Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor an outstanding non-profit in San Mateo County, HIP Housing, on the occasion of its 40th Anniversary. This remarkable organization has assisted thousands of disadvantaged and disabled residents giving them shelter and the opportunity to turn their lives around.

Because of HIP Housing, over 1,000 individuals per year have a place to call home which makes for 1,000 stories of transformed lives. These are the stories of struggling mothers with high school educations going back to school, under the guidance of HIP Housing, to earn a degree.

HIP Housing's stories include those of families who, due to illness or a reduction in hours at work, injuries from an auto accident or dozens of other causes, cannot afford rent and are dangerously close to living on the street. HIP Housing offers a helping hand and a steady course to a secure future.

The Home Sharing Program is a creative and effective way to match a home provider with a home seeker who pays rent or provides services. It cuts housing costs, promotes independence, provides companionship and increases security. Many strong friendships have started through the Home Sharing Program, and these friendships have transformed the lives of all involved.

HIP Housing's Self-Sufficiency Program helps low-income families set clear goals to become financially self-reliant within one or two years while receiving housing assistance and support services. Attending a graduation ceremony of this program is certain to make one cry. A long line of graduates traipse up to the microphone and recount how they developed parenting skills, earned a degree and landed a job, or learned the skills to start a business. One woman this year reported that she had moved from being nearly homeless to getting her college degree, and onward to making over $80,000 per year in hospital administration, all with the help of HIP's counselors. The American Dream is alive at HIP Housing where housing is a right of everyone who wishes to work hard, and a need of all human beings who seek dignity.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor the volunteers, staff, board members and foundations supporting HIP Housing. These are the quiet heroes who allow this organization to make San Mateo County a better place for all of us. HIP Housing is a shining example of what community service can be and can do to transform the world in which we live.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Police Officer Jeffrey Dick who is retiring after more than three decades of protecting citizens in the Bay Area.

Throughout his career Officer Dick has gone above and beyond the call of duty to support fellow officers and to serve our community. He began his law enforcement career in 1979 at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department and has been an officer at the San Mateo Police Department since 1984. He has been a law enforcement liaison and board member for the Northern California Chapter of the Concerns of Police Survivors, an organization that provides assistance to the families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty and in that capacity he travels around the state to attend funerals of police officers and offer their families support. He makes sure they receive the benefits due to them from the state of California. As a member of the San Mateo Police Officers Association Board of Directors, Officer Dick held the position of president three times. For 16 years he served as team captain for the San Mateo Critical Incident Stress Management Team, a non-profit organization that offers counseling, mentoring and follow-up for emergency personnel after crises. In 2010 he assisted emergency personnel following the San Bruno fire in spite of his fear of fire.

In March 2003 he received the 2002 Peninsula Lions Club Heroism Award related to the pursuit and capture of two bank robbery suspects.

His interests include Harley Davidson motorcycles and photography. His community volunteerism is noteworthy. He volunteers for the American Heart Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and other non-profit organizations as a photographer, and he has also volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House for more than 22 years.

In his retirement Officer Dick looks forward to spending more time with his wife, Linda Barstow-Dick. Officer Dick has two grown children, Erin Kristine Templin and Brian Joseph Dick. He also has a grandson, Devin James Templin.

Although Officer Dick is retiring from a long and meaningful career, he will continue to play a vital role in our community. Mr. Speaker, Officer Dick has dedicated his life to protecting residents of the Bay Area. I ask that the House of Representatives to join me in commending him for his extraordinary selflessness and service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a legendary environmental hero on his 95th birthday. Martin Litton is the quintessential take-no- prisoner environmental activist of his era. Thanks to his perseverance and passion, there is no dam in the Grand Canyon and there is no Disney resort next to Sequoia National Park.

Mr. Litton has been fighting for the environment for decades and still has plenty of fight left in him. He grew up in Gardena near Los Angeles and enjoyed hiking in the Southern Sierra as a child and teenager. When he was 18, he wrote a letter to the LA Times denouncing the diversion of water from Mono Lake to the growing population of Los Angeles. His wrote, ``The people of the entire state should rise up against the destruction of Mono Lake. Mono Lake is a gem-among California's greatest scenic attractions.'' It has been with this sentiment and determination that he pursued all battles in life.

In the 1940s, Mr. Litton worked in the circulation department at the LA Times and started writing environmental freelance articles. He caught the attention of David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club, who in 1952 hired Mr. Litton for a campaign against the construction of two dams in Dinosaur National Monument. Mr. Litton explored the Green and Yampa rivers in a wooden dory and the resulting publicity helped persuade the Congress to vote against the dams in 1956.

This was the first of many campaigns that stopped the building of dams. In 1964, Mr. Litton led a river trip through the Grand Canyon with David Brower, photographer Philip Hyde and writer Francois Leydet which led to the publication of the book Time and the River Flowing with photographs by Ansel Adams and Hyde. The Sierra Club then took out full page ads in the New York Times--Mr. Litton's idea--opposing the building of a dam in the Grand Canyon. Public opposition to the project was sealed.

Mr. Litton started his love affair with the Grand Canyon in 1955. He was only the 185th person to float the Colorado River first pioneered by John Wesley Powell. He continued to run the river for decades. In 1971 he founded Grand Canyon Dories and throughout the 1970s and 80s led commercial trips. Other river runners used rubber rafts, but Mr. Litton preferred the small wooden boats that were

originally used in Oregon and adapted them so they could be used on the Colorado. Mr. Litton sold the business in 1990, but continued to raft the Grand Canyon. Just three years ago he broke his own record as the oldest person to run the canyon in a dory.

From 1954-1968 Mr. Litton was the editor of Sunset Magazine. His cover story ``The Redwood Country'' in 1960 launched a movement that eventually led to the establishment of Redwood National Park. As a life-long pilot, Mr. Litton flew then Governor Edmund ``Pat'' Brown over the redwoods in Northern California to convince him not to sign a bill that would extend a freeway through the forest. It worked.

Mr. Litton continues to fight for the redwoods. He is deeply engaged in a campaign to stop logging in the Sequoia National Forest and the Giant Sequoia Monument.

Surpassing Mr. Litton's love for the environment is only his love for his wife of 69 years, Esther.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor Martin Litton who has kept some of the most beautiful places in America pristine and in existence for all of us to admire and enjoy. His tenacious spirit serves as an inspiration to all of us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the Gust family that has owned and operated Nick's Restaurant in Pacifica for 85 years and has made significant contributions to the community. It is undisputed among locals--and some out of towners in the know--that Nick's serves the best crab sandwich on the coast.

Nick's 85th Anniversary Bash will go on all week and it reflects the generosity and love of music and food of every member of the family: Charles, Anastasia, Nick, Lorraine, Kathy, Chuck and Lena.

Located at Rockaway Beach in Pacifica, Nick's has become a destination for visitors drawn by the restaurant's dramatic setting right on the beach with breakers crashing against boulders, pelicans gliding through the salty air, surfers catching waves and of course, the fabulous food.

The original Gust family member to come to Rockaway Beach was Stalios Karagianis. He left Macedonia, Greece in 1907, arrived in New York by ship and then traveled across the United States to San Francisco. He worked a variety of jobs, including one with the Ocean Shore Railroad which first brought him to the coast. While working as a contractor, Karagianis sent for his wife, Anastasia, to join him. They bought a house in Daly City and had three daughters and a son. In 1927, Karagianis returned to the coast and bought a piece of property on the edge of Rockaway Beach. He opened a small shack selling sandwiches, peanuts and candy to fishermen.

After losing his business to fire twice and rebuilding for the third time, Karagianis and his family decided to move into the business and make it their home to prevent another fire.

Karagianis faced a challenge. Over and over he was told that his name was too difficult to pronounce, so he changed it to Charlie Gust.

After 20 years of running the restaurant, Charlie eventually handed the reins to his son Nick and daughter-in-law Lorraine who continued the family tradition of always improving and expanding the business. Nick and Lorraine turned Nick's into one of the most unique and pleasant dining spots drawing visitors from all over the world to this beautiful cove on the Pacific coast. Nick served as mayor of Pacifica for four terms and on the city council for ten years ruling the city from the restaurant and bar at Nick's.

Now Nick's is in the hands of the third generation of Gusts. Nick's son Chuck has been running the restaurant for the last 10 years and daughter Lena is working there as well.

What has not changed over the last 85 years is the welcoming atmosphere, the hospitality of the Gust family and the great food. May Nick's serve its famous crab sandwich for the next 85 years!

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor the Gust family for being an integral part of Pacifica and providing an endless supply of comfort, sustenance and community service. As a long-time friend of the family I am proud and grateful for their many contributions to the vitality and folklore of Pacifica.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Millbrae Lion Club President Ron Frediani upon the completion of his year of service as President of the Millbrae Lions Club. This past year has been one of uncommon accomplishment by the Millbrae Lions, and Lion Ron is a key reason for this year's success.

The Lions worked with other community groups on more than one dozen community events. For example, under Ron Frediani's leadership, the Millbrae Lions were involved in the annual 4th of July barbeque for the Millbrae Historical Society, the collection of gently used books for the Friends of the Millbrae Library, helped to raise funds for a local church, joined with the Millbrae Rotary Club in the Relay for Life event, and ensured that Halloween celebrations continued despite city budget constraints.

The Millbrae Lions, under President Ron Frediani's leadership has been a major source of funding for charity throughout this tight-knit community. For example, the club provides American flags for the city's elementary schools and fingerprints all incoming kindergarteners. President Frediani and his club volunteers also honored all of the volunteers involved in youth baseball, both at dinner and during an annual pancake breakfast. These community events cannot happen without leaders such as Ron Frediani and his able board members who ensure that the Lions remain effective within their community.

Mr. Speaker, it has been my honor to speak before the youth group sponsored by the Millbrae Lions, the Millbrae Leos Club. At this event, I was thrilled to take questions from teens with active minds and a desire to serve their community. Youth leadership leads to community leadership as adults, and President Frediani has been a big part of the success of this group, ensuring that it adheres to boundary and safety rules.

A key duty of any club President is to arrange for speakers at regular meetings. President Frediani was cited by his club as being particularly adept at arranging for great speakers, which also helps build club membership and provides an educational opportunity for the broader community.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor Millbrae Lions Club President Ron Frediani upon the completion of his year of service to the community of Millbrae. There are many who are called into service involuntarily, but it takes a star to volunteer and then to be a beacon for others to follow. President Ron Frediani is such a star, and the Millbrae Lions Club and the entire community have benefited from his service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 25th Anniversary of a program in San Mateo County that has eliminated loneliness and provided support, guidance and joy for thousands of seniors.

Peninsula Family Service's Senior Peer Counseling is an outstanding example of how to best help seniors with transitions and life changes, health concerns, mobility issue, care provider questions and grief. A senior in need is paired up with a trained volunteer of a similar age, experience, values, wisdom and culture. In all of its work, Peninsula Family Service empowers families and individuals to become or remain self-sufficient and to be contributing members of our community.

Senior Peer Counseling was started in 1987 by Delia McGrath as part of the San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Program. The county recognized a need to provide an integrated and coherent set of services for older adults that would ensure they could live in the community as long as possible while maintaining their independence, connection and high quality of life. Delia McGrath was quickly joined by Carol Blomberger, a skilled art therapist, and the two set the groundwork for Senior Peer Counseling. They taught future counselors life skills that prepared them to help seniors in very difficult situations. Delia McGrath pointed out that the most important skill was listening; it built the foundation for trust and a peer relationship.

Today, all peer counselors must be at least 55 years old and are required to receive 60 hours of training to provide one-on-one and group counseling to older adults that covers social and family relationships, self awareness, listening skills, understanding depression, substance abuse and other challenges of aging.

Initially the Senior Peer Counseling served English speakers, but in 1989 it was expanded to Spanish speakers with the La Esperanza Vive component which Teresa Hurtado coordinated for over twenty years.

In 2008, the county put Peninsula Family Service in charge of Senior Peer Counseling which expanded the services to additional underserved seniors in the Chinese, Filipino and LGBT communities. Now a total of 80 peer counselors support over 300 seniors under the leadership of Susan Houston and Howard Lader and their dedicated staff.

Peer counseling deeply touches the lives of the people involved. One senior who was dependent on his electric wheel chair rarely left his home and became increasingly isolated. His social worker requested a senior peer counselor hoping it would help his social life and get him involved in a senior center close to his home. After six visits the senior asked the counselor to assist him in arranging transportation with Redi-Wheels and to join him at the senior center for the first couple of visits. The senior now happily goes to the center twice a week.

Patti Garber began volunteering as a counselor a few years ago. As a cancer patient herself, she says the work gives her a sense of purpose. ``I get more back than I put in,'' she says. ``I like solving problems and providing a web of connections.'' And that she does whether she helps a senior find food, apply for Social Security online, find a pet or get a wheel chair.

Arleen Henriksen who passed away last year at age 92, credited her long live in part to her volunteer counseling. Arleen, whom I had the privilege of knowing when she volunteered in my legislative offices, dedicated over 20 years and much of her energy to the program. In 2009, she told the San Mateo Daily Journal, ``It's more rewarding for the counselor than the people you help.'' She added, ``People get scared thinking that, to do this, they have to be psychologists. That's not the case; you don't have to be anything more than a caring person.''

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor the caring people at Senior Peer Counseling who for 25 years have provided a remarkable service that has brightened the lives of thousands of seniors in San Mateo county. May it thrive for the next 25 years and serve as a model for other communities.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to state for the record that my vote against the Holt amendment, Roll No. 504, to H.R. was made in error. I support this amendment, which would strike a provision that requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a single multi-sale environmental impact statement for all of the new areas opened for drilling by the underlying bill.

I rise again today to talk about military sexual trauma. It's a cancer, it's ubiquitous, it's unabated, and regretfully, unaddressed.

There was Tailhook in 1991. There was Aberdeen in 1996. There were scandals at the military academies. There were hearings, there were reports, there were toothless recommendations. So here we are, again, with yet another scandal.

At this very moment, military training instructor Luis Walker stands before a court martial for raping and assaulting recruits at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Walker's job is to train freshly minted new Air Force recruits, many of them still in their teens. In all, there are 28 charges against him and 10 victims. Walker is a sexual predator.

On Tuesday, a victim testified that right after graduating from boot camp, Walker approached her while she sat outside on a bench waiting for a bus that would take her to technical training school. Walker came up and ordered her to get some bleach from a supply room, and then he followed her. Once inside, he closed the door and took off his training instructor's hat. ``I'm not here for bleach, am I,'' she asked. While Walker had intercourse with her on a couch, she wondered, ``My God, I hope he has a condom on.''

On Wednesday, another victim testified that while on laundry detail one day, Walker showed up and told her to follow him to get some towels, but to wait 5 minutes so the surveillance cameras would not capture them going up together. Once inside a dorm, he pulled her into a flight office, kissed her, and told her to perform oral sex on him. She said she did what she was told.

Walker's defense attorneys argue that because the women never forcefully resisted, the sex was consensual. The defense also argues that because the women never came forward to report the incidents, they must not have felt victimized.

If this happens in any high school in this country--if the prized English teacher, band instructor, or football instructor had sex with his student, we would be outraged and we would demand action. That teacher would be fired. Yet at Lackland, where some of the recruits are just 18 or 19 years old, we rationalize the behavior of the perpetrator and we blame the victim. Apparently, we have a different definition of zero tolerance for sex offenders in the military world than we do for them in the civilian world. What does zero tolerance mean in the military? Is that just a catchphrase?

The 35,000 Air Force recruits who funnel through Lackland each year are mostly confined to the base for 6\1/2\ weeks of training. They get one 3-minute phone call once a week. Recruits live and breathe basic training and follow each and every order of their instructor. One rape victim at Lackland said, ``Nothing a military training instructor says ends with a question mark.''

Walker is not the only predator charged at Lackland. Seven additional training instructors have been charged with sexual misconduct with trainees. At least another five are under investigation. One instructor, Staff Sergeant Craig LeBlanc, bragged about his conquests to his colleague, who waited a month before he reported the incidents. Out of loyalty, the colleague stayed quiet. Once he finally reported LeBlanc's misconduct with recruits, that instructor was ostracized by fellow training instructors for being a tattletale. Is this really a culture of zero tolerance?

Congress needs to investigate and to hold an independent hearing on the widespread sex abuse at Lackland Air Force Base. In the last 3 years since

Luis Walker started working at Lackland, roughly 21,000 female airmen have cycled through basic training. Have they been interviewed by investigators to determine if they, too, have been raped and sexually assaulted at Lackland? How widespread is this epidemic?

At Lackland, out of the 31 identified victims, only one has reported the crime. Why are victims scared to come forward? Internal investigations will not get to the bottom of this. Congress needs to act. I called for a hearing in June, and received no response. Last week, I was joined by a bipartisan group of 77 Members of Congress calling for a hearing. We've received no response. I'm sick of waiting for action. The 19,000 members of our military who are raped each and every year deserve better than catchphrases. They deserve justice.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to support an amendment by my good friend and colleague from New York to cap excessive contractor compensation. Ballooning contractor costs are wasting taxpayer dollars and weakening our national defense.

While our government employees accept pay freezes, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy raised the cap on executive compensation for contractor executives by 10 percent to nearly $770,000. This, my friends, is a no-brainer: we can't afford to pay contractors twice the President's salary.

Now, mind you, this does not mean that the CEOs can't make more than $770,000. They can, in fact. In fact, they can be paid much more by their shareholders. We want to reduce the amount of money they make to no more than that of the President.

Throughout this budget process, defense contractor CEOs have threatened to fire people if they do not get what they want through the suspension of sequestration, saying that they can't afford to continue their operations unless the Department of Defense is spared from the chopping block. But if you look at the Forbes magazine list of the top compensated CEOs, you see that it is the taxpayers who can't afford them.

The Federal Government's top contractors make anywhere from $5 million to $56 million each year. While these costs are not all coming directly from the Treasury, we contribute, nonetheless, in cost overruns and single-source contracts that make them all too big to fail.

Last year we passed language that capped some of their compensation, but excluded scientists and engineers from these caps because we were worried that we would not be able to get the talent we need. But when you think about it, this argument is ludicrous. The U.S. Government isn't their only client, but we're expected to pay the whole cost for the talent they need to win contracts with us.

The Senate agrees. The Armed Services Committee unanimously passed a bill that would include this cap on contractor compensation. ``Unanimously'' means it was bipartisan.

What we're asking contractors to accept, the same salary as the Vice President, isn't unfair or unprecedented. It's time that we stop asking taxpayers to pay excessive contractor compensation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Amendment No. 18 Offered by My Coffman of Colorado

Madam Speaker, I regret to say that America is for sale and the White House will go to the highest bidder. Seventeen people have given $1 million to the biggest conservative PACs in this country, and those contributions represent more than one-half what those PACs have received.

Who are these 17 people? Well, the median age is 66, the median wealth is

$1 billion, and they're interested in a couple of things. They want to eliminate inheritance tax, they want to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, and they want to slash the highest tax brackets.

Let's talk about one of them.

Mr. Adelson has contributed $25 million, $10 million to Mr. Romney's Restore Our Future. What is $10 million in his budget like? Well, his $10 million is a contribution in $24 billion of net worth. How does that compare? Well, that would be like a $40 contribution to someone whose net worth was about $100,000. So Mr. Adelson can give a lot more money with much less effort.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I'm here to offer an amendment to strike $120.5 million in undistributed funds from the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund, matching the Senate authorizers and keeping intact over $1.7 billion for this program.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund--more commonly known as JIEDDO--is responsible for leading, advocating and coordinating the Defense Department's efforts to defeat IEDs. After more than $20 billion, Congress has received numerous reports that JIEDDO has had decidedly mixed outcomes, and after three attempts still has not developed a mechanism for tracking the Pentagon's counter-IED efforts. So we've spent $20 billion.

In the Senate, the Armed Services Committee cut $200 million from JIEDDO. In their report, they said JIEDDO suffered from:

Duplication of effort with the military services, excessive

contractor support costs, and organizational inefficiencies.

As The Washington Post recently reported, these excessive contractor support costs included noncompetitive contracts given to former government employees profiting from Washington's perpetual revolving door and hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts being subcontracted out to other former military personnel.

Isn't this what our constituents dislike the most about what's going on here, that there are cronyism activities, that there are revolving doors and that military personnel, after they're retired, become mentors?

This bill also recognizes there's a problem here. The bill itself has actually reduced their budget by $60 million.

The IED threat remains significant, but continuing to robustly invest in counter-IED technology makes less sense, both tactically and strategically.

From a tactical level, Pentagon statistics show that IEDs were 25 percent less effective this year than the year before. Strategically, we are shifting away from ground wars and counterinsurgency missions and must begin reallocating some of these funds to more pressing national security needs.

In February, the GAO told Congress that JIEDDO's poor planning and management resulted in many funds going to duplicative projects, creating waste and likely slowing down the ability of the Department of Defense to meet its mission objectives. For example, in 2008, U.S. Central Command began development for a directed energy solution to defeating IEDs. Without coordination, JIEDDO undertook six different efforts to tackle the problem, which cost taxpayers at least $104 million.

When the commander of U.S. Central Command still didn't have a solution by August 2011, he had to write JIEDDO to urge them to coordinate their efforts in hopes of getting something he could field to fulfill what was then a 3-year-old unmet requirement for the warfighter. JIEDDO coordinated the effort of the six projects but deferred making a decision on shifting resources or canceling the project yet again. The organization also admitted that they likely would not have been able to execute their mission to manage the Pentagon's IED efforts in this case without the commander's written protest.

Some soldiers in the field have also expressed disappointment at JIEDDO's results. A marine that served in Afghanistan in 2009 compared the IED-detecting devices issued by JIEDDO to a beachcomber's faulty metal detector and said his IED jammers were frequently broken. Others report that dogs remain more reliable detectors downrange.

It's time to stop signing a blank check for an organization that cannot track its projects or expenditures, that often gives contracts to its cronies, and that the GAO has said is duplicative.

As we draw down in Afghanistan and look to cut funds from much more productive and efficient parts of the Federal budget, I urge you to support these cuts of an inefficient organization that lacks the management controls to prevent taxpayer dollars from being wasted.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great American, Frank McCrea, on the celebration of his 90th birthday.

Frank McCrea is a member of what we have rightfully come to call The Greatest Generation. He is everything we have come to celebrate about that celebrated group: a devoted son, brother and father; an unquestioning patriot; an extraordinary servant to his faith; and a true citizen of his community.

Frank McCrea and his 5 brothers and sisters were raised in the depths of the Great Depression. Often, they had nothing more for dinner than the vegetables they grew in their own garden. Yet Frank will reflect on those years not about hardship and deprivation, but about how the love of a close family lit them from within.

When the War came, Frank did not hesitate: he volunteered for the Navy, and served his country with honor. As one who personally has had her life saved by those who choose to serve our nation, I speak with special emphasis in expressing our country's eternal debt to those who serve in our armed forces.

Faith has been at the core of Frank's life. He has long been a deacon of his church and has been an active member of the Gideon Society for over 40 years. All of us who have come into Frank's remarkable orbit have felt the bond Frank has with his faith, and have come to know the special peace that faith has given to him.

Another cornerstone for Frank has been friendship. I know that this weekend he will be surrounded by a legion of true friends, a number who have been connected to Frank since high school--over 70 years ago. I think Frank can honestly boast that he has never lost a friend, and the number that he has gained is almost too large to measure.

But central to Frank McCrea is being a magnificent father. In his local community theater, Frank has been cast as a dad over 15 times-- for good reason. His daughters Karen, Christine and Beth have all gone on to raise children of their own and lead significant lives, but they all point to the bedrock of love from their father and mother that launched them. I truly believe that all of us would regard as our greatest accomplishment if our children were to feel about us as his daughters feel about him.

In sum, Mr. Speaker, let me say that we are indeed fortunate to have citizens like Frank McCrea and that I join his church, his community, his friends and his family in wishing him the happiest of birthdays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to implore this body to finally take meaningful action to end the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military. For 25 years, Congress has held dramatic hearings on this issue. It has rocked the military branches. Committee members have beat their chests and demanded answers from decorated generals and military leaders who testified. Congress demanded reports. These reports were provided and are now gathering dust on shelves around Washington, D.C.

The time for reports is over. Now it's time for action to solve this problem.

The solution is to take the reporting and investigation of cases of rape and sexual assault out of the military chain of command and place them in a separate office independent of the chain of command with the authority to investigate and prosecute within the military.

Last week I called for the House Armed Services Committee to hold a hearing on the widespread sex scandal at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. No hearing date has been set.

The charges of rape, assault, and sodomy leveled against six instructors at Lackland are astonishing. One instructor is accused of raping or assaulting 10 victims, and another confessed to having sexual relationships with another 10 victims of his own. Yesterday we learned that 12 instructors are under investigation for sexual misconduct with trainees and that a criminal investigation is ongoing on four different Air Force bases now.

Like many cases of rape and sexual assault, the perpetrators are not denying that they engaged in sexual misconduct; they simply contend that the sex was consensual. It comes down to the word of the accuser and the accused, the instructor against the trainee. In the military, this usually means the perpetrator gets off or receives a disproportionately small punishment, and the victim endures an arduous and humiliating legal process with little sense of justice at the end.

Every day more disgusting news is unearthed about Lackland. Everyone wants to know: What is being done about it?

This scandal is remarkably similar to the Aberdeen scandal that rocked the Army in the 1990s. Fifteen years ago, a Republican-led Senate held a hearing on a sex scandal at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

The Army brought charges against 12 instructors for sexual assault on female trainees under their command. Nearly 50 women made sexual abuse charges, including 26 rape accusations. One instructor was cleared. The remaining 11 were either convicted at court martial or punished administratively.

In an interview about the scandal, then-Assistant Secretary of Defense Kenneth Bacon said:

The issue here is the relationship between a trainer and a

trainee. The Army regulations bar intimate relationships

between trainers and trainees, between drill sergeants and

trainees, because they are fraught with misuse of power, with

misuse of influence, or the possibilities of misuse of power

and influence.

This may be hard for some in the civilian world to relate to, but it is the constant reality within our Armed Forces. It is ingrained in our military servicemen and -women to follow the orders of their chain of command and never disobey.

Here is an except from a 1996 interview with an Army recruit who was raped by her instructor at Aberdeen. The victim, a South Carolina native who joined the Army in December of 1995 as a way to pay for college, said her instructor once ordered her to the bathroom. ``A few minutes later he came in behind me, and that's when he started to tell me to do certain things,'' she said. ``To disrobe?'' Asked the reporter. ``Mm-hmm,'' she said. She said she never screamed, never said ``no,'' only that she was traumatized. ``When you had sex in the bathroom, was it something you wanted,'' the reporter asked. ``No,'' Bleckley said. Nothing has changed.

Last month in Texas, two victims were asked if they resisted when their Air Force training instructor lured them into a dark supply room to have sex. ``No,'' they said. They froze.

What is happening at Lackland Air Force Base is no different than what happened at Aberdeen Proving Ground 15 years ago. After that scandal, we heard assurances about how seriously the crimes were taken and how ``we're going to get to the bottom of this problem.'' Yet clearly the military is unable to police itself on matters of rape and sexual assault.

I called for a hearing into the Lackland scandal because we need to know once and for all why instructors have been permitted to abuse power so freely. And we need to know from top brass that the phrase ``zero tolerance for sexual assault in the military'' is a fact, not a talking point.

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts.

This should be labeled ``Fast and Foolish'' or maybe ``Fast and Fake.'' We are not talking about gunwalking here. We are doing nothing to help the family of Brian Terry recover. What we're talking about are interoffice emails between the administration executives in the AG's office. I want everyone here to be willing to turn over all of their interoffice emails.

But, more importantly, let's talk about whether there's precedence for the assertion of executive privilege. And let me just point to a number of cases when executive privilege was asserted for noninvolved Presidential communications.

In October 1981, President Reagan asserted executive privilege over internal deliberations within the Department of the Interior concerning, interestingly enough, the Mineral Lands Leasing Act.

In October 1982, President Reagan asserted executive privilege over internal EPA files concerning Superfund provisions.

In July 1986, President Reagan asserted executive privilege over documents written by William Rehnquist when he was the head of the OLC at DOJ.

In August 1991, President George H.W. Bush asserted executive privilege over an internal Defense Department memorandum regarding an aircraft development contract.

In December 2011, President George W. Bush asserted executive privilege over internal Justice Department materials relating to prosecutorial decisionmaking.

It has been done many, many times before by Republican Presidents. What we are doing here is a travesty to this institution and to this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 100th Anniversary of a place filled with vibrant colors, tantalizing fragrances, delicate shapes and magic--the California Flower Market in San Francisco. The market is flowers galore and it's impossible to be there without feeling uplifted. I'm a proud and frequent customer at this special place that is also a great boost to our local economy.

The California Flower Market, spanning a block between 5th and 6th Streets on Brannan Street, was established by Japanese-American flower growers a century ago. The growers needed a place to sell their products and founded one of the first Japanese-American corporations in California to do so. The pioneering Issei--the first Japanese immigrants to North America, South America and Australia--honed their growing and flower arranging skills and made significant contributions to the development of the community.

Today, over 50 vendors sell their flowers to 4,000 trade buyers, which include retailers, whole sellers, party planners and interior decorators, and to the public directly. The California Flower Market is an oasis in the South of Market area of San Francisco. I personally welcome any opportunity I have to stroll through the market and pick out a perfectly grown Phalaenopsis, a blossom-covered Christmas cactus or an Ikebana arrangement.

But history wasn't always bright at the California Flower Market. During the shameful era of World War II's internment of Japanese- Americans, flower markets throughout California went from Japanese control to non-Japanese control in a matter of months.

The United States sent 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to internment camps along the Pacific Coast. Most of them were American- born citizens and hard-working, law-abiding people. The majority of them remained silent about their experiences in the camps and later picked up the pieces of their broken lives and built new communities. The flower growers were among them. While in the camps, the flower growers association worked hard to remain organized and give growers hope for the future. In the 1950's Japanese-Americans rebuilt their prominence in the floricultural industry.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to honor the California Flower Market on its 100th Anniversary. It is a symbol of lasting and resilient beauty that cannot be suppressed, only enjoyed.