Floor Statements

The 112th Congress has a mandate from the people to focus their legislative efforts on job creation and economic growth.

Career and technical education should be at the forefront of those efforts. Expanding and improving our Nation's career and technical education is one of the most important and effective ways for our communities to produce a well-educated and skilled workforce, ensure that students are career- and college-ready, and individuals have the necessary skills to remain competitive in a changing workforce.

This year, I was named cochairman of the Career and Technical Education Caucus along with Representative Langevin of Rhode Island. In the 112th, our goals are to enhance awareness in Congress of the importance of career and technical education and advance policies that improve skilled labor education and support technical-related small business job growth.

CTE programs exist in every congressional district, and I encourage my colleagues to join the bipartisan Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus. Together, we can improve America's competitiveness and help facilitate job opportunities for our constituents.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 72.

This administration's EPA has been allowed to operate unchecked by proposing regulations and actions not based on sound science and data. For example, an issue receiving more attention in Pennsylvania is the proposed regulation of the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding watershed. These regulations have a devastating economic impact on my constituents. Unquestionably, the bay is in need and truly worthy of our support. However, the EPA's ``shoot first and ask questions later'' approach will have detrimental economic effects on rural communities.

The EPA, through a Presidential executive order, has created a Federal backstop for watershed implementation plans, commonly known as WIPs. This action has prevented the State's authority to implement their own strategies to clean up watersheds. Additionally, the EPA has proposed accelerated and unreasonable timelines for court-mandated total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs. The TMDL is a mandatory diet to restrict nutrient and sediment runoff. EPA has based the Chesapeake Bay TMDLs on its own bay modeling. This model has been called into question by many, including Limnotech, an independent and respected consulting firm on water issues.

Using the EPA's own data, Limnotech compared it against data from the USDA which showed inconsistent assumptions between agencies. The head of the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service has recently gone as far as to say that the EPA's data on conservation practices is erroneous.

Agriculture is not receiving the credit it deserves towards reducing nutrient and sediment runoff. Yet the EPA is forcing the bay States to move forward on accelerated mandates using the agency's flawed bay model and limited feedback from the public and stakeholders. Although the EPA unfortunately has not performed any kind of economic analysis of TMDL, continuing on this path will undoubtedly cause severe economic impact on producers in rural communities.

For example, the Commonwealth of Virginia estimates it will cost $4,665 per taxpayer to meet the TMDL requirements, and Maryland estimates they're looking at $8,500 per taxpayer, or $10 billion over the next 10 years.

This is simply a fundamental difference between the approach of the Agriculture Committee and the strategy of this administration. The goal is the same, the vitality and health of the Chesapeake Bay, but the methods of achieving these goals could not be more different.

The 2008 farm bill provided incentive-based aid for farmers and ranchers to improve management practices which would have a direct result of improving water quality; but the administration simply does not want to give the time for these programs to work. Instead, they have done what they have been doing since taking office, overregulating farmers and ranchers and punishing States for not meeting certain arbitrary benchmarks.

Rural America cannot afford for the EPA to continue this arbitrary regulation and not recognize current conservation efforts. I strongly believe that we need to hit the pause button on the TMDLs and first perform a study on the progress already being made on the Chesapeake through existing efforts already being employed.

I'm proud of the fact that the farmers are taking real action on the ground every day to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay region and across the country.

Mr. Speaker, this evening I want to take some time to talk about how business gets done here in Washington. Now, I guess you can call this the lessons of a rookie. I'm starting my third year here, my second term; and during my first two years in the 111th Congress, frankly, it was like it was politics as usual, and I think the American people have had enough of that.

The American people are at a point where it's not about Republicans, it's not about Democrats. What they're looking for are problem solvers; and, fundamentally, I think that is what's most important as we go forward as problem solvers because we know this country is facing some tremendous issues. We are at record unemployment, the highest sustained level of unemployment since the Great Depression. We have a national debt that has amassed to over $14 trillion, impacting our children and our grandchildren's future.

We have all kinds of significant issues facing this Nation, and we need solutions; but the solutions, they have to be solutions, I believe, that are not politics as usual. They need to be solutions that are, frankly, based on what I call the principle of leadership. It's the very foundation of how we make our decisions, not based on a political agenda, not based on the whims or the will of a few or many but, frankly, based on principles; and that's what I want to spend some time this evening talking about, principled leadership.

In my time in Congress, I've seen us make a lot of decisions, an awful lot of decisions. Many of those impact not just the Nation but the world, and I see decisions made by different Members using different methodology. For me, I really do fall back on principled leadership. I actually fall back on values, principles that I learned as a youth. Frankly, I take them from my experience in Scouting, 41 years. This is my 41st year in Scouting. It's a great organization. It serves boys and girls and develops them into fine young people, productive, active citizens.

When I make a decision, I ask myself four questions, and it may sound a little old fashioned for some folks, but, frankly, it works for me and it works consistently. I ask myself four questions, principles that come from the Scout promise, actually. The first question I take from that Scout promise, that first question is when I'm making a decision, I'm faced with an issue and I need to decide, first question is, what is my duty to God? Is the decision I'm making, is it righteous according to God's word? Is it according to my faith? Frankly, if the answer is ``no,'' I don't go any further on to question two, three, and four.

If I do go on, the next question is, what is my duty to the country? That is, frankly, what does the Constitution say about the decision that I'm about to make?

Is it according to the rule of law? Is it according to those liberties, those freedoms, those rights, and the distribution of powers that are outlined within the Constitution? Because there are certain things the Federal Government is supposed to do, according to the Constitution. That amount of responsibility is literally very tiny, though, compared to what the States have retained for rights; and that is small compared to what we, as individual citizens, have as all those rights that are provided through our creator.

So my second question I ask, what is my duty to country? The third question I ask myself in terms of principles is, what is my duty to others? Now, others for me are what I call the 660,000 really smart people that I work for in the Pennsylvania Fifth Congressional District. It's pretty easy to determine what the intended consequence is and the intended impact on the citizens that I serve and, frankly, that all of my colleagues serve. Because on the first page of any bill--I don't care if it's a one-page bill or it's 2,000 pages, that intended consequence is pretty easily and clearly articulated. It's the unintended consequences, however, that you have to work at. It's the unintended consequences that can have the most impact on the lives of the people that we serve. And that's why communication is such an incredibly important responsibility with our constituents, including why we're here in Washington using different methods and an open-door policy and receiving, soliciting input, feedback from our constituents.

But also certainly when we're back in the district, and we're in those communities and we're communicating with people, and they're talking about the situations that they're in, and how the Federal Government--the things that are going on are impacting their lives. That is tremendous, valuable information that we gain when we are back in the district, and that is what district work weeks are all about. It's about communications and feedback with your employer, and it's the people that you work for.

Finally, for me, the fourth question I ask myself in terms of principles and principled leadership has to do with duty to self. And, again, I borrow from Scouting, my years and decades in Scouting. The questions I ask myself are: am I prepared to do my best on each and every decision I make? And that is, have I worked hard to get all the information that I need? Have I worked hard to reach out to my constituents to find out, as I've read a bill, to make sure that they have access to it so that they understand and I can determine and solicit from them their feedback and what the unintended consequences are. Am I prepared to do my best?

Those are principles that have served me well these first 2 years, and I certainly continue my commitment and follow principled leadership going forward in serving both this country and certainly the citizens of the Pennsylvania Fifth Congressional District.

Another set of principles that I'm pleased to share tonight came from a group of citizens within the area of the Pennsylvania Fifth Congressional District, and these are principles that were outlined by citizens who were concerned. They were concerned over the past 2 years with the things that they saw going on in their Nation, in their country. They came together because they were afraid. They were afraid of what the future held. And this was in Lycoming County of the Pennsylvania Fifth Congressional District. But you know what, these are principles that I have actually seen put forward by everyday citizens all over the Nation, certainly throughout my congressional district.

And I appreciate the fact that they took the time to put this together. I

have a scroll here with--I'm not going to roll this out completely because it would definitely be a hazard. It is a wonderful scroll with over 4,000 names on it of individuals who have put their signatures to standing for principles and expectations from government.

The principles, as put forward, were: ``We, the people of the city of Williamsport, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the United States of America, declare that we are free and independent citizens, and that we are entitled to inherent and inalienable rights for which our ancestors fought to protect and for which they established governments to ensure.'' Rights that, within our founding documents, come from our creator.

``In the charters of those governments, our rights have been clearly and undeniably established to the exclusion of any encroachment by the civil servants elected to carry out the people's business. However, a long train of abuses and usurpations has evinced a clear trend which, if followed to its logical conclusion, would reduce the People under absolute Despotism. We protest these encroachments upon our natural and indefeasible rights and liberties and demand that they be redressed.'' And among the abuses, they outlined seven principles, you know, principles that I think are incredibly important, things that you've heard about already on the floor tonight. And as you tune in, these are issues that have taken front stage in terms of our national debate.

Starting with taxation. You know, taxes have grown both continuously and geometrically both in the number and scope, such as greater than half of all of one's income is now claimed by the government. Taxes are something that we battle on here. And it's a fundamental decision of, first of all, the scope of government, what government should be in the business of doing, what constitutionally are those issues that should be funded. We are going to be engaging in significant debate through the rest of this week and certainly next week as we look at a continuing resolution of what is the proper role of government, and we will certainly be looking at how we fund that and the amount of taxes that are levied on individuals.

We had that debate at the end of the 111th Congress. In the 111th Congress, this country was facing the largest tax increase in its history, and it would have been devastating. It would have raised taxes on every American. It would have raised taxes on individuals, on families, on job creators, on small businesses. And I am pleased that in the 12th hour we were able to at least extend what's called the ``Bush-era tax cuts,'' and that's been good for America. Frankly, we should have been able to make them permanent. That is something I think we need to obviously continue to work towards.

But at least by extending those, we were able to restore some certainty, some certainty for families, for individuals and, frankly, for job creators so that they could do their business plans and at least restore some confidence going forward in this economy, confidence to allow small businesses to be able to invest their resources, to invest in capital, expanding and building a new site or business by expanding a product line or a service line, and hiring, creating jobs.

Frankly, many of the individuals over the past year and a half, as I've traveled around in my congressional district--and I talk with folks who I know are the job creators. These are individuals that every year would take their resources, their profit--and that's not a bad word; that's a good sign of good economic times--and they would reinvest a good portion of that profit back into their businesses, and they would create jobs.

You know, in the past 2 years, because of uncertainty--much of it around taxation--they have been sitting on the sidelines. They didn't know what was coming. Health care, the ObamaCare that would raise taxes would put mandates. If you are an employer with more than 50 employees, that means that more financial burdens are going to be placed on you, more mandates, so there is no encouragement to grow your business. I was very pleased when we were able to extend those tax cuts. That's the American people's money. They have had that for almost a decade, so we need to continue that.

The second principle that these good folks have identified is national debt. The public credit has been tapped beyond any reasonable ability to repay within the current generation. I think our national debt is somewhere around--every man, woman, and child. I go out into schools, and I like to read to the kindergarten kids. But I love getting out to the seniors because they are getting ready to go out into the world. They are just on the threshold of life. And I usually open up by saying, First of all, I work for you. I'm your Member of Congress. I work for you. And each of you owes $143,000, and I don't take checks.

And that's a good icebreaker, for a sad notation of that really is how much each of them, each of them owes towards our national debt. And so we are approaching over $14 trillion at this point. What that does, I think, is, frankly, it's probably our largest threat that we have to national security, the fact that we have that much debt accumulated, and that 60 percent of that debt is held by foreign countries. Our number one lender is China. And I think that just puts us in a very, very dangerous situation for the future.

So I am joined this evening by a good friend of mine who lives in Lycoming County. Mr. Marino, if you want to step up and talk a little bit about your thoughts on national debt and what that means to us going forward that would be great. Go ahead and join me at the podium there. This is a great Member, Tom Marino. He represents a neighboring district of mine. We share two counties. I've known Tom for a long time. I worked in health care in Lycoming County for about 28 years. Tom's a former district attorney there, a native son, and I was real glad, real proud to see him come to Congress. And so I'm going to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

I thank the gentleman for joining me tonight on the floor to kind of share about principles and the needs that we have there that we're faced with. Again, these are difficult times. One of the things in terms of this much debt that's out there, it reminds me of, we just hit kind of a milestone of being

married for 30 years not long ago. And soon after my wife and I were married, we bought a house, and it was a time where the country was facing a similar situation, such high unemployment and, frankly, high inflation. And this is a tremendous concern that I have that with all this borrowing and this debt, inflation will naturally follow. And, in fact, frankly this was at the term of President Jimmy Carter. We were looking at real estate. It was a time of stagflation, both high inflation and high unemployment. And my wife and I bought a home. We got a great deal because real estate wasn't selling, much like today. And we thought we got a--we got a first-time state mortgage rate, and we thought we were just doing great because we got this interest rate. I believe it was 18 percent, which was pretty good because at the time the banks under this type of inflation that naturally comes from this kind of borrowing and spending, the banks were lending at 20, 21 percent interest. So it's something we have a responsibility, not just to today's generation, but our children, our grandchildren, to get this national debt under consideration.

The next principle I wanted to touch on was national defense. And the principles as presented here talk about, you know, frankly the placement of troops without formal acts of war and the concern with that. But it also goes on the fact that we put so much into fears of war. I happen to believe--I've got a son and a daughter-in-law in the United States Army. They were just married yesterday, actually. They're in Washington here with us a couple of days. And I'm very proud of our troops and what they do. I believe that constitutionally, the national defense really is our most important job. It's up front in the Constitution that that's what we should do.

Within the principles outlined here before you, it also--this is the finer print, it's hard to read, but it talks about the fact is we can't ignore national defense here at home. And we've got threats here. We know that. When you look at the southern border, in particular, and just the unchecked illegal immigration into this country, and I realize many of those folks are coming in search of a better way of life. But frankly, there are folks coming in here that I think could easily come across the borders, and probably have, that seek to do us harm, and the things that they can carry across that border. And so we need to make sure that we are securing that border. We should be doing everything we possibly can. I think that this principle speaks to that. And I think that this country's been failing at making sure that our ports and our borders are ultimately safe. This is a different day. This is when our enemies don't wear a uniform and don't march under a specific flag. We have to take the measures and the precautions to make sure that the American people stay safe. That is our number one job in this country, safety and security.

The fourth principle under here to be addressed is political corruption. That is something that, frankly, we need individuals at all levels of government that are public servants, that approach their jobs with a servant's heart, as opposed to being self-serving. And I know that Mr. Marino, who is now in Congress, has that servant's heart. Many of my new Members, new colleagues, and certainly folks I've served with for the past 2 years have that focus and commitment, frankly, of service and sacrifice to our constituents. And so I think that is something that I respect, the fact that that is on here. That is certainly something that's important; that the people that are here are serving, not just at the Federal level but the State level and local level, for the right reasons.

Central banking and money. I'm going to switch these charts just to be able to read them a little better.

The fact that the U.S. Congress really has delegated, and I think illegally, their vested powers, coining money, taxation, regulation of commerce, making treaties, appropriating public money, all of the things that the powers of the House in particular is in the legislative branch.

We have three branches of government, but they are not equal. They are cosovereign, but they are not coequal. And we have delegated over, not just 2 years but many years, much of our authority, much of our responsibility as the legislative branch to the administrative branch. Much of that has been very inappropriate, and I think it's a time of going back to our roots and making sure we go back to those founding principles and looking at what is it that we are supposed to be doing that we have deferred, that we have designated and allowed the administrative branch to now do.

Certainly principle number six, the central planning: The constant intervention of the economy through regulations, subsidies, tariffs, taxes, policies have altered the fabric of the Nation's free market economy in just these past 2 years, and we are dealing with it now. We voted to repeal the Patient Protection Affordable Health Care Act. The media sometimes refers to that as the Obamacare plan, and we voted and passed on a bipartisan way to repeal that bill for that very reason of that top-down approach. Washington is famous for a top-down approach, a cookie-cutter approach. I have seen that in my service on the Education Committee where it is a cookie cutter.

No Child Left Behind believes that every child should go to college. Well, that's great. If that child has that aspiration and those attributes, that's wonderful. I'm going to be dedicated to making sure we make that as affordable and as accessible as possible. But not every child is on that path. Some children, it will be technical training. Some children, it will be going into the military and learning a skill or trade there. Some will be going right into the workforce.

We need to be empowering through education, not top down from a central planning way from the national government. We should be empowering our best resources for making sure that every child's individual potential is developed. Do you know who that is? That's the parents, the teachers, the administrators. It's the local school board members, that governing body and the local school boards. That's the way the founders intended it, because they knew which way it would work best.

Well, I am joined by another neighbor of mine across the State line to the north, Mr. Tom Reed from the great State of New York. Mr. Reed, thanks for joining us tonight.

I thank my good friend for joining us tonight.

The last principle is one I am proud to say we have taken some action on here. It has to do with legislation, the common practice for Congress to shortcut things, shortcut the process, not follow regular order, open rules, allowing all Members of Congress to offer amendments.

In my first 2 years of Congress, I never experienced one open rule. I didn't know what it was like. And I was shocked to find out that that is normally how you do business; that predominantly, most of the time, it's under open rule.

Some of the things we put in place with the rules package is requiring bills to be published ahead of time so that not only us as Members of Congress but our constituents can read them, and we have that chance to solicit input from them, to get that feedback on the unintended consequences and how it may impact them; the fact that we are now requiring you have to give some evidence, some documentation of where the constitutional authority is for doing this bill now, trying to keep germaneness in terms of what we put forward versus these thousands-of-pages bills that are just a mismatch of different topics.

So I thank my colleagues tonight for joining me in this. I certainly thank the patriots, like those folks from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who joined in sharing those principles that we have, those patriots like that all over this Nation. We are just so appreciative for what they do for this country as well.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 5 o'clock and 58 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, February 10, 2011, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Madam Speaker, last week, at the same time that oil broke $100 a barrel, the President traveled to the Fifth District of Pennsylvania, home of the first oil well 151 years ago and to the world's largest natural gas play. It was an honor to have President Obama visit the Commonwealth and highlight the research being done at Penn State on energy efficiency. I was hopeful the President would touch on the importance of domestic energy production, especially oil, coal, and natural gas--each just as critical to any credible energy plan.

Unfortunately, I remain convinced that America lacks a comprehensive plan to end our reliance on foreign oil. In too many instances, this administration has undermined America's path to a comprehensive plan. This administration has withdrawn oil and gas leases in the West, imposed a moratorium on drilling in the Gulf, placed huge portions of the Outer Continental Shelf off limits to new offshore drilling, and proposed billions in higher taxes on American energy. These actions will not help cease America's dangerous reliance on foreign oil.

Our Nation needs a low-cost energy supply for economic growth and security. I hope my colleagues--on both sides of the aisle--will join me in that effort.

Mr. Speaker, this week, January 23 to 29, is National School Choice Week. Earlier this week in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, students, parents, and legislators from both parties and varying walks of life, from across the commonwealth, gather to rally for school choice in the State capitol.

Every day, tens of thousands of children attend schools where quality education is not being offered. Meanwhile, those that defend the status quo claim that, if we just do more of the same, at some point schools will improve. Throughout the laboratories of democracy in this great Nation, concerned parents are moving forward with a different vision which is better for our children.

So as we continue in this new 112th Congress, let's make a commitment for America's parents that they will not be forced to send their children to low-quality schools without other choices. Let's provide parents with options, whether they are public, private, charter, home, or cyber schools, for the education that is the best fit for their children.

Children don't have the luxury of waiting for change. For today's students, reform only works if it takes place while they are still in school.

I commend those back home that are standing up for our children. And I will do in my part here in Washington to support their efforts, not just this week, but always, in order to ensure that each child has the opportunity to live up to his or her individual learning potential.

Mr. Speaker, Shakespeare penned the words that gave title to a true story of the 101st Airborne during World War II. In ``King Henry V,'' he wrote:

``We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

``For he today that sheds his blood with me

``Shall be my brother.''

Stephen Ambrose wrote a book that became the miniseries, ``Band of Brothers.'' Dick Winters was part of that story. Actor Damien Lewis brought his character to life in the series, but for Pennsylvanians, Winters was a real-life hero, and his story, the stuff of legends. Winters died in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania. He was 92.

On D-day, June 6, 1944, Winters and his men parachuted in to take on a German artillery nest on Utah Beach. His troops from Easy Company fought through the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of a death camp at Dachau, and made it to Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.

Winters never sought fame, never thought of himself as a hero, and characteristically he asked that his funeral be private. But as Tom Hanks put it, ``When the world needed heroes, he served in a company of heroes.''

Pennsylvania and the Nation mourn the loss of this ``brother.''

Mr. Speaker, as a health care professional for almost 30 years, I actually sat down and read all 2,000 pages of the health care bill. And as I read through the measure, I became increasingly alarmed at the level of control over an individual's health that would be vested in the Federal Government.

I've spent my life working with those facing life-altering disabilities and diseases. And I've been quick to point out that while we have the best health system in the world, there must be improvements. That is why I am supporting the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--and I believe there are plenty of reasons for my colleagues to join me.

The law mandates purchase of a government-defined insurance plan, a mandate that the President opposed on several occasions when running for office. As a result of failing to live up to this promise, the Justice Department is now attempting to defend the mandate on the grounds that it is a tax.

According to the nonpartisan Medicare Actuary, because of the law, national spending will increase by more than $310 billion over the first 10 years. The law will not lower health care costs, despite numerous claims that we've heard.

According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, health insurance premiums could rise by an average of $2,100 per family. This increase comes despite promises of lower premiums.

Mr. Speaker, if this law remains in place, up to 35 million people could lose health care access. According to the former CBO Budget Director, the health care law, quote, ``provides strong incentives for employers, with the agreement of their employees, to drop employer- sponsored health insurance for as many as 35 million Americans.''

The National Taxpayer Advocate issued a report that suggests 40 million businesses will be impacted by the new IRS 1099 filing requirements. This will require vendors and small businesses to do paperwork on any transaction over $600. In addition, the Taxpayer Advocate does not believe that this will result in improved tax compliance. This provision is so unrealistic that even the President's Small Business Administrator has called for its repeal.

Mr. Speaker, we must repeal and replace this law and continue together as the entire Congress, not just two parties, and move forward with commonsense ideas that will include better access, affordability, quality, and promote patient choice. I encourage my colleagues to join me and vote for repeal.

Madam Speaker, today our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who were taken from us last week in this horrific tragedy in Tucson, Arizona. Our Nation stands with Congresswoman Giffords in her recovery, her family, her staff, and all of those who have been impacted by this tragic event, including the family of Gabe Zimmerman, Giffords' director of community outreach, and Federal Judge John Roll, who both died during the shooting.

We also stand with Christina Taylor Green who lost her life that day. Christina had hoped to go to Penn State one day and pursue a career of helping others. Penn State is one of the top public universities in the country, and it is located in my congressional district. I share those same aspirations and have no doubt that Christina would have achieved her dreams and been successful in the career path of her choosing. I offer my deepest condolences to her family.

While this tragedy reminds us of how fragile life is, it also shows us what we can truly be thankful for.

I want to commend and thank all of the Federal, State, and local officials for all of their efforts over the last week. These everyday heroes are often unsung despite the dangerous situations they are placed in. Americans everywhere are also thankful for those who showed courage to stand up in the face of danger:

Daniel Hernandez, Representative Giffords' intern, the hero who assisted Congresswoman Giffords by performing triage immediately after the shooting.

Bill Badger, a retired Army National Guard colonel who tackled the gunman despite being grazed by a bullet in the back of his head.

People like Daniel and Bill serve as real-life examples of what it takes to be a hero. As we mourn our losses, we are grateful for such courageous acts. Our prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, all those we lost or were injured, and their families. All of us are searching to make sense of this situation. As we do, we must maintain our support for those seeking recovery and pray for the well- being of all those involved.

Madam Speaker, the Lady Nittany Lions volleyball team went to Kansas City on Saturday, December 18, and brought home a terrific and unprecedented Christmas present to their school, Penn State University. They won their fourth straight NCAA Division I championship.

While the team was undefeated in their previous two seasons, they were 32-5 going into the championship this year, and the California Golden Bears went into the match with a 30-4 season. The two teams have dominated the championships, meeting for 4 consecutive years in the regionals, semis or finals.

This was Coach Russ Rose's fifth championship, and the ladies celebrated by giving their coach a ring for his thumb. He is the first coach in NCAA Division I women's volleyball history to win five national titles.

The most outstanding player was Deja McClendon. Blair Brown summed up the feelings of the team in this quote:

``We're thrilled to have four national championships, but the legacy we want to leave is the program's history, I guess. It's the tradition of working hard every day in practice and going hard, because that's how you get here.''

Congratulations to the team, the coach, and the school for this outstanding record.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize an incredible public servant who is retiring from my district congressional office in a few short weeks.

Mrs. Dorothy Harry has served the citizens of the Pennsylvania Fifth Congressional District for 14 years. Dorothy has been in the Titusville district office for more than a decade. The constituent calls have been greeted by her with a professional, courteous, and caring attitude.

Dorothy has never been late by even a minute, is thorough in her service, and leaves nothing undone. She joined the congressional staff with a lifetime of experience working in her family's insurance agency. Constituents of my congressional district that contact our office with insurance-related issues have had her voice of experience to guide them through many concerns.

Dorothy is the mother of two daughters, whom she is very proud of. Dorothy has always been quick to share that one of her daughters created a Christmas ornament that hung on the White House Christmas tree.

On December 31, Dorothy Harry will retire from public service as a member of the Pennsylvania Fifth Congressional District congressional staff at the age of a young 81 years old. The citizens have been well served by her and, I am sure, join me in saying, ``Job well done and thank you, Dorothy. You will be missed.''

Madam Speaker, the Army's third highest award for combat valor is the Silver Star. Today, it is my honor to praise a Silver Star recipient from my district in State College, Pennsylvania, Chief Warrant Officer Two Mark Roland.

In August at Fort Bragg, he received the award for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States from Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland, commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Bragg. The award comes from the President of the United States.

While serving as the Intelligence Sergeant for a Special Forces Operational Detachment at Firebase Ripley in Afghanistan, Roland cleared and destroyed enemy fighters at close range, rescuing eight Afghan soldiers and leading the actions of the detachment's split team to a battlefield victory.

The citation reads that Roland distinguished himself by inspiring those around him to extraordinary collective valor. His personal courage and commitment to mission accomplishment in a combat zone, under extreme circumstances, greatly contributed to mission success.

Roland and all of the other servicemembers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve our praise and our gratitude for daily risking their lives for freedom. A Silver Star is our Nation's token of our greater thanks.

Madam Speaker, this past weekend the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania celebrated its 223rd year as the second State to be admitted to the new United States of America. Its history is varied, from the Algonquin and Iroquois natives who met Dutch explorers in 1609 to the Quaker named William Penn who founded Philadelphia in 1682. That fair city served as the Nation's Capital from 1790 to 1800. Both the First and Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and General George Washington and his Continental Army survived a harsh winter at Valley Forge during the Revolution. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania became the second State admitted.

As we became a Nation, the State grew and produced iron and milled grain, plied the steamboat on its rivers, and drilled the first commercially successful oil well near Titusville. More recently, we have gone from the production of oil and steel to the new boom of the Marcellus natural gas play. I congratulate the State on its milestone of its 223rd year and celebrate the freedom that allows the Commonwealth to pursue prosperity with natural gas development and help the Nation with its energy needs.

Mr. Speaker, a recent headline in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked about the scarcity of heating fuel, which sent prices through the roof. By contrast, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on a drop in utility bills in the area due to Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania. Both are classic examples of such supply and demand.

Heating fuel in Atlanta is fed, in great part, by the production of offshore oil and natural gas reserves from the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, last week vast amounts of our own oil and natural gas reserves off the Atlantic and Pacific coast were placed off limits by the White House, limiting production and, as a result, supply.

Secretary of the Interior Salazar, through regulation, not legislation, removed nearly all of our vast offshore oil and natural gas reserves from the production process. The result, not one barrel of oil or cubic foot of natural gas owned by other citizens will be produced until at least 2022.

In Pennsylvania, recent development of Marcellus Shale natural gas has brought the opposite effect. A lower rate from the Philadelphia Gas Works will save the average customer almost $15 per month.

The solution is obvious, and Congress should reclaim its jurisdiction over our energy future.

Mr. Speaker, in 2008, the President and the House of Representatives lifted the 24-year-old moratorium on offshore oil and gas production on most of our Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Back in March, President Obama pushed for offshore oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast through 2017. Then in April, the BP oil spill happened. That disaster is certainly a cautionary tale.

Yet, in the first week in December, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, without an act of Congress or a Presidential executive order, single-handedly prohibited offshore energy development from 2012 to 2017--a 5-year plan for offshore leasing. In reality, this change means no new production can even begin until 2022, if then.

That is not the way to reduce our rising dependence on foreign oil or to solve our unemployment problem or our lack of economic growth. We must learn our lessons from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and proceed with care--but we must proceed.

President Obama, through Secretary Salazar and strangulation by regulation, has set back our country's path to energy security by at least 12 years, which is certain to produce higher energy prices and to and increase our dependence on foreign imports--hardly sound energy policy.