Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today there are a lot of children in the Capitol for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

While my three sons are all grown and scattered across the country, I do have the privilege of having Seth Lewis Parish with me today.

Seth lives in Maryland, and thanks to the nonprofit Tuesday's Children, he gets to spend the day with me--or better yet, I get to spend the day with him.

Seth is 7 years old and actively involved in his Cub Scout pack. I was really glad to hear that, as I am an Eagle Scout who has been involved in Scouting all my life. Seth is in the first grade. He is a Tiger Scout, plays ice hockey, and also participates in tae kwon do.

In 2009, Seth's dad was serving in the Army and lost his life about a month before Seth was born. Tuesday's Children uses its experience and expertise to help our military families work through their own losses.

Seth's mom, Debbie, dropped him off at my office this morning. He is the best-dressed guy today on the floor and, very frankly, on Capitol Hill, right over there.

Seth, I hope you are having a good day shadowing an old Scout like me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Nancy Billet, the office manager and financial administrator of my Washington, D.C., office. After working for three Members of Congress over a span of 36 years, Nancy will retire on Friday, and she will be missed by all.

Nancy grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and she never thought about working in politics. After graduating from Chesapeake College, she and a classmate moved to the D.C. suburbs, and Nancy found her way to Capitol Hill.

In 1981, shortly after Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President, Nancy began her career as a staff assistant with Congressman Phil Crane, a Republican from Illinois. She worked for Congressman Crane, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, for almost 14 years as a staff assistant, legislative assistant, and office manager.

She joined a softball team that played on The Mall after work hours, and that is where she would eventually meet her husband, Barry. They got married, had a baby boy, and Nancy continued working, but only part-time. She also continued her education with evening classes at Northern Virginia Community College and proceeded to receive a bachelor's degree from George Mason University.

After the birth of their second son, Nancy would return to the Hill full-time after the 1994 election. In January 1995, Nancy was hired as an office manager for Congressman Phil English, a Republican from Pennsylvania. Nancy worked with Congressman English until his retirement in January of 2009.

When he heard about her retirement, former Congressman Phil English said Nancy was a ``fabulous source of stability and good humor in an office where we were always a kite dancing in a hurricane. Your gracious manner and personal generosity made many difficult days tolerable and the cause possible to pursue. You brightened the lives of all you worked with, all you touched.''

Congressman English went on to say that Nancy's consistent patience with constituents, interns, and any individual who came through the door was legendary. I couldn't agree more.

Nancy came to work in my office in 2009, and we have been so blessed to have her on staff. I was able to hit the ground running as a freshman Member with such a knowledgeable veteran Hill staffer on my team. Nancy can master the most difficult tasks with ease, but it is her pleasant personality that I will miss most. I have been fortunate to have her on staff, and her shoes will not be easily filled.

Her institutional knowledge is remarkable. Nancy has had a front-row seat to so much change in the Capitol, from using an IBM typewriter with a correctable ribbon to floppy disc computers, to today's laptops, iPads, and smartphones; from busy phone booths in the Longworth Building outside of the Ways and Means Committee to everyone talking on their own personal cell phone in every hallway and every office; from easy access to the buildings to the barriers put in place after the September 11 attacks; and all the administrations to come and go. Nancy was employed for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now under Donald Trump.

Mr. Speaker, to say we will miss Nancy is an understatement, but I know she is looking forward to spending time with her husband, Barry, and her three sons--Brian, Will, and Robby--and the rest of the family.

Nancy, on behalf of Penny and me and all the staff, we wish you the best for a well-deserved retirement. On behalf of the Congress of the United States, thank you for your nearly four decades of service to the people's House. Thank you for all your dedication to serving the American people.

Mr. Speaker, this week we observe the Days of Remembrance, the Nation's annual commemoration of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a systematic, government-sponsored persecution and murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

Congress established the Days of Remembrance in 1980. Each year, State and local governments, military bases, workplaces, schools, religious organizations, and civic centers host remembrance activities for their communities.

The Holocaust is an unthinkable scar on humanity, and, for this reason, we gather annually to mourn the loss of so many lives and honor those who survived.

We also remember those who risked their lives to rescue and protect their friends and neighbors. We remember the American soldiers who fought in World War II to liberate many from concentration camps and to defend the defenseless.

And we remember, because, as Miriam Oster said so eloquently: ``Education and remembrance are the only cures for hatred and bigotry.''

We will not be silent. We cannot be indifferent to the suffering of others. May we always remember and always pledge: Never again.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Nancy Lombardo on her well-deserved retirement.

Nancy is the executive officer for the Clearfield County League on Social Services in Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District. For the past nearly 20 years, she has been instrumental in leading several programs that the league provides for the betterment of local communities.

Nancy manages several programs, including Child Care Information Services of Clarion, Clearfield, and Jefferson Counties; Children First, which is a seminar for divorced parents to help cope with divorce and how it affects their children; Safe Haven, which provides a safe meeting place for custodial parents to have their children visit with the noncustodial parent; as well as the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Nancy has given her time to numerous boards to advocate for children's needs, day care services, child advocacy centers, children youth services, and more. She has been a valuable and dedicated leader to the league for many years, and she will be missed.

On behalf of the Congress of the United States, I wish Nancy Lombardo all the best in her retirement.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Michael Hain, general manager and chief technology officer of Nittany Media, for being named Independent Tech Executive of the Year by Cablefax magazine.

Michael was a second-generation executive. Nittany Media is a locally owned and operated cable provider that has served rural Pennsylvania since 1957. They are credited with bringing the internet to some very rural areas as early as 1997.

His parents, Harry and Anna Hain, founded the business, and Michael has been actively involved since he was a child. He climbed his first cable tower at age 3 during a neighbor's barbecue. Michael told a news outlet: ``When the other kids were going down to the river fishing, my dad and I were going up to the mountain with an inch-and-a-quarter mast with an antenna. And we were fishing too; fishing for a distant signal.''

A love for cable runs deep for Michael Hain.

On behalf of the people of the Fifth Congressional District of Pennsylvania, I extend my sincere congratulations to Michael Hain of Nittany Media for this outstanding achievement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 369, which will eliminate the sunset date of the Veterans Choice Program. The Choice Program gives the men and women who served this great Nation the ability to receive health care in their own home communities.

Instead of waiting for a VA appointment or traveling a long distance to a VA facility, our veterans can get services closer to home. The Choice Act states that the Department of Veterans Affairs is authorized to continue services until August 7, 2017, or until the funds provided under the Choice Act ran out, whatever occurs first.

There is still funding set aside for this program. Our veterans should be entitled to use it. That is why I support

H.R. 369, which would eliminate the expiration date on the Choice Act.

However, I do have serious concerns that I want to see addressed in the future with the third-party provider Health Net, which has provided less than satisfactory services to our veterans. We must give our veterans all that we can when they return home, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 369.

Mr. Speaker, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children--or WIC--is a short- term intervention program designed to help ensure pregnant women and their children are able to meet healthy nutritional needs.

WIC began in 1972 as a supplemental food pilot program aimed at improving the health of pregnant mothers, infants, and children in response to a growing concern of malnutrition among low-income families. By 1974, WIC was operating in 45 States and became a permanent program in 1975.

WIC provides participants with monthly benefits redeemable for specific foods to supplement their diets, as well as related nutrition and health services. WIC provides quality nutrition education and services; breastfeeding promotion and education; a monthly food package; and access to maternal, prenatal, and pediatric healthcare services. WIC has served 8.3 million participants each month through 10,000 clinics nationwide in 2014; 806,000 pregnant women; 592,000 breastfeeding women; 575,000 postpartum women; 2 million infants; and 4.3 million children.

Mr. Speaker, numerous studies have shown that pregnant women who participate in WIC have longer pregnancies, leading to fewer premature births. They have fewer low and very low birth weight babies. They experience fewer fetal and infant deaths, and they seek prenatal care earlier in pregnancy and consume more of key nutrients, such as iron, protein, calcium, vitamins A and C.

WIC has been addressing the nutrition and health needs of low-income families for more than 40 years. I rise today as chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition but also as someone who knows firsthand how important WIC is for many Americans.

In the early 1980s, when my wife, Penny, and I were just starting out, we were eligible for WIC based on our income. We used WIC to supplement our personal resources at the time to ensure that Penny, who was expecting our first son, was healthy. Back then, WIC truly helped us supplement what we needed after our personal resources and the family assistance and support came into play.

Nutrition influences health at every stage of life. Good nutrition during pregnancy is especially important to support fetal development and protect mothers from pregnancy-related risks of gestational diabetes, excessive weight gain, hypertension, and iron deficiency anemia. Good nutrition in early childhood can promote development and foster healthy behaviors that may carry over into adulthood.

Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear: WIC works. Let's ensure this program remains viable for generations to come. WIC truly provides a competitive edge that will give everyone a fair shot at life--a fair start in life, and the American people deserve no less.

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I will meet with leaders from the School Nutrition Association of Pennsylvania, commonly called SNAPa, which is a statewide organization of school nutrition professionals.

SNAPa works to advance quality child nutrition programs through education and advocacy. Organized in 1955, SNAPa is an all-volunteer board of directors elected by its member, which currently stands at more than 2,300 individuals.

As chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition and a senior member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, I know the essential services that SNAPa works to provide. Students throughout the Commonwealth receive high-quality, low-cost meals thanks to SNAPa.

Mr. Speaker, it is important to remember that, for some students, the only meal that they receive is at school. This organization works to keep our children healthy and ensure that they have healthy food options through school meal programs. SNAPa is recognized as the authority on school nutrition in Pennsylvania.

I sincerely thank SNAPa for advancing the availability, quality, and acceptance of school nutrition programs as an essential part of education in Pennsylvania for more than 60 years.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the world celebrated Autism Awareness Day.

Each year, Autism Speaks asks people across the Nation and around the globe to ``Light It Up Blue'' in an effort to increase understanding and acceptance.

Last night, right here in our Nation's Capital, the White House joined hundreds of iconic landmarks as it illuminated the exterior blue. Individuals wore blue clothing or turned their online profile photos blue.

Autism spectrum disorders affect an estimated 1 out of every 68 children in the United States. These families face enormous challenges in assisting their loved ones over the course of their lifetimes. Each year, an estimated 50,000 youth will turn 18 in the United States, and many face a services cliff when school-based programs end.

Men and women living on the autism spectrum have made incredible contributions to our society. We must continue to research the causes of autism and work to strengthen opportunities for individuals with autism to live full lives.

Together, we can increase understanding and acceptance as we celebrate and support so many Americans who live with autism.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the Penn State men's wrestling team for winning the NCAA Division I National Championship earlier this month in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mr. Speaker, Penn State has been a force to be reckoned with in Division I wrestling. This is Penn State's sixth title in 7 years. It is the second consecutive national title.

I could not be more proud of my alma mater or this team that gave us a season to remember.

Many college athletes dream about participating at the NCAA championships. It marks the pinnacle of their athletic careers.

Among the Nittany Lion national champions, All-Americans Bo Nickal, Jason Nolf, and Zain Retherford combined for a total of 82.5 points, which would have placed the trio sixth overall in the final team standings.

Penn State also made history with All-Americans true freshman Mark Hall and redshirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph earning their first titles to become the first freshmen NCAA champions in program history.

Congratulations to Coach Sanderson and the Nittany Lions on this outstanding achievement. Your hard work and dedication shows, and you are the pride of Happy Valley.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday the Nation celebrated Medal of Honor Day. This rarely celebrated holiday was designated by Congress in 1990 but only officially observed once, on March 25, 1991. I was pleased to see our most decorated war heroes honored last Friday during a ceremony at the White House.

The Medal of Honor is the highest military honor our Nation can bestow. According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, there have been 3,498 recipients, and 75 of those individuals are still living today.

Just last year, I was able to recognize one of Pennsylvania's very own Medal of Honor recipients, late Army Specialist Ross McGinnis. I assisted in naming a post office in Knox, Clarion County, for Specialist McGinnis, who died in December 2006 in Iraq. Specialist McGinnis was a native son of Knox, Pennsylvania.

While on patrol in eastern Baghdad on December 4, 2006, an unidentified insurgent positioned on a nearby rooftop threw a grenade into a Humvee carrying McGinnis and other troops. Specialist McGinnis threw his body on top of the grenade, absorbing all the fragments of the grenade with his own body and saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Mr. Speaker, another such hero, Foster Joseph Sayers, is from my hometown of Howard, Pennsylvania. He received the Medal of Honor for acts of bravery near Thionville, France, on November 12, 1944.

During an attack on strong hostile forces entrenched on a hill, he fearlessly ran up the steep approach towards his objective and then set up a machine gun 20 yards from the enemy. Realizing it would be necessary to attract full attention of the enemy while his company crossed an open area and flanked the enemy, he picked up the gun, charged through withering machine-gun and rifle fire to the very edge of the emplacement. He killed 12 German soldiers with devastating close-range fire.

He took up a position behind a log and engaged the hostile enemy from the flank in an heroic attempt to distract their attention while his comrades obtained their objective at the crest of the hill. He was killed by the very heavy concentration of return fire, but his fearless assault enabled his company to sweep the hill with minimum casualties, killing or capturing every enemy soldier on it.

Private First Class Sayers' indomitable fighting spirit, aggressiveness, and supreme devotion to duty live on as an example of the highest traditions of the military service for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Another heroic Medal of Honor recipient from Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District is Private First Class Melvin L. Brown. Private First Class Brown earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Korean war.

During an attack on his platoon's perimeter of defense, Private First Class Brown took his position on a retaining wall approximately 50 feet high. The enemy, superior in number, started climbing the wall just as Brown's last round of ammunition was expended, and he was wounded by enemy fire. His citation said: ``Realizing the vital necessity for holding and without concern for his personal safety, though wounded and without his rifle, Brown continued to throw his few remaining hand grenades into the enemy, causing several casualties with each grenade. When his supply of grenades was depleted, his comrades from nearby foxholes commenced throwing grenades towards his position. On several occasions, the grenades were thrown short of his position. When this would occur, Brown would leave his position and retrieve the grenades, exposing himself to enemy rifle and machine-gun fire.''

The enemy continued their climb, and Brown was able to knock 10 to 12 enemy troops from the wall, which served as an inspiration to his comrades and delayed the attack and enabled his platoon to repel the enemy. Brown was seriously injured and then died during that action.

Heroic acts for Pennsylvanians during times of war go back to the Civil War. The Medal of Honor, established by joint resolution of Congress on the 12th of July 1862, is awarded in the name of Congress to a person who, while a member of the armed services, distinguishes himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty.

A large percentage of Medal of Honor recipients during this time were actually awarded for action involving flags. One such Medal of Honor recipient from my hometown was Civil War Corporal Franklin Hogan, a member of Company A, Pennsylvania 45th Infantry. His citation was awarded on October 1, 1864, for the capture of the battle flag of the 6th Virginia Infantry.

Mr. Speaker, there are more Medal of Honor recipients from Pennsylvania's

Fifth Congressional District and throughout this proud Nation. Each one demonstrated personal bravery or self-sacrifice that warranted this extraordinary merit. On behalf of a grateful Nation, I salute all of our Medal of Honor recipients.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the first official National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Just yesterday, President Trump signed a bill into law permanently designating March 29 as the day we honor our Vietnam veterans.

Madam Speaker, in many instances, our Vietnam veterans often did not receive a warm welcome home when they returned from war. This is a small step toward giving these brave men and women the recognition they deserve.

It was on this day in 1973 that the last combat troops were ordered out of Vietnam. Forty-four years later, the House and Senate unanimously approved this Federal statute recognizing and honoring our Vietnam veterans who answered the Nation's call and served with honor and distinction.

This effort began in Pennsylvania as the brainchild of Sergeant Harold Redding, a Vietnam veteran from York, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's own Senator Pat Toomey led the charge to make this day a reality.

Madam Speaker, we all know someone who served in Vietnam. Those veterans are our friends, our family, our neighbors. Thank you to all of our Vietnam veterans. May God bless you on this National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to highlight a program that helps low-income families lead healthier lives through education.

SNAP-Ed works to help individuals who benefit from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP. It aims to help people make healthy choices within a limited budget and choose active lifestyles consistent with the current dietary guidelines for Americans.

As chairman of the Agriculture Committee's Nutrition Subcommittee, we have been examining SNAP and how we can improve it in the next farm bill. SNAP-Ed is an important part of this, and the results show that it works.

In my home State of Pennsylvania, 17 percent of people are living below the poverty line; 1.8 million Pennsylvanians are eligible for SNAP; 85 percent of Pennsylvania adults do not eat the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables; and 14 percent of Pennsylvanians are food insecure, meaning they lack reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

Mr. Speaker, SNAP-Ed helps low-income families stretch tight budgets and bring home healthy foods from the grocery store. It teaches low- income families how to prepare nutritious meals.

SNAP-Ed is a $400 million program awarded through Federal grants to State agencies. SNAP-Ed has the flexibility to work in schools, grocery stores, parks, even public gyms. SNAP-Ed offers many different forms of direct education and takes community input into consideration when developing education programs.

Another food education program authorized through the farm bill is the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. This program is an approximately $68 million initiative operated through the Cooperative Extension Service of land grant universities. It delivers direct education via peer educators in a series of interactive hands-on lessons to improve four core

areas: diet quality and physical activity, food resource management, food safety, and food security.

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program tends to be less flexible in how it delivers services than SNAP-Ed, but it has the capacity to reach more people than SNAP-Ed because it operates in more areas, both urban and rural, across this country.

Mr. Speaker, both of these educational programs are helping low- income families lead healthier lives and make better choices when it comes to nutritious food. Through education we can help ensure that American families--especially children--learn about the importance of a balanced diet as part of a healthy lifestyle and the joy of preparing their own meals.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to strengthening these programs in the next farm bill so that we can continue to educate and serve American families.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ellwood National Crankshaft on receiving STAR certification in the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program.

Ellwood National Crankshaft, located in Irvine, Pennsylvania, is a unique manufacturer of new and reconditioned crankshafts for medium- speed engines in the 800- to 6,000-horsepower range.

Mr. Speaker, in order to attain this distinguished certification, a facility has met or exceeded the performance-based criteria for a managed safety and health system. It also passed the rigorous onsite evaluation conducted by a team of OSHA safety and health experts.

This recognition is even more significant, knowing that Ellwood National Crankshaft is one of only a few forging and process safety management facilities to obtain the STAR status. Its motto, ``Injury free every day,'' echoes the importance of safety throughout the plant.

I commend Ellwood National Crankshaft for making safety a top priority. Everyone wins when there are fewer days missed due to injuries or illness.

Congratulations on earning this prestigious certification and for placing such a high standard on the welfare of all the people employed at Ellwood National Crankshaft.