Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1757) providing for the approval of final regulations issued by the Office of Compliance to implement the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998

that apply to the House of Representatives and employees of the House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in the Record on this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1988, or VEOA, extends veterans' preference rights to covered applicants and employees, in covered positions, throughout the legislative branch. The act is implemented in the legislative branch through the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995.

Implementation of the VEOA requires the board of directors of the Office of Compliance to issue regulations and the House and Senate to approve them. Without congressionally approved regulations, the VEOA does not apply to Congress and the rest of the legislative branch.

Under the Congressional Accountability Act, congressional approval of these regulations can be accomplished by adopting approval resolutions covering the House and the rest of the legislative branch. The resolution before us now covers the House, and the next resolution on the schedule, Senate Concurrent Resolution 77, will cover the rest of the legislative branch, except the Senate, which has already adopted a resolution covering itself.

This process will complete legislative branch coverage under the VEOA. It has bipartisan and bicameral support.

The regulations we are considering today have been awaiting congressional approval since March 21, 2008. The executive branch has already implemented VEOA hiring preferences. With today's congressional approval, qualified veterans who apply for covered positions in the legislative branch will be given preference rights among job applicants and remedies to enforce those rights. It is fitting that we move forward on approving these regulations to help our returning veterans, and now is the right time to do it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 77) to provide for the approval of final regulations issued by the Office of Compliance to implement the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 that apply to certain legislative branch employing offices and their covered employees.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on Senate Concurrent Resolution 77.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, agreeing to Senate Concurrent Resolution 77 will complete legislative branch coverage under the VEOA. The Senate has already covered itself. Thus, qualified veterans who apply for covered positions within the legislative branch will be given preference rights among job applicants and remedies to enforce those rights. This initiative has bipartisan and bicameral support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5493) to provide for the furnishing of statues by the District of Columbia for display in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in the Record and to include extraneous matter.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5493, as amended, which will invite each of the territories, and especially including the District of Columbia, to provide a statue to be placed with other such statues from the 50 States that are now all over the U.S. Capitol.

First of all, I do want to thank the chairman of the Committee on House Administration, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, my good friend, Mr. Brady, for his support and leadership in bringing this legislation, and also, my good friend from California (Mr. Lungren) for his support. With the help of Chairman Brady and his staff, H.R. 5493 now includes language making it favorable to have this bill brought now before the floor for consideration as it was approved by the committee.

I want to especially thank my good friend and colleague, the distinguished lady from the District of Columbia, Ms. Eleanor Norton, for her willingness to work with us on this important bill. And I want to acknowledge the joint efforts that we have made in advocating the importance of this bill for the five U.S. territories and especially also for the District of Columbia, which is basically to provide and furnish to the Architect of the Capitol a statue honoring a prominent citizen of such jurisdiction to be placed in the National Statuary Hall in the same manner as statues now honoring citizens of the States.

Since its inception in 1864, the National Statuary Hall holds a grand display of statues donated to commemorate each of the 50 States. The various statues with their historical significance have added to the aesthetics and overall impressive architectural design of the U.S. Capitol. To the 3 million to 5 million annual visitors to the U.S. Capitol, the National Statuary Hall serves as a reminder of the values and significant contributions of certain individuals that shape the foundation upon which this great country was founded.

And 5 years ago, the Architect of the Capitol received a marble statue of Po'pay from the State of New Mexico and a bronze statue of Sarah Winnemucca from the State of Nevada, making the entire collection complete in its representation of the 50 States under the original law of 1864. It was also at the same time that I introduced a bill to invite territories, including at the time American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to furnish statues to be placed in the National Statuary Hall. The language was similar to the one proposed by the former Delegate from Guam Ben Blaz in 1985, except I proposed permission for the territories to furnish a single statue.

Earlier this year, I introduced a similar bill with modified language to include the CNMI. I am pleased that H.R. 5493 now has incorporated all of these requests. And again, I want to thank Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Lungren and members of the House Administration Committee and staff for their support of this proposal.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I gladly yield all the time that she wants to my good friend, the distinguished Delegate from the District of Columbia, Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

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

I want to echo the sentiments expressed earlier by my colleague from the District of Columbia, again, commending and thanking our good friend from California for his support and his leadership in bringing this piece of legislation to the floor, and especially Chairman Brady and all his efforts and the members of his staff for their hard work in bringing this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1377) honoring the accomplishments of Norman Yoshio Mineta, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the resolution now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield all the time that he may want to consume to the distinguished author of this proposed resolution, the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda).

Mr. Speaker, there seems to be a California conspiracy here in considering this important legislation. But be that as it may, I am honored to yield 5 minutes to the distinguished lady from California (Ms. Chu).

Mr. Speaker, from California to Massachusetts, I gladly yield 3 minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).

I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

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

Mr. Speaker, not wanting to be repetitious, and I think all has been said by our previous speakers, I do want to thank the gentleman from California for his support of this legislation, and Chairman Brady as well and members of the House Administration Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I learned something that I don't think was ever mentioned in my personal and close association and in knowing this giant named Norm Mineta and my former colleague, the late Congressman Bob Matsui. The interesting thing about the history of these two distinguished gentleman, Mr. Speaker, is that they were both incarcerated in these relocation camps that I call concentration camps when they were in their early years, 5, 6, 7 years of age.

One of the distinguished things that I always remember that Norm shared with us, the story about being in these relocation camps when they were in their youth, was the nature of how these machine gun nests were being placed within the compound. The interesting thing is they asked what is the purpose of having these machine gun nests on these compounds where the Japanese Americans were being interned. They were told these were to protect them from outsiders who may come to do them harm. What is even more ironic about this is the fact that the machine guns were pointed inward into the compound, rather than having any sense of concern to worry about what may happen outside the compound.

Mr. Speaker, as a former member of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Group in the State of Hawaii, it has been my privilege to serve as a proud member of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry.

Just to give you a little sense of history of what the legacy and what Norm Mineta represents as far as American history is concerned, despite all the height of racism and bigotry that was heaped against Americans who happened to be of Japanese ancestry--they were herded like cattle, over 100,000 Americans, men, women, and children, put in several of these camps for fear that they might cause problems and whatever they felt was necessary--but despite all of that, despite all of that, some 10,000 Japanese American men volunteered to serve and fight our enemy during World War II, and as a result, the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry were organized. And get a load of this, Mr. Speaker, there were 18,000 individual medals, 9,000 Purple Hearts, some 560 Silver Stars, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, and only one Medal of Honor. Only one Medal of Honor, Mr. Speaker.

I am so happy that during the Clinton administration this was corrected. When there was a review process, 19 additional Medals of Honor were awarded to these Japanese American soldiers who fought for our country in World War II, and it so happens that Senator Inouye was one of those recipients of the Medal of Honor.

So I want to share that little bit of history with my colleagues. Norm Mineta is truly a giant of a man, and among the 15 million Asian Pacific Americans, we are so proud to see what he has done, not only as a leader, but providing tremendous service to our Nation.

I want to say that, Mr. Speaker, respectfully, and with my good friend from Massachusetts and the delegation from California for their support of this proposed legislation.

We gather today to honor a special man--a dear friend and mentor to me--Mr. Norman Yoshio Mineta. I thank the gentleman from California, Mr. Honda, for sponsoring this resolution, and I thank my fellow Members of Congress who join us today.

Norman Mineta is a ground-breaker and a pioneer. His accomplishments and his character make him a role model to former colleagues, to Members of Congress and other government leaders, to his former constituents and his community, to Asian-Pacific Americans, and to anyone wanting to make a contribution to their country through public service.

As a pioneer, Mr. Mineta is a man of many ``firsts.'' He was the first Asian-Pacific American mayor of a major U.S. city, serving as mayor of San Jose from 1971-1975. He was also the first Asian American to hold a post in the presidential cabinet, appointed as Secretary of Commerce in 2000 by President Clinton. In 2001, Mineta was appointed to a cabinet post once again as Secretary of Transportation in the Bush Administration, also becoming the first Asian-Pacific American to hold the position, and the first Secretary of Transportation to have previously served in a cabinet position. At the end of his term in 2006, Mineta was the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation since the position's inception in 1967.

Before his successes in the Clinton and Bush administrations, Mineta represented California's Silicon Valley area in the U.S. House of Representatives for 20 years. During his years of outstanding leadership, Mineta also chaired the House Public Works and Transportation Committee between 1992 and 1994. Before becoming Committee Chair, he served as Chair for the Committee's Aviation Subcommittee from 1981 to 1988, and its Surface

Transportation Subcommittee from 1989 to 1991.

In my own life, Mr. Mineta has played an influential role, setting the path for future Asian-Pacific Americans who serve in this Chamber. In 1994, Mineta founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and served as its first Chair. Since inception, CAPAC has been a strong advocate for the Asian-Pacific American community on critical issues such as housing, healthcare, immigration, civil rights, economic development, and education, just to name a few. I am honored to serve with Mr. Honda and our fellow members in this body of advocates, continuing the groundbreaking path that Norman Mineta helped to pave for the Asian-Pacific American community.

Truly Norman Mineta's service is remarkable. Yet what makes his story even more remarkable is his example of overcoming hardship while maintaining a heart of service. Born in San Joe to Japanese immigrant parents, a young Mineta, along with thousands of other Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans, spent the early years of his life in Japanese internment camps. Yet Mineta continued with a spirit of service and excellence, graduating from business school, serving as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, and later reaching unprecedented heights in his service to his Silicon Valley community, the Asian American community, and the nation.

Today I ask my fellow Members of Congress to honor a man whose character, patriotism, and heart of service calls for our sincere respect and gratitude. Norm, today I celebrate and thank you for your service. More importantly, I thank you for your example to the citizens of this nation.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend Yuvraj Puri for his initiative in crafting a bill to reduce the amount of annual Medicare fraud and prevent future Medicare fraud. Yuvraj is 13 years old and attends Cooper Middle School in McLean, Virginia, where he is currently in the 8th grade.

As a second-generation Indian-American and in tribute to his Asian culture which teaches children to respect and take care of their elders, it has been Yuvraj's dream to work with senior citizens. In fact, for the past 3 months, Yuvraj has been volunteering at the Herndon Senior Center for 4 hours every week.

At the center, his primary duties are to update the database, set up bingo, clean up and lock down the center, type up the lunch menu, decorate, write the program board, and clean out the closet for recyclables.

This experience has instilled in Yuvraj a desire to take his work further and so he chose to research Medicare fraud and present a paper and draft a bill as part of an assignment at school. Although the school had each student partner with another, I am impressed that Yuvraj went beyond what he was required to do and, on his own initiative, sought to visit the U.S. Congress to see how bills are introduced, managed and eventually passed into law.

As an Asian-Pacific American, Yuvraj also requested a meeting with Members of the Executive Board of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), including the Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary who serves as Chair of the CAPAC's Healthcare Task Force. Since its inception in 1994, CAPAC has continued its commitment to promote and secure equal rights for not only Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), but all Americans.

Through his research, Yuvraj learned that CAPAC fights to eliminate health care disparities and works to ensure that Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities are not left out of policy decisions. Recognizing CAPAC's importance and knowing that CAPAC can influence the passage or defeat of a bill, Yuvraj referenced CAPAC in his presentation and sought a meeting with us to present his bill, especially since he is a member of the AAPI community.

Today, it was our honor to personally meet Yuvraj and accept his bill, and I thank Congressman Mike Honda, Chairman of CAPAC, and also Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, Chair of CAPAC's Healthcare Taskforce, for joining with me to commend Yuvraj for his initiative.

As Members of CAPAC's Executive Board, we join together in wishing Yuvraj much success in his pursuit to attend the Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology (TJSST) in Alexandria, Virginia. We believe Yuvraj is a rare student who has the capability to become a leader of the 21st century and it is clear that his intellectual curiosity will serve him well on his road to study medicine at Princeton as he seeks to do all he can do to serve the elderly to the best of his ability.

Again, I commend Yuvraj for his self-motivation and aspirations, and I extend to him and his family my very best regards.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 1448, legislation that will allow five Indian Tribes--the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Suislaw, the Klamath Tribes, and the Burns Paiute Tribe--to enter into long-term leases for trust land.

First, I want to commend Senator Jeff Merkley for his leadership on this issue. I also want to thank Senator Ron Wyden, Representative Peter DeFazio, and Representative Kurt Schrader, for their support and advocacy on behalf of the five Indian Tribes in the State of Oregon that are the subject of this legislation.

Historically, since 1834, Congress prohibited land transactions with Indian Tribes unless specifically permitted. In 1955, under the Long- Term Leasing Act, Congress permitted the leasing of Indian lands, but restricted the term of leases to no more than 25 years. Conditions for economic development and business opportunities have changed significantly and leases with terms of more than 25 years are now more desirable. As a result, 50 Indian Tribes have already petitioned Congress and have been granted authority to enter into long-term leases through amendments to the Long-Term Leasing Act. Another bill, S. 2906, to be considered later will add two more Indian Tribes from the State of Washington. I want to register my support for these bills.

Extending the privileges of the Long-Term Leases Act to these Indian Tribes is very important since economic development and business opportunities underscore our government's longstanding responsibility to the Indian Tribes. This longstanding responsibility is to provide assistance to the Indian people in their efforts to break free from the devastating effects of extreme poverty and unemployment and achieve lasting economic self-sufficiency. Yet, high rates of unemployment and poverty continue to exist among Indian Tribes. And one of the main reasons has been the lack of effective control by the Indians over their own lands and resources.

I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2906, legislation to amend certain provisions of the Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955 for the benefits of the three Washington State Indian tribes, the Kalispel Tribe and the Puyallup Tribe, and the Swinomish Tribal Community.

First I want to commend Senator Maria Cantwell for her leadership. I also want to thank Senator Pat Murray, Representative Adam Smith, and Representative Norman Dicks, for their support and advocacy on behalf of the Indian Tribes in the State of Washington.

Similar to S. 1448, this bill will amend the Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955, to add three more Indian Tribes from the State of Washington to the list of Indian Tribes that have been granted authority to enter into long-term leases of up to 99 years.

Conditions for economic development and business opportunities have significantly changed since Congress passed the Long-Term Leases Act in 1955. The current economic downturn has certainly exacerbated already deteriorating economic conditions for many of the Indian tribes. As such, extending the privileges of the Long-Term Leases Act is essential for economic development and business opportunities. It is the longstanding responsibility of our Federal Government to provide assistance to the Indian people in their efforts to improve their economic conditions and maximize business opportunities for the betterment of the Indian people.

I urge my colleagues to pass S. 2906.

I want to thank the gentleman from West Virginia, our distinguished chairman of our Committee on Natural Resources, and I do also thank my good friend, the gentleman from Utah, and their management of this proposed legislation.

Mr. Speaker, having personally experienced what it means to go through an earthquake and a tsunami, I rise in

strong support of this proposed legislation for the Hoh Indian Tribe Safe Homelands Act, a bill that transfers certain Federal lands in the State of Washington to be held in Federal trust for the Hoh Indian Tribe.

I want to thank, especially, the gentleman from Washington, Mr. Norm Dicks, for sponsoring this important bill, and I would also like to thank the chairman of our committee and the members of our committee for their support.

While this bill serves primarily to transfer the acreage to the Hoh Indian Reservation, it also carries out a greater purpose and message: to support the welfare of the tribal members while reinforcing our longstanding responsibility to the first Americans.

Established by an Executive order in 1893, with only a square mile of land, the Hoh Indian Reservation is home to a tribe of nearly 300 members whose livelihood depends primarily on fishing. Located 28 miles south of Forks and 80 miles north of Aberdeen, the reservation presently consists of 443 acres of land surrounding the Hoh River, after which the tribe is named.

Recently, however, the reservation has been overwhelmed by river flooding caused by torrential rain and storm surges from the Pacific Ocean. Living, also, in one of the rainiest places in the contiguous United States, many of the tribal members' homes are encircled by sandbags to hold back the water, and most of the usable land is within the 100-year floodplain of the river, exacerbating what is already a tough economic development situation. Now, more than ever, floods are more frequent and more aggressive, also due to hardened riverbanks for erosion control and the influence of timber companies in the uplands.

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

Again, I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from West Virginia, the chairman of our committee, and my good friend from Utah on the other side of the aisle for their management and support of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with the statement made earlier by the chief sponsor of this legislation, my good friend, the gentleman from Washington. I know a little bit about the industry of fishing. This is certainly important for the gentleman's district and the Members who are affected from the great State of Washington.

I urge my colleagues to support this proposed legislation.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I would also like to compliment the gentleman from Utah's statement.

Mr. Speaker, this probably will be the last opportunity that I will have to offer my compliments and my utmost respect and commendation for the way that the gentleman from West Virginia has conducted the affairs of our Natural Resources Committee under his chairmanship, of which I am deeply honored to be a part. He is second to none in terms of his leadership, his service, and his commitment to serving our Nation.

I wanted to say that for the record, and I want to thank my good friend from Utah for his compliments as well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 2010, a bill that will make significant improvements for a range of programs, initiatives, and grants to support our mission to combat and remedy child abuse in America.

I want to thank the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, my good friend, Mr. George Miller, and all the members of the Committee for their work on this comprehensive legislation, and to my colleagues for their work in advocating for the needs of our young constituents who do not have the opportunity to advocate for themselves.

This bill reauthorizes--through FY2015--the current CAPTA legislation as well as the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), the Adoption Reform Act of 1978, and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988, and covers a range of programs that address child abuse and neglect, family, domestic, and dating violence, as well as adoption.

As we all know, child abuse is an epidemic that has far-reaching effects past the incidence of abuse or neglect. Without the proper support, victims of abuse are at high risk for depression, anxiety, being arrested as juveniles, among other negative outcomes. Unfortunately, while prevention efforts have led to a decrease in reported incidents over the past decade, we still know that for every report of child abuse, there are far more unreported incidents and children without help.

Originally enacted in 1974, CAPTA is the key federal legislation addressing child abuse and neglect. Since enactment, CAPTA has played a vital role in assisting state and local governments in their efforts to not only treat, but also prevent child abuse. CAPTA has provided grants to states to support community-based programs and child protective services (CPS), and has boosted efforts in evaluating these programs through data collection, research, analysis, and training.

Through reauthorization, this legislation will improve how child abuse prevention and treatment programs are administered. To help ensure that the needs of America's children are being met, this bill will revise requirements for the child abuse prevention and treatment advisory board, the national clearinghouse for information relating to child abuse, research and assistance activities, as well as specified grants to States, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, public and private agencies and organizations.

Under the CAPTA Act, this bill will also strengthen state laws in terms of reporting; require increased efforts in research and studies to ensure that state laws are properly serving the needs of victims of abuse; and address challenging issues such as protecting children from cross-jurisdictional complication. Regarding FVPSA programs and activities, this bill will also expand grant opportunities, including programs for teen dating violence hotlines to further address the call for more support for young victims of abuse across the nation. Concerning adoption regulations, this bill also improves the focus on finding qualified families for adoption of children with special needs.

The scars of child abuse can be long-lasting, affecting not only the child and family, but also society as a whole. Therefore, it is essential that we pass this crucial legislation to improve the services, information, research, and resources that are deeply needed to better serve America's children.

The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 is a step towards improving and strengthening prevention efforts and support for victims of abuse. Through this bill, we will improve the ongoing efforts of the Federal Government to combat this issue, and we will also continue to strengthen and support the vital State, local, and community-based efforts that serve America's children day by day. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5281, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010. First and foremost, I want to thank the chief sponsors of this legislation, my good friends, Congressman Berman of California and Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, and all the cosponsors of this important legislation. I also want to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her leadership on this issue. This is an important piece of legislation because it will give many young people an opportunity to further pursue their education given their adverse circumstances.

The DREAM Act will give the many high achieving and talented youth an opportunity to further their education or serve our country. This legislation, through a two-tier process, will allow eligible unauthorized aliens to apply for temporary Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status and eventually full LPR status after meeting strict criteria.

As unauthorized aliens, including overstayers, they will be eligible to apply for conditional LPR status as long as they are in good moral standing, qualify for years of residency and have been admitted to either an institution of higher education or enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces.

There are many that have said that the DREAM Act will become an open- ended amnesty law but this is not true. Through the stringent requirements, the fact that those who are eligible already reside in the U.S. for many years, and a long-term probationary period prior to full LPR status will prevent others from trying to take advantage of our immigration laws.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the DREAM Act will reduce the deficit by more than $2.2 billion dollars within the next 10 years. It will also improve our national economy by increasing our U.S. workforce and, importantly, it will assist our military recruiting efforts to ensure readiness and support for our U.S. Armed Forces.

It is only right that we provide humanitarian relief for the many children who were brought to our country illegally by their parents. We must not punish the children for the decisions of their parents for they had no say in the matter.

For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5281.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3353, legislation to provide for American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to be treated as States in the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Grant program, also known as JAG.

First I want to commend the gentleman from the CNMI, Mr. Gregorio Kilili Sablan, for his authorship of this important legislation, and I also want to commend the gentleman from Puerto Rico, Mr. Pedro Pierluisi, for his work and assistance. I want to also thank Mrs. Donna Christensen and Mrs. Madeleine Bordallo and all my colleagues for their support.

The proposed legislation, H.R. 3353, will fix an inconsistency in the method used to allocate funding through the JAG program. The current proposal provides that American Samoa and the CNMI be treated the same as other States, each will receive a 100 percent allocation.

Historically, the JAG program memorializes Officer Edward R. Byrne of the 103rd precinct of the New York City police, who was gunned down in the line of duty in the early morning of February 26, 1988. Officer Byrne was shot five times in the head. He was only 22 years old.

Since its existence, the JAG program has provided critical funding to States and Territories to aid several justice programs including: law enforcement, prosecution and court, prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment, planning, evaluation, and technology improvement, crime victims and witness protections.

But while the Territories are treated as States, not all receive the same share. In particular, while the rest of the Territories and States are funded at 100 percent each, only American Samoa at 67 percent and the CNMI at 33 percent are treated as less than one whole. American Samoa and the CNMI combined is equivalent to the share of one State.

Fixing this inconsistency is important to us because, as part of the American family, we all serve the U.S. Constitution. It is the same constitution that provides equality for all Americans in as far away and isolated insular areas as in American Samoa and the CNMI. Therefore, despite population sizes and other statistical indices that serve as basis for allocation, constitutionally, the degree of need in American Samoa and the CNMI is no less critical than elsewhere in the United States.

Earlier this year, Lt. Detective Lusila Brown, a veteran of the American Samoa police force, was gunned down in the line of duty. In broad daylight with many watching unexpectedly, he was shot and killed in front of our High Court building. Gruesome images of the gunman with gun in hand standing over the fallen officer serve as a brutal reminder to all that even in a remote and isolated place, a place known mainly for its vast natural resources and peaceful surroundings, we are no less vulnerable to the most heinous and violent crimes known to society.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3353 and give American Samoa and CNMI their fair share of this important program.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the ``Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010,'' legislation to extend and improve the nation's policies and programs with respect to child nutrition.

I want to thank the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, my good friend, Mr. George Miller, and all the members of the Committee for their work on this comprehensive bill on nutrition programs for the children of America. I also want to thank the cosponsors and all the stakeholders for their support and advocacy.

This piece of legislation will make improvements in existing nutrition programs for kids by helping our nation fulfill the following objectives: reduce childhood hunger by expanding access to the child nutrition programs; reduce childhood obesity and other health concerns by improving nutritional quality of meals; and make improvements in how the programs are administered.

Historically, child nutrition programs have served many needs in our schools and communities across the nation. For example, since 1946, the National School Lunch program has provided nutritionally balanced lunches to children across the county. Today, more than 31 million children each school day in over 101,000 public and private nonprofit schools and residential child care institutions receive nutritional lunches through this program.

Since 1966, the School Breakfast Program has provided nutritionally balanced breakfasts to America's children. Today, 11 million children in more than 88,000 public and private nonprofit schools and residential child care institutions are receiving healthy meals to start off their school day.

Nutrition programs have also been a key factor in supporting children and the family outside of school cafeterias. Programs such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provide nutrition and support to low-income families, benefiting mothers, infants, and young children across the nation.

Overall, these family nutrition programs have provided many critical services for our children. In 2009 alone, The Child and Adult Care Food Program distributed 1.9 billion meals to over 3.3 million participating children and adults. Additionally, the WIC program supported 9.1 million participants in all 50 States, U.S. Territories, and 34 Indian tribal organizations.

Emerging challenges, however, necessitate improvements. Most disconcerting is the USDA 2009 report showing an increase in food insecurity. The report shows that 6.7 million households, including 16.7 million children, across the nation lacked money and other resources for food. This is unacceptable.

Moreover, obesity rates between 1963 and 2004 quadrupled for children ages 6 to 11 years and tripled for children between 12 and 19 years old. Strong correlation between obesity rates and other chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes, suggests that we have a major problem to confront. Now is the time to act.

The United States of America must take care of her children by providing the necessary resources to maintain a healthy lifestyle. As we all know, a child's health has a direct impact on their education and their future.

We must therefore address the emerging health challenges and negative trends by stepping towards improvements in our child nutrition policies and programs.

The ``Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010'' is a crucial step towards addressing these challenges and reversing these trends. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, to authorize, ratify and confirm the settlement reached as a result of the Indian Trust Fund litigation, or the Cobell v. Salazar case.

First I want to thank the Chairman Nick RaHall, members of the Natural Resources Committee, and all my colleagues for their support on this bill.

Under the Class Action Settlement Agreement that was signed on December 7, 2009, the government agrees to pay $1.4 billion to establish the ``Accounting/Trust Administration Fund'' for members of the class who sought to have a historical accounting of their Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accounts. In addition, the Federal Government has agreed to pay $2 billion to establish the ``Trust Land Consolidation Fund'' for the purpose of consolidating the fractionated trust and restricted lands.

Since 1831, when the Supreme Court first formulated the concept of the federal government as trustee for Indian tribes, the relationship between the American Indians and the United States government has been likened to that of a ``ward to its guardian.'' In its capacity as trustee, the United States government holds titles to much of Indian tribal land and land allotted to individual Indians. Subsequently, responsibilities to manage Indian monies and assets derived from these lands and held in trust lie with the U.S. government.

Allegations of breach of trusteeship and fiduciary responsibilities led to the Cobell v. Salazar that was first filed in 1996. A group of IIM account holders filed a class action alleging that the Secretaries of Interior and Treasury, acting on behalf of the federal government, had breached their fiduciary duties owed to American Indians. Over the next 13 years, the federal government has struggled to bring resolution to this litigation.

It was not until December 7, 2009 when a settlement was reached. The settlement agreement originally called for Congress to authorize it legislatively by December 31, 2009. The deadline, however, has been extended eight times to February 28, 2010, April 16, May 25, June 15, July 9, August 6, October 15, and currently to January 7, 2011. It is time to bring resolution to this issue.

For far too long, the government has ignored its responsibilities and constitutional duties with respect to American Indians. The proposed legislation, H.R. 4783, will administer justice to those American Indians that have suffered as a result of mismanagement and of neglect of our government trustee responsibilities. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4783 and authorize the Class Action Settlement Agreement.