Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I rise today to show my support for H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights Act of 2009.

For months, we've worked to get banks lending money again and now, it is essential that we level the playing field between cardholders and card issuers.

Americans are struggling in the midst of our economic downturn and they deserve tough new protections against excessive credit card fees, sky-high interest rates, and unfair, incomprehensible agreements that credit card companies revise at will.

By enforcing new transparency and accountability in this industry, our constituents will have a renewed faith in the credit card industry, which I believe is an essential step towards our economic recovery and faith in our system.

I am pleased to be an original co-sponsor of this bill because it is imperative to protect consumers against arbitrary interest rate increases, early pre-payment penalties, due date gimmicks and excessive fees.

We have focused so much time on helping banks, and this bill will help all Americans.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Bernard Olive, a respected and noble citizen of the city of Baytown.

Mr. Olive has been devoted to serving his community and through his devotion has been nominated for The Baytown Sun's Citizen of the Year award. Serving as the Fire Marshall for the city since 1992 as well as the Emergency Management Coordinator from 1999 to 2007 he has displayed a true commitment in aiding his fellow neighbors in times of need.

Along with his service Mr. Olive has shown an enthusiasm in volunteering throughout his community. Speaking to different organizations concerning hurricane preparedness, fire prevention, and other various topics he has become a source of knowledge that others seek for advice. Mr. Olive is a member of Cedar Bayou Masonic Lodge 321, a member of the 6th Cavalry Association of Living History, and is a board member on the Hill of Rest Cemetery, as well as the Baytown Heritage Society.

For his invaluable service to the City of Baytown community I extend my deepest gratitude, and honor Mr. Bernard Olive.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 204, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate one of the most important events in Texas history, frankly, the history of the United States, San Jacinto Day.

Today, in 1836, roughly 900 Texan and Tejano volunteers overpowered a larger, professional Mexican army of conscript soldiers after defeats at Goliad and the Alamo. These outnumbered volunteers succeeded because they were fighting against tyranny and they were fighting for their families.

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

The Texas Revolution proved the bonds of freedom are stronger than ethnicity, as many Tejanos sacrificed their lives for Texas' freedom at the Battles of Gonzalez, Bexar, Goliad, the Alamo, and San Jacinto. The war was not between Anglos and Hispanics; it was a struggle between all Texans and military dictatorship in Mexico City.

Texans and Tejanos knew then what we know now--freedom requires sacrifice. And our young men and women going to or coming back from fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq are very aware of this.

Texans are renowned around the world for responding to the call of duty. We hold our heroes willing to sacrifice their lives for the betterment of their fellow man in the highest regard. I am proud to represent the site of the Battle of San Jacinto commemorated by the San Jacinto Monument.

Thanks to the San Jacinto Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Their hard work allowed for the preservation of the San Jacinto Battleground by petitioning the Texas Legislature to purchase the acreage and by donating their treasury to complete the sale in 1900. This San Jacinto Chapter of Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Texas Veterans Association did tremendous work to ensure that the legacy lives on, and the importance of the park has only expanded since then. The park not only has the San Jacinto Monument to recognize the brave men and women, but it also includes the Battleship Texas, which is a symbol of sacrifices in World War I and World War II.

With the understanding of where they came from, Texans and Americans will continue to respond to the calls of service, thereby continuing their legacy of respect and admiration throughout the world.

God bless Texas and the United States.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize George R. Barbosa, Jr. for his determination to strive for the best by winning 4th place in the State Wrestling Tournament on behalf of Klein High School.

Mr. Barbosa has shown through his hard work that anything is possible if one has the passion and determination to do so. Winning 4th place in the State Wrestling Tournament on Klein High School's behalf has made him the possessor of the best finish ever by a Klein High School male wrestler. Mr. Barbosa will continue his pursuit for greatness as he has now qualified for the National High School Wrestling Tournament.

I extend my highest regard for Mr. George R. Barbosa, Jr., a student who has chosen to become a role model for not only his sport, but also for his school. On behalf of Klein High School and the City of Houston I send my congratulations.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 167, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the Chair of our Health Subcommittee, for yielding to me.

I rise in support of H.R. 577, the Vision Care for Kids Act. The Vision Care For Kids Act creates a much needed grant program to provide follow-up vision care for children with vision disorders who do not have access to these services.

States have taken steps to identify children for potential vision disorders through mandatory vision screenings. However, most States do not mandate follow-up eye exams or treatment for children who fail these vision screenings.

Of the 36 States that require vision screenings, 26 of them do not require children who failed the screening to receive a follow-up exam. This lack of vision care jeopardizes a child's development and can, unfortunately, lead to lifelong vision impairment.

The Vision Care for Kids Act seeks to remedy this problem by authorizing a new grant program to complement State efforts to provide comprehensive eye exams for children who have been identified, through vision screenings or other eye exams, as having a potential vision disorder. The grant funding authorized under this bill can be used for specific treatments and services to correct the vision disorders identified through the eye exams.

Unless caught early and appropriately treated, vision disorders can lead to irreversible damage that can hinder a child's normal growth, development and opportunity to succeed. These children deserve a healthy start to their educational and social development. Yet the reality is that nearly two out of three children entering elementary school have never received preventive vision care.

Unfortunately, lack of health insurance presents a barrier to the delivery of appropriate vision care in this country. And for many children who are lucky to have health insurance for medical care, their policy doesn't cover vision coverage. This is precisely why this bill is necessary.

By targeting the program towards children who are school-aged, who do not have vision coverage for the services they require, and are at risk for vision disorders, the bill is designed to spend scarce health care dollars in the wisest manner.

A portion of the grant funds may also be used to increase education awareness of vision disorders, so that warning signs can be recognized and any problems can be detected in a timely fashion.

This bill has been crafted in a bipartisan manner with my colleague from Oklahoma (Mr. Sullivan), our leader on the Republican side. And I'd also like to thank Representative Eliot Engel, Representative Bill Pascrell and Representative Ros-Lehtinen for their continued support of this legislation.

I'd also like to thank the Congressional Vision Caucus for their support of the legislation. In 2003 I was joined by our colleagues, Congressman Price, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen and Congressman Tiberi, in establishing the Congressional Vision Caucus. As a founding member of the Caucus, I'm particularly pleased to see this bill on the floor today, and consider it a milestone for our young caucus.

Today the Vision Caucus is comprised of more than 100 Members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, House Members and Senators. While our initial goal was to raise the awareness of vision disorders in Congress, the Caucus has developed and endorsed key pieces of vision legislation, including this bill, the Vision Care for Kids Act before us today.

I'd also like to thank Chairman Waxman, Ranking Member Barton of the Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as the Chair and ranking member of the Health Subcommittee, Mr. Pallone and Mr. Deal, for their support.

With that, I encourage my colleagues to join me in passing this important bill to improve vision care for America's children.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to show my support for H.R. 1388, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act of 2009 or the GIVE Act.

President Obama called on Congress to create new opportunities for Americans to build a stronger country by helping students perform better in school, prepare Americans for green and innovative 21st century jobs, rebuild cities in times of disaster, and improve communities. I am proud to say that through the various programs contained in the GIVE Act--whether new or old but reinvigorated--this bill meets President Obama's call.

Most importantly, I am pleased that this bill encourages our younger generations to engage in volunteerism while allowing them the opportunity to gain real-world experience working in our communities and addressing issues that are sometimes hard to face. During these trying times and with so many individuals losing their jobs, it is important to equip our youth with this type of experience.

I support the programs in the GIVE Act because its goals seek to better not only our future, but the future of generations to come. I urge my colleagues support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to state how I would have voted on March 6, 2009. With the expectation the Senate would pass the omnibus appropriations bill, and it would not be necessary to pass a continuing resolution on Friday, I returned home to Houston on Thursday night to attend meetings in our district.

On Rollcall vote No. 107, to approve the journal, I would have voted ``Yea.''

On Rollcall vote No. 108, on the motion to recommit on H.J. Res. 38, I would have voted ``Aye.''

On Rollcall vote No. 109, on the final passage of H.J. Res. 38, I would have voted ``Aye.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 99, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 104, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark two important occasions.

One hundred seventy-three years ago yesterday, March, 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. We celebrate this declaration of freedom from tyranny knowing that during the same time in 1836 the Alamo was under attack by the Army of Mexico's dictator, Santa Anna, and would fall after 13 days of resistance. As Texans and Americans, we honor freedom and those who protect it.

I also want to celebrate the birth of a new Texan, our fourth grandchild, Tristan Michael Green, born February 11, 2009 to our son and our daughter-in-law, Chris and Brandy Green. Tristan was born at 10:37 a.m. at 18\3/4\ inches and weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces. He is healthy and eating constantly.

We welcome another Texan to join his big brother, Dylan. God bless Texas and the United States of America.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend Mrs. Wanda Ellis Mitchell on a lifetime of work and dedication to the Baytown community and the people of Texas.

Mrs. Mitchell spent the past 14 years of her life serving the city of Baytown as the director of the Baytown Historical Museum. Under Mrs. Mitchell's leadership the Baytown Historical Museum has added many exciting collections given by volunteer donors, including from one of her former junior high students, the grandson of the great Ashbel Smith of Texas. Even though he had been asked by the University of Texas at Austin to acquire his grandfather's historical belongings, he declined and chose to give those historical belongings of his grandfather's to Mrs. Mitchell to preserve and display them in the Baytown Historical Museum.

Mrs. Mitchell has lived in Baytown, TX, since the age of 1. She served the community in many different ways; among others, she served the community as a teacher and director of Baytown Historical Museum. The City of Baytown greatly appreciates her service and dedication to the community. Her absence in the community will be greatly missed, and I know the community wishes her all the best when she moves with her husband Seth to Corpus Christi to live close to her daughter.

It is with great pleasure that I recognize Mrs. Wanda Ellis Mitchell for her service to the Baytown Historical Museum and the city of Baytown.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

When we return home for our district work period, we do not have to look far to see the impact this recession has had--workers are being laid off, consumer confidence is down, and people are spending less because they have less to spend. Despite my opposition, we voted last year to give $750 billion to Wall Street to try to slow this recession; that did not work. I supported the House version of the American Recovery and Investment Act, and I am supporting the Conference Report because it is time we invest in Main Street, not just Wall Street.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers, along with the Departments of Labor and Commerce have estimated this bill will create nearly 270,000 jobs in my home state of Texas--more than in any other state besides California--and 7,400 of those jobs will be in our 29th Congressional District.

Unlike the $750 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, this isn't just a bill for white collar workers--the H.R. 1 is a bill for teachers, construction workers, medical professionals, electrical workers and engineers, police and firefighters, as well as those who may not be working because of the dire state of our economy. This bill will create and save jobs by reinvesting in roads, highways, public transportation, schools, education, the electrical grid, health technology and services, communications infrastructure, and numerous other areas of our economy. For the last eight years, too many of these areas have been neglected. Today, we have the opportunity to invest in these areas to stimulate the economy and create jobs to get our economy started back in the right direction.

The bedrock of America's competitiveness is a well-educated and skilled workforce and we must prepare our students for our globalized economy. This bill takes key steps towards ensuring that we do just that. Starting with our youngest generation, H.R. 1 provides $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start to allow an additional 124,000 children to participate in these programs.

Harris County, where our district lies, serves a combined total of 6,649 Head Start children per year through four direct Head Start grantees. In fact, Houston in 2003 served the lowest percentage of eligible children compared to other cities in Texas.

Harris County is the third most populous county in the nation and in review of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Biennial Reports to Congress on Head Start, Los Angeles County served 29,703 eligible children, Cook County served 20,406 children, and the New York boroughs served 24,260. Funding Head Start grantees is based on the number of children under the age of 5 years whose family income is below the federal poverty line.

According to U.S. Census figures for 2005, not only is the poverty rate for Harris County's population under age 5 higher than the national average in 2005 of 21 percent, but Harris County represented the highest percentage of children below the poverty line for all above listed counties. The poverty rates for 2005 are: Los Angeles County 23.8 percent, Cook County 22.5 percent, NYC boroughs 27.3 percent and Harris County 28.7 percent. I look forward to working with the Department of Health and Human Services to address this disparity in funding now that new monies will be available to serve more eligible children.

Additionally, this bill will provide much-needed investments in our elementary and secondary schools including $13 billion for Title I grants to help disadvantaged kids reach high academic standards and $39.5 billion to local school districts that can be used for preventing teacher cutbacks and layoffs and make key investments in things like modernizing our schools.

Finally, this bill will invest in preparing our younger generations for our globalized economy by providing $15.6 billion to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500. By doing this, we will help seven million students pursue postsecondary education and take the steps they need to get the certification or degree necessary to pursue and keep a job in these difficult times. Additionally, H.R. 1 provides students with a new ``American Opportunity'' tax credit of up to $2,500 of the cost of tuition

and related expenses paid during the taxable year. Combined with the increase in the Pell Grant, this tax credit will give our lower and middle income students additional peace of mind in taking on the financial costs of pursuing a college degree or certificate.

Another way to build a 21st century economy is to engage contractors across the nation to create jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges and building transit and rail lines. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will do this by providing funds to modernize our roads and bridges and invest in transit and rail projects to reduce traffic congestion and gas consumption. I strongly supported the inclusion of these funds as this investment would create or sustain more than 2.4 million jobs and $439 billion of economic activity.

I am pleased to see that H.R. 1 provides for $1.5 billion in supplemental discretionary grants that will be awarded to state or local governments or transit agencies on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the country, metropolitan area, or region. This bill reads that this money includes in investing in projects already participating in New Starts or those ready for entry into revenue service. While I would like to have seen a lot more money dedicated to these type projects, I am glad that transit agencies will be able to compete for entry into revenue service.

We have two critical transit projects in the greater Houston area, the North and Southeast light rail corridors. Both projects are near completion of the New Starts process in the Federal Transit Administration. While the final details on the projects are being addressed to prepare the projects for entry into Final Design and for Full Funding Grant Agreements, the projects are ready to begin construction in less than 90 days, have environmental clearances, and have received favorable cost effectiveness ratings. By investing in these two projects, work can begin quickly, creating thousands of jobs in a region that suffers not only from the current economic conditions but also from the lasting effects of Hurricane Ike. I look forward to working with the Department of Transportation to see that these two projects receive the attention they deserve.

I am also pleased H.R. 1 includes valuable health related provisions including COBRA subsidies, health IT funding, an FMAP increase, temporary DSH allotments, a temporary extension of transitional Medical Assistance, and funding for community health centers.

However, the final version of the bill does not include the temporary option for states to provide Medicaid coverage to unemployed or uninsured individuals. Instead, H.R. 1 relies on COBRA subsidies to provide health insurance coverage to the unemployed. The House passed version of H.R. 1 gave states the option to provide Medicaid coverage to the unemployed or uninsured and this provision should be in the final version of the bill.

In our district, most individuals work low wage jobs that often do not provide health insurance and therefore they are not eligible for COBRA coverage. This leaves a large portion of individuals without health insurance or access to Medicaid. More and more lower wage individuals, who never had health insurance, are losing their jobs. They are delaying their health care because they cannot afford to go to the doctor and often end up in the emergency room with more costly medical problems because they delay medical care. It makes sense to give states the option to extend Medicaid coverage to these individuals because it saves money in the long run and provides these individuals with health care coverage.

The legislation also makes critical improvements to the smart grid provisions established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 by eliminating the cap on the allowable number of smart grid demonstration projects and increasing the grant funding available for these efforts. Houston is a leader in moving toward smart grid solutions. Center Point Energy, a leading energy delivery company in Texas, will invest over $600 million in automatic metering systems, or AMS, over the next five years to support smart grid infrastructure. AMS technology is the first step in moving towards an automatic grid which will allow consumers to manage and monitor the electric use in real- time, reduce energy consumption, and improve grid reliability.

I am also pleased with the changes to the Weatherization Assistance Program which will help low-income families make their homes more energy efficient. This will decrease the amount of fossil fuels needed to heat and cool homes, reduce home energy bills and create jobs in the home weatherization industry: a win-win for everyone.

It creates a temporary $6 billion Department of Energy loan guarantee program for renewable energy and electric transmission projects, up to $500 million of which can be used for the development of leading edge biofuels, including biodiesel.

I applaud the inclusion of $4.6 billion in funding for the Army Corps of Engineers, although the Corps needs much more funding to address its backlog of critical projects. While the funding is not distributed to specific projects, it is my hope the Corps will fund worthy projects by the Port of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control District. I also support the $1.2 billion for EPA's nationwide environmental cleanup programs, including Superfund, which I hope can be utilized to clean up the San Jacinto River Waste Pits.

Mr. Speaker, our economy is crumbling, workers are being laid off, people are losing their health insurance, and families are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. This legislation will start us back on the right track by looking out for those who have been most affected, and by broadly investing is multiple sectors of our economy. We cannot stand by and do nothing, and for those reasons, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor John Dingell as the longest serving member of the House of Representatives and to offer my support for this resolution. He has been a mentor to many members of Congress, including me.

I have had the privilege of serving and working with Congressman Dingell on the Energy and Commerce Committee since joining that Committee in 1996. Under his leadership, we have worked to expand and improve healthcare coverage, develop sound energy policy, enhance consumer protection, and address numerous other issues under the Committee's jurisdiction.

I cannot say enough about his leadership to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all Americans. We worked together on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP reauthorization, which the President signed into law last week, and legislation to expand federally qualified health centers that significantly improves healthcare access for individuals in underserved areas like our district.

Over his career, John Dingell has had a hand in pieces of legislation from Medicare passing in 1965, to the Clean Air Act, to the Endangered Species Act, the Do Not Call list, and numerous other laws. He also played an unprecedented and vigorous roll in oversight while Chairman of the Committee to ensure government programs are working for the people, and he continues to do so today.

It has truly been an honor to serve with John Dingell and work closely with him on the Energy and Commerce Committee. I congratulate him becoming the longest serving member in the history of the House of Representatives, and look forward to continuing to work with him on the many issues he has championed as long as I have known him.