Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, since congressional passage in 1994, Men's Health Week has brought much-needed attention to the health needs of American men.

Men's Health Week encourages employers, community service organizations, public health departments, and health providers to raise awareness of men's health needs and to support preventive health measures.

Annual checkups, especially for men over the age of 40, are perhaps the single most important factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

According to CDC, women are 100 percent more likely to get an annual physical exam than men. In addition to lower life expectancies than women, men are more likely to die of strokes, heart disease, cancer, and accidents. Yearly physicals have increased awareness of risks to men's health that will save lives and keep men healthy and active.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all men to take advantage of Men's Health Week and go and get a physical. Your health is worth it, and your family certainly will appreciate it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor four students from Webster Elementary School in Webster, Florida. These gifted and dedicated 6- and 7-year-olds were recently honored as the Southeast Division Elementary School Champions in the 2005 National Toshiba/NSTA Explora Vision Awards Contest.

Each year the National Toshiba/NSTA Explora Vision Awards Contest is held for K-12 students throughout the United States and Canada. This year, the contest received more than 4,000 entries. Webster Elementary's website and research project was selected as the top entry for the entire Southeast Region.

Webster's student team was Dylan Brannen, Erin Tuten, Micah Lanham and Matthew Garrepy. Their coach was Mrs. Lynn Thomas and the team mentor was Mr. Kevin Garrepy.

The national contest required the students to conceive an invention that was both innovative and creative, combining imagination with scientific principles. Once the team was selected as the Southeast Champion, they entered the semifinal round where their challenge was to design five real web pages and a prototype of their invention. They should be commended for their successes.

Each member of the team received a framed certificate and a VCR/DVD player for their winning project. A Toshiba representative presented the students with the certificate and player and gave Webster Elementary a new laptop to use to complete the project.

Mr. Speaker, these students should be applauded for their hard work and innovation. Dylan Brannen, Erin Tuten, Micah Lanham and Matthew Garrepy have shown the ingenuity and hard work that all schoolchildren should strive for.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's willingness to engage in a colloquy, and I thank him very much for yielding time to me.

I wish to express the concern of many of my constituents regarding potential threats to the integrity of the Small Business Administration's loan program.

Under current law, no funding for the Small Business Administration funds may be used to assist individuals who are in the United States illegally. Actually, to date, the best information we have is that SBA has never guaranteed a loan to an individual living illegally in the United States. However, SBA only guarantees the loans, while banks actually provide the funds to applicants. Thus, the burden of ensuring the legal status of loan applicants is actually placed on the financial institutions.

While banks have internal measures designed to specifically prevent fraud, the success of SBA's policy hinges on prompt notification, rather than upfront security.

Unfortunately, the post-9/11 world has highlighted the consequences of fraud. My constituents and those around the United States demand that Congress act aggressively to strengthen and protect the integrity of the SBA loan system rather than passively waiting for the worst.

Can the distinguished gentleman describe what steps have been taken to combat this sort of fraud and to protect America?

I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for his time and consideration and certainly look forward to working with the Chairman on this important matter in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Sheriffs Office in Citrus County, FL.

Local Sheriffs offices are the first responders to crimes and disasters and are a key element of support in our communities. It is important that we recognize the hard work and dedication of these men and women, and never take their service for granted.

These deputies make daily sacrifices and put themselves at risk keeping our communities safe. This office has shown professional excellence this past year and their work has truly made our county a safer place.

Events like the one today hosted by the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce provide the camaraderie and support these dedicated men and women deserve. This Appreciation Barbeque allows for the employees of the Sheriff's Department to come together after a very difficult and heart wrenching year. The generosity of the community as a whole has made this event possible and I thank them for it.

Unfortunately, I was unable to join them today at Liberty Park in Inverness, FL. I was unavoidably detained by Congressional votes here in Washington, DC, and could not return in time for the event. I look forward to joining them in the future when I am home in Citrus County.

The Mission of the Citrus County Sheriff's Office is to maintain peace and order by providing law enforcement services that are of the highest professional quality. I would argue they have far surpassed this mission. When tragedy strikes our community, I know we can rely on these truly dedicated public servants.

Mr. Speaker, I once again would like to express my true appreciation for everyone in the Sheriffs Office and all they do for our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to praise a hard-working woman, Mrs. Mary Ann Keckler, who is dedicated to supporting local veterans. Hernando County is fortunate to have Mrs. Keckler in our community.

Mrs. Keckler served in the United States Navy from 1959-1962. She currently heads Hernando County's Veteran Affairs Roundtable and is commander of the local Disabled American Veterans.

Mrs. Keckler has joined forces with Hillsborough County veterans advocates to raise money for Operation Haley House, the local version of the Fisher House. Donations to Operation Haley House will provide the families of injured American soldiers a place to stay when visiting loved ones undergoing long-term rehabilitation. Many area families are faced with the high costs of expensive room and board when visiting relatives at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa. Plans are currently under way to begin building what will be known as the Haley House to elevate this costly burden on military families.

Mary Ann's efforts to improve the lives of injured American soldiers and their families deserves to be recognized.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to represent Mary Ann Keckler, and to honor her for working with our local veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I come from Florida, and a lot of people think that only retirees and seniors live in Florida, but I want to put a face on a couple that was very successful with in vitro fertilization. They are 47 years old. They had a daughter born as a result of in vitro fertilization. The child was born with multiple heart problems and had to have three surgeries before she was 2 years old.

This couple believes that far more good can come from donating the remaining embryos for research. They have decided not to have any more children. And ultimately what we have not heard here is what the American people want. This is a couple that wants to be able to donate the embryos, which certainly they can do now, but they also want to have Federal research dollars go toward this.

This really is all about where taxpayer dollars go. And when you look at the huge book of pork that comes out every single year, when we go back home and say to our constituents, would you rather have some of this money going to, for example, some foreign countries that regularly turn their backs on us, or would you like to see some significant research done from embryonic stem cells that would be disposed of, the majority of our constituents are clearly going to say, use the money for significant research.

We have to remember that this is not an either/or. Certainly the umbilical cord research is a great science. We need to move forward with that as well as the embryonic stem cell research.

Remember, for this couple and her husband deciding to donate those embryos, they believe they will be saving other children's lives. They believe they will be helping an aunt who has early-stage Alzheimer's. They believe they will be able to help spinal cord injury victims. That is what this research holds the potential for. No, we do not have the cures yet; but unless we go forward, we never will. I fully support the Castle/DeGette bill, and hope other Members do, too.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. I stand with 200 of America's most respected research organizations in support of this bill.

I would like to especially thank Congressmen Castle and DeGette for their tireless efforts on behalf of the millions of people who may benefit from enhanced stem cell research.

I would also like to thank Speaker Hastert and Leader DeLay for the debate today and for giving the 200+ cosponsors of this legislation a vote on the House floor.

I rise today as a mother, as a concerned grandparent, and as someone who is worried that the untapped potential of stem cell research may be falling by the wayside.

In my congressional district on the gulf coast of Florida, I have had the pleasure of meeting Holly, a 47-year-old mother of two.

Like many Americans, Holly and her husband had trouble getting pregnant, and their first daughter was born through in vitro fertilization.

Her daughter was born with a congenital heart condition, and had three surgeries before her second birthday.

As with most in vitro fertilization procedures, Holly and her husband had several embryos

left over after the procedure. They chose to keep the remaining embryos frozen.

This couple was then blessed by a second miracle daughter who was conceived without in vitro fertilization The happy couple decided not to have any more children, and had to make a choice about what to do with their frozen embryos.

Holly and her husband are well aware of Operation Snowflake and the adoption options for their embryos.

But, like many other parents, they would rather donate their embryos for research to help prevent heart disease--like their daughter was born with--or cure cancer, Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's.

For Holly and her husband, they decided that donating their embryos for medical research would be their best chance to save other children's lives. Increasing stem cell research could find potential cures for many diseases that affect so many American families.

Put another way, the issue of embryos and their ability to be used for stem cell research is kind of like a flashlight. Until you put the batteries in, a flashlight will not produce light.

Likewise, only when an embryo is implanted in a uterus to grow, can life be sustained. Embryos sitting frozen in a clinic help no one. The embryo does not grow in the frozen state, so human life is not being created and nurtured.

In addition, when the couple stops paying the daily fees to store the embryos, unless they have the medical donation option, their remaining embryos will be disposed of as medical waste. That would be tragic.

Holly and her husband know this fact. They know that without the nurturing and love that a woman's body provides, these embryos will be wasted.

Science tells us that after as short a time as eight years, these frozen embryos will begin to deteriorate, and lose their viability for implantation.

Mr. Speaker, these embryos are too important to linger in a frozen test tube or to see discarded without helping mankind.

Additionally, I have yet to hear in this entire debate what opponents of H.R. 810 would do with those embryos that are not adopted, and eventually go to waste in a cryogenic freezer.

Would they want those embryos to be thrown out as medical waste, or instead help provide the basis for life-affirming scientific research?

Holly and her husband know that the great potential and promise of stem cell research will not move forward without their donated embryos and their support.

However, it is their respect for the culture of life that has brought them to this decision. They have weighed the choices available to them, and rather than donating the embryo for adoption, have chosen to let their embryos potentially save millions of lives.

Thousands of people around the country have made similar decisions to support life-affirming and life-enhancing research.

H.R. 810 will give hope where hope does not exist.

Passage of this bill today will let the research on stem cells continue under ethical guidelines, and will provide millions of Americans suffering from terminal diseases the hope that they have been denied.

All these organizations listed on this posterboard, such as the American Academy for Cancer Research and the American Medical Association, support H.R. 810. I urge my fellow Members of Congress to vote yes on the bill

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank our Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman, the gentleman from Indiana (Chairman Buyer), as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner), the Ranking Member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), and the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) for giving Congress the opportunity to vote on the Servicemembers' Health Insurance Protection Act.

Today, when a man or a woman makes a decision to serve their country through the Armed Forces, most have to give up their employer-sponsored health care. Although TRICARE insures these enlistees, in the eyes of their health care providers, they are technically without coverage until they return, and then they are subject to unfair premium increases as a ``new employee.'' America asks these young men and women to fight for our country, then we allow their insurance costs to increase when they return. How, many would ask, is this at all fair?

The bill that we have before us, H.R. 2046, specifies that when a person enlists in the military, they will return to the same low-cost, employer-sponsored health insurance that they had before their absence. This common-sense legislation enjoyed unanimous support from Committee on Veterans' Affairs members, is supported by the Department of Defense, Department of Labor, and veterans' groups around the country.

I look forward to voting in favor of H.R. 2046 and I encourage my colleagues to do the same. Certainly those members of the military, whether it is active or the Reserve, when we have so many people serving today in the war on terrorism, they deserve to have this kind of legislation passed so that they can come back home and again provide the kind of health care insurance that their family needs.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for agreeing to this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, water is one of the most precious resources Floridians possess. Representing several of the State's largest water reserves, protecting the quality and availability of our water has always been a top priority.

Unfortunately, the EPA is proposing this dumping rule that would damage the integrity of America's water. The proposed rule which they now have said that they are not going to implement was not a very well thought out one. The blended wastewater concept would then be discharged into our waterways. The consequences of this strategy could be very dire. Certainly in a State like Florida where we have more than our share of heavy rains during rainy season, and you can be darn sure we are going to have a lot of hurricanes again, it would be virtually playing Russian roulette every time that citizens would be drinking tap water.

I cannot in good conscience allow the rule to go forward and have that communicated to the EPA. I am very delighted that today a letter did come from them that they are not going forward with this. But keeping it in the legislation is very wise policy.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1817, the Homeland Security Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006. I applaud the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for his leadership and commitment to securing our Nation's borders. Congress has not been idle when it comes to our Nation's security, recently passing the REAL ID Act in the emergency wartime supplemental. I applaud all of these changes. They provide identification checks that will keep our vital infrastructure facilities like chemical and nuclear power plants safe from terrorists.

I know firsthand the value of security, as my hometown recently experienced the unfortunate confluence of illegal immigration, Social Security fraud, and potential terrorist threats. I live in Crystal River where there is a nuclear power plant, and it was found to have contracted with a businessman who, unbeknownst to them, had actually been using illegal immigrant day laborers who provided false or stolen Social Security numbers to obtain government-issued driver's licenses.

This issue brought home the vital importance of not only upgrading our identity verification processes but also of securing our borders. These people actually had been deported but sneaked back into the country and got a little too close to a critical infrastructure site for this Member of Congress to be able to tolerate.

We worked to strengthen our ID laws, but we also must work to strengthen our borders. Today our borders are overwhelmed. To anyone watching today, it is clear that America needs

border patrol agents. Just last week in the Committee on Government Reform, my colleagues and I heard testimony that the Department of Homeland Security does not have enough agents and that it desperately needs more. Last year's intelligence reform bill authorized 2,000 new agents. These new border patrol agents will deter illegals from entering the United States and will enhance response capabilities by almost 20 percent. However, funding was only proposed for 210 of these agents. This is unacceptable. 210 agents cannot adequately protect our borders.

Accordingly, I join my colleagues on the Immigration Reform Caucus to call for the full 2,000 new border patrol agents. I thank the gentleman from California again for placing this as a priority of securing our borders and authorizing the additional agents that America needs. Mr. Chairman, I strongly urge my colleagues to protect our borders and to vote in favor of the Homeland Security Authorization Act which does better protect nuclear power plants and chemical facilities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Sanford Walke of Hernando Beach, Florida. He was the chief engineer in the army during World War II, and Mr. Walke recently was a person to whom I presented the Purple Heart for his heroic actions in battle.

On a flight over Germany on July 8, 1944, Mr. Walke's plane was shot down over France. The last one to jump out of the plane, he was forced to open his parachute over enemy territory. He was then taken as a Prisoner of War and held in a German prison camp. He was put on long and arduous marches until he was able to escape with another British soldier months later. The two soldiers were hiding in a barn in a German village when the British tanks rolled in and took over the town. Thankfully, the British took care of him until he was able to reunite with his American soldier buddies.

Mr. Speaker, true American heroes like Sanford Walke should be honored for their service to our Nation and for their commitment and sacrifices in battle.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Sanford Walke of Hernando Beach, FL. A chief engineer in the Army during World War II, Mr. Walke received the Purple Heart for his heroic actions in battle.

Mr. Walke was in the Army from November 1942 through November 1945, serving during World War II in the European Theatre. Assigned to the 398th Bomb Group--8th Air Force, Mr. Walke was a chief engineer on a

Mr. Speaker, since 1997, the Marine Corps League has presented trikes to handicapped children in Citrus County, FL.

Local Detachment #819 was involved with the Marine Corps League Auxiliary in conjunction with the Toys for Tots Program in starting and implementing the current trike program.

This past weekend I joined the Marine Corps League to help present modified tricycles to some of the handicapped children in Citrus County.

Each tricycle is modified to accommodate the individual handicap of the child.

I can tell you from firsthand experience that the Marines are doing an amazing service to these young children, and should be commended for their service and dedication to the community.

I would hope that other Members would identify Marine Corps Leagues back home in their districts, and help participate in this worthy program.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to Patrick and Carrie Mulvee on the birth of their first child. John Ryan Mulvee was welcomed at 9:32 p.m. on May 2nd, 2005, weighing 7 pounds 1 ounce and measuring 21 inches long. John Ryan was named after his late paternal great-grandfather John J. Mulvee. I congratulate Patrick and Carrie on the new addition to their family and wish them years of continued health and happiness.

Mr. Speaker, on April 27, 2005, I was out of the office and was unable to vote. Had I been present I would have voted:

H.R. 748, On Agreeing to the Scott Amendment--``No''.

Mr. Speaker, recently the Wall Street Journal highlighted a disturbing trend among labor union boards. They are engaging in pension fund blackmail to bully corporations into agreeing with their partisan political agenda. A top AFL-CIO lobbyist was referring to financial services funds backing the President's personal retirement account proposal and he said, ``We have no intention of letting any of these companies get away with this while they manage our workers' funds.''

And 3 trustees representing the New York City Employees Retirement System sent a letter to several investment banking companies demanding to know their Social Security stance.

These union boards should be ensuring their members' pensions are being wisely invested in qualified ethical companies.

How can we say that Sarbanes-Oxley has strengthened corporate responsibility if labor unions are investing in and managing corporate boards based on their political interest rather than their fiduciary responsibilities to their members and the corporations for which they represent?