Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to day to let the Congressional Record reflect a clerical error in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010.

In July of this year, shortly after the Committee on Appropriations made available the appropriations requests included in its Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, it came to my attention my name was incorrectly placed as a joint sponsor of a project request which provides $10,312 for the Southeast Corridor Light Rail in Denver, Colorado. While I am supportive of this project and the broader FasTracks mass transit plan of Colorado's Regional Transportation District, RTD, I did not request funding for this project. Upon discovery, my staff informed the Committee on Appropriations of this error and asked that it be corrected.

On December 10, the House passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2011. In that conference report, my name was again mistakenly attached to this project by committee staff during the filing process. Because both chambers have passed this conference report, there is no method short of a Presidential veto for me to correct this error. Therefore, I would like to let the Congressional Record reflect this mistake and my lack of involvement in this project.

To be clear, no official from RTD or any other organization asked me or my staff to request funding for this project. Nor did I submit any material to the Appropriations Committee requesting funding for this project. As such, I did not post information on the process on my official website. However, for the sake of transparency and public accountability, I have certified in writing that I have no financial interest in this project.

I appreciate my friend from Maine giving me some time to respond to my friend from California.

Madam Speaker, I think we were getting a little lesson in history about Kennedy, about Reagan, and about the Recovery Act that was passed earlier this session.

I'm glad my friend is now returning, because what he forgot to mention was that, with John Kennedy, when those tax cuts were made, the highest marginal rates were 70 percent. Today's highest marginal rates are half that. So we need to understand, when those cuts were made, it was a substantial amount higher than what we've experienced today. I would also remind my friend that, in the Recovery Act, which was passed earlier this year, $300 billion--about 40 percent of that bill--was in the form of tax cuts. So those kinds of efforts are being made.

I would also remind my friend that, when President Reagan came in in 1981, he did take some tough steps in trying to rebuild the economy, which was suffering from high interest rates and from a number of other things, and it wasn't just nirvana the next day. At least in Colorado, we had years of recession that lasted almost until 1990.

So what we see before us, really, I think, as a result of stabilizing the banking system last fall and of rejuvenating the economy in the spring with the Recovery Act, is downward pressure on unemployment. We are not out of the woods, but it is getting better. We can continue to do better than what we saw at the end of the Bush administration.

I yield 10 seconds to my friend from California.

I yield to my friend.

Reclaiming my time, I appreciate that, but I would disagree with my friend by saying, first of all, we provided tax credits for first-time home buyers to stimulate home construction and home sales. We provided tax credits, net operating loss, carrybacks, and carryforwards for businesses. We provided tax credits on depreciation. There are many, many business tax credits that have gone to stimulate the economy and to create jobs. So I would disagree.

Just for a second.

I take back my time.

Madam Speaker, the business types of tax cuts as well as individual tax cuts are part of the package that is helping this country recover, but we aren't there yet. We haven't finished yet. We helped Wall Street with TARP money. That same money should be able to be available to Main Street. That's the purpose of today's bill. That's why this rule is important.

I would urge an ``aye'' vote on this rule as well as an ``aye'' vote on the underlying bill.

I appreciate my friend from Maine yielding.

I would just say to my colleague from Maine, as well as to my colleague from California, that I think that Ms. Pingree has a very substantial point. My friend from California complained about the regulatory burden.

One of the reasons that this country is facing the recession that we are facing is as a result of the Wild West approach on Wall Street where there was no regulatory burden, or if there was, it was ignored by the regulators under the Bush administration. As a consequence, the private sector was brought to its knees last fall and is just now getting on its feet as a result of the rejuvenation--the Recovery Act-- which was passed by this Congress and by President Obama. It is those kinds of things that have required intervention by the Federal Government to get this country back on its feet. We are not there yet, but we are heading in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 962 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions).

General Leave

I also ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 964.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 964 provides for consideration of amendments to H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. The rules provide for consideration of 36 amendments and authorizes the chairman of the Financial Services Committee to move amendments en bloc. In the case of amendments reported from the committee, the question of their adoption in the House shall be put en gros and without division of the question. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions and allows the Chair to reduce to 2 minutes the minimum time for electronic voting and also authorizes the Clerk to make technical and conforming changes to amendatory instructions.

Mr. Speaker, as we have seen over the past year, our financial system is broken, and we can no longer afford to maintain the status quo. We face a recession. I call it a Republican recession based on the Wild West practices of Wall Street and the Republican Congress and the Bush administration.

As a result of this Republican recession, we are talking about people losing their investments and retirement savings last year when the stock market reacted to the heart attack our banking system suffered and the countless jobs that were lost throughout the recession. This bill makes critical reforms to our financial system to address this Wild West era of lax regulation that the Bush administration encouraged.

When Wall Street operates like the Wild West, Main Street suffers, and that is precisely what we've seen for the last few years. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act preserves our economic system, restores confidence and takes reasonable steps to prevent future meltdowns. It establishes a robust regulatory oversight regime creating transparency in areas previously hidden from the public.

In this bill, we address consumer protection, investor protection, regulation of hedge funds, credit rating agencies, insurance, derivatives, executive pay, mortgage reform, and we eliminate ``too big to fail.'' Loopholes are closed, consolidated regulation is improved, and transparency is increased so there is no place to hide.

But, Mr. Speaker, yesterday we heard repeatedly from the other side that this bill puts the taxpayers on the hook in addressing ``too big to fail.'' Well, taxpayers were put on the hook by the lax regulation of the Bush administration which cost this country and each and every citizen trillions and trillions of dollars and millions of jobs, 4 million jobs during the last year of the Bush administration.

In this bill, with those institutions that are so big that they would create a domino effect such as we saw last year, we liquidate or close those firms at no expense to the taxpayer. And I put in precisely a provision that any moneys get paid to the taxpayer first.

Unlike our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we do not want these firms to reorganize. We want to put them out of their existence, for no one is too big to fail. There is no guarantee for these institutions, and precisely what we do is provide preventive measures before this comes about, divestiture, increasing capital, a whole variety of preventive measures before bringing about a liquidation. But, ultimately, if an institution that affects the financial system grows so large or is so complex, ultimately, it is the liquidation.

This bill is about more than just reforming our financial system, though. It is about people's lives and the jobs lost and restoring confidence to a broken system. None of us wants to ever face anything like we did last year, and this bill will help ensure that the Wild West mentality and lax regulation promoted by the Republican Party, which led to huge frauds and robberies, like those committed by Bernard Madoff, Petters, and Stanford and their various Ponzi schemes, doesn't happen again. It is not a coincidence that those kinds of frauds on a scale unlike anything we had ever seen before occurred under the Bush administration.

We are reforming our regulatory system so it is able to fix problems before they become a threat to our economic system. The changes this bill makes are essential to rebuilding Main Street and getting credit flowing to small businesses, creating jobs, and rebuilding our economy.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the rule and the underlying bill.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Madam Speaker, first to respond to my good friend from California, he talked about getting the best quality product at the best price. Part of the problem that we had, Madam Speaker, is the fact that you didn't know if you had the best quality product because the way things were done under the Bush administration and the lax regulation that occurred, you didn't know whether there was money in the Bernie Madoff account. The whole approach here is to make sure that these things are scrutinized and that people know what it is that they're getting into when they invest or when they buy a product.

I yield to my good friend.

Reclaiming my time, I would say that my friend is mistaken because the bill proposed by my friends on the Republican side does nothing but protect Wall Street, not make it transparent and to avoid hidden bombs that might go off from time to time.

I would like to yield now 3 minutes to my colleague from Colorado (Mr. Polis).

(Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree).

Madam Speaker, I would just say to my friend from the Financial Services Committee two things as to his amendments. It was in January of 2009, the last month that George Bush was in office, that we had the highest job loss throughout this whole period. Since that time, it has been shrinking. So under the Bush administration, tremendous job loss in 2008, up to 4 million jobs. And those job losses have been shrinking ever since.

I would also say to my friend from the Financial Services Committee, we had this debate in the committee on the language issue. As he knows, my grandparents are from Ukraine. My grandfather came over here, was a successful businessman, but even over a 40- or 50-year period, he had difficulty with the written language. And where we have seen so much fraud and so much con artistry is with people who have difficulty with the language being taken advantage of. And part of this bill, the consumer protection bill, is so that we avoid that kind of fraud and scheming because of people who can't speak the language.

With that, I would yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my friend from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).

Madam Speaker, to my good friend from Texas, I think it is easy to know who to blame, and that is the policies of the Republican Congress and the President, George Bush, because things fell apart, jobs were lost, trillions of dollars lost, and companies fleeing as a result of those policies, which we are trying to repair and correct.

Madam Speaker, I would like to inquire as to how much time each side has remaining.

Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).

I yield the gentleman another 30 seconds.

I would just remind my friend from Minnesota that he has an amendment that was made in order, and he and I cosponsored an amendment in the Financial Services Committee, an amendment which has become part of the manager's amendment.

I would also remind him that we create in this a fund assessed against the banking institutions to deal with their liquidation. There is no bailout. As much as my friends on the other side of the aisle would like to be on message and continue to repeat that, there is no bailout.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Driehaus).

Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time both sides have remaining?

I would like to first say to my friend from California--and this does cut both ways--the House of Representatives in 2005 did pass legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was bipartisan. I am referring to an article from September 9, 2008, in the FinancialTimes.com, which interviewed Mr. Oxley, who was the chairman of the Financial Services Committee at the time. The bill was never acted on.

In that article he fumed about the criticism of his House colleagues. ``All the handwringing and bedwetting is going on without remembering how the House stepped up on this,'' he says. ``What did we get from the White House?''--remember, George Bush was in the White House--``We got a one-finger salute.''

That was from the Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

No, I am going to yield 3 minutes to my friend from North Carolina (Mr. Watt).

Madam Speaker, I would ask my friend from Texas how many more speakers he might have, because we have no other speakers, and I will close.

Yes.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself so much time as I might consume.

``Just say `no.' '' That is the Republican mantra. ``Just say `no'; we like the status quo.'' We are opposed to any movement to get this country back on track.

They oppose health care. They oppose the Recovery Act. They oppose everything, because they like the way it is. They like it so that their friends on Wall Street can continue to reap billions of dollars and record profits.

This is to look, their opposition is solely to look after their friends so their friends can continue to make money at the expense of average Americans, average Americans who lost jobs last year because of the credit crunch on Wall Street which resulted from the lax regulation and the gambling-type approach taken by the Bush administration and the Republican Congress before that.

The recession that we faced, which is as great as anything we have seen since the 1930s, has got to be pinned on my friends in the Republican Party in this Congress and on President Bush.

Really, in the last fall, we saw millions of jobs lost. We are not out of the woods, but that trend has reversed so that we are losing fewer and fewer jobs each month. But there is no recognition of that, because my friends don't want to take any credit for ruining the economy last year to the tune of trillions of dollars to this country, to its taxpayers, and millions of jobs to the people who work every day.

Now, my friends say that this is a job-killing bill. The only thing killed in this bill are failing financial institutions which would affect the economy, just like that domino effect last fall.

We protect consumers. We protect investors. We look at hedge funds. We deal with credit rating agencies. We look at the derivatives and try to rein them in so that they have to post and there aren't dramatic losses as a result of that. We look at insurance, executive pay, but, most importantly, we take a look at institutions that are so big that they, in a prior administration, couldn't fail. Under this bill, we either take them apart or put them out of their misery. There are no bailouts as we had under George Bush.

We are trying to end this recession, and you do it by restoring confidence in the financial system. I urge an ``aye'' vote, and I would urge passage of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The ranking member of the committee said that the Republican approach was to liquidate failed institutions. It is just the opposite, which is to let them linger and reorganize. That was the proposition made to us in Financial Services.

Madam Chair, my point here is to enter into a colloquy with the chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I had submitted an amount to exempt certain smaller banks and credit unions, which was not approved in the Rules Committee. It is my understanding that the legislation would give the new CFPA the authority to delegate the authority to conduct examinations and to enforce consumer protection provisions to the functional regulator for financial institutions that fall above the $10 billion asset threshold.

Would it be fair to say that the intent here is not to increase burdens on those institutions that have been good actors?

For example, if an institution has an onsite examination or audit team from their functional regulator, it would seem that adding a CFPA team to work with those already there would not be as big of a burden. However, if an institution's functional regulator has deemed that its consumer compliance record is strong and that the institution's regulator is doing an effective job, it would seem that subjecting them to CFPA examinations and enforcement would increase the regulatory burden on the institution.

Is this a situation where the chairman would envision the CFPA's delegating that authority back to the functional regulator under the authorities given in this legislation?

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 956 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier).

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 956.

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

House Resolution 956 provides for general debate on the bill, H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. It provides 3 hours of general debate, which will be evenly divided between the chairmen and ranking members of the various committees of jurisdiction. It self-executes an amendment to resolve jurisdictional concerns among the committees of jurisdiction of this bill. The

amendment also includes the text of H.R. 1728, regarding predatory lending, which the House passed earlier this year overwhelmingly. It also makes certain revisions to the bill to ensure it complies with pay-as-you-go rules.

Mr. Speaker, for more than a year, the Financial Services Committee, of which I am a member, has held hearings and conducted a thorough oversight into the causes of last year's financial meltdown which caused our current economic troubles. After exhaustive work, the House now has before it a comprehensive package of reforms to address the numerous failures that led to the near collapse of our financial system last year.

The banking system is our Nation's circulatory system for our economy; and last year that circulatory system had a heart attack. We cannot and will not let the banking system fail, which is why this House had to take bold action last year to stabilize it. However, now we must turn and look to the causes at the root of the meltdown and make targeted reforms and repairs to address the inefficiencies and failures we found in the system.

The legislation before us is the most significant reform to our financial system since the New Deal of the 1930s. The bill creates a Financial Stability Oversight Council to monitor systemically significant institutions, counter-parties and potential threats to the financial system. This ensures that there is no place to hide by closing loopholes, improving consolidated supervision, and establishing robust regulatory oversights.

We provide for the orderly wind-down of failing firms that are systemically significant, ending the notion of ``too big to fail.'' By dissolving these firms, we end them. We kill them. We put them out of their misery, so we say ``no'' to any more taxpayer bailouts.

This legislation also makes robust consumer protection repair and reform. It puts the regulation of consumer protection on a level playing field with the regulation of safety and soundness of our financial institutions. It creates an independent agency focused solely on writing meaningful consumer protection standards and keeping watch over predatory practices that some lenders have shown a propensity to pursue.

Additionally, we increase transparency and accountability by establishing a regulatory system for the over-the-counter derivative market. Now most derivative trades will be done on exchanges or through clearinghouses. Again, we have made sure that there is no place to hide. Other important pieces of this legislation include the registration of hedge funds and the doubling of SEC funding to hire more experts and investigators. Investor protection is substantially strengthened. A Federal insurance office is created to gather information, mitigate systemic risk and provide for insurance expertise to the Federal Government.

In this legislation, we have also included two very important measures which passed the House earlier this year. First, is the say- on-pay, and the second is on mortgage reform aimed at curbing the abusive and predatory practices that led to the subprime lending problems. This legislation is critical to protect taxpayers and consumers by reining in the abuses of Wall Street, while enabling a balanced environment for the financial markets to grow and stabilize our economy.

These changes are essential to rebuilding Main Street and getting credit flowing to small businesses, creating jobs, and rebuilding our economy.

I'm proud to stand here with my colleagues today while we consider this important set of reforms. We cannot afford another collapse as we had last fall. It cost this Nation trillions of dollars and millions of jobs, and is no longer acceptable. We need to repair and restore the system so that confidence is restored by the American public and people around world. We make these necessary reforms that establish robust regulatory oversight. This bill is another step toward economic recovery, and I urge its adoption.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

As much as I enjoy listening to my friend from California, I'm afraid that I would have to say, Mr. Speaker, he hasn't read much of this bill. And the reason I would say that is that under the proposal the Republicans presented to us in Financial Services, they were going to allow this thing to linger through a chapter 11. If there was a failed banking institution, it would linger, as opposed to the proposal by the Democrats which says, and which is the bill before us, a financial company that comes within the coverage of this title for resolution shall be placed in liquidation, period. It's over. It's done. Number one.

Number two, with respect to this comment or his comments and general comments about job creation and the debacle that occurred last fall, it came under the watch of President Bush, who has the worst track record for job creation of any President since the job creation records have been taken. Also, we've lost trillions of dollars because of the types of casino-like approaches that were taken in and on Wall Street and other places that cost millions of investors thousands and thousands of dollars each and cost so many jobs.

I would like to now yield 4\1/2\ minutes to my friend from Kansas (Mr. Moore).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to my friend from Florida, a member of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. Klein.

I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

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

Mr. Speaker, how much time does each side have?

I yield myself so much time as I may consume.

I just want to respond to my two colleagues from the Financial Services Committee. After all the hearings we had, after all the witnesses that we heard from, it's almost as if they forgot everything they heard. The Wild West mentality that permeated Wall Street permeated the investment community and the banking system and brought this country to its knees last fall. And as a consequence, trillions of dollars of wealth were lost, and millions of jobs have been lost, and it was based on a belief within the Bush administration and the Republican Congress that participated with it that you don't need regulation, these markets will take care of themselves. Well, what they ended up doing is, we had three of the biggest Ponzi schemes ever, Madoff, Petters and Stanford, under that regime, under that administration. And that's just wrong.

Our bill has nine sections to it, Mr. Speaker. The first is on consumer protection. The second is on investor protection. The third is on hedge funds. The fourth is on credit rating agencies, the fifth on derivatives, the sixth on life insurance companies, and the seventh on dealing with banks that are so big or financial institutions that have so many components to them that they are a threat to the system. And we force those institutions to either raise all their reserves and their capital or sell different parts of their company if they are a threat to the system, and if they finally fail, we put them out of their misery. We don't let them linger like the Republicans would have us do, and bail them out some more. We are done with those bailouts.

The last sections of the bill, one is ``say on pay.'' Executive salary got completely out of control and was part of the gambling that was going on. And so now we allow the shareholders to have some opportunity to say what their executives should be paid. And the final piece deals with subprime mortgages where people were allowed to just get into mortgages that had teaser rates and were impossible to repay. And we now require that financial institutions have skin in the game.

These are nine sections of reasonable regulation to restore confidence in the system and stop the kind of failures that we saw in this last administration that cost this country trillions of dollars, trillions of dollars and millions of jobs. And we're not going to let that happen again.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would yield 5 minutes to the chairman of the committee, Mr. Frank.

I yield the gentleman 1 more minute.

I just want to respond to my friend from Indiana, who continues to call this a bailout. All it does is put big institutions that fail out of their misery, just like we liquidate banks who have failed. Big financial institutions on Wall Street, whether they are insurance companies or credit companies or banks or stockbrokers, are placed into liquidation and finished.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

I would like to ask again how much time each side has.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I have one.

Mr. Speaker, I say to my good friend from West Virginia she continues to use the word ``bailout,'' but as it's clear in the bill, this is not any taxpayer-funded money. The continued use by my Republican colleagues of the word ``bailout'' is simply wrong and misleading because what is stated in the bill is the creation of a fund based on assessments paid by the biggest financial institutions in the world, $50 billion and bigger in terms of assets, so that those institutions, if they fail, will have a liquidation fund to put themselves out of their misery. That's what this is all about, to just be finished with it.

Now, one thing I would like to say about my Republican colleagues. They've forgotten. They've talked about two sections of the bill: consumer protection, which is absolutely essential in this bill, as well as dealing with huge financial institutions that are risky to our financial system and could create a domino effect like we had last fall.

The seven other sections of the bill--hedge funds, credit rating agencies, derivatives, life insurance, executive pay, and subprime-- those were bipartisan sections of the bill. So this bill covers a lot of topics to rein in our financial system and restore it and strengthen it as we go forward.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

I yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds.

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

Mr. Speaker, my friend from California wanted to compare the 170-page proposal that they have versus the 1,300 pages of the bill that we have. I would just say to him, in his proposal, he doesn't deal with hedge funds, he doesn't deal with credit rating agencies, he doesn't deal with derivatives, he doesn't deal with excessive compensation to executives, he doesn't deal with life insurance. He doesn't deal with a whole range of things. He just deals with one thing: Let's put them in bankruptcy. Let's do a chapter 11. Let's let these things go on forever in a chapter 11.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we can't afford this anymore. The status quo, which is more or less what the Republicans are proposing--they should call their bill ``Let's Protect Wall Street'' because that's all it does. It doesn't change anything.

When we lose trillions of dollars and people's livelihoods, and retirement funds, and pension plans, and jobs are lost, and they come in here and say, Oh, theirs is 1,300 pages, that's got to be bad because ours is 170 pages, when people's lives have changed, the debate on this floor and the debate about American futures is more than that. This is about restoring confidence in a financial system that was allowed to be the Wild West under George Bush and under the Republicans. This is no longer going to be the case. We are going to have reasonable regulation that people can rely on; certainty will be restored and confidence in the system regained.

There are nine sections: Consumer protection; investor protection; dealing with derivatives; dealing with credit rating agencies; dealing with executive compensation; dealing with hedge funds; and specifically, and most importantly, dealing with those financial institutions that have become so risky that they are going to cause a collapse of our entire banking system, which we cannot allow. So we require those institutions to post themselves $150 billion so they can be liquidated without any cost to the taxpayer.

Their proposal is nothing but bailouts. Their proposal is nothing but protecting Wall Street. We've got to change that. This bill changes the future of our financial system in a way that we haven't seen since the New Deal. We need to restore confidence. That's what we do.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk that was made in order under the rule.

I want to start by thanking my friend, Bart Gordon; David Wu; Ranking Member Ralph Hall; Harry Mitchell; and my friend, Adrian Smith, for their leadership on this bill. They have put together a strong bill which every Member should feel proud of supporting when they speak to their local firefighters.

Members should be proud this legislation gives those local firefighters the resources they need to best keep their communities safe and secure. Members should be proud that the training, protective equipment, and personnel this bill provides could potentially save the lives of those very firefighters. My amendment will, I believe, make this bill even better.

Every year, roughly 100 firefighters die in the line duty. This is a tragedy, and each one of those brave men and women is a hero for their sacrifice. But we think some of these deaths were preventable, so we must act. Studies have shown that all too often a contributing factor in their deaths was failure to comply with national voluntary consensus standards. These national voluntary standards are developed over years of collaboration and debate within the National Fire Protection Association, which I will call the NFPA.

As the independent experts on fire policy, the NFPA has developed these standards for over a hundred years to keep communities and the firefighters who protect them safe, yet the Federal Government does not have a thorough understanding of how fire departments follow various NFPA standards. We in the Congress dedicate a great deal of

time and resources to help our fire departments, but we cannot gauge our overall effectiveness without knowing where we are successful and where we fall short.

My amendment authorizes the U.S. Fire Administration to conduct a first-of-its-kind survey of our Nation's fire departments to measure how well they are adhering to these safety standards. Once the study is complete, a task force of industry stakeholders will make recommendations to Congress on the methods to increase compliance. Especially in the post 9/11 world, where firefighters play a vital role in our homeland security, a stronger emergency response capability means a weakened threat of terrorist attack.

I should add that this amendment is nearly identical to my bill, the Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act. That bill has broad, bipartisan support of 31 Members from rural, urban, and suburban districts. It is supported by the International Association of Firefighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the National Fire Protection Association.

This amendment is simple. These safety standards can save firefighters' lives. Let us study how well our fire services are using these standards and bring in an industry task force to think creatively about ways to boost compliance. It's good for our firefighters, it's good for our local communities, and it's good for homeland security.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Yes.

I thank my friend from Nebraska. And yes, I entirely agree with him. According to the most recent U.S. Fire Administration fire department census, my own State of Colorado has 323 fire departments. Of those, 35 are career departments, 165 are volunteer departments, and 123 are combination. Each has it own needs, faces its own threats, and relies on different funding streams.

The recent downturn in the economy has hurt fire departments all across the country. So, of course, the task force established in this amendment should reflect the differences among the three types of departments and the challenges that they face.

As written, my amendment would include on the task force ``representatives of national organizations representing firefighters and fire chiefs.'' It is a reasonable implication that volunteer firefighters are included on the task force, and I will work with the gentleman to ensure that this is the case. Although needs of each fire department are unique, I do feel there are several areas of general agreement among them, which is precisely why I propose to establish this task force. As I said, I agree with the gentleman and his concerns.

Again, I agree with my friend. First, I'd like to note this survey is an undertaking which I intend to do similarly to the U.S. Fire Administration's periodic census, which determines the number of fire departments in the Nation, as well as the number of firefighters. The census is done by mail, and I would expect this survey to be done similarly or even electronically to save on costs.

To the specific point about funding, I believe FIRE and SAFER funds are best used going to fire departments. I also believe the U.S. Fire Administration is cash-strapped. This year's Homeland Security Appropriations Act funded it at $45.6 billion. If I were an appropriator, I would have doubled that figure.

To avoid funding this provision through the grants themselves or the USFA, I have an additional authorization of appropriation from outside those funds. I wish to continue to work with the gentleman to perfect and clarify this intent.

I thank the gentleman from Nebraska and give him notice now to be aware of my Colorado Buffaloes next week. We aren't going to a bowl game this year, but our bowl game is against the University of Nebraska--and we will win.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and applaud Angela D'Aurio for her outstanding service to our community.

Angela D'Aurio has served Jefferson County for many years as a politically active citizen. She has managed several local campaigns, and is active in many civic organizations. Angela D'Aurio is also a supporter of the area Kiwanis Denver West Soccer Club.

The dedication demonstrated by Angela D'Aurio directly benefits her community, and is exemplary of her high personal and professional standards. She serves as a leader who inspires those around her to continually strive for a safer environment for America's children through her work protecting children from internet predators.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Angela D'Aurio for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and applaud Ann Evans for her outstanding service to our community.

Ann Evans exhibits a rare combination of drive, leadership, compassion and generosity. She is a nursing professional with extensive experience in both classroom and hospital settings and is committed to ensuring safe, high quality delivery of care in our community. Ann Evans has worked hard to improve patient care at Lutheran by incorporating a cultural belief model as a foundation for improving patient satisfaction. She has been recognized professionally for her efforts by the American Heart Association and is a fellow of both the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Nursing.

In her dedication to furthering women's issues, Ann introduced a program called Inspire to Jefferson County which focuses on non- traditional approaches which encourage women to practice self care and preventative care. She also introduced the Daisy award, a monthly patient-nominated award for exceptional nurses, and provided the lead gift to the Friends of Nursing Fund dedicated to the advancement of nursing excellence in the community.

In addition to her work in healthcare, Ann Evans serves as Board secretary/treasurer of The Cloud Foundation, a group which focuses on the preservation of wild horses on public lands. She served on the Jefferson County Symphony Board of Directors, has been appointed to the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence and the Daisy Foundation's Board of Directors, and has served on the Board and as President of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Ann Evans for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and applaud Adele O'Toole for her outstanding service to our community.

Adele O'Toole has lived in Jefferson County Colorado for 20 years, and during that time has been very active in PTA, co-founded a local book club, served as a Cub Scout den mother, Girl Scout leader, and a frequent volunteer at her children's school events. She sponsored a team for the Relay for Life event in Wheat Ridge, and frequently participates in Race for the Cure.

The dedication demonstrated by Adele O'Toole directly benefits her community. Not only does she run a multimillion dollar business, O'Tooles Garden Centers but finds time to serve her community. In her service to the area homeless Adele O'Toole frequently organized Thanksgiving and Easter Basket drives for the homeless and regularly prepares meals for families who stay at the JeffCo Action Center's shelter.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Adele O'Toole for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and applaud Dr. Wanda Bedinghaus for her outstanding service to our community.

The dedication demonstrated by Dr. Wanda Bedinghaus directly benefits her community in countless ways. A Jefferson County resident since 1992, Dr. Bedinghaus has made significant efforts to improve the health of individuals in the community. She founded and served as senior minister of Lakewood Unity Church, a center for creative spirituality, as well as Harmonia Center for Healing and co-founded Healing Unleashed.

A pediatrician by training, Dr. Bedinghaus was recently made an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado's Health Science Center, Department of Pediatrics. She works steadfastly to transform our current medical system into a true system of prevention and wellness.

Currently, Dr. Bedinghaus is studying clinical nutrition in order to better serve the health needs of Jefferson County residents. In addition, Dr. Bedinghaus is bringing wellness workshops to area businesses, helping improve the health of their employees.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Dr. Wanda Bedinghaus for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and applaud Sergeant Jo Ann Rzeppa for her outstanding service to our community.

Sergeant Rzeppa's career in the field of law enforcement began over 30 years ago, in what was then a male-dominated profession. She earned respect among her co-workers while serving as a patrol officer, in under-cover narcotics, and as a detective. She is a symbol of the Arvada Police Department's desire to maintain a strong relationship with area schools by serving as the sergeant in charge of School Resource Officers for Arvada schools.

Sergeant Rzeppa's participation in the after school club ``Police Pals'' allows her to provide an excellent example for young women interested in pursuing careers in law-enforcement.

The dedication demonstrated by Sergeant Jo Ann Rzeppa directly benefits her community, and is exemplary of her high personal and professional standards. Those who know Sergeant Jo Ann Rzeppa personally comment on her passion for living, enthusiasm for her work, and confident, friendly manner.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Sergeant Jo Ann Rzeppa for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and applaud Jo Lynn Osborne for her outstanding service to our community.

Jo Lynn Osborne has served as an advocate for the rights of the disabled since 1980. She began her career as a secretary at the Arc in Jefferson County where she quickly moved into program development. In 1989 she created the Mobilizing Families program, which has won national awards and has been translated into several languages.

The dedication demonstrated by Jo Lynn Osborne directly benefits her community, and is exemplary of her high personal and professional standards. Through individualized advocacy, Jo Lynn Osborne has personally helped thousands of individuals and families achieve greater levels of independence.

Today Jo Lynn Osborne is interim executive director for the Arc in Jefferson County, an active member of the Alameda West Kiwanis Club, and a strong community leader.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Jo Lynn Osborne for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and applaud Kathleen Allen for her outstanding service to our community.

Kathleen Allen is an incredible tri-athlete who has overcome a severe injury to again compete in her sport and win. Kathleen's work with Girls on the Run furthers women's issues by ``educating and preparing girls for a lifetime of self respect and healthy living.''

The dedication demonstrated by Kathleen Allen directly benefits her community, and is exemplary of high personal and professional standards. Kathleen has spent countless hours volunteering with JeffCo Parents Focus on School Nutrition, a group which lobbies for improved school nutrition. In addition, Kathleen has volunteered abroad, spending time in Tanzania bringing technology to hospitals and schools in that country.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Kathleen Allen for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and applaud Kristen Anderson for her outstanding service to our community.

Kirsten Anderson is Senior Vice President and Business Banking Manager for Wells Fargo in the metropolitan area of Denver. She has worked with Wells Fargo for 22 years and has filled many positions in the company.

Kirsten Anderson's dedication to her community is demonstrated by her sense of social responsibility and the many organizations she is affiliated with, including the Executive Committees of Red Rocks Community College

Foundation Board and the Jefferson Economic Council. In addition, she is the 2009 Board of Directors Chair for the Jefferson Economic Council, and is an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Denver West.

Kirsten Anderson's passion lies in her two daughters and is always very supportive of her daughters' success, spending countless hours cheering them on and helping to coach their teams.

I extend my deepest congratulations once again to Kristen Anderson for her recognition by the West Chamber of Jefferson County. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all her future accomplishments.