. I thank them for doing fine work.

Over the past 23 years that I have had the honor of being in Congress, for 21 of those years I served on the Appropriations Committee. It was a great opportunity for me and an honor for me to serve with various members on Appropriations to do the best we could to serve our country. Many of us would not have been able to produce the bills and provide for the services without the staff on both sides of the aisle that worked on these appropriations bills.

So today, I want to congratulate the current chairman, the ranking member, and thank Chairman Tom Latham for the work he did on the Transportation-HUD bill. And also, it is time for me to thank all of my colleagues for their help and service that they have given this country and the kindness they have shown to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the accomplishments and the impact of Helios Education Foundation on the success of all students in Arizona and Florida. I also want to congratulate Helios Education Foundation on celebrating 10 years of changing lives and strengthening our communities through education.

Helios Education Foundation was created in 2004 through the sale and conversion of Southwest Student Services Corporation led by a visionary President and CEO, Vince Roig, and Board of Directors. At the time of the sale, Southwest Student Services was the eighth largest holder of federally-insured student loans in the country. The net proceeds of that sale were used to create the Foundation's initial endowment of $525 million.

Since that time and in perpetuity, the Foundation has and continues to be focused on its ultimate goal of creating opportunities for every individual in Arizona and Florida to succeed in postsecondary education. Helios is investing its knowledge, expertise and resources to advance student academic preparedness and to foster college-going cultures in both states.

It's through a decade of strategic partnerships and investments that Helios has identified Early Grade Success, College and Career Readiness, and Postsecondary Completion as the three most critical reform priorities needed to ensure student success. In Early Grade Success, Helios is working to ensure that all children enter kindergarten prepared to succeed and read at grade level by the end of third grade. In College and Career Readiness, the Foundation strives to ensure that all high school graduates are prepared to enter the workforce or credit-bearing college courses. And, the organization's work in Postsecondary Completion is focused on helping more traditionally underserved students access, persist and attain a high- quality postsecondary certificate or degree.

Helios Education Foundation believes that education is an investment and not an expense and has invested over $155 million in educational initiatives across the full education continuum. To that end, the Foundation has supported the college-going aspirations of more than 135,000 students, provided more than 8,000 scholarships for postsecondary education and provided professional development and training for more than 16,000 educators. Through these and future investments, Helios is laying the foundation for the ongoing

economic viability of our communities and paving the way for our students to compete and succeed in a global workforce.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Helios Education Foundation for serving our communities, and in particular, I commend its Founder and Chairman, Vince Roig, for his passion and commitment to this work. In addition, I congratulate Helios Education Foundation's Board of Directors and Staff for the tangible and critical impact the Foundation has had over the past 10 years. Most importantly, I am excited about the long-lasting and transformative change Helios Education Foundation will have on our community in perpetuity through education.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 445 and 446, I was delayed at the office. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Bertha Sepulveda for the honor she is receiving from the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and for her work in serving our community.

I first met Ms. Sepulveda when she was my sister's roommate at Arizona State University, and I observed her dedication firsthand when she worked for Maricopa Integrated Health Systems (MIHS) and I was on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Ms. Sepulveda's leadership and community service career spans over four decades and includes her work as co-founder and President of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Valle del Sol-Phoenix Chapter, as well as her role as co-founder of the Mesa Association of Hispanic Citizens in Mesa, AZ. In tribute to Ms. Sepulveda, for this and for her many years of selfless dedication to improving the health and well being of our community, an annual scholarship is being established in her honor by the National Hispanic Nurses Association. This scholarship will be known as The Bertha Sepulveda Community Service Scholarship and will be awarded to students who show exceptional community involvement, continuing her passion and legacy of serving our community.

Early in her career, Ms. Sepulveda served in the United States Air Force, and the Arizona National Guard as a Flight Nurse and First Lieutenant. It was during her service that she developed strong leadership skills as she provided nursing care to patients in the Air Force, in the United States, and abroad.

As Senior Vice-President for Marketing and Business Development MIHS, Ms. Sepulveda led strategic planning and outreach, including development of a strong network of community partnerships. During her career at MIHS, she also held the position of Director of Ambulatory Care, where she managed 13 outpatient health centers in Maricopa County and all outpatient clinics at Maricopa Medical Center.

Ms. Sepulveda retired from MIHS in 1997, after 28 years of service and dedication. She went on to give six more years of service as Director of Special Projects with Mesa Community College. Ms. Sepulveda has worked as a Public Health Nurse, Outpatient Nurse, Administrator, Senior Executive, Leader, Mentor and Educator. It is without a doubt that Ms. Sepulveda has had a great impact on the health care of the Hispanic community and the uninsured.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in acknowledging Ms. Bertha Sepulveda for receiving this recognition from the National Hispanic Nurses Association in honor of the program development and community service she has performed during her long career, and for her contributions to the health and well being of the Hispanic community in Arizona.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. RV 405-RV 406-- missed due to weather delays; had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Republic of Azerbaijan on its commemoration of Republic Day, a remembrance of an extremely important event in Azerbaijani history. When the Russian Empire collapsed in 1917, it brought chaos to the region. On May 28, 1918, the Muslim National Council adopted a Declaration of Independence, and established an independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in the southern and south-eastern Caucasus.

Along with the establishment of this Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan adopted several laws, the most famous among these was the establishment of the right to vote for women, a full year before it was adopted in the United States. Azerbaijanis also received the rights to assembly, speech, and religion.

This new and leading democracy flourished until it was crushed by a military attack of the Soviet Union in April 1920, and all government institutions of Azerbaijan were abolished. Sadly, it took another 71 years of Russian repression until Azerbaijan could, once again, establish an independent Democracy.

Today, we remember the courage and foresight of this independent Democratic Republic and we wish them well for the future.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

The underlying bill contains no funds for the housing trust fund, yet the gentleman's amendment would create a prohibition on using funds that don't exist in the bill. This is simply a messaging amendment that has no practical purpose.

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

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment, and I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, just to remind my colleagues, this bill is $1.8 billion below the 2014 bill in spending.

We had a number of our colleagues speak about the lack of funding for their particular programs, and throughout this evening, we are going to have other speakers talk about the lack of funding and programs.

This amendment would cut programs in transportation and housing, without any thought to the relative merit of the programs contained in the bill, so for that reason, I would oppose this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairman, we rise also in opposition to this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chair, I oppose the amendment.

The levels provided for salaries and expenses at HUD in the base bill are insufficient. Many offices will need to furlough or terminate employees to make these levels work, and this amendment would aggravate this problem further.

As it is, the funding level in this bill will require HUD to furlough its personnel in this office for 12 days. This amendment would increase the number of furlough days required. At these levels, HUD's ability to carry out their mission would be jeopardized. I oppose the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chair, I oppose this amendment. Again, the levels provided for salaries and expenses at HUD in the base bill are insufficient. As it is, the funding level in this bill will require HUD to furlough its personnel in these offices for up to 90 days. Nearly all will be under a hiring freeze.

This amendment would increase the number of furlough days required and would lead to reductions in force. At these levels, HUD's ability to carry out its mission would be jeopardized. I oppose the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

I rise in support of this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

This amendment solves a problem that does not exist.

Currently, the FHA requires a Social Security number and legal citizenship for all insured loans. FHA does not allow for individual taxpayer identification numbers to be used for mortgages.

What this amendment does is create uncertainty in the FHA underwriting process. It would allow FHA to use individual taxpayer identification numbers only with loans on investment properties.

The FHA has already addressed this issue, and this amendment would create unintended consequences.

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

Madam Chairwoman, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairwoman, I also rise in strong opposition to this amendment.

First of all, this amendment violates a collective bargaining agreement that has been negotiated by the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies within the Department of Transportation and HUD.

For example, there are three groups at FAA that utilize official time: air traffic controllers, the inspectors, and the technicians that repair the air traffic control system.

Official time has been helpful in allowing controllers and technicians to participate in workgroups with the FAA management team to advance NextGen technologies, which all of us are supportive of. It is critical to modernize our air traffic control system.

I oppose this amendment because it would violate collective bargaining contracts, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This Amtrak route, the Sunset Limited, runs through 8 States, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and if we start picking lines, individual lines in terms of terminating, what we begin doing is a downward spiral for the demise of Amtrak.

So, for the reasons that I want to ensure that my colleague from Texas, his constituents are able to travel on this line, as well as the ones from Arizona, I rise in opposition.

Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment. It would allow transportation agencies to advance construction projects through the use of local workers.

Every year, cities and local communities must contribute their own resources in the form of a local match for projects that receive Federal funds. At a time when many communities are still struggling from the economic distress, it is understandable that these local agencies would want transportation dollars to benefit local workers and benefits businesses.

It will help ensure construction and operation jobs contribute to the local economic development within the cities and towns where the transportation projects exist, instead of outsourcing jobs to other countries or States.

Madam Chairman, I support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chair, I also agree with the chairman for the reasons he stated.

I rise in opposition to this amendment. It would dismantle Amtrak, the only resemblance of a rail system that we have in this Nation.

Obviously, we need to work with them, so that Amtrak becomes more efficient, but this amendment would dismantle it, and for that reason, I oppose the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mr. PASTOR of Arizona asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that we are beginning consideration of H.R. 4745, the fiscal year 2015 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

I also want to thank Chairman Latham for his work on this bill. He has been a good friend throughout the years and has been a great chairman over these last few years on this subcommittee. I really have enjoyed his friendship. I enjoy working with him, and I thank him for all the courtesies he has extended to me.

I also want to thank the staff--the staff on the majority and the staff on the minority side. They have worked well together over these last few months to bring this bill on the floor.

On paper, this bill appears to be nearly $1.2 billion higher than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. However, the sharp differences between OMB and CBO on the receipt estimates for the FHA loan program mean that this bill is actually $1.8 billion lower--lower than the FY 2014 bill.

As a result, many programs are frozen at last year's level. Deep cuts were made to Amtrak, cuts were made to grants for new transit systems, HUD's HOME program, and HUD's program to reduce the hazards of lead and other household toxins have been reduced.

On a positive note, the bill addresses many of the important safety functions of the Department of Transportation.

For example, this bill provides strong funding for the programs and activities of the Federal Aviation Administration. It will allow the FAA to continue to hire and train new controllers that were lost due to sequestration.

The bill also ensures that the FAA will be able to continue to make important investments to modernize our aging air traffic control system.

With regard to housing programs, the Community Development Block Grants program is adequately funded, and the chairman has worked to ensure that tenants in assisted housing can retain their housing.

The administration's Statement of Administration Policy makes it clear that this bill needs improvement before President Obama will sign it into law.

As we consider the bill over the next few days, I hope that we can prevent further cuts to important transportation and housing programs, and I also hope that we can defeat legislative provisions that will only weaken this bill's chances for enactment.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to point out to my colleagues that the Senate allocation for this bill is nearly $2.4 billion higher than this bill. I hope that we are able to consider this bill quickly, so we can go to conference with the Senate to produce a bill that we can all support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Rogers for his kind words. We have worked together for many years, and over those years, we have been able to do appropriations bills and also developed a great friendship. Thank you, Chairman Rogers.

I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey).

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

Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I agree with the chairman that DOD, Department of Defense, has the primary responsibility, and FAA would be a partner in that venture. We also agree that the reduction of salaries and expenses below the FY 2014 level--we don't know what consequences it would have, possibly RIFs or layoffs, and so for that reason, I ask opposition to the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, the gentleman's amendment would strike a provision that has been carried in every Transportation appropriations bill since 2009.

Section 102 simply grants the Secretary or his representatives the authority to engage in activities with States and State legislators to consider proposals related to the reduction of motorcycle fatalities. In 2012, there were nearly 5,000 motorcycle fatalities, which represented an increase of more than 7 percent over the previous year.

The research and expertise of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can be extremely helpful to State highway traffic safety agencies as they consider measures to improve motorcycle safety. We ought to provide any resource necessary to help States address this important safety issue.

I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment, and I would tell my colleague and friend, the Congressman from Georgia, that harsh is more than mild, in what you want to do.

I know that you and I want to continue to have constituents take the ``Midnight Train to Georgia,'' and I can't support your amendment.

I will tell you, Mr. Chairman, that I don't do Amtrak because we have just a few lines in Arizona, but I understand that Amtrak is very important to the Northeast and other parts of the country.

In my opinion, this is the Nation's railroad line. We need to improve it. I am for that. This amendment would not improve it. It would eliminate it.

I am in opposition to this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, we are also in opposition to the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I also rise in opposition to this amendment.

As you know, Mr. Chairman, recently they have announced that we are slowly still recovering from the Great Recession, and we still have a large number of people who are underemployed or unemployed.

The reality is that the reform that my friend from Ohio would like to bring in section 8 housing will not occur by these cuts, as pointed out by the chairman.

We believe that what this amendment would do is it would evict over 150,000 people from their homes. It would have an effect on the homeless veterans and reduce their assistance.

The reality is today that over half of the residents who live in section 8 are families with children, and so the consequences of this amendment are too dire, and we can't support it, so I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I also rise in opposition. As the chairman has outlined, both funds are either underfunded or at the same level, and the consequence of additional cuts will probably cause many, many individuals who qualify for public housing to either leave public housing or not be able then to enter. For those reasons, we oppose the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, while I support the intention of

the amendment--I am a supporter of CDBG--the program that the Member seeks to increase is one that is worthwhile and successful, and if we had a better allocation, we would have provided more for CDBG.

However, I must rise in opposition to the amendment because of the offset. It is my hope that we can improve the funding levels of this bill as we conference with the Senate.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I would tell my colleague from Georgia: if there is one line item in this bill that has bipartisan support in terms of keeping the program and funding it at this level, this is it.

So I would tell him that even I, because of the bipartisan agreement, that I would rise in opposition to his amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I also rise in opposition to the amendment and oppose the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This account renews long-term housing assistance contracts and the number varies from year to year. The amount needed to renew these contracts depends on how many agreements HUD entered into years ago, not the number we renewed last year.

Reducing the funds in this account will threaten the viability of these units if the funding is not preserved.

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

I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I am in agreement with Chairman Latham that this is an authorizing issue, and it would cause great damage, especially to those contracts that are

already in place, and for that reason, I am in opposition to the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I rise in opposition to the amendment.

MAP-21 required the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to review whether the minimum insurance requirements for trucks and buses were sufficient.

This would freeze insurance claims at the current level. DOT is conducting a rulemaking to further evaluate the appropriate level of the financial responsibility. We ought to let the process go forward.

I oppose the amendment and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I yield to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

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

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I agree with the chairman's interpretation of the amendment because public authorities have their own employees which they hire and are not HUD employees. They receive money from HUD in grants, but that does not make the public authority employees HUD employees. And as I understand the amendment as read and explained, this amendment would only affect HUD and its employees, and it is too broad. It would not meet what the inspector general was trying to do in trying to limit public authorities from hiring outside counsel. So I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

The amendment prohibits HUD from implementing a new rule that was published in the Federal Register on July 19, 2013. The rule provides more data to local communities to comply with the Fair Housing Act and carry out their duties under the Fair Housing Act.

The rule does not change the statutory obligations of communities. It does not create social engineering, but rather asks for a more comprehensive report. The Fair Housing Act has been law for the past 45 years, and this rule does not change that law. This rule simply provides communities with more data to comply with their existing duties under the law.

I support fair housing, and I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson).

Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham).

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

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 178 & 179--I missed votes due to weather delay at airport. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing a small business owner from Arizona's Seventh Congressional District who has left his indelible mark on the Phoenix Metropolitan Area through his much-beloved ``Johnnie's Chicago Red Hots'' restaurant.

Chang Duk Huh, also known as ``Johnnie,'' was born in Seoul, South Korea, on February 25, 1953. The eighth of nine children, Chang immigrated to the United States in 1976. By 1978 he and his wife, Hae, settled in the greater Phoenix area where the couple raised their two daughters. Chang and Hae purchased ``Johnnie's Chicago Red Hots'' in August of 1985 from its original owner, Johnnie Dieffenbach.

In business now for nearly three decades, Johnnie's restaurant is best known for its 100 percent Vienna beef, Chicago-style hot dogs- complete with mustard, onions, neon relish, tomatoes, pickles, celery salt and sport peppers-encased in a steamed poppy seed bun and served with a side of homemade French fries. The dogs have been featured in a variety of local news publications over the years, including The Arizona Republic and the Phoenix New Times ``Best of'' issue. What started out as a tiny three-table restaurant with a handful of bar stools became a Phoenix mainstay that has been frequented by many prominent community figures such as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Phoenix Suns Coach Jeff Hornacek, and sports executive Jerry Colangelo.

What really defines the heart and soul of this small mom-and-pop shop, however, has been its loyal patrons through the years. Chang and his wife, Hae, take great pride in their product (Chang has eaten a hot dog for lunch every day for almost 30 years), and the couple has a strong love and appreciation for their customers. They have strived to provide quality food and great service with a smile. They have found great joy in making their customers happy.

I have been one of those happy customers, not just because of the quality food and service, but also because they have allowed me, as their Congressman, to watch them grow their restaurant into a well- respected and thriving eatery. Small businesses are the heart of America's local economies and they are critical for our Nation's strength. Immigrants have especially driven entrepreneurship and job creation throughout the country, and Chang and Hae are a perfect example of this.

After nearly three decades in business, the establishment sadly closed its doors on February 27, 2014. In recognition of their success, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Chang Duk Huh and his wife, Hae.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my condolences to the people of Azerbaijan who, on January 20, remember ``Black January.''

On January 19, 1990, the Soviet Union declared a ``State of Emergency'' in Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan, in an attempt to suppress further movements towards independence. In the middle of the night and into January 20, some 26,000 Soviet troops moved into Baku brutalizing and randomly killing the civilian population as they proceeded. Over one hundred Azeris were killed and up to 800 were injured. This brutality, far from crushing the Azerbaijani spirit, steeled their resolve and on October 18, 1991, the Azerbaijan Parliament declared the country's independence, which it retains today.

Azerbaijan had always shown a special desire to be independent. With the fall of the Russian Empire in 1918, Azerbaijan declared its independence and granted voting rights for women, a full year before American women were enfranchised. Today, Azerbaijan is the only former Russian Republic which does not have foreign troops stationed on its soil.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the events of ``Black January'' and the Azeri determination that led to the independent Republic of Azerbaijan we know today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to pay tribute to a Phoenix community leader and businessman, who for 20 years now has given back to his community by providing complimentary breakfasts to thousands of individuals at his McDonald's restaurant on Thanksgiving Day.

Mr. Julian Nabozny, a native of Argentina whose family moved to Chicago when he was 13, went to high school and college in Illinois and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He became a high school teacher, mainly so he could pursue his first love--soccer--but soon learned he could not survive on a coach's salary. When he learned McDonald's was looking for prospective Hispanic owners, he took a shot and worked his way up from three establishments in Chicago to now owning five restaurants in Phoenix.

Since he moved to Phoenix in the early 1990s, Mr. Nabozny has built his restaurants to offer more than just a family experience; they have become local community centers. Besides providing thousands of free breakfasts on Thanksgiving Day, his McDonald's stores have provided free community resources, such as information about health insurance, immigration laws, or free mammograms. He has become a trusted leader whose voice lends help to important causes in the Hispanic community. He was recently honored as the 2012 Man of the Year at ``La Noche de Amistad (The Night of Friendship)'', an event organized by Phoenix 1190 AM Radio and Mujeres Unicas, a Spanish-language radio program, for donating much of his time and personal finances to help those less fortunate. In 2000, he won the National Restaurant Association's Cornerstone Humanitarian Award.

In addition, Mr. Nabozny has been a member of the McDonald's Board of Directors; president of Chicago McDonald's Hispanic Owners Association; treasurer, vice president, and president of the national McDonald's Hispanic Owners Association; chair of the company's Hispanic Marketing Committee; a leader in McDonald's Hispanic Scholarship Program; and is a member of the company's Arizona Board of Directors. He is also the Arizona/Nevada representative to the McDonald's National Hispanic Board of Directors.

As he has grown his business, Mr. Nabozny has built his restaurants to reflect the diversity of the neighborhoods in which they are located. He features Aztec-inspired artwork and a Talavera mosaic from Puebla, Mexico in his Phoenix restaurants, among other cultural features.

Mr. Nabozny has said that he believes God saved his life three times on separate occasions. Those incidents reinforced his drive to help those who are less fortunate. By providing free Thanksgiving Day breakfasts and other resources to the Phoenix community, he has provided physical nourishment, and in many cases, spiritual nourishment, to thousands of his fellow human beings. I have had a longstanding friendship with Mr. Nabozny and I admire him greatly. Therefore, on the occasion of the 20th year he plans to provide free Thanksgiving breakfasts, and to show him our deep appreciation, I ask my colleagues today to help me pay tribute to my friend and a great community leader, Mr. Julian Nabozny.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and contributions of the legendary Phoenix artist, community activist, and my personal friend, J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr. He passed from this life on June 9, 2013 and will be remembered at a memorial service on October 19th at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix. Dr. Grigsby was an African American artist recognized nationally and internationally as one of America's premier art educators. He was a friend and supporter who spent his life painting, educating, and working as a tireless advocate for community based art programs and social justice.

Dr. Grigsby served on the faculty of Arizona State University (ASU) for 22 years, from 1966-1988. Prior to accepting that post, he had a long history in the Phoenix public school system. He was recruited to Phoenix in 1946 to establish an Art Department at the segregated Carver High School, which closed following the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education landmark decision. Dr. Grigsby then went to Phoenix Union High School where he again taught Art and served as Chair of the Art Department. He would often let his students pile into his old blue station wagon and take them on field trips to Native American reservations, galleries and even to the home of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Jefferson Eugene Grigsby, Jr., was born in Greensboro, NC, on October 17, 1918. His family settled in Charlotte, NC, when he was 12 years old. Upon graduation from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, in 1938, Eugene attended the American Artists School in New York City. Thereafter, Eugene graduated with a Master's degree in Art Education from Ohio State University in 1940.

While teaching at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, he met and married Rosalyn Thomasena Marshall. In 1942, Eugene volunteered for service in World War II, serving in the European Theater under the 3rd Army's General George Patton. In 1963, Dr. Grigsby received his Ph.D. from New York University.

In 1966, he was awarded the National Gallery of Art's 25th Anniversary Medallion of Merit and in 1992 was inducted into the Arizona History Makers the first year the award was presented. Dr. Grigsby was a prominent member of the National Art Education Association and was a co-founder of its Committee on Multicultural Concerns-which established the J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr. Award for Service to Education in his honor.

Dr. Grigsby also served on numerous boards and professional organizations in the Phoenix community; including, the Arizona Art Education Association; President, Booker T. Washington Child Development Center; Founder and Chair, Coalition of Black Artists and Others for the Arts (COBA); Chair, ABC/Az-Artists of the Black Community; Arizona Opportunities Industrialization Center; Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix; the Garfield Neighborhood Association; and the ASU Performing Arts Board.

Eugene Grigsby's art can be seen in private and public collections around the world, including the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Phoenix Art Museum, and Arizona State University. In December 2012, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton presented the inaugural Mayor's Arts Award for outstanding visual artist to Dr. Grigsby. After his death, the Award was named in his honor.

Mr. Speaker, I am deeply honored to have known Eugene Grigsby and to have had some of his artwork hang in my congressional district office. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing his many contributions to Phoenix and the global community. We have lost a great artist, teacher, mentor, community activist, and friend. I extend my condolences to his siblings, his sons, his extended family and to all in the Phoenix arts community.

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

Here we go again. This week, the House has considered bill after bill to fund pieces of the Federal Government. We can open the entire government if the House would simply pass the clean continuing resolution passed by the Senate nearly 2 weeks ago. Instead, we are considering a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration, but we are leaving many other agencies within the Department of Transportation in shutdown status.

I strongly support the mission of the FAA. The controllers, technicians, and safety inspectors are highly skilled and dedicated public servants. However, I cannot support this piecemeal approach to funding our transportation system.

For example, 94 percent of the Federal Transit Administration's employees are furloughed. More than 1,300 transit agencies across the country are not receiving grants for capital and operating assistance. No funds are provided for the Capital Investment Grant Program, which helps create construction jobs and relieves congestion in our major cities.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle safety program is shut down. Defects in cars and trucks are not being investigated. Crash tests and safety rulemakings have been suspended.

What about assistance for Amtrak? Operating and capital assistance is discontinued at a time when more than 30 million passengers rely on Amtrak to get to destinations all over this country.

The Maritime Security Program gets no relief in this piecemeal approach. This program provides vital support by helping move the cargo that is necessary to support our national defense efforts overseas.

Finally, the National Transportation Safety Board has furloughed most of its employees. Investigations into last week's tragic bus crash in Tennessee will go undone. Today, we reported a gas explosion in Oklahoma, which would be the responsibility of this agency to investigate. Will it be investigated? Probably not--only because of the shutdown.

The reckless and irresponsible shutdown that has been masterminded by a small faction of the House is disruptive for our Nation's transportation system and for the programs that support our most vulnerable citizens.

For this reason, Mr. Speaker, I would ask for opposition to this piecemeal approach to this piece of legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting in that I believe many months ago the Senate, which no one thought would pass a budget, we persuaded them through our votes here in the House to pass a budget, and the House leadership refused to have a conference to appoint conferees so that we could have had regular order, had done

the appropriations bills--and I know the chairman of Appropriations wanted to do that--and today here we are talking about safety when most of the air traffic controllers are already on the job.

I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the distinguished ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen), the ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would say to my colleague that we could fund the entire government if my colleague could persuade his leadership to bring H.J. Res. 59 to the floor. We could have a straight up-or-down vote. It would probably pass in a bipartisan manner, and we could stop the shutdown, and people could go back to work.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it's interesting that we've talked about bringing our employees back from the shutdown. We were told by the chairman of the Appropriations Committee that this is very important because here we are dealing with safety, and the reality is that probably the majority of the air traffic controllers and safety personnel, as required by FAA, are working. I can't imagine that the administrator, Mr. Huerta, would put the American public in any kind of danger.

Again, if we would have had a budget conference several months ago, we could have done the appropriations process and probably funded the entire government using regular order, but I keep hearing that if this vote were to come to the floor that it would pass in a bipartisan manner.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take H.J. Res. 59 from the table and ask for its immediate consideration.

Well, Mr. Speaker, next time I bring it up, I will try to clear it since there is such enthusiasm to bring the Federal Government back to work.

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