Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the members of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Restoration Advisory Board in Colorado, who are dissolving as a board this month after more than 17 years of service to the nation.

As the primary community advisory board for the U.S. Army at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, the members have ensured that the community was informed and involved during each phase of the design, remediation and transformation of this environmental cleanup site into a premier urban national wildlife refuge. Given the importance of the task and the many years of work it required, their dedication deserves our recognition and thanks.

Their work is particularly remarkable because of the unique role the site has played in the history and defense of our nation. The U.S. Army built the Rocky Mountain Arsenal following the attacks on Pearl Harbor to manufacture chemical weapons as a deterrent against the Axis Powers. After the war, the U.S. Army leased some of the facilities to Shell Chemical Co., which manufactured agricultural chemicals at the site. As the decades unfolded, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal played critical roles in allowing our nation to win the Cold War, put men into space and complete a historic demilitarization program.

These achievements came at a price, however. Although the U.S. Army and Shell used accepted waste disposal methods of the time, some contamination of the structures, soil and groundwater occurred. The communities of Brighton, Commerce City and Denver, which surround the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and are represented on the Restoration Advisory Board, help forged consensus around the environmental restoration and future use of the site.

Together with representatives from the U.S. Army, Shell Oil Co., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Tri-County Health Department, these citizens held more than 130 public meetings. They reviewed countless technical documents, shared community questions and perspectives and served as liaisons with the larger community to ensure public concerns were addressed throughout the environmental restoration program.

They also provided critical support for the future use of the site as a national wildlife refuge once remedial actions were complete. Today, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge encompasses more than 15,000 acres and offers habitat to more than 330 wildlife species, including American bald eagles and wild bison. Just as importantly, the refuge offers exhibits to educate visitors about the historic use and legacy of the site.

Now that the environmental restoration and transformation of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal is complete and the board has completed its oversight role, the Restoration Advisory Board has decided to dissolve. Please join me in thanking the members for their service and in congratulating them on a job well done.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Destiny Bean for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Destiny Bean is a 8th grader at Oberon Middle School and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Destiny Bean is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels

strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Destiny Bean for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Dean Rogers for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Dean Rogers is a 8th grader at Drake Middle School and received this award because his determination and hard work have allowed him to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Dean Rogers is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Dean Rogers for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt he will exhibit the same dedication and character in all his future accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Dilan Ramos for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Dilan Ramos is an 11th grader at Jefferson Senior High and received this award because his determination and hard work have allowed him to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Dilan Ramos is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Dilan Ramos for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt he will exhibit the same dedication and character in all his future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, the best way to reduce the debt that this country has is to put people back to work. When they are back to work, they are paying their taxes and they are not getting unemployment. We need to get everybody in this country working, and the President proposed a bill called the American Jobs Act that does just that. It focuses on innovation, American innovation and ingenuity. It focuses on education and our community colleges and our K-12, and it focuses on rebuilding this country's infrastructure: our roads, our bridges, and our energy system.

But you know what happened over in the Senate yesterday; every single Republican voted against this. That bill has Republican ideas and Democratic ideas, but every single Republican voted against it.

We need to put the people in this country back to work. We don't need to be playing politics about the White House 13 months out from the election. That American Jobs Act needs to be passed, and it needs to be passed right now.

I thank my friend from California and Ms. Sutton from Ohio.

And as they've said, the best way to pay the debt that this Nation has incurred is for people to work. All of a sudden you've got revenue coming in, and you don't have to pay unemployment, you don't have to pay a lot of Medicaid, you don't have to pay COBRA and all these other things. You have revenue coming in and less expense going out.

One of the things about this Nation is that it has always provided to those people who really are prepared to work, who are prepared to play by the rules, who take responsibility for their lives and the lives of their family members, a chance to get ahead. That's what America has meant to millions and millions and millions of people throughout our history.

And one of the reasons this country was able to provide that kind of a setting for all of us is because 235 years ago or so, this Nation went through a war. And after that war, the States banded together and said, you know what, we as a country will pay the debts of our Revolutionary War. And this young Nation paid its debts and became a strong Nation overnight because it paid its bills. And so for 235 years now we've been paying our bills. You bet. And that's why we have had the strongest credit, the full faith and credit of the United States of America for two centuries.

My friends on the Republican side of the aisle, for the last 3 months or more, have been putting that credit at risk. And I'd like to say there was a real reason for them to do that, but there is no reason. When you have incurred a bill, you pay that bill. You don't say, you know what, we're not going to pay the bill unless some things happen in the future. You pay the bill, and you deal with the future separately.

But not in this Congress, not with this Republican leadership. They tie it all together and say if we don't get our way, we're not going to pay our bills. Well, baloney, that isn't how it works. And so what we've got to do is come together. The President has proposed a balanced approach to getting this country's fiscal house in order.

Now, let's not forget how we got here. Ten years ago, we had a surplus; revenues exceeded expenses. So in these last 10 years we had two big tax cuts--that's a couple trillion dollars under George Bush. We had a couple big wars, which instead of everybody being patriotic and really assisting the country, we would borrow and do it on a credit card--that's a couple trillion dollars. And then we had a crash on Wall Street--another $2 trillion or $3 trillion. That's where the debt came from.

Now, I can lay the blame at the feet of the Republican leadership and administration, but we are where we are and we've got to deal with it. And it's got to be done in a balanced way, both the revenue side of the ledger and the expense side of the ledger. If our goal is to pay down the debt, you need more revenue and you need less expense. And it's both sides. And you can't just say we're going to cut, cut, cut. We're going to take it out of Medicare, we're going to privatize Social Security. We're going to eliminate early childhood education. You've got to deal with the expenses, and we know that; but you've got to have revenue.

In this instance, the Republicans say, you know what, we're not going to have additional taxes for millionaires and billionaires and some corporations with loopholes, no, that's off limits. But we are going to go after Medicare, we are going to go after Social Security, we are going to go after early childhood education. That's just not right, and this country knows it.

Every American knows that, so we have to get busy, ladies and gentlemen, because we have work to do. If we are going to restore the American Dream, we have a lot of work to do. And that is what Democrats are going to do. We have a lot of work to do, and it is time to get busy.

I was going to say to my friend, over the course of the last 10 years we know where the debt really came from. It wasn't in early childhood education. It wasn't in national parks. It was in two tax cuts--a couple trillion dollars or more. It was in two wars--at least a couple trillion dollars. And it was in a crash on Wall Street when people were laid off and had to have some kind of assistance.

Obviously, you said Arizona needed assistance--$6.4 billion and they still sold their capitol.

I would yield to my friend from Connecticut because he has the chart that describes this.

I thank my friend from California.

I would say the view from Colorado is, there's a lot of pushing and pulling back here, and I would call upon my moderate friends in the Republican Party, if there are any anymore, to stop this tomfoolery.

No longer can we put the full faith and credit of the United States at risk. I mean, we do have a duty to preserve and protect our Constitution, and the full faith and credit of this country is referred to at least three times in the article about the Congress in the ``full faith and credit'' section of the Constitution and then in the 14th Amendment. We pay our debts. We pay our bills. So I'd just say that the President has proposed a solid, long-term fiscal plan. It took us 10 years to get into this financial mess from the time we had a surplus under Bill Clinton, and it will take us several years to right ourselves, but we can do it. This is America.

Then as we're doing that, we really do have to focus on making sure that people who play by the rules, who are responsible and hardworking, have a shot at getting advanced in this world. The best way to do that is through a good job and through making things in America.

For Democrats, really our formula is to innovate, educate, rebuild this economy, and rebuild our infrastructure. That will make this country strong, and it will make Colorado strong. We love our clean energy industry. That's a good place to start.

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Speaker, I think we've got to go back 10 years and just talk about where we were at that time.

Under Bill Clinton, this country had a surplus. Revenues exceeded expenses. Things were going along great. We were adding jobs by the millions. Then we have a Republican administration. Two tax cuts, couple trillion dollars, lower revenue. Two wars, couple trillion dollars, more expense. A crash on Wall Street, $3 trillion in expense to this country.

That's where this expense comes from. That's why we have bills to pay. We had a tough 10 years, most of it under Republican administration. We've got to pay those bills. But the Republican leadership has brought us to the brink of default--something the United States has had full faith and credit for 235 years and they want to bring that right to the brink of default.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are better than that. We have a responsibility. We can't live in turmoil. We need to rebuild the American Dream for people who want a shot at getting ahead in this life, not this brinksmanship.

This is a bad bill and must be defeated.

Mr. Speaker, I am from Colorado, and in Colorado, just like all across the country, Americans believe that if they work hard, if they play by the rules, if they're responsible in how they conduct their lives, they're going to get ahead.

Well, it's been very tough here recently. We've had a downturn. We have all this uncertainty because of, I believe, Republican brinksmanship to either shut down the government or maybe shut down the economy.

People want to get ahead. They want to know that this country will continue to innovate, educate, and rebuild itself so that we have good, long-lasting jobs that provide for our families. That's what Democrats stand for. We don't stand for all this brinksmanship every day.

Are we going to have a government or are we not? Are we going to have an economy or are we not? That's got to change. We have got to get back to rebuilding the American Dream.

Thank you, Mr. Garamendi.

I think you all have been focused on the real issue in front of us. We have some budget issues, but the best way to handle our debt is to put people back to work. The quickest way to reduce the debt or the deficit is to put people back to work. All of a sudden you have revenue coming in, and you don't have to pay unemployment and COBRA and you don't have to pay so much Medicaid. That's the first order of business. Plus, it really makes people feel valuable. Anybody knows that a job gives you dignity. That's what you're looking for, a good job to care for your families and provide for the future. That's what we have to do here.

And Democrats, our formula is innovate, educate, rebuild our infrastructure, equals jobs, equals good jobs that are long lasting that people can rely on and they can work and feel good about their lives and the future for their family.

Now, one of the things that we have said as Democrats is if we make it in America, we will make it in America. Instead of sending jobs overseas, let's have them here. We have the finest people in the world, some of the most talented and skilled people anywhere, and we need to be making things in this country.

In Colorado, for instance, one of the places where we can see these jobs is in our energy sector, both in traditional energy, oil and gas development, but also in new energy--energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar, wind, biomass, new jobs, good jobs. And so all this budget talk, all of this balanced budget stuff that I think does real damage to the Constitution, that should be going to the side. We have to focus on putting people back to work with good jobs that last a long time.

I know time is short, but in Colorado, we are very fortunate to have the National Renewable Energy Lab which is the finest lab of its kind anywhere in the world to help us develop ways to better use our energy. A gallon saved is a gallon earned, you know that kind of thing, but focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, those are new jobs. And to be more efficient with traditional energy sources, to be smarter about how we use them and how we extract them.

This is about restoring the American Dream for people, that they have good jobs, a good education, dignified and healthy lives of seniors. That's what we want to restore for America, not all of this gloom and doom and all that we're hearing and cuts. This is about restoring the American Dream, and we can do this.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Dante Bellamy for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Dante Bellamy is a 7th grader at Drake Middle School and received this award because his determination and hard work have allowed him to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Dante Bellamy is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Dante Bellamy for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award.

I have no doubt he will exhibit the same dedication and character in all his future accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Cassandra Garcia for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Cassandra Garcia is a 8th grader at Mandalay Middle School and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Cassandra Garcia is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Cassandra Garcia for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Cody Grubbs for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Cody Grubbs is a 8th grader at Oberon Middle School and received this award because his determination and hard work have allowed him to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Cody Grubbs is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Cody Grubbs for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt he will exhibit the same dedication and character in all his future accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Courtney Jones for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Courtney Jones is a 12th grader at Warren Tech North and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Courtney Jones is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Courtney Jones for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Darya Redzko for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Darya Redzko is a 7th grader at Oberon Middle School and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Darya Redzko is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Darya Redzko for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award.

I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Damien Salimbeni for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Damien Salimbeni is a 12th grader at Arvada High School and received this award because his determination and hard work have allowed him to overcome adversities.

The dedication demonstrated by Damien Salimbeni is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives.

I extend my deepest congratulations to Damien Salimbeni for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt he will exhibit the same dedication and character in all his future accomplishments.