Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, late last month, extremist Islamist militants attacked two Ahmadiyya mosques in the central Pakistani city of Lahore--with guns, grenades and suicide bombs--killing 94 people and injuring well over 100. The attackers

claimed to be members of the Punjab Taliban. The victims are members of a minority Muslim sect, who, as a result of their beliefs, have been branded heretics who should be killed.

I urge my colleagues to join with me to condemn this hateful act and to express our sincerest condolences to the families of those killed and to those still living in fear in Pakistan because of their sincerely held beliefs. These cowardly assaults on people of prayer are attacks against people of all faiths, and these assaults cannot be tolerated.

It is time to pass House Resolution 764, which expresses the importance of interreligious dialogue and the protection of religious freedom and related human rights for persons of all faiths and nationalities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Lynn Azzopardi for her work with the Millbrae Lions Club. She has been such a tireless volunteer for the past seven and one-half years that some may find it hard to believe that she also works full-time as the administrative assistant in the Kidney Transplant division

at Stanford University Medical Clinic in addition to being a busy mother and grandmother.

For the past year Lynn has served as president of the Lions Club where she led the acquisition of a vehicle outfitted to be a mobile kitchen and later used as a ``first response'' vehicle, not only for Millbrae, but for San Mateo County. Most notably she is the first woman to complete one year of service as president of the Millbrae Lions Club.

The list of projects that Lynn has been involved in is quite impressive. The Opportunity Scholarship Program focuses on students who need an extra boost to meet training and educational goals for future employment or study. The City of Hope Program funds cancer treatment and research. The Family Assistance Program helps families with a need for food, clothing and financial aid. She also chaired a pancake breakfast committee that raised money for schools and their students.

Lynn epitomizes the motto of the International Lions Club: We Serve! And therefore, Madam Speaker, I deem that is only fitting for this house to extend its thanks to Lynn Azzopardi as she was honored in Millbrae on June 19, 2010 for completing her term as club president.

Madam Speaker, I have one question: What's it going to take? How many more oil spills do we have to endure before we're going to do something decisive about ending our reliance on oil?

The amount of oil that has been spilled in the gulf since its inception is about 60,000 barrels per day we're now finding out, up from 1,000 barrels per day. Do you realize that if we had retrofitted 75,000 homes in this country, it would equal the amount of oil that has been spilled into the gulf during this time.

I say to all of us, it is time to take decisive action. It is time to rid ourselves of our dependence on oil. We can do so by embracing the Home Star program that the House has already passed. And maybe what we should do is ask BP to put into an escrow account $6 billion. And with $6 billion, do you know what we can do? We can retrofit over 3 million homes in America. And by the way, we can put to work 160,000 Americans.

Thank you, Congressman Garamendi, and thank you for your leadership in this area and for recognizing the next generation. Marianne Larson will be part of that next generation that is going to be asking the question: Did we do enough?

The question I have tonight that I would like to pose is when will we see enough damage to say enough is enough. How many oil spills do we need before we take decisive action to end our dependence on fossil fuels?

Just last week, probably not heard because we have been focused on the BP oil spill, but last week we saw yet another spill in Salt Lake City, Utah. Any oil spill is one too many, and the era of our planet being constantly contaminated by crude oil must come to an end.

The preventable accident in the gulf claimed 11 lives, tragically, and is now the worst environmental disaster in this country's history, and the biggest environmental cleanup that we have ever undertaken. It serves as a terrible reminder of our country's dangerous dependence on foreign oil. As long as we remain addicted to that oil, foreign and domestic, spills are inevitable. The question we have to ask ourselves: How

many more do we want to somehow live with? Live with the damage to our ecosystem, live with the damage to the people that are afflicted by it, the jobs that are lost, the tourism that is lost. They have been with us for over a century, these oil spills, and they will be with us for centuries more unless we break that addiction to oil.

We must replace oil in our energy supply with clean fuel. And it's right here. We have it. We know what it is. You pointed to some of them in that chart. And the stunning figure that I just heard that I would like to share with you tonight, Mr. Garamendi, is that, by just retrofitting 75,000 homes in this country, we would save the equivalent of all the oil that has spewed into the gulf by BP. Just retrofitting 75,000 homes.

Now, we have passed in this House legislation, the Home Star bill, which will spur the retrofitting of 3.3 million homes and create over 600,000 jobs. The energy saved from these retrofits, if the Senate passes that measure, would save more than 44 times the wasted energy floating in the gulf and would do so at one-fortieth of the cost.

The answer is?

Of course we can do it. It's all about whether we have the will. We can even allow Big Oil to continue to have some little subsidies, or equalize the subsidies that we are providing there and take that other money, take $6 billion, retrofit 3.3 million homes in this country, create hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of jobs, and we would be better off.

Well, it's the same reason that they sat in this Chamber a year-and-a-half ago and chanted over and over again, ``Drill, baby, drill.'' It was like a high school football field. And they couldn't say it loud enough or long enough or repeat it often enough.

About 18 months ago.

Oh, I absolutely agree with that. And I think that we have got to just face some very fundamental facts. If you continue to drill at 18,000 feet, you are asking for trouble.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month and the remarkable contributions the Asian and Pacific Islander community have made to our Nation. I am a proud member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and my district includes some of the most robust and active Filipino and Chinese communities in America.

For centuries our Nation has been strengthened by the enormous courage, sacrifice, and dedication of immigrants from across the globe, and the Asian American Pacific Islander community is no exception. As the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants, I know firsthand how weaving values and principles from our cultures into our national fabric is a part of what makes our country great.

The heroes of the AAPI community represent the very best aspects of American life, and their contributions have been invaluable to my district, the State of California, and to our country.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1347) honoring the workers who perished on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, extending condolences to their families, and recognizing the valiant efforts of emergency response workers at the disaster site.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I present H. Res. 1347 for consideration. This resolution honors the 11 workers who perished on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform following an explosion on April 20 of this year. We mourn their loss and extend our prayers and condolences to their families.

H. Res. 1347 was introduced by our colleague, the gentleman from Louisiana, Representative Charlie Melancon, on May 11, 2010. The measure was reported to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which waived consideration of the measure to expedite its consideration on the floor today. The resolution has the support of over 50 Members of the House.

Mr. Speaker, the deaths of the 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform last month were a tragic reminder of the severe hazards that offshore workers face every day. As we mourn the loss of these men, let us take a moment to reaffirm our commitment to the safety of our offshore oil workers and all Americans who perform such dangerous and necessary work every day. Let us also take a moment to commend our Coast Guard and the local rescue crews for their tireless efforts responding to this catastrophe. Their jobs are also incredibly difficult and dangerous, and we thank them for their hard work.

Mr. Speaker, the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the ongoing crisis of the oil spill it produced will have significant political and policy ramifications. We will debate those here on the House floor, but that is not what we are here to do today. As we are joined today by the family of one of the victims of the explosion, let us put aside all differences and offer our united, heartfelt, and profound sympathies to the families and friends of these 11 workers.

I would now like to place into the Congressional Record the names of these hardworking Americans who lost their lives in this tragedy: Dale Burkeen, Donald Clark, Roy Wyatt Kemp, Jason Anderson, Stephen Curtis, Gordon Jones, Karl Kleppinger, Blair Manuel, Dewey Revette, Shane Roshto, and Adam Weise.

I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for introducing it, and I also thank the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Congressman Towns of New York, as well as the ranking member, Representative Issa of California, for their support.

[From Times Online, Apr. 30, 2010]

The Missing Men of Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig

(By Joanna Sugden)

Eleven men were missing presumed dead after the Deepwater

Horizon oil rig exploded last week.

Dale Burkeen, 37 was a crane operator on the platform and

was trained to lower crew members to boats in an emergency.

He had returned to the rig from Neshoba, near Philadelphia,

about a week before the explosion. He and wife, Rhonda, have

two children, Aryn, 14 and Timothy, 6.

Donald Clark, 49 of Newellton, Louisiana, was expected to

leave the rig the day after the explosion for a three-week

break. He was an assistant driller.

Roy Wyatt Kemp, 27, has two children, Kaylee, 3, and 3-

month-old Maddison, with his wife, Courtney.

He loved fishing and the outdoors and attended a Baptist

church in Jonesville, Louisiana, where a memorial service for

him will be held today.

Jason Anderson, was a father of two from Bay City, Texas.

Stephen Curtis was an assistant driller on the rig from

Georgetown, Louisiana.

Gordon Jones, 28, of Louisiana, was expecting to become a

father to a second son with his wife, Michelle.

Karl Kleppinger, 38, of Natchez, Mississippi was a Desert

Storm veteran who spent more than ten years working on oil

rigs. He was a floorman who made about $75,000 a year working

off the Louisiana coast.

Blair Manuel, 56, resident of Gonzales, Louisiana, was a

chemical engineer on the rig.

Dewey Revette, 48, from State Line, Mississippi, was a

father who had worked for the company as an oil driller for

29 years.

Shane Roshto, 22, was from Franklin County, Mississippi.

His family were named on law suits filed by Louisiana's

fisheries industry, accusing BP and Transocean, the rig

operator, of negligence.

Adam Weise, 24, of Yorktown, Texas, came straight from high

school work on the rig in 2005. He loved to hunt and fish and

play football. He was the youngest of four children.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman, a great leader, from Louisiana (Mr. Melancon),.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 1347, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1073) supporting the goals and ideals of RV Centennial Celebration Month to recognize and honor 100 years of the enjoyment of recreational vehicles in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1073, a measure supporting the goals and ideals of RV Centennial Celebration Month.

This measure was introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from Indiana, Representative Joe Donnelly, on February 4 of this year. It was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which waived consideration of the measure to expedite its consideration on the House floor today. The measure enjoys the support of over 50 Members of the House.

Mr. Speaker, RVing is one of the great American traditions in travel. The 30 million Americans who regularly vacation via their recreational vehicles get to travel far and wide around our country, exploring our majestic landscapes, our national and State parks, and taking part in a healthy, outdoor activity. RVs help them do so at a price affordable to families. There are destinations for RVing across our 50 States, and we can all agree that we'd love for more Americans to visit the places we are most proud of in our communities.

For instance, I'd like for the RVing community to come and set their eyes on the Golden Gate Bridge, on the cable cars, on the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, or on the San Francisco Bay Estuary.

RVs make exploring our great country a practical option for many families. The first RVs came into mass production 100 years ago this June. Let us now take time to mark that significant moment in American history by supporting this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly).

Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to urge my colleagues to support this measure honoring the 100 years that RVs have been in production, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the Democratic Caucus feels very strongly that seniors in America count and, in so doing, created a Seniors Task Force cochaired ably by Congresswoman Schakowsky of Illinois and Congresswoman Matsui of California. And we thought it was fitting tonight, this being the month in which we honor seniors, to spend an hour talking about the seniors of America.

There are 45 million seniors in this country, and they have the right to ask us what have we done for them lately. And tonight, we're going to ask that question, and we're going to answer it.

First of all, I think we should focus in on Wall Street, and our message is

``When Wall Street gambles, she loses.'' So part of what we want to focus on tonight is the reforms on Wall Street that will protect seniors in America.

The biggest winners, we suggest, in the Wall Street reform are people over the age of 50, who hold 70 percent of the Nation's wealth. Oftentimes, seniors don't realize how big their assets really are or how valuable they are, and they become ripe for scam artists to take them on a wild ride that oftentimes means that they lose the very assets that they have held so dear. Seniors often have caregivers they share their financial data and information with and, oftentimes, can be exploited by those very caregivers.

So we have created a Senior Financial Bill of Rights, which I would like to share with you right now. And the Democrats believe that there are four simple principles that we espouse on behalf of seniors.

The first is the right to simple-to-understand and suitable financial products. Now, this would seem so very obvious, but I'm going to share with you a couple of stories that suggest seniors become the most vulnerable population in terms of being captured by an industry that has plagued us with all kinds of financial products that are not understandable.

I first want to talk about a 67-year-old retired widow living alone in a home she's had for 24 years. She recently got a part-time, minimum wage job as a kitchen helper that helps with her expenses. She's getting $500 a month for that. She gets $973 a month in her Social Security benefits. And the balance due on her home is $90,000.

Now, her husband died in 2003, and she was having a hard time making those mortgage payments, so she went to Wells Fargo and got them to offer her a reverse mortgage. In so doing, she was able to pay off her regular mortgage and did not have payments for as long as she continued to live in the home, which appeared to be a good result.

Yet, in 2007, agents working for World Savings in Orange County, California, found her 500 miles away in Yuba City, California. In a series of phone calls, they convinced her that Wells Fargo was demanding the repayment of her reverse mortgage because home values were declining to levels of less than the loan balance. They convinced her that Wells Fargo would foreclose if she did not refinance to pay off the reverse mortgage. She was confused and frightened, and she did not understand the reverse mortgage for which she had paid $11,000 in origination fees.

So, before long, she was into yet another mortgage with an adjustable rate mortgage and was paying $4,000 a month at one point. Even the lowest payment option constituted 68 percent of her Social Security income--an absolute nightmare. She made three payments out of savings and then gave up. The trustee sale was first set for January 2, 2009. A legal aid attorney came to her benefit and was able to postpone the sale of her home, and negotiations continue today.

This is a real story. She is a real person in California who was not given the right to a simple-to-understand and suitable financial product. That is, in part, what we are going to make sure happens as a result of the Wall Street reform, in part because we are creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency so that this kind of activity can't continue to go on.

In another case, a 90-year-old California retiree was sold a $100,000 annuity in 2001. He would have to live to be 100 to have unfettered access to his money. Instead, he died at 91, and his heirs were hit with an $11,000 surrender charge.

In another example, an 83-year-old woman was sold a $125,000 annuity in 2002. According to her son, she suffered from dementia and believed she had access to her savings when she had to enter a nursing home. In fact, she would have to pay exit penalties of 25 percent if she withdrew more than 10 percent of her money in any year during the first 6 years of the contract. So, when she died in 2004, her son had to pay--now, are you ready for this?--a $50,000 surrender fee.

That's why we need a Consumer Financial Protection Agency in this country, because that kind of activity goes on and has gone on. While you may suggest that it's ``legal,'' it's totally unethical, and the CFPA will provide that kind of protection for seniors.

I am going to go to these other senior financial bill of rights later on in the hour. I would now like to yield to Congresswoman Kilroy as much time as she may consume.

Would you repeat that?

Isn't that amazing.

Will the gentlewoman yield?

When you were referring to credit cards, I was reminded that, in 1980, a credit card application was one page long, about 700 words. Today, a credit card application--and, indeed, a contract--is closer to 30 pages. Imagine if senior citizens were trying to wend their way through 30 pages of legalese and knew precisely what they were getting.

Isn't it true that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency is going to simplify that process for seniors and for all Americans?

I thank the gentlewoman for her outstanding comments in protecting the seniors of America.

I now yield to my good friend and colleague from the great State of California (Ms. Richardson) as much time as she will use.

I thank the gentlelady from California.

The numbers of seniors in our country is growing exponentially, in part because some of us who are baby boomers are growing older and reaching that age ever so quickly. But I note that while there are 40 million Americans who are now 65, in 10 years that number will more than double to 88.5 million Americans who will be over the age of 65. So making sure that seniors are protected is going to be a more and more significant responsibility for Congress to ensure.

You mentioned the doughnut hole. For seniors who are on Medicare, health care reform has been somewhat challenging, because they didn't know what was in it for them. Part of what we are talking about is what have you done for seniors lately.

The health care reform measure has huge benefits for seniors that are important to underscore, one being that if you do find yourself in the doughnut hole by this fall, you will receive a check for $250. If you are in the doughnut hole come the first of January, you are going to be able to buy your prescription drugs at 50 percent of what the retail costs of them are. And the greatest news of all, and this is a benefit for senior citizens as well as every one of us, and that is for preventative care, there will no longer be a copay.

That kind of gets lost in translation from time to time. But I just had, and I am proud to admit it because I think we all should have colonoscopies after age 50, but I just had a colonoscopy. I got the bill, and we all kind of experience sticker shock when we see those health care bills arrive at our home, and, thank God, we have health insurance, but my bill was over $3,000 for that procedure. Now, a copay on that procedure is like $600.

But moving forward, whether it is a colonoscopy, a mammogram, any kind of screening for cancer, that will no longer carry with it a copay, because we want to incentivize seniors and younger people to actually take advantage of the preventative services that are out there, that really prevent people from getting sicker and requiring more health care and more hospitalization.

So lots of good things for seniors are in health care reform.

I thank the gentlelady from Ohio.

You know, it would be great for us to focus for just a minute on the prescription for Wall Street reform for the 40 million seniors in America and just kind of list out the protections that are in the Wall Street reform.

As you mentioned, the office of financial protection for older Americans, this is going to be a huge benefit for seniors, because they are going to be able to call this office and say, you know, I have just been offered X. Is this something that makes sense?

Let me give you an example. Sergio Del Toro, he has been banned from the

securities industry for defrauding a 90-year-old Minnesota nursing home resident of $511,000. Mr. Del Toro recommended that the elderly man put his entire net worth into the stock of a firm called Third Dimension, for which there was no market or publicly quoted pricing. Mr. Del Toro's alleged motivation? A 15 percent commission, equal to $76,000.

Now, as part of Wall Street reform, one of the standards that is going to have to be met is, is there a net tangible benefit to the client? Clearly, in this case there was no net tangible benefit. What happened was this nursing home resident lost his whole savings of $500,000, and Mr. Del Toro was the recipient of $76,000 in commissions. Mr. Del Toro is banned from the industry now, but this is another example of why having Wall Street reform is so necessary.

I now yield to one of our newest Members of the House, Mr. Deutch from Florida, to have him offer up his thoughts.

I thank the gentleman from Florida for his passionate commitment to seniors.

I'd like to address this whole issue of mortgages. You know, so many Americans have seen their homes being foreclosed on over the last 2 to 3 years. The numbers are staggering. We're talking about, 7, 8, 9 million homes. And I think that there's a misconception that somehow those are all younger families, but the truth is many of these people are senior citizens.

One of the protections in the Wall Street reform is that we are going to deal with banning predatory mortgage lending, and I want to just share with you one example.

This is back in 2000, at the age of 57, Willie Howard, who, at long last, became a homeowner. He had this tiny house here in Washington, DC, of 963 square feet. Now, Willie never learned how to read, so he proved to be an easy touch for refinancing offers as the housing bubble inflated.

By May of 2005, his $108,000 loan had ballooned to $137,000 because he had been courted by mortgage brokers who wanted to suggest that he could, in fact, save more money.

By October of 2006, after four more refinancings, Mr. Howard's loan balance had ballooned to $238,000. Now, half of the increased debt came from $51,000 in points, fees, prepayment penalties, and negative amortization. So it really was all about the scam artists; in this case, a mortgage broker who wanted to churn. By getting him in and out of loans, he was able to make more money as a mortgage broker, and poor Mr. Howard, who could not read, went from having a $108,000 loan to a $238,000 loan. And as Mr. Howard said, the problem with the system is that the broker had no obligation to act on behalf of Mr. Howard's best interest.

So what does Wall Street reform do to help Mr. Howard and seniors across this country? Two things. It requires that they show a net tangible benefit to the client consumer and that that client consumer has the ability to pay. Now, those two tests couldn't possibly have been met for Mr. Howard by that mortgage broker.

So, as a result of Wall Street reform, seniors and Americans across this country are going to have recourse. And, in this case, Mr. Howard would be in a position to have that contract rescinded, have his costs, his consumer costs, be they attorney's fees or anything else, paid for, and have the opportunity to have that particular loan reworked in 90 days or less. That's the kind of benefit that accrues to seniors in the new reform.

The final area that I thought would be worth us spending a little time on is the other rights that benefit seniors, and that's the right to know that Wall Street bankers will not gamble away their retirement savings. Both Mr. Deutch and Ms. Kilroy had spoken about the 401(k)s turning into 201(k)s. And as clever as that sounds, it's tragic when it happens, and it's happened to senior Americans across the country.

I'm going to talk to you about a senior citizen in my district. This is a real story of a senior citizen who spent his entire life as a doctor providing health care to those who did not have resources. He provided health care in a county hospital setting, and he made, you know, a good salary doing that. So he retired, had a comfortable home, had $1 million in retirement in his 401(k).

Now, he was using a financial adviser, one of the slick financial advisers that we've heard too much of over the last couple of years, much like the employees at Goldman Sachs who would sell a risky investment to someone but, on the other hand, would short it for their personal gain.

This particular constituent had the situation where his financial adviser was not looking out for his best interest. So, over the course of the financial meltdown, this constituent lost three-quarters, three- quarters of his 401(k). Now, that's just outrageous on so many scores, but particularly so when you're dealing with the 401(k)s of senior citizens who don't have the luxury of trying to find other ways of making up that money, don't have the ability to go back to work.

And our financial service reform is going to make sure that that particular activity of Wall Street gambling away retirement savings can no longer happen because we do have the standards put in place.

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

Mr. Speaker, you know, the Army Corps of Engineers had a saying during World War II: ``The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.''

In 1993, President Clinton tried to do the impossible by lifting the decades-long ban on gay and lesbian soldiers serving openly in the military. Unfortunately, Congress opposed him, and the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell law was passed.

Since then, over 13,500 servicemembers have been fired and countless other courageous and qualified Americans have been prevented from serving. Well, it's been 17 long and painful years since we tried to do the impossible.

Congress now has the chance to end this injustice. The President agrees, the military agrees, the American people agree. Let's honor our Nation's over 1 million gay veterans this Memorial Day. This week, let's lift the ban on gays serving openly once and for all.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor of a remarkable American, Joseph Cotchett, of San Mateo, CA who is on everyone's list of the top 100 most influential lawyers in the nation, a distinction that I believe understates his achievements in the area of law and social justice.

Twenty years ago Joe was the lead trial lawyer for 23,000 plaintiffs defrauded in the Charles Keating/Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal, initially winning at that time one of the nation's largest jury verdicts, $3.3 billion. Fast forward to 2009 and he is again representing consumers, this time investors victimized by Bernie Madoff's financial wrongdoings. During his 40-year legal career, he has tried more than 100 cases and settled hundreds more, but this is not the thrust of what I would like to say about him today. Throughout his career he has done extensive pro bono work for the disadvantaged, establishing himself as a true champion of social justice. He lends his skills and talent when it is needed, not when it is convenient.

His giving is not restricted to legal work. At the local level, he has been on the board of directors for the San Mateo County Heart Association; the San Mateo Boys & Girls Clubs; the Peninsula Association of Retarded Children and Adults; the Bay Meadows Foundation and the Disability Rights Advocates. Joe and his family have been active in supporting organizations helping children, women, ethnic minorities and animals. The Cotchett Family Foundation was specifically created to aid individuals and groups in need of assistance. In 2004, Joe endowed a $7 million fund to support science and mathematics teacher education at California State Polytechnic University, a program aimed at serving inner city and rural minority children.

He is an accomplished author, lecturer and keynote speaker. His titles include The Ethics Gap and California Courtroom Evidence Foundations. Although he has focused on legal matters, in 2002 he co- authored and published, The Coast Time Forgot, a historic guide to the San Mateo County coast.

Joe Cotchett truly loves the community in which he lives and works and it is only fitting, Madam Speaker, that on May 21, 2010, Notre Dame De Namur University presented him with the Community Spirit Award in honor of his work in promoting social justice through community engagement.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor of a remarkable American, Joseph Cotchett, of San Mateo, CA who is on everyone's list of the top 100 most influential lawyers in the nation, a distinction that I believe understates his achievements in the area of law and social justice.

Twenty years ago Joe was the lead trial lawyer for 23,000 plaintiffs defrauded in the Charles Keating/Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal, initially winning at that time one of the nation's largest jury verdicts, $3.3 billion. Fast forward to 2009 and he is again representing consumers, this time investors victimized by Bernie Madoff's financial wrongdoings. During his 40-year legal career, he has tried more than 100 cases and settled hundreds more, but this is not the thrust of what I would like to say about him today. Throughout his career he has done extensive pro bono work for the disadvantaged, establishing himself as a true champion of social justice. He lends his skills and talent when it is needed, not when it is convenient.

His giving is not restricted to legal work. At the local level, he has been on the board of directors for the San Mateo County Heart Association; the San Mateo Boys & Girls Clubs; the Peninsula Association of Retarded Children and Adults; the Bay Meadows Foundation and the Disability Rights Advocates. Joe and his family have been active in supporting organizations helping children, women, ethnic minorities and animals. The Cotchett Family Foundation was specifically created to aid individuals and groups in need of assistance. In 2004, Joe endowed a $7 million fund to support science and mathematics teacher education at California State Polytechnic University, a program aimed at serving inner city and rural minority children.

He is an accomplished author, lecturer and keynote speaker. His titles include The Ethics Gap and California Courtroom Evidence Foundations. Although he has focused on legal matters, in 2002 he co- authored and published, The Coast Time Forgot, a historic guide to the San Mateo County coast.

Joe Cotchett truly loves the community in which he lives and works and it is only fitting, Madam Speaker, that on May 21, 2010, Notre Dame De Namur University presented him with the Community Spirit Award in honor of his work in promoting social justice through community engagement.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Tom Teshara, a San Francisco native who has been responsible for mentoring and recruiting hundreds of women and men for admission to the United States Naval Academy. Starting in 1966 as a volunteer Tom personally recruited 82 young men who were accepted by the Academy during a 4-year period. In 1972 the Academy's Candidate Guidance Office established a West Coast branch office and named Tom as its first director with responsibility for ten Western states. At one time there were 1,049 Midshipmen enrolled at the Academy from these ten Western States. Before his recent retirement Tom led a network of 125 Academy Information Officers who counseled about 6,000 candidates annually.

Tom Teshara's work involved many evenings and weekends where he represented the Academy at area school events. He founded the USNA Parents Club and coordinated all club activities. When midshipmen returned home for the holidays, it was Tom who arranged for new candidates and their parents to sit down and discuss the Academy experience with the midshipmen. It is commonly accepted that no other person in the country has recruited more candidates for the Naval Academy than Tom Teshara.

Tom, born in 1927, was drafted out of high school by the U.S. Army where he served for 13 months before another draft of sorts--he signed a baseball contract with the San Francisco Seals where he played second base in the minor league system. His interest in sports has continued through the years. He founded the PeeWee Training League in the South San Francisco/San Bruno area and was athletic director at St. Veronica's School for nine years while playing semipro baseball.

Tom Teshara and his wife, Jeannine, were married in October 1949. They have a son, Steve, and a daughter, Debra, and two granddaughters. Madam Speaker, Tom's family has every right to be proud of his efforts of the past 50 years to bring the best and the brightest young women and men into service for our country. He deserves a big salute from all of us.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Pete McCloskey, a distinguished and charismatic former member of this house for 16 years, and a true American maverick who has been guided by a shining moral compass throughout his life. Former Congressman McCloskey pursues the truth no matter where it leads him.

In his over eight decades, Pete has accomplished more than will fit on this page. In one of his most recent endeavors, he ran against a fellow Republican, Richard Pombo, in the primary election--at age 78. While most members of his age group are retired, McCloskey continues to practice as a trial lawyer, works on his farm raising citrus and olive trees and creates mischief with his group, ``Revolt of the Elders.'' He was a war hero in Korea and received a Navy Cross, a Silver Star and two Purple Heart for his service to this country.

In Congress he served the people of the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley from 1967-1983. He was vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War and ran for President against Richard Nixon in 1972. The following year, he was the first member of Congress to ask for President Nixon's impeachment. Mr. McCloskey is a principal at Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy and has an extensive civil rights and environmental record. He received his B.A. from Stanford University and his J. D. from Stanford Law School.

Pete's environmental activism was ignited when Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire twice in 1969. Together with Gaylord Nelson, he co-chaired the first Earth Day in 1970. Three years later he coauthored the Endangered Species Act.

Madam Speaker, Pete McCloskey fights for justice with the same passion today as he did forty years ago. He is a personal hero of mine and an icon to all of us who thirst for courageous leaders in our country. It is fitting that the Peninsula Coalition is presenting him with its Lifetime Achievement award on May 6 in Burlingame.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor an outstanding leader and treasured friend Adrienne Tissier, a life-long resident of San Mateo County and a current member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.

Adrienne will be receiving a much deserved public service award from the Peninsula Coalition at its 6th Annual Honors dinner on May 6. She first assumed office in January 2005 after serving eight distinguished years as a councilmember in Daly City, including two terms as mayor. In four short years she has displayed keen leadership and consensus building skills that have benefited residents of the county. She created a nationally acclaimed, first of its kind program for the proper disposal of pharmaceuticals to prevent medication errors, drug abuses and environmental harm. She's developed outreach programs in which the California Highway Patrol works with older drivers. She created the annual countywide Disaster Preparedness Day and co-chairs the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Adult Health Care Expansion.

She has been especially active in providing transportation and mobility options for senior citizens. She is the current vice-chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and she serves on the SamTrans Board of Directors. She is also the board liaison to the state Commission on aging and the state Commission on the Status of Women. Supervisor Tissier was instrumental in planning the Women's Criminal Justice Summit and the Livable Communities for Successful Aging conference.

She also set up a resources day in May of 2009 for residents concerned about the foreclosure crisis.

Madam Speaker, I have been fortunate to work with Adrienne on countless issues during my career of public service. Without question, her dedication to her work has been remarkable and this award she is to receive is fitting thanks for all those late nights and trips to Sacramento that she incurred in the name of improving daily life in San Mateo County.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Julie Switky upon her retirement as executive director of the Hillsborough Schools Foundation.

When Julie joined the Foundation in 1982, parent participation was about 64 percent with $242,000 raised that particular year. The 2009- 2010 Annual Giving Campaign will surpass $3.1 million with parent participation close to 80 percent. These statistics speak volumes about the dedication and hard work of Julie Switky over the past 28 years. Amazingly she worked alone for the first decade until she was joined by Judy Kagan in the early 1990s. Today the Foundation has three additional staff members and a camaraderie that is off the charts-- another testament to Julie's inspirational leadership.

She was raised in the Bronx, earned a degree in elementary education at City College of New York and later taught first grade in New York City and Baltimore. She and her husband, Dan, have lived in my district (San Mateo) for the past 30 years where they raised three children.

In this electronic age I want to note that Julie started her remarkable career at the Foundation without any technological tools. She went on to develop a computer tracking program and most currently was working to provide the Foundation with the most up-to-date online technology possible.

I'll be candid. Other school communities in California look to Julie Switky as the shining star of raising money to support education. No wonder that she is often asked to speak at other school foundation conferences.

Funds raised by Julie and her team go directly to school budgets and that helps maintain the level of excellence at Hillsborough's four schools. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to honor the dedication and leadership of Julie Switky and I wish her the best in her newest endeavor, retirement.