Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Lieutenant Carol Sloane for her 21 years of service at the Daly City Police Department.

Ms. Sloane was appointed police officer in 1990 and graduated from the Basic Academy at Butte Community College in Oroville, California. As a patrol officer, she trained new recruits as field training officers and was well respected by her fellow officers. She served as acting patrol sergeant on several occasions.

In 1994, Officer Sloan was awarded a departmental commendation for the arrest of three graffiti suspects. Four years later she received the same recognition for apprehending a homicide suspect. Immediately after a stabbing incident, Officer Sloan identified a suspicious person and through her investigation determined that the person was indeed the homicide suspect.

In February of 2003, Ms. Sloan was promoted to the rank of police sergeant. She graduated from the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute and was then assigned to the Management Control and Audit Unit where she conducted internal affairs investigations, departmental audits and served as the public information officer. Sergeant

Sloane was the face of the Daly City Police Department on many local television news stories.

Carol Sloane broke the gender barrier by becoming the first woman to be promoted to police lieutenant at the Daly City Police Department in 2006. She earned the respect and admiration of her department by dedicating much time, attention and mentorship to new and young officers.

Carol Sloane graduated from Terra Nova High School in 1975. She attended City College of San Francisco and the College of San Mateo. In 1999 she completed her degree in management at St. Mary's College.

Lieutenant Sloan lives in Pacifica with her husband of 14 years, Daly City Firefighter Doug Blanckensee, and their seven-year-old son Bryce.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to honor the outstanding service of Lieutenant Carol Sloan to the residents of Daly City. She will be remembered for her dedication, her leadership and for making our community a safer and better place.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Officer Allen Prows for his 31 years of service at the Daly City Police Department.

Mr. Prows was appointed police officer in 1980 and graduated from the Northern California Criminal Justice Training Center Academy at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.

Upon completion of the field training program, Officer Prows began his extensive career as a patrol officer. Working all shifts, he rose quickly from rookie to seasoned veteran in the patrol division where he spent his entire career. He is highly respected by his fellow officers and citizens alike and has received numerous letters of appreciation from residents and recognition for good team work with unit commanders from the department.

Officer Prows was awarded several departmental commendations, including one in 1986 for his part in the capture of two suspects who had vandalized Jefferson High School with graffiti and broken windows. He received another one in 1991 for being part of a team that apprehended a bank robbery suspect.

Allen Prows graduated from Newark High School in 1975. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Ohlone Community College.

He lives in South San Francisco and is the proud father of two sons, Kevin and Mathew.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to honor the service of Officer Allen Prows to the residents of Daly City. For over three decades, he has been dedicated to our community and made it a safer and better place.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Natalie Berg who today is receiving the 2011 Silver Spur Award from San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR). This award recognizes a lifetime of civic achievement of a San Franciscan.

Dr. Berg has had parallel careers in higher education and land use issues. She is a member of the Board of Trustees at City College of San Francisco and she is the President of NKB Strategies, a consulting company specializing in strategies for land use.

For twelve years, she was Senior Vice President of Forest City Development where she was responsible for obtaining the entitlements for the Westfield San Francisco Centre and now continues to be a consultant there. She also served as the president of the Yerba

Buena Alliance, the vice president of the Market Street Association and numerous community and neighborhood groups.

Dr. Berg has served City College for over 30 years as a professor, dean and an elected member of the Board of Trustees. In 1997, 2001 and 2006 she was President of the board.

She started in 1967 as an instructor in English, ESL, History and Civics. In 1976 she became administrative assistant to the President of the Community College Division. The following year she was appointed administrative assistant to the Vice Chancellor of Personnel. In 1980, she was named Coordinator of Personnel Relations and in 1984 became Director of Employee Relations.

Dr. Berg was originally elected to the San Francisco Community College District Board of Trustees in 1996 and re-elected every four years since then. She chairs the board's Community Relations Committee and is a member of the Policy Implementation Committee. Before her service on the board, Dr. Berg was the Dean of the John Adams Campus and the School of Health and Physical Education.

It is evident from Dr. Berg's career and service that she loves San Francisco and is committed to the highest quality of public policy and urban planning. Her outstanding leadership has earned her the title of one of ``The Most 100 influential Women in the San Francisco Bay Area'' from The San Francisco Business Times four times. The same paper chose her to be on the ``Forever Honor Roll'' of the most influential women in the Bay Area.

Dr. Berg received her Ed.D. in Community College Administration/ Curriculum from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, her MA in Educational Administration/College Finance from San Francisco State University and her BA in Economics from UC Berkeley.

She lives in San Francisco with her husband Peter Finnegan. They have three children, eleven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to acknowledge the many contributions of Natalie Berg, a great community leader and my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the Peninsula Hills Women's Club of Redwood City, California on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Over the past 50 years the members of this group have touched the lives of people in their community, across the country and throughout the world.

In 1960, thirteen women founded the club in order to donate time and money to a variety of causes locally and worldwide. Today, the club has 36 members who continue that mission.

This Thanksgiving will be the 28th year that the members will serve dinner for lonely seniors. For 15 years, the club has provided fruit and cookies twice a month to low-income AIDS patients. For 13 years, children at migrant camps in Mexico have received hats, blankets, school supplies, sports equipment and toys. Club members sew post-op pillows for breast cancer patients, turtle pillows for seriously ill children, knit baby caps for African children and wool caps for our soldiers. They throw one birthday party a year for a low-income senior over 80 years of age. The club adopts a class and gives books to the students twice a year--on Dr. Seuss' Birthday and Christmas. It donates money to Pennies for Pines, a reforestation program, and to the Heifer Project which gives livestock to communities in developing countries in an effort to end hunger and poverty.

The Peninsula Hills Womens' Club has held numerous fundraisers for Haiti Relief, Shelter Network and the Redwood City Educational Foundation. At one of the most memorable fundraisers for the Police Youth Athletic League, sheriffs and police officers played baseball against each other--with a twist: all players were on donkeys!

As is obvious from this long and diverse list of activities, the women of the Peninsula Hills Women's Club are extraordinarily dedicated, passionate and creative. The club may be small, but it is mighty. It is currently under the leadership of its fourth president, Judy Yoakum; however, her three predecessors, Veva Wheaton, Judy Imperiale and Kit Fragulia, continue to serve on the state board.

Mr. Speaker, it is right to honor the Peninsula Hills Womens' Club on this day, October 20, 2011, for 50 years of outstanding community service and to wish the members the best for the next 50 years.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Patricia Siegel, who has dedicated her life and career to making child care accessible and affordable for all families. I have known Patty for over 25 years and have witnessed her passion and determination to have child care recognized as a vital component of community life. Patty was a ferocious advocate for children in the California Legislature. She was unstoppable and never hesitated to shame people into doing the right thing.

Drawing on her experience as a mother, teacher and parent-organizer, Patty began developing and delivering child care services 40 years ago. She organized the Yellow Garage Playgroup for families in the Inner Sunset District in San Francisco. In 1972, she founded Childcare Switchboard to help families elsewhere in the city find such services. Four years later she was instrumental in initiating and implementing alternative child care solutions through the passage of AB 3059 which provided funding for the Child Care Resource & Referral Programs and Alternative Payment Programs in all California counties.

In 1980, Patty was the Founding Director and Executive Director of the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, which has grown into the most established system of child care resource and referral services in the country.

As the Executive Director of the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, Patty shaped state and federal policy for children and families. Her work included the Child Care Initiative Project, a statewide public-private partnership to expand the supply of licensed quality child care by recruiting and training new family child care providers, with special emphasis on infants and toddlers and Spanish speaking communities. She also inspired and guided the development of Parent Voices, a grassroots parent-led effort to engage and empower parents to actively and successfully participate in the policy process.

Patty also played an essential role in the creation and implementation of TrustLine, California's registry of license-exempt caregivers.

Beyond her role at the Network, Patty served on the Governor's Advisory Committee on Child Care Development, was one of the original state commissioners for the California Children and Families First Commission (First 5), and represented California in the Children's Defense Fund state child care advocates network. She is the state advocate and liaison for the National Women's Law Center and volunteers her time and expertise with the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Patty was born in Oakland and received her B.A. in French and English from the University of California, Davis.

In 1965 she married her husband Sanford ``Sandy'' Siegel. They have three children, Toby, Tara and Kelsey, and three grandchildren, Declan, Caio and Oona.

In her well deserved retirement, I am certain that Patty will enjoy spending more time with her family, gardening, traveling, cooking, hiking, reading, dancing and being in the outdoors.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to recognize my friend Patricia Siegel for her lasting contributions to families in California and the country and for always putting her community before herself.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Peter Douglas on the occasion of his retirement on October 31, 2011 as Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission for 26 years.

Mr. Douglas' great legacy is the lack of something--the lack of development on the spectacular 1,100 miles of California coastline. For over four decades he has worked to guarantee public access to the coast and to keep coastal bluffs pristine.

Mr. Douglas is the third executive director, appointed in 1985 after having served as the Coastal Commission's Chief Deputy Director for seven years. Before joining the commission, he worked as a legislative aide to Assemblyman Alan Sieroty of Beverly Hills. In that capacity he co-authored Proposition 20 in 1972 which created the Coastal Commission. He went to work for the Assembly Natural Resource Committee and the Select Committee on Coastal Protection where he co-drafted the California Coastal Act which was made permanent by the legislature in 1976. The law gives priority to public recreation over private development and gives the commission authority to enforce the law. Mr. Douglas deserves credit for turning a start-up panel into one of the country's most powerful land-use authorities.

Thanks to his work, millions of Californians and visitors are able to enjoy one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. Had it not been for Mr. Douglas, Hearst Ranch would be a golf resort, Monterey Bay would be lined by

condominiums and San Onofre State Park would be a paved toll road.

Mr. Douglas is one of the fiercest defenders of open space and he is not afraid to speak truth to power. For example, this year some landowners wanted to build ``environmentally friendly'' mansions along a bluff overlooking Malibu. Speculation persisted that the commission would approve the project until Peter Douglas stated he had ``never seen a project as environmentally devastating as this.'' The commission voted against it.

Mr. Douglas took on the Jonathan Club and the Olympic Club, private men's clubs in Santa Monica and San Francisco respectively. He urged the commission to vote against their expansion arguing that it would be a travesty if a state agency gave it's good housekeeping seal to a club on public land that discriminates against Jews, African Americans, Latinos, Asians and women. He ignored the advice of the Attorney General's office, the case went all the way to the Supreme Court and the commission won. Mr. Douglas succeeded in righting a grievous constitutional wrong with the Coastal Act.

In 1987 he refused an order by Governor Deukmejian to close the commission offices in Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. He argued the commission could not implement the Coastal Act without offices in those critical areas. The commission backed him on the basis that the Governor did not have authority over and independent commission and the offices remained open.

His upbringing gave him the tools and mindset to deal with adversity and conflict. Peter Douglas was born into a Jewish family in Berlin in 1942. They immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the early '50s. He received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Randy Royce, a member of the San Carlos City Council for four years and a resident of this wonderful community for over 30 years. Randy has served San Carlos with distinction both on the council and before becoming a member.

When people think of Randy they think of community and even global service. As a member of the Sister Cities Association, Randy has strengthened the ties between San Carlos and its sister cities around the world. In 2007, Randy travelled to Pass Christian Mississippi, a town adopted by San Carlos after the 2005 devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Both through his on-site effort to reconstruct that city and through his encouragement of donations to the community, Randy helped to raise structures and the spirits of his fellow Americans.

In his earliest years in San Carlos, Randy could be found coaching soccer, and urging the development of the hearts, bodies and minds of the youth of San Carlos. As a man of many talents, he has also boosted the love of local history by serving as a volunteer with the San Carlos History Museum, and he volunteered for many years to organize the Summer Concert Series in Burton Park. On behalf of the less fortunate within our Peninsula Community, Randy has served on the Board of Directors of the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust (HEART). He served on the San Carlos Arts and Culture Commission, the city's Economic Development Advisory Committee, the Planning Commission and the Residential Design Review Committee. He has also served as Mayor of San Carlos.

Of course, if you really want to see Randy hustle for two days non- stop, you can spot him helping from dawn until dusk during the annual Hometown Days celebration, a charming small-town event that celebrates family, community and country. In short, Mr. Speaker, from his own backyard in San Carlos to places around the globe, Randy has extended his heart and his talents in service to the health, safety and welfare of tens of thousands of human beings.

It should therefore not be surprising that Randy has also helped to build our local community college district's curriculum and programs as a member of the Canada College Presidential Advisory Committee. His service in senior management positions at Hewlett Packard, Agilent and three Silicon Valley start-ups demonstrated to him that talented employees are first molded through education, then invited to be further educated in the enterprises of our nation. Our community was fortunate to have his insights available to its students.

Through his own education in finance, and his life's experiences, Randy was able to offer steady counsel to his colleagues on the City Council of San Carlos. He was often a voice of reason amidst a passionate outcry, a role that is difficult for any public servant, but an essential role within any democracy.

Of course, no public servant is capable of such great accomplishments without the support of family members. Randy has been supported at all times by his talented wife, Yvette, and his two sons Roger and Todd.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to honor Randy Royce for a life and career dedicated to public service on the occasion of his retirement on December 12, 2011. Randy Royce is an American who thinks reflexively about the well-being of us all. As a result, his contributions to San Carlos and to our nation over these many decades are legion, and will surely last for generations yet to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Rick Laubscher who today is receiving the 2011 Silver Spur Award from San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR). This award recognizes a lifetime of civic achievement of a San Franciscan.

Cable cars and streetcars are quintessential symbols of San Francisco. If you have ridden in one of the historic cars of the famous F-Market & Wharves streetcar lines on Market Street and The Embarcadero, you owe a big thanks to Rick Laubscher, President of Market Street Railway, a volunteer, non-profit organization founded in 1976 by three transit preservationists who wanted to save a vintage Municipal Railway trolley bus that was about to be scrapped.

Today Market Street Railway has 1,200 members from San Francisco, the Bay Area, and throughout the world. The organization has helped Muni acquire 20 historic transit vehicles, including streetcars, cable cars, trolley coaches, and motor coaches and the volunteers have actively restored fifteen of them.

Mr. Laubscher's passion for historic treasures and his advocacy have transformed the city's public transportation system.

Mr. Laubscher's roots run deep in San Francisco. His family has lived here for four generations. Mr. Laubscher fell in love with streetcars as a little boy when they were not historic. He was washing dishes and helping his father in the delicatessen on Market Street that his grandfather had opened. He calls Market Street a true urban main street.

When the streetcars were planned to be dismantled in the early 80's, he set out on a quest to preserve them. He was not the first to think of the idea, but he was the first to do it; he put history to work and preserved our urban fabric, as he likes to say. Today thousands of people each day ride the historic cars.

Mr. Laubscher also served as founding board chair of The City Club of San Francisco, a landmark of world renowned art and architecture and a promoter of active engagement and influence in civic, social and business areas. He also served on SPUR's board and transportation committee. He is currently a board member of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Accompanying his love of San Francisco and history, Mr. Laubscher has a passion for communication. He runs Messagesmith, a strategic communications consulting company specializing in such areas as environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Mr. Laubscher holds an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and worked as a radio and television news reporter for many years.

He lives in Woodside with his wife of sixteen years, Nicole. They are the proud parents of three daughters. Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to acknowledge the outstanding achievements and lasting contributions of Rick Laubscher to San Francisco and the rest of the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Records Clerk II Vera Peterson for her 23 years of service at the Daly City Police Department.

Ms. Peterson served as assistant trainee for the department from 1980 1981. She started her career in the records division in 1988. She excelled in all categories handled by that division: transcription, subpoenas, citations and impounds, classification, and restraining orders. Her extensive experience and wealth of

knowledge put her in the perfect position to train new employees of the records division.

Ms. Peterson's meticulous attention to detail and hard work have earned her the respect and admiration of her co-workers. Her passion for baking also made her a very popular member of the department; she frequently shared broccoli quiche and cupcakes with her colleagues.

Vera Peterson graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in San Francisco and received her Associate Degree in criminology from City College of San Francisco.

She and her husband of 28 years, John, live in Montara. They have one daughter, Tiffany.

Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to honor the devoted service of Vera Peterson to the residents of Daly City. Her high standards and exemplary commitment to the community will be a difficult act to follow for any future records clerk.

Mr. Speaker, I'm sick of women getting the short end of the stick. On the whole, women earn less than men for the exact same jobs. In fact, compared to men, women basically work for free 3.5 months of the year since we only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

But here's something that's not free--health care for women. We pay $1 billion more a year in health insurance premiums than men. That's astounding. And it's not because ``the fairer sex'' is less healthy than men. In the individual market, a woman, 40 years old, nonsmoking, in Kentucky, actually pays more for her health insurance than a 40- year-old man who does smoke. Even among 30-year-olds in Chicago, women are paying over 30 percent more for health insurance than men of the same age. In South Dakota, a 40-year-old woman pays $1,200 more than a 40-year-old man for the exact same coverage.

The fact is, women are at the mercy of the vast majority of insurance companies which charge us significantly more than men, even with maternity coverage excluded.

Gender Rating in the individual market is wrong and must end.

And if you want maternity coverage? Forget it.

How's this for family values?

For women who do want maternity coverage in the individual market it's an uphill battle to find it and an even greater challenge to pay for it.

Maternity coverage is only covered by 6 percent of insurance companies unless it is mandated by the state. And the cost can be astronomical. Deductibles could be as high as $10,000.

Some companies offer special maternity coverage riders. In Kansas a rider could cost over $1600 a month--well over the cost of a normal health insurance premium.

And some of the riders require long waiting periods before the coverage goes into effect.

Insurance companies call being a woman a pre-existing condition.

And they get away with charging women more for the same coverage as men unless there are laws in place to prevent Gender Rating.

Thirteen states, including California, ban gender discrimination in insurance coverage. Fortunately, in 2014 when the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, the same will be true for the whole country.

This is a long overdue step for women's equality and a key moment for health care.

I thank my colleague from Connecticut, who says it better than any of us and with such great fervor and passion.

You know, there are times here when I am elated, and there are times here when I'm sick to my stomach. And tonight is one of those times when I am sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed for this body.

I'm embarrassed that the Republicans want to stuff polar bears and bring them back to this country as trophies for their hunters, but they do not want to stuff the bellies of poor kids in our country. There is something fundamentally wrong, and I say that with a great deal of remorse, really.

One in seven Americans now is in poverty and needs to be part of the SNAP program. You know, I think it's really important for us to say it over and over again. This program is not filled with fraud.

This program is one of the best programs that we run in the government, where the error rate and the fraud is less than 3 percent.

Now, I took the Food Stamp Challenge last fall, and I've got to tell you that it was a humbling experience. And for every one of my colleagues who want to cut the food stamp program by $33 billion, I challenge them to live on the equivalent of food stamps for just 5 days. I did it for 5 days, $4.50. There were no lattes in my diet. There were no Big Macs in my diet. There was no sushi in my diet. My diet consisted of canned tuna, eggs, one head of lettuce, and tomatoes for 5 days, and a can of instant coffee from the dollar store. That's how I survived. At the end of 5 days, I thought to myself, I just did this for 5 days. How about the family that needs to do this day in, day out, month after month.

What we don't say often enough on this issue is that you are only eligible for the SNAP program if you are a family of four making less than $22,000 a year. If you make more than $22,000 a year, you are not eligible, and the only place you can go to is the food banks.

So if we really are going to be a country that thinks about the poorest among us, we cannot reduce this program. We cannot say to those who are just making it, who are making less than $22,000 as a family of four, that we're not going to help you put food into the bellies of your kids.

I say to my Republican colleagues: Don't do this. If you are, in fact, going to vote for this budget, then you take that Food Stamp Challenge for 5 days. You see what it's like and then vote for it. I thank my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the victims of pogroms against Armenians in Sumgait (1988), Kirovabad (1988), and Baku (1990), and the ethnic-cleansing of the Armenian population of Azerbaijan.

I hope that by speaking out publicly against these atrocities I will help reaffirm America's commitment to an enduring, peaceful and democratic resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

It is sickening that even during modern times, less than 25 years ago, brutal attacks on Armenians occurred in Azerbaijan.

Thomas de Waal, in his book Black Garden, described the massacres of Sumgait as:

``Gangs, ranging in size from about a dozen to more than fifty, roamed around, smashing windows, burning cars, but above all looking for Armenians to attack. The roving gangs committed acts of horrific savagery. Several victims were so badly mutilated by axes that their bodies could not be identified. Women were stripped naked and set on fire. Several were raped repeatedly.''

But shockingly most of the Azeris who committed these horrific acts and their accomplices in government were not brought to justice.

The Sumgait Massacres are part of a long and disgraceful history of violence against the Armenian people that also includes successive massacres in Kirovabad and Baku.

It is past time for the United States to officially recognize the Armenian genocide and to support the security and self-determination of the independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

This anniversary should serve as a reminder that we can stay silent no more.

Let's take this moment to remember all those who lost their lives at Sumgait, Kirovabadk, and Baku and pledge to prevent ethnic cleansing from occurring anywhere in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise again to highlight the epidemic of sexual assault and rape in the military.

Next week will mark the 1-year anniversary of my first floor speech on this issue. That day, I told the story of Technical Sergeant Mary Gallagher, who was raped by a coworker while deployed in Iraq. The week leading up to the rape, Sergeant Gallagher's assailant harassed her, stalked her, and attempted to break into her room.

Though she twice reported the assailant's threatening behavior, her command did nothing about it. They called it a ``he said-she said'' scenario. Justice was not served.

I've told the story of Army Specialist Blake Stephens, who was consistently assaulted and sexually harassed by the men in his unit. He reported the harassment to command, but no action was taken. Fellow servicemembers later sodomized him with a bottle; and the only punishment his assailants received was extra pushups. Justice was not served.

Last week, I told the story of Marine Lieutenant Elle Helmer, who reported repeated sexual harassment by superiors, to no avail. The Marine Corps did absolutely nothing in response to the harassment. Lieutenant Helmer was later raped by another superior whose behavior went unpunished.

Her command ultimately told her, You're tough. You need to pick yourself up and dust yourself off. I can't babysit you all of the time. No justice was served.

Mary, Blake and Elle, like so many victims I've heard from, paint a picture of a military culture that treats sexual harassment and assault with silent acceptance, a culture that punishes victims for reporting the crimes committed against them.

The military refutes this; yet evidence suggests just the reverse. The ``Hurt Feelings Report'' that stands beside me is a repugnant example of how rape and sexual assault has been trivialized, and how a victim was mocked in the military.

It was supposed to be satire. The ``report'' was posted on the Facebook page of a female captain in charge of the Marine Barracks Protocol Office just a few months ago. It mocks fellow marines who file sexual assault complaints with a list of ``Reasons for filing this report,'' which include options such as:

``I'm a little b--------.''

``I'm a little p--------.''

``I'm a cry baby.''

And ``I want my mommy.''

And what did the head of protocol do when she saw this document? Did she report or punish the people who made it? Did she tell them there is zero tolerance for this behavior?

No, she didn't do anything of the sort. In fact, the head of protocol wrote this caption to the image on her Facebook page: ``My marines crack me up.''

It's no wonder that only 13 percent of victims of rape and assault are brave enough to report the crimes committed against them. The ``Hurt Feelings Report'' and the Facebook response convey a toxic culture when it comes to sexual harassment, assault, stalking and rape. Victims have been told to ``get over it,'' or told that they were ``asking for it'' based on the way they dress.

One year ago, I promised to tell the stories of servicemembers who survived rape and sexual assault while in the military. I said then, and I promise you now, that I will tell their stories until meaningful action is taken to eliminate the chasm between the number of estimated sexual assaults and the number of prosecuted sexual assaults.

I urge survivors to email me at [email protected] if they want to speak up.

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

Mr. Chairman, who among us is not for competition and innovation? This amendment speaks directly to that issue. And I want to read you the amendment:

This act shall not take effect until the Federal

Communications Commission submits to Congress a report on the

impact of this act on the mandate of the commission to

promote competition and innovation.

Again, who isn't for competition and innovation? Among the important mandates of the FCC are the following: promoting competition, innovation, and investment in broadband services and facilities; supporting the Nation's economy by ensuring an appropriate competitive framework for the unfolding of the communications revolution; encouraging the highest and best use of spectrum domestically and internationally; revising media regulations so that new technologies flourish alongside diversity and localism; providing leadership; and strengthening the defense of the Nation's communications infrastructure.

The provisions of this bill could potentially disable the agency and stymie the commission's ability to fulfill its most basic mission: to promote innovation while protecting the public interest. The U.S. has led the world in developing policies to unleash spectrum for mobile investment and innovation. The FCC was the first agency to develop spectrum auctions and also the first to free up so-called junk bands for unlicensed use, such as Bluetooth, cordless phones, and Wi-Fi, all things we take for granted today.

The economic benefit created by unlicensed spectrum alone is estimated at $37 billion a year. In 2011, the U.S. tech sector grew three times faster than the overall economy. This is success, and we should do nothing to stymie that success.

The U.S. has regained global leadership in mobile innovation. We are ahead of the world in deploying 4G mobile broadband, and those next- generation networks are projected to add more than $150 billion in GDP growth over the next 4 years. Internet startups attracted $7 billion in venture capital last year, almost double the 2009 level. The apps economy alone has generated more than 500,000 jobs, and many of those are right smack-dab in my district. You know them: Google, YouTube, and Facebook.

Rest assured, the innovation is continuing. For example, JellyRadio is a small technology company with about 15 employees, and it's located right across the street from my district office. It's already received $2 million in angel and venture capital. It allows crowdsourcing of radio playlists. You vote for what you want to hear, and the band or subject with the most votes gets played. They just received a local business award for small technology company of the year.

Another is Storm8, the creator of the number one role-playing games on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Android devices and parent company of the number one mobile social game developer, TeamLava. Started in 2009, Storm8 quickly shot to the top of the mobile gaming industry, celebrating its first million-dollar day in June of last year.

These are examples of what we must protect in our FCC operation. We must ensure that innovators like these have the opportunity to grow and thrive. The FCC has a critical role to play in moving us forward technologically and with the jobs that it brings. Broadband has unlocked new opportunities to transform health care, education, energy, and public safety.

Cloud computing is the next wave, a $68 billion global industry that is growing 17 percent annually. In fact, my son is now working for one of those companies. That's why we need to make sure that the FCC has the ability to make sure there continues to be innovation and competitiveness. The FCC Process Reform Act undermines standard administrative law practices, undoing over 60 years of Federal court precedent under the Administrative Procedures Act, creating uncertainty and

confusion for the FCC and innovative businesses that interact with the agency. It also severely undermines the FCC's ability to develop sensible conditions to protect consumers and ensure competition.

I am a strong component of congressional oversight over agencies within our jurisdiction. That's part of our job. But we have to make sure that the FCC has the tools to do its job as well. So before we risk millions of jobs affected by the important work of the FCC, let's be sure we know how this bill will affect our innovative economy. I urge support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise again today to highlight the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military. This is the 17th time that I've stood here on the House floor to tell the story of a brave member of our military who has been raped or sexually assaulted by a fellow servicemember.

Today I will tell you the story of Elle Helmer, who served at the prestigious Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., at 8th and I from 2005 to 2006. The Marines who serve here in Washington are known throughout the military as the tip of the sword. They perform ceremonial roles and participate in the silent drill platoon. They are the creme de la creme.

You will notice that Elle's story follows the exact same pattern as the dozens of stories I've told before and probably the same pattern of the estimated 19,000 rapes and sexual assaults that occurred in the military in 2010. This is the pattern of the epidemic.

This is Elle's story: The harassment started as soon as she arrived in Washington. Lieutenant Helmer was told that she was selected to be the public affairs officer for the barracks based on her appearance. She was told that Command wanted a good-looking female officer to serve as a ``poster child.'' In addition to her role in public affairs, Lieutenant Helmer was also notified by mail that she was made a sexual assault and response coordinator. No one told her what the role required, and the only thing she knew about the position was that she'd been appointed to do it.

In March of 2005, a captain continually commented on her appearance and began to harass her. He told Lieutenant Helmer that he picked her to be a Public Affairs Officer because she was the ``prettiest.'' He made sexual advances and kept sending her social emails. She spurned his advances and complained to the Marine Barracks' equal opportunity officer, and provided

copies of the emails and details about the harassment. The Marine Corps did nothing.

The following year, the Marine Corps named Lieutenant Helmer to serve as the first female ceremonial parade flanking officer. Part of her responsibilities was to attend a pub crawl for St. Patrick's Day that had been endorsed by the colonel. When she objected to going, her superior, a major, told her it was a mandatory work event. The pub crawl involved a group of Marine officers identified in T-shirts going from bar to bar to bar on Capitol Hill, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, all paid for by the Marine Corps. Lieutenant Helmer was required to drink shots at the same pace as the large male officers. On those occasions when she drank water to try to keep herself from becoming intoxicated, she was required by her boss to drink an extra shot as punishment.

As a result of the forced consumption of alcohol that night, Lieutenant Helmer became very intoxicated and left to find a cab to go home. Her superior, the major, followed her out and told her that she needed to come with him to his office to discuss a business matter.

When they reached his office, the major tried to kiss her. Lieutenant Helmer resisted, and the major grabbed her, knocking her over and hitting her head against the wall. She lost consciousness at that point.

When she awoke, she found herself lying on the floor in the major's office and was wearing his shorts. The major was found naked from the waist down, passed out on the floor nearby. After Lieutenant Helmer left the major's office, she reported it to her command that she had been raped. Her colonel discouraged her from asking for a rape kit examination, saying it would be ``out of his hands.'' In spite of the colonel's objections, Lieutenant Helmer sought and obtained a rape kit and medical examination.

Despite the medical and circumstantial evidence of the rape, the Navy Criminal Investigative Services initially refused to investigate, claiming Lieutenant Helmer's inability to recall her rape precluded any investigation. After a delay that destroyed the crime scene, the NCIS eventually conducted a very brief investigation and concluded that nothing could be done in light of Lieutenant Helmer's lack of consciousness during the assault.

In addition, the Marine Corps ``lost'' Helmer's rape kit. Lieutenant Helmer complained to the major's superior. Although that Marine officer admitted the NCIS investigation was ``woefully inadequate'' and removed the major from his command position, he refused to press charges or take any further steps to punish the rapist. Instead, he told Lieutenant Helmer, ``You're from Colorado. You're tough. You need to pick yourself up and dust yourself off.'' He then remarked, ``I can't babysit you all the time.''

Instead of the perpetrator being prosecuted, Lt. Helmer became the subject of investigation and prosecution. She was forced to leave the Marine Corps while her rapist remains a Marine in good standing. Elle, like so many victims I've heard from, report a culture of acceptance and a culture that blames victims. This must stop. We must pass H.R. 3435.