Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1595, Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Fifty years ago, Congress passed tax legislation to enable real estate investment trusts to be created. Before REITs, only financial institutions and the wealthy could afford to invest in commercial real estate. REITs allow all investors to have these same opportunities to invest directly in real estate. REITs opened the market to individual investors of all income levels, providing the chance to invest in real estate the way they invest in other industries, to diversify their portfolios, and generate income for their families for a secure future.

REITs in the U.S. have grown into a market worth over $300 billion. The tax reforms passed by Congress in 1986 permit REITs to operate and manage property themselves and REIT subsidiaries now mange everything from residential housing to health care facilities. Over 100 REITs are now publicly traded. These developments allow even more growth opportunities for individuals who include REITs in their retirement financial planning.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act. This bill provides much-needed assistance to our community, by funding jobs in our schools and helping states maintain health coverage for low-income families.

Students are returning to school this fall, and states and localities are facing budget crunches that could lead to layoffs of teachers and first responders. These budget shortfalls also jeopardize health coverage for the millions of American families that depend on Medicaid.

The Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act extends a program in the Recovery Act that support local school districts to prevent teacher layoffs. This bill provides $10 billion in funding that will create or save over 160,000 teachers nationwide, including 16,500 in California.

The legislation also extends a Recovery Act program that will provide $16.1 billion for states' Medicaid programs. Medicaid provides health care to low-income Americans, including children and pregnant women. In California, 7.5 million people depend on Medi-Cal, the state Medicaid program. If we don't provide this funding to states, many will be forced to balance their budgets by dropping people off their Medicaid rolls, cutting benefits, or weakening the program by reducing payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers.

The Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act will create and save over 150,000 jobs--including first responders, nurses, and private sector jobs--because it provides an influx of funds that enables states to balance their budgets.

This legislation does not add to the deficit. It is paid for by reducing government spending and closing tax loopholes for companies that ship American jobs overseas. With today's vote, this bill will go to the President's desk for his quick signature. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 301, calling on the President to withdraw U.S. Troops from Pakistan, and oppose H.R. 4899, the supplemental spending bill.

The right way to foster democracy and opportunity in the region is to invest in infrastructure like schools and roads. The book ``Stones into Schools'' details how building schools in remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan opened up opportunities for young men and women, and helped promote peace. This is the type of aid we should be giving--not tanks and missiles.

H. Con. Res. 301 would take a step in the right direction. With drone attacks killing civilians in Pakistan, a Gallup poll from August 2009 shows that 59 percent of Pakistanis see the United States as their biggest threat. The recent documents posted on WikiLeaks show that Pakistan Intelligence has been working with the Taliban against U.S. troops. We need to stop aggressive military actions in Pakistan before the conflict escalates.

The supplemental spending bill is the wrong approach. It would add $37 billion to the deficit to finance an additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan. After nine years at war, we have little to show for our efforts despite $232 billion spent, over a thousand American lives lost, and tens of thousands of Afghan civilians dead.

I urge my colleagues to stand for peace, vote for H. Con. Res. 301 to withdraw U.S. troops from Pakistan, and vote against the supplemental spending bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Investing In Our Future Act. This bill will discourage currency speculation while investing in future generations here at home and in vulnerable communities around the world.

The world's largest financial institutions regularly buy and sell world currencies for a quick profit. In fact, the global currency transaction market has a daily trading volume of $4 trillion. A significant amount of these trades are purely for speculative purposes. These speculative trades make wealthy individuals and companies even richer, but add no value to our economy. On the contrary, speculation distorts markets, increases market volatility, and destabilizes our economy.

The Investing in Our Future Act will place a 0.005 percent tax on the trillions of dollars of currency trades that take place each day. The revenue generated would go into three separate trust funds: one to provide domestic long-term, sustainable funding for child care; another for global health funding; and a third trust fund for climate change mitigation in the developing world.

A tax of 0.005 percent on all currency transactions is a trivial amount for those who engage in trades for legitimate purposes. One study estimated a worldwide tax on currency transactions involving the dollar would decrease currency speculation and shrink the volume of the market by 14 percent. This legislation would, in the words of the late Nobel laureate James Tobin who first proposed such a tax, ``throw some sand in the well-greased wheels'' of speculation.

The imposition of a currency transaction tax is a minor inconvenience to a financial institution, but could represent a major step forward to meet and exceed our commitments to our children and to impoverished nations and communities.

A Child Care Assistance Trust Fund will receive 20 percent of the revenue generated by this tax. In our own country only one in seven children eligible for subsidized childcare actually receives it. The fund will help working parents of the 15.3 million children under the age of six find affordable childcare.

The Multilateral Global Health Trust Fund will receive 40 percent of the revenue generated by this tax. Dozens of poor countries lack the basic medical infrastructure to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. With funding towards these major diseases in developing nations, we can save lives and eliminate the threat of many of these illnesses within a generation.

The Global Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Trust Fund will receive the other 40 percent of funds generated by this tax. Climate change brings the side effects like hunger, poverty, and natural resource exhaustion to many developing countries. Conservative estimates are that $100 billion is needed annually to help developing countries adapt to climate change and this fund will bring much needed assistance to them.

By contributing revenues from this bill towards these causes, we would be investing in the future of the residents of the developing world, and ours as well. I urge my colleagues to support the Investing in Our Future Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5712) to provide for certain clarifications and extensions under Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I rise today in support of H.R. 5712. It's a small but important bill. It's fully paid for and contains time-sensitive, mostly technical changes that strengthen the programs that care for the health of our Nation's veterans, senior citizens, and children. I appreciate the support of my distinguished ranking member for this bill.

This bill is supported by the National Association of Children's Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals, and most of the health care groups. And we can proceed on issues concerning other matters at another time.

At this point, I yield the balance of my time to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman).

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support restoration of emergency Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits for the millions of workers who are unable to find work. These benefits should have never been allowed to expire at the end of May. It is a disgrace that Republicans repeatedly block passage of a UI extension.

UI benefits are a lifeline to millions of families struggling to make ends meet. They can be the difference between having a roof over your head and losing your home. Since Republicans blocked legislation to extend UI, over 1.7 million long-term jobless people have lost their benefits, including over 300,000 in my state of California. These individuals want to work. The problem is there are 5 people for every new job. What will happen to these workers and their families whose benefits have run out? What will happen to the people that call my office everyday asking why they are losing benefits? Will Republicans offer them more tax cuts for the wealthy or more subsidies for the oil industry?

Congress has a responsibility to help those impacted by the recession. The legislation (H.R. 5618) before us today allows us to fulfill that responsibility. I urge all my colleagues to side with American workers and support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose more funding for a war in Afghanistan that has cost too much and accomplished too little.

Over 1,000 soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. The toll of this conflict is not limited to the battlefield. This year, almost as many American troops have committed suicide as have been killed in combat. Our troops and their families are paying an extreme price to wage a war that has no clear objective.

The war has also destabilized Afghanistan. Estimates from international human rights organizations range from 10,000 to 12,000 Afghanis killed as a result of the war. Now, we are preparing to spend $33 billion more in Afghanistan. We should spend this money on infrastructure--like schools and roads--that will open opportunities for all of Afghanistan. That is the best way to achieve peace and stability in the region.

Every dollar we waste on war is one less dollar we can invest in our children here at home. I support the Obey amendment that will add $10 billion in domestic education funds to the bill. These funds, though inadequate, will protect hundreds of thousands of teacher jobs across the country, including 167 in my district.

While I hope for the inclusion of this education funding, I cannot support any more funding for the misguided war in Afghanistan. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting no.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Leslie Goldberg, R.N. who is retiring tomorrow after 20 years of service as a nurse with the Attending Physician's Office here at the Capitol. Leslie is well known and loved by all who work in the Cannon House Office Building--Members and staff alike. She's run the Cannon Health Unit for most of her time on the Hill and she personifies service and caring.

Leslie graduated from the Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn and first worked as a nurse at New York University Hospital in neurosurgery. She went on to work at the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents and then did insurance physicals for eight years prior to joining us on Capitol Hill.

She started with the Office of the Attending Physician in November 1990, and has taken excellent care of us ever since. She makes sure we get our flu shots, helps us find doctors, and tells us when we need to go home so we don't make others around us sick.

The nurses are also on call at numerous events where Members of Congress are in attendance. They are on hand for the Memorial Day Concert, the annual State of the Union, the inauguration ceremonies. They work long hours and are here whenever Congress is in session--no matter how late. Overtime is the norm for Leslie and her colleagues.

Until Speaker Pelosi made a lactation room available for nursing mothers returning to work, hundreds of new moms could tell you of the time they spent in the Cannon Nurse Station with Leslie's full support. She has a photo wall of children to attest to this--with moms bringing in updated photos each year as their children grow up. My chief of staff is one of those moms and is very grateful for all of Leslie's help over the years.

Now, Leslie is turning to a new phase in life. She has two grandchildren on the way and she plans to be an active grandmother in their lives. She'll also be able to do more traveling and dedicate herself to volunteer priorities.

For someone who has spent her career caring for others, it is time for Leslie to get to care for her family and herself. We wish her all the best and thank her for her long, dedicated service to Congress. We'll miss her.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sergeant David Parks's 31 years of exemplary service in law enforcement, in honor of his retirement from the Newark, California, Police Department.

Sergeant Parks began his law enforcement career as a 2-year public safety officer with the Brisbane Department of Public Safety. He was then hired as a police officer with the Newark Police Department in September 1981, where he served for 29 years.

As a police officer at the Newark Police Department, Sergeant Parks served 1 year as a fraud detective and 3 years as a Crimes Against Persons detective. In July 2004, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant and served in a variety of positions including patrol sergeant, community safety team sergeant, and detective sergeant.

During his tenure with the Newark Police Department, Sergeant Parks had held many collateral duties such as field training officer, FTO; FTO Sergeant, criminal evidence response team, CERT, member; CERT supervisor; trauma response team; traffic officer; acting sergeant; SWAT team member; Alameda County arson task force member; and composite sketch artist.

I join the City of Newark in expressing appreciation for Sergeant Parks's leadership and commitment during his service in the Newark Police Department. I rise to thank him for his stewardship for public safety and wish him well in his retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sergeant Barry Mickleburgh's retirement from the Pleasanton, California Police Department, and to honor his 30 years of exemplary service in law enforcement and community service.

Sergeant Mickleburgh began his law enforcement career in 1981 as a security officer with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department. In 1982, he became a reserve Deputy Sheriff and in 1984, he was hired as a full- time deputy where he served at the Santa Rita Jail.

Sergeant Mickleburgh worked on a variety of assignments over the course of his career, including SWAT, Bicycle Officer, Field Training Officer, Detective, and Narcotic Investigator.

After being promoted to the rank of Sergeant on May 14, 2002, Sergeant Mickleburgh served as a patrol supervisor and the supervisor of the Special Operations Unit which addressed drug and vice related crimes. Sergeant Mickleburgh was also the Field Training Program coordinator and department liaison to the Department of Homeland Security.

Sergeant Mickleburgh received his AA Degree from Chabot Community College in 1981. While working full time, he earned his BA degree from San Jose State University in 1994.

Sergeant Mickleburgh has been instrumental in teaching Problem Oriented Policing. He became an expert in identifying problems that needed specific attention and he shared his knowledge with the rest of the police force.

Sergeant Mickleburgh has enjoyed a highly productive career. His employment file is filled with letters of commendation and appreciation for his attention to detail and his commitment to helping others. I join the City of Pleasanton in expressing appreciation for his commitment and leadership and I wish him all the best in his retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Officer Kelly O'Neal's retirement from the Pleasanton, California Police Department, and to honor his thirty-four years of exemplary service in law enforcement.

Officer O'Neal began his law enforcement career as a Reserve Police Officer with the City of Pleasanton in 1976. For 8 years, he volunteered his time working alongside full-time officers during patrol operations and during special events.

Beginning in 1985, Officer O'Neal worked as a full-time police officer. He worked on a variety of assignments, including patrol, detective, two assignments as a Motorcycle Officer, and as SWAT team member.

During his 34 years of service, his true passion was investigating drug-related crimes. Not only was he widely respected in the law enforcement community as a Drug Recognition Expert Instructor, but also by those who he arrested because of the fair and understanding manner he treated everyone. In 1999, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the California Highway Patrol recognized Officer O'Neal for arresting over 100 drug- or alcohol-impaired drivers. He was selected as the Officer of the Year for his outstanding accomplishments.

Throughout his career, Officer O'Neal served as a Field Training Officer and was responsible for training dozens of officers. His passion for new and innovative firearms and safety training brought the most realistic training scenarios possible to fellow officers.

He gave everything he had to the department and its members, and set a fine example of responsibility and dedication.

I join the City of Pleasanton in applauding Officer O'Neal's leadership within the Pleasanton Police Department and expressing appreciation for his commitment to public safety. He is an outstanding role model for others in law enforcement to follow and I wish him well in his retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This bill will protect consumers from ever again being forced to bail

out private financial institutions and brings overdue oversight to our financial markets.

We learned the hard way that when private financial institutions grow too large, their failure will put our entire financial system and economy in peril. Mammoth companies like AIG, Citigroup, and Bank of America took excessive risks and invested in risky financial products. When the economy turned, it was taxpayers that bailed them out.

This bill imposes new requirements to discourage companies from becoming too large and unstable. Financial institutions will be prohibited from taking on excessive debt. The new Volcker Rule will limit the amount of money a bank can invest in hedge funds and otherwise use to gamble for its own benefit. Risky derivatives contracts owned by the banks will be subject to regulatory oversight and approval by government agencies. The bill also arms regulators to dismantle failing financial companies at the expense of the financial industry, not taxpayers.

This bill does more than just rein in the financial institutions, it will also protect families. I strongly support the provision that will create a new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. This independent bureau within the Federal Reserve will be on the front lines protecting taxpayers from predatory lenders and other unfair practices by mortgage brokers, banks, student lenders, and credit card companies.

The bill goes a long way to prevent another foreclosure crisis by reforming the mortgage industry. The bill prohibits pre-payment penalties that trap borrowers into unaffordable loans. It outlaws financial incentives that encourage lenders to steer borrowers into complicated high-interest loans. There will be penalties for lenders and mortgage brokers who do not comply with these new standards. If a bad credit score negatively impacts someone in a hiring decision or a financial transaction, the consumer will have free access to their score.

This bill could be better. Breaking up the big banks would be the most effective tool to bring reform to Wall Street. This financial reform bill will usher in a new era for both financial institutions and consumers. Banks will have to learn to operate under increased scrutiny and face immediate consequences when they don't play by the rules. I support the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to support taking a first step in repairing our broken election system. The cornerstone of our democracy is that voters--not corporations and special interests--should decide elections. Congress must act to reserve the Supreme Court's mistaken decision in Citizens United and prevent corporations from completely taking over our elections.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned important campaign finance reform laws that limited the ability of corporations to fund and influence federal elections. By overturning these restrictions, the Supreme Court has freed corporations to secretly spend millions of dollars on political campaigns and advertisements without any public disclosure of those expenditures. The American people have a right to know who is paying for all the expensive advertising during campaigns. The DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 5175) would remedy this situation.

This bill requires corporations, unions, and special interest groups to disclose both the identity of their organization and those of their top donors when they engage in electioneering. Campaign contributions from corporations with government contracts and those made by foreign nationals or foreign-controlled domestic corporations would be prohibited. Individuals spending more than $10,000 on electioneering communications are required to file an electronic report with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) that will be publicly available.

I oppose the inclusion of a donor disclosure exemption that primarily benefits the National Rifle Association. The NRA still has the ability to kill a bill in Congress. The overall impact of the bill is still positive and an improvement on the status quo.

We must go further on campaign finance reform and rid our politics of corporate money. I am a cosponsor of the Fair Elections Now Act (H.R. 1826), which would provide public financing for federal campaigns. Candidates who raise a specified number of small donations would be eligible for matching funds. This would return fundraising to its proper place--from community support rather than special interests.

I will keep working for public financing. The DISCLOSE Act is a first step in the right direction. Special interests representing oil companies, Wall Street, and health insurance companies should not be able to buy elections. I will vote for the DISCLOSE Act and urge all of my colleagues to support stronger campaign finance laws.

I object.

Madam Speaker, my colleague Henry Waxman and I join together to mark an important occasion for California's and the nation's health care policy community. After leading the public policy and government relations team at Kaiser Permanente for the past 20 years, Steve Zatkin has announced that he will retire at the end of this month. He reached this conclusion after having seen a long-awaited event--the enactment of comprehensive health care reform--finally come to pass.

Following his graduation from the University of California at Berkeley in 1969, Steve began his career in health policy, like many other national experts, as a staff person in the California legislature. After starting out as an Intern and Analyst in the California Assembly, Steve served throughout the middle and late 1970s as Senior Consultant to the Assembly Health Subcommittee on Health Personnel, the Joint Committee on Health Sciences Education and the Joint Committee on the Siting of Teaching Hospitals. During his senior staff tenure in Sacramento, he developed major legislation and budget policy on health care workforce and training issues, an area of abiding and continuing interest for him.

While working in the legislature, Steve earned his degree at the McGeorge School of Law and was admitted to the California Bar. In 1978, he joined Kaiser Permanente as a staff counsel focusing on government relations. In addition to leading Kaiser Permanente's government relations function since 1990, he has chaired its Health Policy Committee since its inception in 1996. Since 2004, he has also served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.

Steve has long been recognized as a leader in the health plan and integrated care delivery sector. He served on the Boards of Directors of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, the California Association of Health Plans and the American Association of Health Plans. In the late 1990s, Steve served on the California Governor's Managed Care Improvement Task Force. He has also served as a member of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Health Care Insurance Access Advisory Committee.

In his role as a health plan leader, Steve has ably represented Kaiser Permanente as it has grown to serve over 8.6 million people, including over 6 million individuals in our home

state of California. Throughout his time as a senior leader at Kaiser Permanente, Steve has been a strong and consistent public voice within the industry for comprehensive health reform. An article he co-authored in the journal Health Affairs in 2006 with Kaiser Permanente leaders George Halvorson and Dr. Jay Crosson served as a model for the exciting, if ultimately unsuccessful effort to enact health reform in California during the legislative session in 2008. The efforts in California demonstrated the potential to bring together health care providers, health plans, businesses, labor unions and consumers in support of comprehensive health reform legislation that could improve both the functioning of health markets and the quality of care, and at the same time help subsidize coverage for those who cannot afford it. The progress made in California, along with the success of reform in Massachusetts and strong efforts in other states, no doubt contributed important momentum necessary to achieve health care reform in this Congress.

As the critical effort to implement national health reform moves forward, we will need industry leaders like Steve to help their organizations and policymakers focus on the tasks at hand--to continuously improve quality and to successfully extend affordable coverage to the millions who currently don't have access to it.

Madam Speaker, we would like to offer the heartfelt thanks of the health policy community for Steve Zatkin's key leadership over many years, and our warmest congratulations on his well-deserved retirement.