Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, allow me to speak in support of Senate bill 22, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, within which are 30 separate authorizations for the Bureau of Reclamation and the United States Geological Survey.

The 30 bills include and highlight the changing Western water environment. The bill authorizes conservation, water-use efficiencies, water recycling projects, addresses aging infrastructure issues, and allows for the feasibility study of many much-needed water projects.

Our Subcommittee on Water and Power heard most of these bills. Some were Senate bills, and were approved by unanimously by both sides. Seven California title XVI water recycling authorizations and two groundwater recharge authorizations are included in this bill. When completed, these projects will produce 500,000 acre-feet of reclaimed reuse water and added storage capacity. There are many areas of drought in the western States, including in my home State of California, which is now facing its third unprecedented drought year. Title XVI projects would allow for communities to expand their local water resources and lessen their reliance on unreliable imported water supplies.

Finally, this legislation will ratify two tribal water right settlements in Nevada and New Mexico and set a funding mechanism for many other settlements across the West. Most importantly, S. 22 will resolve many years of litigation and bring ``peace in the valley'' through a sustainable water supply for tribal and nontribal communities.

I might add this was on a bipartisan basis out of my committee at all times.

Madam Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to clarify existing tariff law and protect our domestic tuna canning industry. Bumble Bee Foods operates the only tuna cannery remaining in the United States in Santa Fe Springs, CA in my 38th Congressional District. This cannery relies on imported tuna loins from Asia to manufacture canned tuna in the U.S.

For 75 years, Congress and the administration have implemented a $10 per loin ton (less than 1%) duty rate on tuna loins while having a 12.5% duty rate on canned tuna. The difference in these duty rates is to encourage companies like Bumble Bee to can tuna in the United States. Given our current economic situation, it is of maximum importance to help maintain and create jobs in the United States.

Bumble Bee imported tuna loins in plastic bags sealed with metal clips and paid the lesser duty rate. At the direction of the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, Bumble Bee stopped this practice and instead began packaging loins with a heat seal to improve product quality and safety.

Upon inspection of the heat sealed bags in August 2006, the local Customs Service at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach concluded that the new bags were airtight and imposed increased duties of 12.5%. This is contradictory to Congress' intent and the historical application of customs regulations that put a lower tariff rate on imported tuna loins to promote the domestic tuna canning industry. The fact that current imports of loins are in heat sealed plastic bags to more effectively prevent contamination of frozen tuna loins should not change the underlying classification of the product.

The bill I am introducing today will clarify the previously long standing customs regulations and allow tuna companies to continue to safely import tuna loins at a lower duty rate to can in the U.S. The bill requires Customs to adopt a clear test to determine whether a container is ``airtight'' that is based on universal standards, promotes health and safety, and comports with the intent of the tariff legislation. Under such a test, heat sealed loin bags would not be subject to the higher duty rate paid by canned tuna imports.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill which will clarify Congress' intent to protect the domestic canning industry by maintaining a lower duty rate on imported tuna loins.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 135.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor Tony E. Gallegos, a deeply patriotic Mexican-American who I am proud to represent. Tony has admirably served his country both in uniform and as a civilian.

A native of Montrose, Colorado, Tony served as a flight engineer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, flying 17 missions in a B- 17 bomber. After the war, Tony pursued an education at the Bisttram School of Art in California, earning his bachelor of arts degree. His professional career spanned 30 years with McDonnell Douglas Aircraft climbing the ranks to corporate art director before retiring to join the civil service.

Tony's concern for societal injustices led him to become an active member of the American GI Forum. As such, he served as the commander of the Pico Rivera Chapter, California State commander, and eventually as national commander.

As an active member and commander of the American GI Forum, he spearheaded the Coors boycott, the GI Forum March in Washington, D.C., east Los Angeles moratorium and social injustice demonstration confronting President Richard Nixon in San Clemente, California.

Tony has made countless contributions to the Mexican-American community. He has been an advisory member of the U.S. Senate Task Force on Hispanic Affairs and was a founding member and the first chairman of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. Tony served on the national board of Operation SER and as a member of the boards of the Los Angeles County Office of Economic Development and Veterans Outreach. And he was the president and CEO of Veterans Community Service in Santa Fe Springs, California.

Under President Ronald Reagan, Tony served two terms as a Commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He was reappointed to the Commission by President George H.W. Bush and became the first Latino appointed EEOC Chairman under President Bill Clinton. During his tenure at the EEOC, Tony distinguished himself by expanding Title Seven, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Tribal Employments Rights Program and the Voluntary Assistance and Expanded Presence Program. Tony also initiated the Hispanic charge study.

Mr. Gallegos was married to the late Carmen Gallegos for 55 years. They have a son Michael, who is a financial planner, a daughter Lori, an attorney, and three grandchildren, Angela, Rachel and Brandon.

Tony has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to his community and to his country. He has served in a time of war and at the highest levels of civil service. His tireless work on the behalf of others has established a model that others should strive to emulate.

In honor of his many accomplishments and dedication to our great country, I ask that my colleagues join me today in recognizing Mr. Tony E. Gallegos.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2095, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act and Amtrak Reauthorization bill. I congratulate Chairman Oberstar, Chairwoman Brown, Ranking Member Mica, and Ranking Member Shuster for their bipartisan work on this bill.

H.R. 2095 is vital legislation for my district which has 160 trains traveling through it every day, 90 on the Union Pacific line and 70 on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line. These trains carry approximately 14,000 containers every day, with many of them holding hazardous materials. This train traffic is expected to triple by 2020, which will mean a train every 10 minutes.

From October 2004 to May 2005, five derailments occurred in or near my district. These derailments damaged homes and businesses, threatened public safety and caused anxiety for those who lived and worked along the railroad.

H.R. 2095 will take major steps to prevent derailments by improving track safety and grade crossing safety, increasing whistleblower protections, setting hours of service requirements, and strongly enforcing rail safety violations.

The rail safety section of the bill includes 3 provisions that I offered through amendments in Committee and on the House floor.

The first provision would create strict training standards for all railroad employee inspectors. Railroad inspectors have expressed frustration over their lack of training curriculum. They claim that most training is on the job and from coworkers. This provision creates strong training, testing, and skills evaluation measures to ensure that inspectors are able to address critical safety defects that contribute to derailments and accidents.

The second provision would fund Operation Lifesaver for $7 million over the next 4 years. Operation Lifesaver is a rail safety awareness program that provides public service announcements, school presentations, brochures and materials, and support for public awareness campaigns. The goal of this public education program is to end collisions, deaths, and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroad rights-of-way. The program is supported by a wide range of partners including Federal, State and local government agencies, highway safety organizations, law enforcement, and the Nation's railroads. The provision will also create a pilot program for sustained outreach in high risk areas, as defined by number of accidents and population density near the tracks.

The third provision would prohibit the Federal Government from allowing train safety inspections in Mexico from satisfying U.S. safety requirements. Railroad companies have tried multiple times to receive waivers from the Federal Government from having to perform safety inspections of trains that cross the border. Safety inspections in Mexico are much different than those performed on our side of the border and we must make sure U.S. rail safety laws are being followed.

H.R. 2095 also includes a major provision regarding the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems that is vital to ensuring that accidents such as the recent Metrolink tragedy never happen again. The bill requires all major railroads and passenger railroads to implement PTC by December 31, 2015. PTC systems have the ability to stop trains automatically before accidents occur by using switch position indicators, track integrity technology, GPS systems, and other technology. The bill also includes a grant program to assist the railroads in deploying PTC systems.

I am concerned that an important provision regarding State regulation was not included in this final bill. The State regulation provision would have ensured the original intent of Congress to give States regulatory authority to address local safety hazards.

The provision is necessary because Federal Appellate Courts have preempted every attempt by the States to implement rail safety provisions where the FRA has not acted. This was not the original intent of Congress. The Federal Railroad Safety Act as passed in 1970 says, ``The States will retain the authority to regulate individual local problems where necessary to eliminate or reduce essentially local railroad safety hazards.''

States and local communities cannot rely on the limited FRA resources to address their safety concerns. States must be allowed to regulate the railroad in order to protect their property and their citizens. I hope this important safety issue will be addressed in the next Congress.

I also support the Amtrak and passenger rail section of H.R. 2095 which makes a dramatic investment in our passenger rail system that will provide jobs, strengthen the economy, and improve the environment.

The bill creates a new State Grant Program that provides $380 million per year for intercity passenger rail. This is desperately needed in California as it has 3 of the top 5 busiest rail corridors in the U.S. These corridors include Pacific Surfliner from San Diego through Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, the Capitol Corridor from San Francisco through Sacramento to Auburn, and the San Joaquin Corridors from Bakersfield to Oakland and Sacramento.

The bill will greatly assist the Sunset Limited, which travels through my district, by alleviating ``choke points'' with congestion grants and a new process for mediating disputes with freight railroads at the Surface Transportation Board (STB). It also provides funding for a High Speed Rail System which California has been working on.

The passenger rail section includes a provision I authored regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the raising of station platforms. L.A. Metrolink and many other commuter railroads have fully complied with ADA rules by putting ramps and lifts in all of their stations so the disabled community can safely and easily board the trains. DOT has proposed making a rule that would require all railroad stations to fully raise their platforms to the floor level of the trains entering the station. The problem is that most passenger rail stations are serviced by multiple railroad companies with different train sets. Raising the platform could create major vertical and horizontal gaps between the trains and the platform. This would make it harder for the disabled community to safely and efficiently enter and exit trains. The provision I authored requires Amtrak to study how raising station platforms will affect the safe and efficient boarding of trains for all passengers.

Madam Speaker, I strongly support passage of H.R. 2095, this very important railroad safety and passenger rail bill. I thank the Chairman for shepherding this bill through the legislative process.

Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues in honoring the accomplishments of our U.S. Olympic Athletes.

Javier Molina had a hole in his lung but that didn't stop him from representing his country. Hailing from Norwalk, California Javier--the son of Mexican-American immigrants and part of a boxing legacy that spans both sides of the U.S./Mexico border--became the youngest member of the 2008 U.S. boxing team at 18 years old. His hard work and determination has made everyone in the 38th District of California and the Latino community very proud.

All Olympic athletes work hard to achieve their goals but some athletes also have to fight through injuries. In Beijing Javier suffered from a condition called ``subcutaneous emphysema'' where air was able to seep out of a small hole in his lung. Although this condition made it hard for Javier to breathe and drained his energy he put up a strong front and boxed so he could represent the United States with dignity. Javier did not bring home a medal but he stayed committed, fought, and made us proud.

I also want to take this opportunity to recognize another one of my constituents, Laura Berg from Sante Fe Springs, California. Laura was a member of the 2008 U.S. Softball team which brought a silver medal home from Beijing.

This was the fourth time that Laura has represented our Nation at the Olympics, winning gold medals in softball at the 2004 Olympics in Sydney, the 2000 Olympics in Athens, and at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She is the only four-time Olympian in the history of softball. At the 2006 International Softball Federation's World Championships, she also set a world record by appearing in her fourth World Championship.

Before stepping down in 2007 to train for the Olympics, Laura showed her commitment to helping the next generation by working as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Fresno State.

On behalf of the 38th District of California, we are so proud of all our Olympians.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the authors of this wonderful piece of legislation, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. This action is long, long overdue.

As Chair of the Mental Health Caucus here in Congress, we have been working and dealing with this issue for over 10 years. Mental health and addiction services are decades behind other services. We must recognize that the brain is part of the body and it also has rights. Stigma has always been a part of what has prevented us from being able to move forward to work for the benefit of the people.

It used to be businesses indicated that family leave was going to be a detriment and costly. It turned out not to be. This has that same effect. It is going to be a saver.

It is my deepest hope that this will open the gates for further legislation addressing mental health, whether addiction or other issues. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in young people aged 10 to 24. It can lead to academic failure, family conflicts, substance abuse, violence, incarceration and alarming rates of suicide.

I thank the gentleman.

The cost to society, to businesses and our families is unacceptable, and we need to move forward. Seventy-nine percent of those treated experience reduction of symptoms. We will continue to see these things crop up, whether it is veterans returning from Iraq, catastrophic happenings in our country such as 9/11, the hurricanes, the floods, the fires, all of that is going to cause us to continue to have a better, longer look at the effects it is costing our society, and the cost to our businesses and to our country. Our government cannot continue to ignore this issue. It affects our businesses and our health industry. They need to recognize this, and Congress has got to be able to recognize they can no longer ignore this. It affects the quality of life, and it is vital for the health and well-being of our communities and our schools.

I urge my colleagues to support this vital legislation. Let's move on and remove the stigma for mental health.

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 414. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 2964-- Captive Primate Safety Act.

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 415. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3702-- Montana Cemetery Act of 2007.

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 416. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1275--Honoring the life of Timothy John Russert, Jr., public servant, political analyst, and author.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Oberstar for yielding the time. I am rising in support, in very strong support of the manager's amendment which includes some very important provisions especially the one regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and the raising of the stations' platforms. The Los Angeles Metrolink and many other commuter railroads have fully complied with ADA rules by putting ramps and lifts in all of their stations so the disabled community can safely and easily board the trains.

DOT has proposed a rule that would require all railroad stations to fully raise their platforms. It would be a very great cost to all the different railroads that service our people and then most passenger rail stations are serviced by multiple railroad companies with different train settings. Raising the platform will create major vertical and horizontal gaps between the trains and the platforms, making it harder for the disabled community to safely and efficiently enter and exit trains.

The manager's amendment requires Amtrak to study how raising station platforms will affect the safe and efficient boarding of trains for all passengers.

I fully support the manager's amendment and thank Mr. Oberstar, Ms. Brown, Ranking Members Mica and Shuster for their work on the reauthorization of the bill which helps provide many needed improvements in the sadly lacking rail transportation, and hopefully will provide enticement to people leaving their cars at home, saving gasoline, arrive rested and avoid the traffic jams, creates for us in California a desperately needed program where we have three of the top five busiest rail corridors in the U.S., the Pacific Surfliner, the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin Corridors, alleviating the choke points and being able to help us look at the San Diego to Los Angeles San Francisco high-speed rail. It will help Metrolink, and I strongly support the passage of the manager's amendment in the bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and commend Barbara and Edward Cogan, educators who both recently retired after more than 30 years of distinguished service. Day after day they energetically taught our youngsters valuable life skills, while raising their family in the great community of Hacienda Heights, California, and volunteering with programs that have enhanced education throughout the 38th Congressional District.

Barbara Ruth Cogan grew up in the great city of Montebello, California, and began teaching in 1970 at Belvedere Elementary School. She later joined the staff of Basset High School in 1975 after receiving her credential in Special Education. Over the past 33 years there she has worked in the OH (Orthopedically Handicapped) department, providing tireless support to her students and always strove to ensure that each and every young adult in her classes reached their full potential.

Edward Cogan grew up in East Los Angeles and began his career in the field of mathematics as an engineer in Pomona, California. Starting in 1972 he also began teaching, working in both the Hacienda/La Puente and Los Angeles Unified School Districts, finally retiring from El Sereno Middle School in Los Angeles. His lessons on computer science and programming were years ahead of the internet revolution and provided a generation of students with the inspiration to pursue further careers in technology.

Barbara and Edward also spent many years volunteering in the 38th District. Many of their summers were spent contributing to the programs of the Youth Science Center in Hacienda Heights, an organization dedicated to inspiring people of all ages to discover the excitement of science and technology. Their involvement as parents also extended to countless hours of enthusiastic support to local schools, little leagues, and youth activities.

Madam Speaker, today I would like to personally acknowledge and congratulate Barbara and Edward Cogan for their many years of dedicated work and I ask my colleagues to join me in applauding their efforts as educators. I wish them both continued success, health and happiness in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1134) supporting the goals and ideals of Mental Health Month.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, for far too long the topic of mental health has been pushed aside and swept under the rug. You don't see it, you don't talk about it, and you don't hear about it. It connotes people are crazy.

However, we cannot continue to ignore that mental illness does not discriminate. It touches all regardless of race, of gender, of class or of religion. It is time we address this issue at the forefront honestly and openly. Too many of our family members of our friends, our coworkers and especially our veterans and soldiers have had to suffer with mental illnesses in silence.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, 57 million Americans suffer from some form of mental illness. Despite findings that most mental illnesses are highly treatable, only one in three individuals suffering from these illnesses seek and or receive any treatment.

This low treatment can be attributed to the strong stigma associated with mental health issue that is still pervade and persist. Twenty percent of our United States population suffers from a diagnosable, treatable mental disorder, making the mental illness the leading cause of disability in our Nation, affecting our businesses and our economy.

The mental health and well-being of Americans are critical issues that affect not only the health of our communities, the quality of life, and, as importantly, our economic stability. A new report by the National Institute of Mental Health found that serious mental illnesses cost Americans at least $193 billion a year in lost earnings alone.

Our action is far overdue. We have had tests, screening for breast cancer, for heart attacks, for strokes and a myriad of other diseases and conditions. We have not yet woken up to the fact that the brain functions are vital to our body's health and survival.

It is critical that we will destigmatize mental illness so that our children, our families, our veterans receive the necessary help they need to lead productive lives with support from their families and their communities.

I respectfully encourage all of my colleagues to support this resolution to recognize May as Mental Health Month. We must all come together on this critical issue. It is vital that we recognize the scientific facts and real findings regarding mental health and work to remove the stigma associated therewith.

By increasing awareness of mental health issues we can insure that individuals have access to services including early detection and early prevention, and, most of all, to assure parity in our medical delivery systems.

This will allow us to improve the lives of those suffering from mental illness and their loved ones while reversing the negative impact that mental illness has had on our economy, on our families, and on our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Mr. Speaker, I really am grateful to my colleagues on the other side for their support. This has been a bipartisan effort, both with Representative Murphy, myself, and members of the Mental Health Caucus.

It has been quite important to us to continue working in airing the issue for this Nation's ability to be able to understand that we need to have more focus on how mental health affects our daily lives, our children in school, our seniors, mental health depression, our veterans, our soldiers in war after several deployments, all of those are parts of the whole that we need to understand in how it affects our lives.

The Army recently issued a memorandum to train the chain of command on mental health issues. They are encouraging their servicemembers to talk to their commanders on these issues openly and without fear of retribution in certain areas where they have already been deployed.

Parity was passed in February in the House, and it is a good first step and must be signed into law and it will help not only families but business as well.

Mr. Speaker, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the time my colleagues have put into this. It is an issue that is very pervasive and we need to encourage more effort into it, not only in funding for research, but also in assistance to be able to render services so that individuals who suffer from these illnesses can continue good, productive lives.

I reserve the balance of my time, and I have no other speakers, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have just one more word of thanks to my colleagues on both sides and I ask for continued support of this bill by a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 1176, supporting the goals and ideals of National Train Day. And I do congratulate the hard work that's gone into transportation on rail, because I sit on the subcommittee, I see the great need and the great movement that is happening.

The National Train Day recognizes the day when Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were joined in a golden spike Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869. Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF both run through my cities. One has 90 freight and passenger trains, and BNSF has 75 freight and passenger trains daily, carrying over $400 billion in annual trade for this Nation.

We must continue to work to relieve the public problems caused by railroads, the traffic delays at great crossings, the air quality concerns from pollution, the noise from the whistles and the rail cars and the safety concerns over derailments and other accidents.

I know that we have been able to understand a lot more of what the railroads need from us here in Congress, but, by the same token, I think they continue to try to be good citizens.

This House has passed H.R. 2095, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007. That bill takes a major step forward in addressing safety concerns with our railroads. We urge the Senate to pass this bill quickly.

H.R. 6003, the Passenger Rail Investments and Improvement Act of 2008 was introduced by the Transportation Committee this week. This will be a much needed investment as was recognized in Amtrak in our passenger rail system.

Earlier we heard from speakers talking about the price of gas. Well, the more people get on trains and Amtrak, the better off that we're going to be able to meet those demands.

The Railroad Subcommittee will hold a hearing on this bill tomorrow.

I thank Chairwoman Brown for authorizing this resolution and Chairman Oberstar for his leadership on this issue.

I thank my good friend and colleague, Joe Baca, from California for authoring this important legislation and thank Judy Biggert for supporting H.R. 406, the Alice Paul Congressional Gold Medal Act that would honor a true pioneer, one of the original suffragettes, as the progress of women's rights and equality continues to be such a strong need in our country.

In the early 20th century, she followed Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She recognized the disenfranchisement of women from political and public sectors and made it her passion to reconcile these injustices.

Alice Stokes Paul was a Quaker from Mount Laurel, New Jersey. She went to Swarthmore College and got her B.A. in 1905, which was unheard of in that time period. As was said before, she went to the New York School of Philanthropy, the University of Pennsylvania where she got her M.A. in Sociology, the University of Birmingham, the London School of Economics in 1907, and then the University of Pennsylvania where she got a Ph.D. in political science. Her dissertation at the time was the legal position of women in Pennsylvania.

Then in 1927, she received an LL.M. followed by a doctor of civil law degree in 1928 from the American University's Washington College of Law. As was mentioned, she joined the National American Women Suffrage Association in 1912, had done remarkable work with Lucy Burns, formed the Congressional Union, as was also mentioned. She actually laid the groundwork for the continuing of women to be able to have parity and equal rights.

She employed nonviolent civil disobedience campaigns, the hunger strike for which she was put into a prison psychiatric ward and force fed. She made it her passion to be able to continue fighting for the rights of women.

She energized a movement that produced a formal voice for women in politics through the voting rights. My female colleagues here in Washington and in Congress would not be standing before you today had it not been for those sacrifices made by Alice Paul and the suffragists. Her tireless efforts help provide women with the legal right to vote. That movement also fueled the social and cultural progress that has allowed me and others like me to participate at an elevated level of political progress.

She deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor, Mr. Speaker, because her actions have not only given women a voice in our country but provided inspiration for all disenfranchised women's groups to break that proverbial glass ceiling.

I want to thank my House colleagues, Joe Baca and Judy Biggert, that moved this bill forward. I urge the Senate to follow the House lead and support this legislation.