Floor Statements

I'm proud to follow my colleague from North Carolina. We share his support and his prayers for our men and women serving this country. That's why it's so important tonight to be here to honor the late Member of Congress, Charlie Wilson, from east Texas.

I first met Charlie Wilson in 1972, as a young State representative. He had just been elected to Congress. It was a fundraiser for him at the Intercontinental Airport, The Marriott, in Houston. I was 25-years- old and went out there, and the State senator who was just elected to Congress, and heard Charlie tell the folks stories. And this is 1972-- long before Afghanistan, long before Charlie Wilson became known as ``good-time Charlie.'' In fact, in Texas, as a State senator he's known as ``Timber Charlie'' because he represented the timber trees of east Texas. But a great Member. He was elected in 1972, like I said, to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Second District. He was elected 11 times. He did not run for reelection in 1996. In fact, he resigned in October of 1996.

Charles Nesbitt Wilson was born in Trinity, Texas, where his father was an accountant for a lumber company, on June 1, 1933, in the depths of the Depression. He attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis and graduated in 1956. He served 4 years in the Navy, from 1956 to 1960, and came back to Texas, where he was elected to the State house and the State senate.

Charlie Wilson died on February 10, 2010, at Lufkin Memorial Hospital in Lufkin, Texas, where he had been taken after collapsing earlier in the day and suffered from a cardiopulmonary arrest. He was pronounced dead at 12:16 p.m. Central Time. Congressman Wilson received a graveside service with full military honors at the Arlington National Cemetery on February 23, 2010.

Now for some of the stories about Charlie Wilson as a friend. I'm glad my colleague from Texas, Joe Barton, is here, and Congressman Chet Edwards and Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee, because Charlie had some stories that we couldn't tell on the floor of the House. But I'm going to tell you some of the good ones.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara, the former Barbara Alberstadt, and his sister, Sharon Allison. Charlie told me many times, like he told other Members, that he credited his wife Barbara with saving his life because it got him off a lot of things that he shouldn't have been on to begin with. In having seen him many times after he left Congress, Charlie was still Charlie.

Charlie entered politics as a teenager. He began by running a campaign against his next-door neighbor, a city council member in Trinity, Texas. When Charlie was 13, his dog entered that neighbor's yard--a city council member--and he retaliated by mixing glass in the dog's food and causing fatal internal bleeding. Being a farmer's son, Charlie was able to get a driver's permit at age 13. And so he was going to pay that council member back. So he drove 96 people to the polls on the next election at age 13--it was mainly black citizens, African American citizens from the poor side of town--to make sure they knew what happened to his dog. That incumbent lost by 16 votes. So Charlie Wilson entered politics at 13 years of age by defeating a city council member in his neighborhood.

Charlie had so many things I could tell you; wrapping his arm around us and giving us that counsel. But I think he's best known outside of Texas for being the leader in Congress during the 1980s and known for supporting Operation Cyclone, the largest-ever Central Intelligence Agency covert operation, under President Reagan's administration, by supplying military equipment, including antiaircraft weapons such as Stinger antiaircraft missiles and paramilitary officers from their Special Activities Division to the Afghan Mujahedeen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. From a few million dollars in the 1980s, his support for the resistance grew to $750 million a year by the end of the decade.

I remember Charlie Wilson telling us in 1996, when he was leaving, and earlier, that we made a mistake by abandoning Afghanistan. And literally after 9/11, he came and talked to the delegation and said we made a mistake, and we're paying the price for it right now because we left Afghanistan in turmoil and ended up with the Taliban. We don't need to make that mistake again. That's why tonight I'm proud to honor Charlie Wilson in his service to our country.

Madam Speaker, Tuesday, March 2, 2010, marked Texas Independence Day: 174 years ago, the Texas Declaration of Independence was ratified by the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on- the-Brazos.

This is an important day for Texas identity and patriotic Texans observe this occasion with great pride. If it were not for the Texas Primaries, I would have been on the floor, paying tribute to Texas Independence Day Tuesday.

In 1824, a military dictatorship took over in Mexico abolishing the Mexican constitution. The new military dictatorship refused to provide trial by jury, freedom of religion, public education for their citizens, and allowed the confiscation of firearms, this last one being the most intolerable, particularly among Texans.

The Texas Declaration of Independence states that Texas' government had been ``forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central military despotism.''

It stated that because of the injustice of Santa Anna's tyrannical government, Texans were severing their connection with the Mexican nation and declaring themselves ``a free, sovereign, and independent republic . . . fully invested with all the rights and attributes'' that belong to independent nations; and a declaration that they ``fearlessly and confidently'' committed their decision to ``the Supreme Arbiter of the destinies of nations.''

The Texas Declaration of Independence was fully justified because this military dictatorship had ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people of Texas.

Failure to provide these basic rights violated the sacred contract between a government and the people, and Texans did what we still do today--stand up for our rights by declaring our independence to the world.

In response, the Mexican army marched to Texas waging war on the land and the people, enforcing the decrees of a military dictatorship through brute force and without any democratic legitimacy.

As delegates signed the Texas Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, General Santa Anna's army besieged independence forces at the Alamo in San Antonio.

Four days after the signing, the Alamo fell with her commander Lt. Colonel William Barrett Travis, Tennessee Congressman David Crockett, and approximately 200 other Texan defenders.

All these men were killed in action, a heroic sacrifice for Texan freedom. If this tragedy were not enough, later Santa Anna's army massacred over 300 unarmed Texans at Goliad on March 27.

In a dramatic turnaround, Texans achieved their independence several weeks later on April 21, 1836. Roughly 900 members of the Texan army overpowered a much larger Mexican army in a surprise attack at the Battle of San Jacinto.

That battle is memorialized along the San Jacinto River with the San Jacinto Monument in Texas in our district. The monument is larger than the Washington Monument here in DC.

Today we give thanks to the many Texans that sacrificed for the freedom we now enjoy. God bless Texas and God bless America.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer an explanation of the three votes I missed yesterday. March 2, 2010 marked not only Texas Independence Day, but also the 2010 Texas primary, and I

had previously committed to events in the district that forced me to miss my first three votes of the second session last night. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on each of the following rollcall votes:

Rollcall vote No. 75, on H. Res. 1072, Recognizing Louisiana State University for 150 years of service and excellence in higher education; rollcall vote No. 76, on H.R. 3820, the Natural Hazards Risk Reduction Act of 2009; and rollcall vote No. 77, on H. Res. 1097, Supporting the goals and ideals of National Engineers Week.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as an original cosponsor and strong supporter of H.R. 4626 the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act.

Since 1940s, the McCarran-Ferguson Act has exempted the insurance industry from all federal antitrust laws giving health insurers freedom to raise premium prices, deny coverage for preexisting conditions, and change their reimbursement rates.

Right now millions of Americans are at the mercy of the health insurance companies with premium increases going up in the double digit percentage points across the country. These premium increases are not to enhance insurance plans, but to add to the extremely large profit margins of insurance companies.

Seemingly, there is no end in sight to this business practice because there is little competition in the health insurance market that benefits the consumer. If this continues health insurance premiums will continue to rise as long as we allow the insurance companies to control markets.

We know that competition in the marketplace leads to lower prices and more options that benefit the consumer. There is no reason why the health insurance industry, with their outrageous spending on lavish retreats and executive salaries at the expense of the consumer, should not be forced to compete for business on a level playing field and control their costs and spending on non-health care related items.

Right now, health insurance costs are out of control and if individuals cannot afford health insurance they end up in emergency rooms forcing the health care system and the taxpayer to pay for their expenses. Yet, the insurance companies continue to see increased profits while making it nearly impossible for individuals to gain access to or afford a policy.

H.R. 4626 is one way we can fix the monopolies the health insurance industry has over the consumer and will make insurance coverage more affordable for individuals and small businesses.

This is a step in the right direction, but we desperately need health reform in this country. All individuals should have access to quality and affordable health insurance and we will not accomplish that without reforms throughout our health care system.

I strongly support H.R. 4626 because insurance anti-trust reform is one piece of the pie as we move forward.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Lee College in Baytown, Texas for their 75 years of dedication to our community and commitment to excellence in education.

Since 1934, Lee College has established a legacy of leadership and learning in our community by providing learning opportunities and experiences that have allowed students to excel in an ever changing environment. As a result, Lee College is one of the fastest growing community colleges in the country and has a nationally recognized Honors Program. It has furthered its accomplishments by being the first community college in the country to receive the Kresge Foundation Grant, reflecting the foundation's support for Lee College's critical role in providing access to higher education for minority and low- income students.

Americans turn to community colleges to provide the education that leads to greater

economic opportunity and improved quality of life. Lee College has never let our constituents down in this respect. Graduates of Lee College have become leaders in our community, in business, healthcare, education and many walks of life. I am proud to support Lee College in its continued efforts to develop first-rate affordable education in our area and know that they will continue to help build our workforce and community.

I congratulate the administration, faculty, staff, and students at Lee College for all of their hard work and dedication to academic excellence.

Mr. Speaker, many times we come up here and we hear my Republican colleagues say, ``Where are the jobs?'' Well, I am going to tell you where the jobs are at.

In Houston, Texas, yesterday, we did an event with the Port of Houston and the industries along that channel--whether they be refineries or chemical plants or stevedoring companies or shippers. The jobs that we have through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are at the Port of Houston to the point of $98 million that came through that act to create and to expand the jobs at the Port of Houston, to make sure we can bring in those ships, make sure we can get that dredging done so they can be competitive not only with our own country's ports but also worldwide.

The jobs are in our district that were awarded money to benefit Early Head Start in Houston areas Head Start; the Department of Education; Early Head Start in the Galena Park School District received funds; expanding Head Start programs in our district, hiring more teachers, but also expanding it so parents can have a child go to Head Start, and they can go to work and earn some money--including new centers, one in Channelview, Texas, we hope to open. Expanded federally qualified health clinics in our district are serving more people because of the Recovery Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this resolution. Not because it is good practice for us to continue increasing the national debt limit, but because for the first time since it expired under the previous administration, we are making PAYGO a statutory requirement.

In addition to other efforts by the Obama administration and Congress, PAYGO requirements will help us get our financial house back in order from the mess that was handed to us by the previous administration.

After two wars, and tax cuts that were not paid for, the $5.6 trillion dollar surplus we experienced in 2000 turned into a $1.3 trillion deficit.

In the 1990s, the Clinton administration turned the deficits accumulated in the two previous presidencies into record surpluses. One of the key tools in this transformation was the PAYGO rule, which required Congress to find savings for the dollars it spent.

Unfortunately, after President Clinton left office, the next administration and Congress regularly waived PAYGO rules and ultimately allow them to expire in 2002.

After waiving and allowing these rules to expire, we saw the surplus built by the Clinton administration vanish, and deficit spending resume--spending that will have to be repaid by our children and grandchildren.

A New York Times analysis attributes 90% of that deficit to the economic downturn, Bush administration policies, and the extension of those policies. According to that analysis, only 7% of the deficit is attributable to the Economic Recovery Act passed early last year, which economists largely agree was a necessary emergency response to this recession.

Madam Speaker, this is just good policy. For eight years, under the previous administration, we saw deficit spending spiral out of control. Now many of those responsible for that spending are criticizing the majority and the current administration for its spending policies, complaining that it is piling up debt for the next generation.

Today those individuals have a chance to vote for legislation that ensures any future programs are paid for, and reestablish the rules that led to control in government spending and budget surpluses in the 1990s.

I am an original cosponsor of the PAYGO legislation that passed the House last July, and I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill to set our nation back on a path to sustainable spending policies that will ensure we do not have to continue increasing the debt limit indefinitely.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 1009, which honors the seven Americans who died in the bombing that took place in Khost, Afghanistan on December 30, 2009, and the families of those patriots for their service and their sacrifice to our country.

These men and women were on the front lines of the battle against terrorism and worked tirelessly on a daily basis for the safety of the American and Afghanistan people. Their absence will be greatly felt throughout the intelligence community.

In 2008, I had the opportunity to visit Khost with the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army along with a Texas Reserve Unit based in Pasadena, Texas in our district. There, I saw these men and women working under harsh conditions, away from their loved ones, and in the face of great risks. Our entire nation owes a great debt to all the men and women working to protect our country and stabilize Afghanistan.

Again, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of those killed in the bombings and also offer my support and hope for a full recovery to the other six Americans who were wounded in this tragic bombing.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2194, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009.

Since the U.S. first placed sanctions on commercial relations with Iran in 1996, the Iranian government has not only failed to comply with its international obligations, but has further intensified its efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Most recently, Iran has rejected demands from the International Atomic Energy Agency to halt construction of a previously undisclosed uranium enrichment facility near Qom. It has also announced plans to build ten additional enrichment facilities.

While I fully support the President's efforts to engage the Iranian government diplomatically, Congress must show Iran that failure to reach an agreement will not be without consequence. H.R. 2194 facilitates this goal by weakening Iran's energy sector, which the Iranian government relies on for 80 percent of its revenue. This legislation specifically targets Iran's petroleum refining industry due to its heavy reliance on foreign assistance and trade. The choice for Iran will be either to meet the demands of the international community or risk diplomatic and economic isolation.

The risk of nuclear weapons proliferation and its accompanied threat to regional stability in the Middle East lends increased urgency to passing this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 2194 and supply the President with the tools he needs for reaching a diplomatic solution with Iran.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to show my support for H.R. 4213, the Tax Extenders Package that includes several critical extensions important to Texas.

The package will extend through 2010 the $1 per gallon credit for producing biodiesel and the $1 per gallon credit for producing diesel from biomass, which is especially important to my district as it is home to the struggling biodiesel industry.

Texas is the leading producer of biodiesel in the nation. The industry supported up to 8,600 jobs in the State and over 50,000 jobs in the U.S. in the past year. It is both fiscally and environmentally responsible to extend these tax credits and to promote the development of biodiesel here at home.

The biodiesel excise tax credit enables biodiesel to remain price competitive with conventional diesel. Without the prompt extension of the tax credits before they expire on December 31, 2009, we risk reducing the domestic production of low carbon, renewable energy sources that help our nation to significantly reduce carbon emissions, as well as our dependence on foreign oil.

The biodiesel industry has already been forced to close several plants and is operating at about 20 percent capacity due in large part to the weak economy. A retroactive extension of the credit after December 31, 2009 could further exacerbate the industry's job losses, and place this important industry in a precarious position.

I appreciate the bipartisan support of the following Texas members who recently joined me in sending a letter to House Leadership supporting the biodiesel tax extension: Al Green, Chet Edwards, Silvestre Reyes, Solomon Ortiz, Ruben Hinojosa, Henry Cuellar, Ciro Rodriguez, Charlie Gonzalez, and Joe Barton. This support exemplifies the importance of protecting the biodiesel industry for the nation and for Texans.

It is imperative that we move forward expeditiously to extend the biodiesel and renewable diesel excise tax credits to protect American jobs and to help our nation move towards a clean energy future.

I would like to thank the vice Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution discusses type 1 diabetes, which is typically the early onset of juvenile diabetes in some of us, but it does sometimes affect older children. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, genetically determined, and debilitating disease caused by an autoimmune attack that destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, and it affects every organ system. As many as 3 million Americans suffer from type 1 diabetes, with more than 15,000 children being diagnosed with the disease annually.

Diabetes is one of the most costly chronic diseases, costing the United States economy more than $174 billion annually in direct and indirect health care costs. On average, individuals with diabetes pay $13,000 in annual health care costs compared to $2,600 for individuals without diabetes.

Insulin treats but does not cure this potentially deadly disease nor does it prevent the complications of diabetes, which include blindness, heart attacks, kidney failure, strokes, nerve damage, and amputations. Diabetes is also the leading cause of legal blindness in working-age adults, and nearly all of type 1 diabetes patients exhibit some degree of eye disease after living with diabetes for 15 to 20 years.

A special diabetes program was created that provides significant support to the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network, which is a nationwide network involving 163 clinical sites in 43 States, in order to address the number of individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and to find a cure.

The National Institutes of Health has established six goal areas to guide type 1 diabetes research, which are focused on the reduction, prevention, and cure of type 1 diabetes and its complications. The National Institutes of Health devoted $433 million in fiscal year 2009 for type 1 diabetes research. Congress currently provides $150 million annually, through fiscal year 2011, for the Special Statutory Funding Program for type 1 diabetes research. Promising advances have been made in determining root causes of the disease, and finding a cure will depend on funded research initiatives and on training the next generation of diabetes researchers.

Congress can do more to advance the research on type 1 diabetes. This resolution calls for the doubling of annual NIH funding to meet leading researchers' estimates of funding needed to meet NIH's six goals related to type 1 diabetes.

I am pleased to sponsor this resolution with the 101 other Members who are calling for research funding to find a cure for type 1 diabetes. I want to thank all of my cosponsors, including both of my colleagues--the vice Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Congresswoman Capps; and also Congressman Terry from Nebraska, who is also, like I said, a cosponsor of the resolution.

Hopefully, our national health care plan will actually help those who have either type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes to make sure they can go see physicians when they need to.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support for H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009, introduced by my good friend Representative Harry Mitchell.

H.R. 3791 will reauthorize the FIRE Grants programs--comprised of the Assistance to Firefighter Grant, AFG, program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, SAFER, grant program--to ensure that our local firefighters have the tools and resources they need to keep us safe and secure.

Since 2001, the Fire Grants Programs have provided more than $5 billion in support to local fire departments across the Nation, $190 million of which has gone to support Texas fire departments. H.R. 3791 provides a 5-year reauthorization of $1 billion per year for the AFG and $1.194 billion for the SAFER programs.

The AFG program was created to address concerns that local budgets were unable to handle the mounting responsibilities allocated to the fire service by providing funds to local fire departments to purchase equipment, vehicles, and training. The SAFER program assists fire departments in hiring quality personnel and ensuring that volunteers meet the required safety standards. Funding through these programs has been a valuable tools in helping local fire departments provide emergency response services to their communities.

The changes made to the AFG and SAFER programs in H.R. 3791 will improve these programs by allowing funding to be used for certain volunteer emergency medical services organizations and for building inspector certifications.

I want to thank Representative Mitchell for his hard work in crafting this legislation which reflects bipartisan cooperation and is supported by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.

All fire departments, including those in our congressional district in Texas, strive to provide a superior level of emergency service that continually improves the quality of life, health and safety of our residents, and I am proud to support legislation that will ensure that they can achieve those goals.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009.

This important piece of legislation will repeal the 21 percent physician payment cut, which is scheduled to go into effect on January 1 and replace it with a 1.2 percent increase for next year.

It has been over a decade since the physician fee schedule was put in place to help control increases in Medicare payments to physicians. The Medicare program reimburses physicians who treat seniors using a complex formula that is based on a number of factors.

Unfortunately, payments for physician services matched the SGR and expenditure targets for only the first 5 years. Since then, the actual expenditures have exceeded the target by so much that the system is no longer realistic.

As we have learned in recent years the formula reduces payments to physicians when the economy goes down--a time when doctors are least able to absorb the extra costs. These payment reductions have caused many physicians to hold off on accepting new Medicare patients, withdraw from the program, or retire altogether.

In areas like mine that rely heavily on Medicare and Medicaid, we probably will not be in a situation where doctors stop taking Medicare. Rather, we will see access problems created by gap from physician retirements that is not filled by new crops of doctors willing to take Medicare patients. If we reach that point, Medicare will have failed in its mission to provide equality in access to health care for our senior citizens.

We passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act a couple of weeks ago, but we cannot successfully implement health care reform if we do not reimburse our physicians correctly. It is time for Congress to intervene and revamp the SGR formula and pass H.R. 3961.

Mr. Speaker, Members, recently this House passed by 220-215 the historic health care reform bill, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. This legislation will have profound impact on the uninsured children in our country. In 2008, an estimated 64.1 percent of all children in the Nation had private coverage, 28.3 percent had public coverage, and 9.9 percent were uninsured.

But in Texas, we have 1.5 million children uninsured, giving us the distinction of having the highest number of uninsured children in the country. This is largely due to the State's refusal to fund State matching funds for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. In 2008, 26.8 percent of the children in our district were uninsured, the third highest for uninsured children in the Nation.

H.R. 3962 provides sliding scale subsidies to families with incomes of up to 400 percent of the poverty line, which would not be dependent upon State budget decisions, as in the case of SCHIP. Funding for the affordability credits would not be capped and would rise automatically when needed.

We have an obligation to provide health benefits to our children and H.R. 3962 will ensure that all plans provide an essential benefits package that includes comprehensive benefits such as vision, hearing and dental care for children as well as well-baby and well-child care.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. This is a momentous day like that day in 1935 when Social Security was created and also like that day in 1965 when Medicare was passed.

We are in desperate need of health care reform. Health insurance premiums are growing three times as fast as wages; and, last year, more than half of Americans postponed medical care or skipped their medications because they couldn't afford them.

The 29th District in Texas, which I represent, has the highest number of uninsured individuals in the country as 40 percent of the residents are uninsured. If enacted, H.R. 3962 will provide coverage to 96 percent of all Americans and to 230,000 currently uninsured residents in our district. It will also improve the employer-based coverage for 217,000 residents in our district.

H.R. 3962 will give individuals the ability to access quality, affordable health insurance. They will no longer be denied coverage for preexisting conditions, and their coverage will not be capped or dropped when they are sick. The bill ensures no more co-pays for preventative care, no more yearly caps for what insurance companies will cover, and it provides premium subsidies for those who need it.

This is not government controlled medicine--individuals will be able to choose their own insurance plan and their physician.

This bill ensures individuals will be able to have access to primary and preventive care services so they will be able to see a doctor before they are sick, and be able to access quality medical services.

H.R. 3962 will rein in rising health costs for American families and small businesses--introducing competition that will drive premiums down, capping out-of-pocket spending.

The time for health reform has come and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 3962 not only for my constituents, but for all Americans.