Floor Statements

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

I rise in strong support of H.R. 3783, the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012.

I would like to thank the sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Duncan, and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for their leadership on this issue.

This bill makes available $1 million of Andean counternarcotics funding for the State Department to generate an assessment of the challenge posed to our country by Iran's presence and hostile activity in the Western Hemisphere, as well as a strategy to address whatever threats we may face from the Iranian regime.

Tehran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, its continued support for international terrorism, and its abuse of basic human rights require the United States to maintain extreme vigilance in monitoring and countering its threats around the world. Though our goal has not yet been realized, thanks to the leadership of Congress and the Obama administration, more pressure has been placed on the Iranian regime than ever before. While Iran's behavior poses a clear and obvious danger to its own people, its neighbors, and to our ally Israel, its presence closer to our shores also deserves watchful attention.

The Foreign Affairs Committee has heard significant testimony on this issue from both the administration and private sources. In my capacity of first as chairman and now as ranking member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee on the Foreign Affairs Committee, I think there is ample evidence that Iran is up to no good in the Western Hemisphere.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly and defiantly signaled to the U.S. in his six trips to our hemisphere that he is trolling for friends. Although it seems what Iran actually places on the table of the countries he visits is a stack of unmet promises, it is important that the U.S. Government remain vigilant and dig much deeper into the nature and effectiveness of these Iranian regime actions.

None of this occurs in a vacuum. Iran was complicit in the horrific bombings of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and of the AMIA Jewish Community Center, also in Buenos Aires, which I have visited on numerous occasions. This happened in the first half of the 1990s, so it can easily be said that the first terrorist attacks on Latin American soil happened with Iran in control. We also have evidence of Iran's increasing willingness to conduct an attack on U.S. soil, such as the discovery this year of a twisted Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador here in Washington.

We must be alert to any Iranian attempts to circumvent sanctions and stand against efforts to curry favor with our neighbors to loosen those sanctions. We should continue to monitor intelligence links and watch the Iranian diplomatic corps, given its historical involvement in nefarious acts. We should keep a close eye on financial transactions; the chaotic nexus of drug money and terrorism in this region, in particular, deserves serious notice.

Finally, it is important to express that my support for this legislation is not in any way an indication that the Obama administration has not taken this issue seriously. The President has himself stated that his administration will continue to monitor Iran's activities in the Western Hemisphere closely, and I have personally engaged enough administration officials to be persuaded that they understand the gravity of the situation and are giving it the attention it deserves.

Still, we must be particularly vigilant toward the relationship between Iran and Venezuela, given the opacity of the ties between the regimes governing each country and the anti-American bombast of their leaders. However, there are some positive notes in our region. I would like to extend my appreciation to Brazil, the largest democracy in the hemisphere outside of the United States, which, under President Rousseff, has significantly cooled its relationship with Iran and has cast important votes in the U.N. Human Rights Council critical of the Iranian regime.

Today's polarization and bluster in Washington on so many issues can have the effect of making it difficult to separate fact from fiction. We cannot let that happen here. The stakes are too high. So, with this legislation, we provide both a strong signal to the administration to continue to monitor this situation closely as well as the resources to look across U.S. agency efforts and enforcement capabilities to make sure they are in lockstep.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield 4 minutes to my friend and colleague from the great State of New York, who is the lead Democratic sponsor of this bill, Mr. Higgins.

At this time, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

I also yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise in strong support of H. Res. 526, and I would like to thank the sponsors of this legislation, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and my colleague from the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Schwartz, also from Pennsylvania, for their leadership on this issue.

This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the establishment of the democratic and prosperous Republic of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders, which includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia as regions of Georgia. It is time for Russia to remove its occupying forces from Abkhazia and South Ossetia and comply fully with the August 12, 2008, cease-fire agreement. It is also time for the Russian Federation, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Tuvalu, and Nauru to revoke their recognition of the Georgian regions as independent states and respect Georgia's sovereignty. The territorial integrity of Georgia has been reaffirmed by the international community multiple times in United Nations Security Council resolutions.

I commend Georgia for its commitment to a peaceful reunification of its territories and its engagement in constructive confidence-building measures towards the occupied territories aimed at reconnecting the divided communities.

Georgia has had success in laying the foundation for a liberal, democratic state, and I urge the Government of Georgia to consolidate its impressive accomplishments since the 2003 Rose Revolution. The reforms needed to strengthen Georgia's nascent democracy are well- known: an independent judiciary, respect for human rights and the rule of law, a vibrant civil society, independent media, accountable and transparent policymaking, and a balance of power between the executive and legislative branches. These reforms will be the strongest guarantor of Georgia's independence and prosperity.

Ahead of us, the October 1 parliamentary elections can serve as yet another important benchmark of the deepening democratic process in Georgia. These will be followed by presidential elections. A step backwards would not only be a blow to the development of Georgia's democracy but, ultimately, to its independence.

There have been some disturbing reports concerning efforts to prevent some political leaders from running in the parliamentary election and attempts to intimidate local opposition, including denying them access to media. These issues must be addressed in order to ensure that Georgia has truly free and fair elections.

With this resolution today, we affirm that the United States remains committed to the sanctity of Georgia's sovereignty and independence and to the inviolability of its federation and its internationally recognized borders. We also remind Georgia of the opportunity it has next month to solidify Georgia's democracy by ensuring free and fair elections.

Let me say, on a personal note, that I am very proud of the relationship between the United States and Georgia, and I would look forward to a day when Georgia is a member of the European Union and also a member of NATO. I think that the West must not overlook its commitments in Georgia simply because we may wish to have better relations with Russia.

We can never cast aside democratic principles because they happen to be inconvenient at the time. We should stand with the nation of Georgia and let the world know, including Russia, that we stand by their democracy and will not allow any slipping backwards and will not allow Russian hegemony in the area.

We stand by a free and independent Georgia, so I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let me say in conclusion I am glad that we have cooperation, as we generally do, in the Foreign Affairs Committee for working together on these issues. But I just want to say that I wish we had more cooperation in working together on some of the other issues of the day.

We are leaving town in 2 days without enacting into law middle class tax cuts, the farm bill, the Violence Against Women Act, a responsible deficit reduction. Those are the priorities that are urgent, and we should be working on them right now in a bipartisan way--the way we are working on these issues. The American people cannot afford a Congress that refuses to act on issues critical to middle class families, small businesses, farmers, and women. So I just want to urge the Republican leadership to let us stay in

town and complete work and work together for the betterment of the American people, the way we are doing with these three resolutions.

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

Mr. Speaker, George Brown has served as the City Clerk of the City of Mount Vernon since 2009 and before that as Deputy City Clerk from 2004. He is a native son of the City who received his primary education there. He went on to graduate with an Associates Degree in Applied Science from the Business Institute of Westchester and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Manhattan College.

He retired from Consolidated Edison to bring his 32 years of corporate experience in Customer Service, Accounting, Conflict Resolution, and Corporate Safety to City governance. He is involved with and received awards from many community and civic organizations. He has volunteered as a Celebrity Chef Cook for the YMCA and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, was Event Co-Chairperson for Mount Vernon Relay for Life of the American Cancer Society, and Team Captain of Harlem Relay for Life of American Cancer Society.

He is a District Leader of the Mount Vernon Democrat City Committee, a member of the Black Democrats of Westchester, Past Vice President of the Mount Vernon Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors, Prince Hall Mason of the State of New York, St. Joseph Lodge #117 F&AM, having served 12 years as Grand Lecturer under five Grand Masters. He received the 33rd Degree, the highest degree in Masonry in May 2009. He has been a member of Elejmal Temple #185 of the AEAONMS INC. since 1994 and in December, 2011 was elected Illustrious Potentate of Elejmal Temple #185.

George Brown is first and foremost a family man and one who loves laughter. He is also devoutly spiritual and every Sunday you will find him at the Greater Centennial AME Zion Church, where he is a proud member.

He is a man of the community, one who is unselfish in giving to his community. It is because of people like George Brown that communities grow and prosper and I am proud to join in honoring him for his service to his community.

Mr. Speaker, America was settled by people with a strong belief in God. To this day that conviction has carried through with churches in all neighborhoods of our country forming a bond that holds them and us together.

Here in the Bronx we have one such church, the Emmanuel Baptist Church, under the inspired pastoring of the Rev. Dr. Myrtle Owens Smith who is celebrating her tenth anniversary as Pastor of the church.

She is the first female black pastor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church and in her decade of service to her flock she has honored the past by renovating the church to keep its historical heritage and while enhancing the future by planning the installation of solar panels.

Rev. Dr. Smith is a community oriented minister who regularly attends Community Board meetings, donated a new kitchen for the church, maintains excellent relationships with local elected officials, accommodates community mission outreach programs such as Soup and Sock Ministry and provides food and clothing and HIV testing. She also encourages a thriving Youth Ministry and, on a broader front, was the first female pastor asked by the Foreign Mission Board to accompany them to Ghana.

This is the tip of the iceberg regarding Rev. Dr. Myrtle Owens Smith and her spiritual and corporal contributions to her community. I join with her congregants in congratulating her on ten wonderful and fruitful years and with them wish her many more years pastoring her flock.

I thank my New York colleague and friend.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 8, which should be more appropriately named the Job Prevention and Recession Protection Act.

We always hear talk about tax reform, but the only solution my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have to offer is an extension of the failed policies that skyrocketed the debt and contributed to the current state of the economy. My Republican colleagues say their plan will create jobs. If that's true, why didn't it work during the Bush administration when we lost millions of jobs? The Republican philosophy always seems to be to help the wealthy and give the back hand to the middle class.

So let's put this in perspective: at the same time the majority demands we give the wealthiest a break, they cut Medicaid and Medicare, early education programs, title X family planning, and food stamps. The list goes on and on. Madam Speaker, I would laugh if this weren't so tragic.

Our government should be about giving everyone a fair chance and making sure that we help the middle class and working people. Unfortunately, the current Republican philosophy seems to make it easier for those who are already ahead and more difficult for everyone else. The Republican proposal would give our military soldiers a tax increase while giving millionaires and billionaires a huge tax break.

That's why I strongly support the Democratic substitute introduced by Congressman Levin. Our substitute is in stark contrast to the billion- dollar boondoggle proposed by the majority. Our proposal continues the tax cuts for the middle class and requires the wealthiest to pay their fair share, as well they should. Until we can have a meaningful debate about actual tax reform, the Democratic proposal is the only one worth supporting.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 8 and to support the Democratic substitute.

I thank my friend for yielding to me, and I rise in strong support of this legislation.

I am glad that the Senate and the House finally came together on this very, very important bill.

This bill has very, very strong support, as you can tell, on both sides of the aisle, and the reason it does is because Iran has proven itself to be a very, very dangerous player.

Iran is the leading supporter of terrorism in the world. Iran supplies and supports the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon. And, in fact, now we see what's going on in Syria. And if it was not for Iran, Assad would not be able to continue his brutal ways and his murdering of his own people. Right now, as we talk, there are Iranian guards fighting on the side of Assad in Syria, and Iran chooses to be, and continues to be, a rogue nation.

Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. She has lied to the world consistently in talking about her purposes of the weapon, but Iran is not fooling anybody.

And so what these sanctions do is hits at Iran's oil and natural gas sectors, making it very, very difficult for them to launder money and making it very, very difficult to continue their repressive ways.

The world has spoken. This isn't only the United States. These are countries all over the world. And unfortunately, or the blocking of some vetoes in the United Nations, there would already be sanctions in Iran.

So I urge my colleagues to support this. I think there's a reason why virtually every Member of Congress on both sides of the aisle supports it.

Mr. Speaker, in 1972, Palestinian terrorists broke into the Israeli Olympic compound and murdered, in cold blood, 11 Israeli athletes.

In the 40 years since, shamefully, the International Olympic Committee has refused to have a minute of silence to commemorate these 11 martyrs. They have rejected it time and time again. And tomorrow, the Olympic Games are starting in London, and they have rejected it again, shamefully.

So I will use the rest of my 1-minute to do a moment of silence for the 11 Israeli athletes who lost their lives at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Mr. Speaker, the tragic events that happened in Aurora, Colorado just shows us in this country that if we don't have sensible gun control legislation, then shame on us; then we're the fools.

Nobody is against Second Amendment rights, and nobody is not for giving legitimate people the ability to own guns. But what the shooter was able to obtain on the Internet or in a gun shop, without any kind of background check whatsoever, to me, is unconscionable and makes no sense whatsoever.

I think that this Congress has to come together and find out what language we can put in sensible gun control legislation to make sure that when someone buys weapons, they don't have 100 and 200 and 300 and 1,000 times the amount of ammunition that they would need, that a reasonable person would need, for any reasonable event.

My heart goes out to the victims in Aurora and to their families. This tragedy should never happen again.

I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, let me just say very, very briefly, on May 24, 2011, President Obama issued a memorandum on Federal fleet performance that requires all new light-duty vehicles in the Federal fleet to be alternate-fuel vehicles, such as hybrid, electric, natural gas, or biofuel, by December 31, 2015. My amendment simply echos the Presidential memorandum by prohibiting funds in the Defense Appropriations Act from being used to lease or purchase new light-duty vehicles except in accord with the President's memorandum.

I will yield to the gentleman.

I thank the chairman, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank my friend for yielding to me.

I rise in strong opposition to the legislation before us to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

I won't support legislation which would allow health insurance companies to deny children access to care, which would cause Americans to lose their health care insurance, which would reopen the dreaded Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole, and throw young adults off their parents' insurance policies.

Republicans have proudly stated that this is the 31st repeal vote the House has taken. While the economy struggles to recover, it pains me that we have wasted so much time on these symbolic and political votes that are going nowhere.

The Republicans wanted the Supreme Court to decide on health care, and now our Supreme Court has spoken and they are still fighting it. It's time that everyone accepts the result of the Supreme Court.

This has been a long fight, and now it's over. If there are changes that need to be made to the Affordable Care Act, we should work together to make them; but partisan efforts to repeal the entirety of the law isn't what we should be doing.

I don't want insurance companies getting between patients and their doctors. I don't like the current system where the insurance companies deny you coverage or say you have a pre-existing condition or say you have a cap and they won't pay any more. This bill attempts to get health insurance companies, health insurance, away from the insurance companies who try to control everything and back into the hands of the consumers.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill, and I implore the Republican leadership to turn their focus instead on the economy and on jobs.

This health care bill, there have been so many lies spread about it, that it's unbelievable. The fact of the matter is, it's a good bill. It will take the 50 million Americans that don't have health care and reduce it to nothing. It's a good bill for the American people.

We shouldn't be wasting our time.

I thank my friend for yielding to me.

I rise in strong support of S. 3187, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012.

This is one of these rare occasions these days when Congress is working in a bipartisan manner to get good things done. This bipartisan, bicameral agreement is something of which we can all be proud; and it is a prime example, again, of the good legislative work that can be done by this body when compromises are accepted.

In particular, I would like to thank the chairmen and ranking members of the full Energy and Commerce Committee and of the Health Subcommittee for their hard work to finalize this bill in such a timely manner. I would also like to thank them for including the reauthorization of the Critical Path Public-Private Partnerships in this legislation, something for which I pushed for a long time so that needed improvements in regulatory science can continue.

I believe this bill will help meet the needs of the FDA industry and, most importantly, of the patients. I look forward to its passage.

Mr. Speaker, Arlene Lowenstein began volunteering for Jewish causes as a pre-teen by standing outside of E.J. Korvettes on Central Avenue in Scarsdale, collecting funds for Israel during the Six-Day War. She has not ceased her support of Israel.

Arlene is now Fleetwood Synagogue's Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair. Fleetwood Synagogue is an organization that relies almost entirely on volunteers and Arlene's duties include many that are normally done by an organization's staff, including billing members, paying bills, banking, reporting tax and donation information, and maintaining the synagogue's contact lists.

She treats her volunteering activities with absolute seriousness, and ensures that whatever tasks she undertakes are done accurately and in a timely manner. She does not limit herself to just the financial aspects of the synagogue. She has worked on the dinner committee for years, and is particularly adept at editing written material sent out by the synagogue.

During the ten years her daughter Tovah attended Stein Yeshiva, Arlene served as the PTA President. In 1993, Arlene and her husband, Jack, were the first parents ever honored at the school's testimonial dinner.

Arlene was also active in Rena Hadassah in Mount Vernon, where she chaired the annual Camp Fair which was the organization's most successful fundraiser. She received the ``Hands of Healing'' award from the Westchester Hadassah Region in 1993.

Arlene grew up in Yonkers, and is a product of Lincoln Park Jewish Center. She spent a year studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is a graduate of Barnard College. After graduate school at CUNY, she worked as a computer programmer and a proof reader, before her current profession--Travel Agent. She is the manager of Transland Travel Bureau, a family-owned business. Arlene's husband is Co-President of Fleetwood Synagogue. Her daughter is an English teacher at the Moriah School in Englewood, New Jersey. Arlene's dedication to Fleetwood Synagogue is apparent to all who know her.

I join with Fleetwood Synagogue in honoring Arlene Lowenstein for the good work she has done in the community for so many years. She is a living mitzvah.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month. The area I represent, the 17th District in New York, which comprises areas of the Bronx, Westchester, and Rockland Counties, is home to a significant Caribbean American population that contributes to our State through local businesses, community development and its rich diversity. It has been an honor to learn about the various countries in the Caribbean from where these families come, to experience their cultures, and to observe as they participate fully in all aspects of American society.

My support for Caribbean Americans extends well past the boundaries of my district.

As the Ranking Member and former Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, I have visited many Caribbean countries and have learned the importance of the region to the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere. In fact, last year I wrote an amendment, which passed the Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously, urging the State Department to place U.S. Embassies in five Caribbean countries that are without a permanent diplomatic post. I strongly believe that bolstering U.S.-Caribbean relations needs to be a priority, and opening these embassies would benefit U.S. ties with the entire region. I also had the honor of joining President Obama earlier this year at the Summit of the Americas where we reinforced our dedication to the Caribbean and, last year, had the unique experience of traveling with a delegation of Caribbean ministers to Israel.

My time spent with my Caribbean American constituents and in the great countries that make up the Caribbean has helped me to truly appreciate the influence of Caribbean culture on the U.S. This June, I am pleased to take this opportunity to commemorate Caribbean Americans Heritage Month, and look forward to a future of working closely with the Caribbean American community ensure positive cross-cultural relations.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, on May 24, 2011, President Obama issued a memorandum on Federal Fleet Performance that requires all new light duty vehicles in the Federal fleet to be alternate fuel vehicles, such as hybrid, electric, natural gas or biofuel, by December 31, 2015.

My amendment echoes the Presidential Memorandum by prohibiting funds in the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act from being used to lease or purchase new light duty vehicles except in accord with the President's Memorandum.

I've introduced a similar amendment to five different appropriations bills in the past, including last year's Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, and each time my amendment was accepted and passed by voice vote. My amendments have also been accepted to the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill for FY 2013, and the Agriculture, Defense and Homeland Security appropriations bills for FY 2012.

I yield to the gentleman.

Thank you very, very much.

I just want to say, before I sit down, that this is truly a bipartisan effort. And I want to pay tribute to my good friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) who has been working with me on this open fuel standard. We've introduced a bill, H.R. 1687, which requires 50 percent of new automobiles in 2014, 80 percent in 2016 and 95 percent in 2017, to be warranted to operate on nonpetroleum fuels in addition to or instead of petroleum-based fuels.

I want to just say that compliance possibilities include the full array of existing technologies, including flex fuel, natural gas, hydrogen, biodiesel, plug-in electric drive and fuel cell, and a catch- all for new technologies.

So I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for accepting this.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman from Maryland and I rise in opposition to this bill.

It should come as no surprise the Republicans in Congress do not take the budget deficit seriously. When they were in total control during 6 of the 8 Bush years, they did nothing to reduce the deficit. Quite the opposite.

Republicans say they're all for cutting spending, just not the spending they like. So here we have an attempt to replace sequestration so that they can continue to destroy the social safety net while protecting defense spending, Big Oil, and the wealthiest in this country, yet again asking the middle and lower classes to bear the cost of cutting the budget.

I said when they agreed to the sequester that they'd try to back out of the deal to protect their pet policies and gut the social safety net. And that's what we see in this document: cutting food stamps, cutting SNAP, hurting senior citizens, repealing evidence of health care reforms, hurting Federal workers.

I voted against the Budget Control Act because it was an unbalanced budget that put the responsibility of balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class. But at least it was an agreement that put both defense and discretionary spending up for equal cuts. It was an agreement that both parties came to, recognizing the need to cut Federal spending. Now the Republicans are trying to back out of that. And in backing out of that, they are protecting the wealthiest among us, hurting the middle class. This is the wrong way to go. It is a shameful document.