Floor Statements

I thank Chairman Waxman for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, today I'm thinking about a woman from South Carolina. A few months ago during the August break, I participated in a talk radio program on health reform, and a gentleman called in to tell me that his health care was great, and he didn't want me or the government to mess with it.

I explained to him that our plan was about choice, bringing down costs, and providing quality care.

But the next caller got right to the heart of the matter. She said, Of course he likes his health insurance; it is probably because he has never tried to use it. She explained that she had recently been diagnosed with cancer and thought she liked her coverage until she tried to use it. She said that when she began to get treatment she was dropped from her insurance coverage.

Mr. Speaker, that is why we are here today, to respond to that caller and others who have asked, What's in this plan for me?

When this bill is signed into law, 15 reforms will immediately occur. Among them are: beginning to close the doughnut hole by increasing Medicare part D coverage by $500; increased funding for community health centers, doubling the number of patients seen over 5 years; extending coverage for young people to stay on their parents' insurance plans up to their 27th birthday; access for the uninsured with preexisting conditions to a temporary insurance plan that we are calling a high-risk pool; from the date of enactment, and until the exchange is available, insurers will be prohibited from dropping your coverage if you get sick; from the date of enactment, COBRA health insurance coverage will be extended until the exchange is available and displaced workers can have affordable coverage; and from the date of enactment, we will hinder price-gouging with sunshine requirements on insurance companies to disclose insurance rate increases.

Now, after 2013, when the mandate for coverage and exchange are in place, you will see three additional protections: no more copays for routine checkups and preventive care; no lifetime or yearly caps on what insurance companies will cover; there will be yearly caps on your out-of-pocket expenses; and, as has been said so often, there will be an end to discrimination because of preexisting conditions like diabetes, heart disease or cancer.

Mr. Speaker, these are just 11 reasons to support this bill. My colleagues will share with you many others.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a trailblazing high school coach, athletics director and a great humanitarian. William Leroy Holden is being honored on November 14, 2009, for his tremendous 38-year career at North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville, North Carolina. I want to commend him on his contributions to athletics and the students he coached and mentored over the years.

Leroy Holden first came to North Mecklenburg High School in 1971. He had spent 2 years at East Mecklenburg High School, but left to take a job in insurance to better support his growing family. However, his love of coaching drew him back, and he chose to take a pay cut to follow his heart and took a position at North Mecklenburg High School.

Over the next 28 years, he would serve as head coach of the baseball, softball and tennis teams. He also served as an assistant football and track coach. But where Coach Holden really made his mark was as the men's basketball coach from 1974-1999, compiling an impressive record of 464 wins and 267 losses. His teams made it to the playoffs 12 times during his career. In the 1986-87 season, the Viking men's basketball team went undefeated, winning 30 games before losing in the state championship.

His success at North Mecklenburg High School led to invitations to coach other young people. He served as an instructor at the International Basketball Clinic in London, England in 1993, coached the West All-Stars Coach in 1986, and the East-West All-Star Game in North Carolina. He served as a coach at the NBPA High School Basketball Camp at Princeton University from 1995-1999; and as a basketball camp instructor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill from 1983- 1999.

His success on the basketball court and in other athletic arenas made Leroy Holden the perfect choice to lead athletics at North Mecklenburg High School. In 1985, Coach Holden was promoted to athletics director at the school to which he had dedicated his career. He still maintained his coaching duties until 1999 in addition to overseeing all athletics at the growing high school.

Leroy Holden went to college on a football scholarship and earned a bachelor's degree in 1967 from Western Carolina in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He pursued an advanced degree at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, earning a masters in education in 1978. Immediately upon earning that degree, he earned a masters in physical education from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Coach Holden also became a certified athletic administrator through the State Coaches Conferences in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2000.

Coach Holden is an active member of the Sportsman Club of Charlotte, where he has served as the president, program vice president, secretary and treasurer. In 1999, the organization named him the Sportsman of the Year. He is also the past president of the ME-CA Conference. He has served on both the Sectional Basketball Committee and as director of the Sectional Basketball Tournament. Coach Holden has also been a member of the Charlotte Sports Commission since 1998. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Carolina Athletic Directors' Association, the 2001 Charlotte Observer Athletic Director of the Year, and the Conference Basketball Coach of the Year seven times between 1977 and 1994.

There is one of Coach Holden's accomplishments that will not appear in the record books, yet I believe it deserves recognition. Coach Holden came to North Mecklenburg High School shortly after the school had fully integrated. He truly was colorblind in his approach to athletics and had great success with his African-American athletes. He was the first coach at the school to secure college scholarships for black athletes, as he always believed that every talented student deserved the opportunity he had to go to school on an athletic scholarship. He worked hard toward that goal enabling many students to go to college that otherwise could not have afforded it. During his extensive career, he secured approximately 200 college scholarships for minority athletes and several of those students went on to become professionals. Many others followed in his footsteps and went on to become high school and college coaches. That is a tremendous record for any high school coach, and it says a lot about the kind of man Coach Holden is.

Coach Holden is married to the former Ginny Severs of Charlotte. They were high school sweethearts and have just celebrated 44 years of marriage. The couple has three children and three grandchildren. His passion for athletics and for inspiring young people has enriched the lives of countless student athletes.

Madam Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in applauding the tremendous career of Coach William Leroy Holden of North Mecklenburg High School. His dedication to his profession and his students is unparalleled.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ray Chandler, Attorney, an outstanding South Carolinian and a constituent of mine. Attorney Chandler was recently awarded the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian honor.

Mr. Chandler is a native of Darlington, South Carolina. He graduated from The Citadel in 1968, and earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1971. He is married to the former Sandra Heise of Sumter, South Carolina.

After earning his degrees, Mr. Chandler sought to serve his country and was commissioned a Captain in the United States Army's Judge Advocate Generals' Corps. During his tour of duty, Captain Chandler served as a prosecutor at the United States Army Disciplinary Barrack at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He later served for two years as a prosecutor and defense lawyer in the Federal Republic of Germany. He completed his military tour in Heidelberg serving as the Deputy Chief of Criminal Law for the Seventh Army, which included all of Europe and Turkey.

After four years of active duty, Mr. Chandler left the Army and became an associate in the Ralph Cothran Law Firm in Manning, South Carolina. In 1979, he formed the Law Firm of Coffey, Chandler & Kent, P.A. Today he serves as the firm's Managing Partner, and handles criminal defense and wrongful death civil litigation.

Mr. Chandler has served as General Counsel for the South Carolina Firefighters Association for the last 32 years. It was this service that captured the attention of South Carolina's Governor and prompted the Governor to award him the Order of the Palmetto. Mr. Chandler was honored for his work as co-author of South Carolina's present arson laws, and for his dedication to South Carolina's firefighters. He was surprised with the award during a recent dinner with members of the South Carolina Firefighters Association in Myrtle Beach.

Madam Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulating Ray Chandler for his work on behalf of this country and his fellow man. He has demonstrated an extraordinary dedication to the firefighters of South Carolina, as their Counsel and one of their strongest advocates. Our nation and my home state are better for his service and leadership.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a good friend and an important public servant. W. Frank Jones recently retired after 14 years as Executive Director of the Marion County Economic Development Commission. His leadership and devotion will certainly be missed.

Frank Jones was born in Marion County in the farming community of Gapway. Although he loved growing up on a farm, Frank knew early on that he didn't want to follow his parents, Ernest F. Jones and Nina Brown Jones, into the family business.

After graduating from Mullins High School, Frank enlisted in his local National Guard unit in December 1953. On October 1957, upon graduation from Palmetto Military Academy, he was appointed an armor officer assigned to the 1st Battalion, 263rd Armor in the South Carolina Army National Guard. He served in this battalion through December 1982, with assignments ranging from Company Commander to Battalion Executive Officer and Battalion Commander. From December 1982 through March 1986, he was assigned to the State Area Command, where he served as Deputy Commander, Detachment 1 (Troop Command) from June 1983 to September 1984. He became Deputy Commander of the 218th Heavy Separate Brigade in March 1986.

Frank received numerous federal and state awards and decorations during his 40 years of service to the National Guard. He eventually retired from the Army National Guard after he rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Army National Guard where he commanded the 3rd Brigade of the historic 1st Infantry Division.

General Jones also demonstrated his commitment to serving his community in other ways. From 1966 until 1982, he served on the Mullins City Council and was Mayor pro tem in 1981-1982. Professionally, he pursued a career in banking receiving degrees from the South Carolina Bankers School, the Louisiana State Graduate School of Banking, the Commercial Lending School of the University of Oklahoma, and the State University of New York at Albany. He went to work for Davis National Bank of Mullins, and in 1981, he became the bank's President and CEO, a position he held for 13 years. Frank decided to embark on another career as Executive Director of the Marion County Economic Development Commission. He also furthered his education by completing an economic development course at Georgia State University in 1995.

Frank's tenure at the Commission was marked by difficult circumstances. Marion County historically had an agricultural-based economy. With the decline in tobacco farming, the county became a hub for textile manufacturing. Subsequently the textile industry suffered big losses as jobs were moved overseas and plants were closed leaving large unemployment in the county.

Frank did a tremendous job attracting diverse smaller industries to the county, which helps protect against the devastation the county suffered when its two previous economic engines collapsed. He also grew Marion County Progress, an organization made up of local business leaders that help drive economic development in the area, from a handful of people to members.

Throughout his life, Frank has remained connected to his community. He is a member of Mullins First Baptist Church where he serves as Treasurer, teacher of adult men's Sunday School, and Deacon. He is a member of the Mullins Rotary Club, and is a past President. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Visitors at Francis Marion University, and is a past Director of the S.C. Bankers Association. Frank is a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Governor of South Carolina.

He is married to Joann McCumber Jones. The couple has two children Charles Jones and Karen Grice, both of Marion, and five grandchildren.

Madam Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulating Frank Jones on his retirement and thanking him for his years of service to Marion County, the State of South Carolina and our nation. He has dedicated his life to helping his community and it is a much better place because of his

tremendous contributions. I wish Frank well in retirement, and know he will remain an active part of the Marion County community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Ridgewood Foundation and its longtime tour coordinator Dr. Ezell Pittman. This Foundation was established to enhance the lives of residents in the Ridgewood community--physically, educationally and economically. Over the years, however, it has earned a reputation as being much more.

In 1990, the late Reverend Levi Chavous who was a good friend of mine and pastor of Ridgewood Missionary Baptist Church for forty years founded the Ridgewood Foundation in consultation with Ms. Glenice Pearson. Their mission was to help better the communities that surrounded their church.

The first challenge was to raise money for the Ridgewood Foundation. In 1993 Mrs. Deborah Breedlove, who served as the financial advisor, and the late Mrs. Mamie Floyd, a retired school teacher and community activist, organized a three-day trip to Potomac Mills in Virginia, the National Mall and the Frederick Douglas Museum in our nation's capitol. The trip was such a resounding fundraising success that Dr. Ezell Pittman, a retired public servant, was enlisted to serve as the tour coordinator for the Foundation.

Funds raised by the organization were used to provide introductory computer classes for seniors, a hypertension and diabetes program in the Ridgewood community, and scholarships for students graduating from Eau Claire High School. In the early years, the trips were promoted by asking the executive directors of the Aiken, Columbia and Florence Housing Authorities and the Columbia Urban League to sponsor youth to travel with the Foundation.

Dr. Pittman took on his task of tour coordination with great zeal, and after the first Washington, DC area trip, subsequent four and seven-day trips were planned. Since 2001 four fundraising trips lasting fourteen days or longer benefitting the Ridgewood Foundation have been undertaken from coast to coast. Under Dr. Pittman's leadership, the Foundation has taken travelers to the 48 continental states, Eastern Canada and Mexico. The trips have included travelers from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New York.

After fifteen years and numerous trips, Dr. Pittman is relinquishing his position as tour coordinator for the Ridgewood Foundation. His service to the Foundation has been invaluable and his commitment over the last 15 years has been greatly appreciated.

Madam Speaker, I ask that you and our fellow colleagues join me in commending Dr. Ezell Pittman for his service to the community of Ridgewood and to the Foundation that helps support its quality of life. The Ridgewood Foundation will continue its good works, and its members will continue to follow the wonderful example set by Dr. Pittman.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of America's unsung heroes, Mr. Leslie M. Green. Mr. Green is a retired Corporal of the 118th Army Air Forces Base Unit who has recently celebrated his 90th birthday. He is an ordinary man who has led an extraordinary life, one that deserves our recognition.

Leslie Green was born in East Point, Georgia on August 14, 1919. He was educated in the only high school available to him at the time, the all-black Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta. After graduation, he worked on the family farm and in his father's business, which was unusual at the time. However, Leslie was drafted into the United States Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1941, and was sent to New Orleans for basic training with the 9th Aviation Squadron.

After basic training, he was sent to Maxwell Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, where he received on-the-job training in aircraft maintenance. He became an aircraft crew chief with the rank of Corporal. For his outstanding work, Corporal Green received the American Defense Ribbon, the American Theater Ribbon, Good Conduct Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal. He was discharged in 1945.

Madam Speaker, there have been many honors and recognitions bestowed upon the pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen. However, the crews that supplied and serviced these pilots and their aircraft have gone unnoticed by comparison. I want to take this opportunity to thank Corporal Leslie Green and all of his fellow crew members. Our country owes them a debt of gratitude for their role in the remarkable success of the Tuskegee Airmen.

However, his military service is not the only extraordinary aspect of Leslie Green's life. Upon his discharge from the Army, Mr. Green joined his brother in Detroit, Michigan where they opened the first barber school in the city. Mr. Green served as an instructor and helped operate this successful business until 1985. In 1991, he returned to his roots in East Point, Georgia.

Yet Mr. Green knew he wanted to accomplish even more in his life. During most of his adulthood, he had been overweight. His weight led to diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and arthritis. Mr. Green knew he had to get his weight under control to improve his quality of life. He changed his diet and started working out in the fitness center. Over time, he was able to lose seventy pounds, wean himself off insulin, and reduce his other medications. Today he exercises in the fitness center nearly every day serving as a positive example at ninety years old to those much younger. He is an ambassador for healthy living and a motivator for countless people in his community.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing Mr. Leslie Green's lifetime of achievement. This ordinary man has spent his life doing extraordinary things. He is a war hero, an entrepreneur, and a role model for healthy living. Mr. Green has never met a challenge he wasn't willing to take on wholeheartedly. Through hard work and dedication, he has succeeded time and again. He is a testament to American dedication and ingenuity. I applaud Mr. Leslie Green, and wish him a belated happy 90th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution addresses an issue of great importance to current and future Members of this august body: the proper conduct of its Members.

Despite statements made by various leaders of the other party, this is not about partisan politics or inappropriate comments. To the contrary, this is about the rules of this House and reprehensible conduct.

I stand here as a former schoolteacher and the proud father of a current public schoolteacher who teaches in the congressional district represented by Congressman Wilson. My grandchildren attend schools in that district.

But, Mr. Speaker, this Hall is the most prominent classroom in this great country, and all of us are teachers. We are bound by duty and the offices we hold to conduct ourselves as such. Classroom teachers and schoolchildren across the country and around the world looking in on our proceedings should see proper decorum and hear civil discourse. Our teachers are expected to teach our children to learn proper behavior. All of us are expected to give appropriate support and deference to the institutions that help us develop and maintain a civil and orderly society.

Our three separate branches of government have defined roles to play in this process, and those of us who hold positions within these branches are expected and are duty bound to treat each other with proper dignity and respect. Whether we like it or not, teachers and students see us as role models.

But none of us is perfect. We all make mistakes, and we sometimes fall short of expectations. But when we do, proper contrition is expected. When one of us, while seated in a formal session, severely violates the rules of this body by shamelessly hurling accusations of mendacity towards a President of these United States, our Commander in Chief, and refuses to formally express remorse, we, at a minimum, are duty bound to express our disapproval. Our teachers, our students, and constituents deserve no less.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to first of all say to my friend, the leader, that before coming to this Congress I spent 18 years running a State agency in South Carolina. In those 18 years, I worked for four Governors--two Democrats and two Republicans. Many of you remember that one of

those Republicans for whom I worked for 8 years was Carroll Campbell, a former Member of this body. We were good friends. We often consulted with each other in the evenings, but we always respected each other even though we were poles apart politically.

This is not a partisan stunt. I do not participate in partisan stunts, and I think every Member here knows that. This is about the proper decorum that should take place on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.

And I would like to say to the leader, and I think he knows, that he has not represented the facts correctly. On October 23, 2007, a Member of this body, Representative Stark, came to this floor and apologized for behavior, as I read, ``I want to apologize to first of all my colleagues, many of whom have been offended,'' and then he went on to say to the President, to his family, to the troops. That took place on this floor in 2007 on October 23.

Then I would remind the leader on July 23, which incidentally happens to be Carroll Campbell's birthday, on July 23, Chairman Thomas came to this floor and he offered an apology: ``Because of my poor judgment, the stewardship of my party as majority party in the House has been unfairly criticized,'' and he went on to apologize.

And so all we have ever asked is that this body, this House, receive from Mr. Wilson a similar statement of contrition. It is all about the decorum of this House.

And I will reiterate, I have never stood on the floor of this House in my 17 years and participated in any kind of partisan stunt, and I think the other side knows that.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to close this discussion today using the balance of the time.

Mr. Speaker, the Republican leader earlier referenced the great preacher whose reference can be found in the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes. He said there's a time and a place for everything. I agree with that. I believe very seriously that there is going to be a time for us to discuss health care, a time for us to discuss energy policies, education, and the economy. But Mr. Speaker, the rules of this House provide the vehicle by which we carry out those discussions. If the rules are not honored, if the rules of this House are not there to maintain order, we can never get to these discussions and do so in a way that would make the people of our great country proud.

The gentlelady from Michigan indicated that this is a teachable moment. Yes, it is. This is a time for us to teach--not just by precept, but by example--that which we say to our children, that which we say to our constituents, that there are certain things that you do and certain things that you don't do. And when you do those things that you don't do, the proper thing to do is to show proper contrition, not the way that you may think is proper, but the accepted form of contrition. And the accepted form of contrition when the rules of this body are violated is to come to this floor and to request the apology of these Members. And until that is done, Mr. Speaker, proper contrition has not been made.

My father used to teach me all the time, Son, he would say, The first sign of a good education is good manners. I took that to heart. And I would hope that this body today would demonstrate to all of those schoolchildren who are looking in on these proceedings that we are here to demonstrate what is proper decorum for you to follow in your classrooms. We must here today support our teachers and help them educate our children.

Silence gives consent. We cannot be silent in this matter, because we do not consent to the conduct of Mr. Wilson.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a former member of the United States armed services, a civic leader, avid golfer, and devoted husband, father and grandfather, and one of my best friends. Mr. Ollie Johnson of Columbia, South Carolina passed away on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at the age of 73, after an extended battle with cancer. He has left a tremendous legacy, and his contributions deserve recognition.

Ollie was born on July 3, 1936, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Mack and Emma Johnson. He attended area Catholic schools and graduated from St. Peters Academy in Dallas, Texas. At an early age he was baptized and entered into a lifetime affiliation with the Catholic Church. He entered the Air Force in 1954 and served honorably for 21 years. His active duty military service included assignments in England and the Philippines. He served stateside in Arizona, Nebraska and Texas, and was honorably discharged while serving in Charleston, South Carolina.

While on active duty, he matriculated at Thomas Edison College and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Education. After his separation from active duty, Ollie continued his education earning a Master of Education degree from Southern Illinois University.

In October 1957, he married Barbara Jackson and they became the proud parents of three children: two sons and one daughter, and were subsequently blessed with four grandchildren.

Ollie and his family moved to Columbia, South Carolina where he began 25 years of service in state government. During his tenure, he was employed at the Commission on Aging and became one of our state's most diligent advocates for aged and served as a delegate to a White House conference on aging.

Ollie believed strongly in civic responsibility, community service, and charitable works. He demonstrated these beliefs daily with his active participation in various civic groups while serving in different capacities: South Carolina Federal Credit Union, Supervisory Committee; Credit Union League, Fort Jackson Golf Club's Advisory Council. He served as President of the State Sertoma Club, and Carolina Sunshine, and was a member of the Board of Directors of Senior Catering and the Elder Care Trust Fund.

Ollie and I were frequent golf partners, and we joined with other golfing buddies to turn our passion for golf into support for various causes. One of them was a tournament known originally as the Palmetto Institute Classic to raise college scholarships for deserving students.

When one of our founding buddies died suddenly of a ruptured aorta at the age of 56, we renamed the tournament the Rudolph Canzater Memorial Classic in his honor. The Canzater Classic has contributed more than $600,000 to college students since its inception. This year's Canzater Classic will be held for the 19th time on August 8-9, and Ollie's presence will be sorely missed. A few years ago we started holding a Health Fair in conjunction with the tournament and when it is held next week, we will rename the Health Fair in Ollie Johnson's honor.

Madam Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in celebrating the life of Ollie Johnson for his service to his country and his community. I will forever feel indebted to him and thank Ollie's family for allowing him to share his talents and his gifts with us. Our country and community are better for his service.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to the American people that this whole issue of health care reform is something that needs to be focused on, not as an individual condition or situation but as to what is happening to the American families, as to what has happened to American businesses and as to what is happening to the American economy.

This is not about government-run health care. It's about removing insurance companies and costs from health care decisions, and it's about allowing you and your doctor to make those decisions. The status quo is not acceptable, and it is not sustainable. Here is why:

Every day, Americans are worried not simply about getting well but about whether or not they can afford to get well. Millions more wonder if they can afford preventative care to stay well. Premiums have doubled over the last 9 years, rising three times faster than wages. The average American family already pays an extra $1,100 in premiums every year for a broken system that supports 46 million uninsured Americans. For American businesses, soaring health care costs put American companies at a competitive disadvantage in a global economy. Small businesses are forced to choose between coverage and layoffs.

The broken health care system will cost us as much as $248 billion in lost productivity this year alone. We have the most expensive health care system in the world. We spend almost 50 percent more per person on health care than the next most costly nation, but we are no healthier for it. If we do nothing, in a decade we will be spending $1 of every $5 on health care. In 30 years, it will be $1 of every $3. Health care reform is curbing health care costs. It is the single best tool for deficit reduction.

Now I want to answer a question for all of the American people: What is in the reform plan for the average American?

Without reform, the health care costs for an average family of four is projected to rise $1,800 every year for years to come, and insurance companies will make more and more health care decisions. America's middle class deserves better.

Now, here is what is in this reform package for you: no more co-pays or deductibles for preventative care; no more rate increases for preexisting conditions, gender or occupation; an annual cap on your out-of-pocket expenses; group rates of a national pool if you buy your own plan; guaranteed affordable oral, hearing and vision care for your kids.

With this health care, there is greater choice. Keep your doctor and your plan if you like them. More choice with a high-quality public health insurance option competing with private businesses.

And so I want to say to the American people, this health care plan that we are marking up in the Energy and Commerce Committee over the next 2 days--and it's already been marked up in three of five committees in both houses of the Congress--is a plan that will say to the American people, You no longer have to worry about the cost shifting that's taking place in our current health care system; you will no longer have to worry about your premiums going up in order to cover that cost shifting for those people who do not have insurance. There will be stability in your families, there will be decreases in your premiums, and there will be an expansion in the coverage for all Americans. This is something we cannot afford not to do.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a trailblazing communicator and deaf friend, Joan Gladden Mack, upon her retirement after a 28-year career in television and radio. Ms. Gladden is a remarkable woman who I have known since our days as students together at South Carolina State College.

Joan Gladden was born in a close-knit Gullah community on James Island, South Carolina. She graduated as salutatorian of Gresham- Meggett High School in 1960, and received scholarships to attend South Carolina State. Joan was gifted in the sciences, and majored in biology with the intention of pursuing a career in medicine or physical therapy. But her brothers persuaded her to join them in New York, where she took a job as a program director for the New York City Youth Board.

After four years in the ``Big Apple,'' Joan decided to return home where she continued her work with youth as the program director for the YMCA. She later served as a caseworker for the Charleston County Department of Social Services and a teacher in the County's Manpower Program. It was during her time at the Manpower Program, that Joan's career path changed.

In 1972, many media outlets, including WCSC-TV in Charleston, started recruiting African Americans for on-air positions. While Joan had no formal training in broadcast journalism, many leaders in the black community encouraged Joan to apply. She went to apply during her lunch hour and was asked to stay for an interview. She returned the next day for an on-air audition and, as they say, the rest is history.

Ms. Mack was hired the same day as her audition and became the public service director and co-host of ``Kaleidoscope,'' a morning talk show on WCSC-TV. Despite landing the job, Joan was unsure of the longevity of her new career and decided to continue teaching with Manpower in the evenings just in case things didn't work out.

Her talent and tenacity ensured Joan's success. She became a local celebrity and a role model for both blacks and whites. After spending five years at WCSC-TV, Joan moved to WCBD-TV where she became a news reporter and later anchored the news. Yet she yearned to do more reporting that would allow her to have an impact on the community. She became an investigative reporter and covered three stories of which she is especially proud: one involving teen pregnancy, another prison overcrowding and the third involved abuse in the state mental hospital.

After 14 years in the news business, Joan began looking for a greater challenge. She requested a position in the station's management, which had no African American representation. Her request was denied, and Joan felt it was time to move on.

In 1985, Joan was hired by the College of Charleston as its media resources coordinator. She rose to serve as the university's public relations director and director of administration. Ten years into her work at the College of Charleston, Joan was presented with an opportunity to keep her hands in broadcasting, and jumped at the chance.

In 1995, South Carolina ETV closed some of its broadcast sites around the state. One of those sites was on the USS Yorktown in Mt. Pleasant. The College of Charleston was asked if it would house the broadcast equipment from that studio and in return the college received 30 minutes of air time for a weekly show. ``Conversations With Joan Mack'' was born, and the show has aired for 14 years on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. on public radio stations throughout South Carolina. The show focuses on politics, social issues and the arts, and I am honored to have been a guest on Joan's show on several occasions.

In addition to her life in broadcast journalism, Joan devotes time to her faith, which she credits with keeping her grounded. After attending Catholic masses with friends in college, Joan researched the religion and converted to Catholicism. She has served as president of the local and state levels of the National Council of Catholic Women, and as director of the Atlanta Province, which allowed her to represent the region on the national board. She also serves as a lector and Eucharistic minister at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Charleston.

Joan is married to Charles Mack, who worked for Amtrak. They raised daughters, Dandria Williams-Clark and Kashauna Simmons, and son, Charles Austin Mack. Today the couple are the proud grandparents of eight grandchildren.

Madam Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in congratulating Joan Mack on her groundbreaking career and well-deserved retirement. I am sure Joan will continue her community involvements, and being a role model for many in the Charleston community. I wish her Godspeed and all the best in the next phase of her life.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Mollohan for yielding me the time.

Ranking Member Wolf, Mr. Flake, Members of the committee, subcommittee and staff, I very seldom come to this floor to make statements. But I do tonight because I consider it to be very, very critical to the education of our young people for us to continue and to expand the partnerships that all of us are trying to develop with the business community in trying to educate our children, most especially, those children who live in disadvantaged or what we call at-risk conditions.

ScienceSouth is a hands-on, minds-on program that many of us have worked a long time to develop.

And I want the gentleman to know that we aren't talking about my district here. We are talking about the I-95 corridor that has been dubbed ``The Corridor of Shame,'' that runs for 200 miles through South Carolina.

One of the partners, as he may have mentioned in his statement, is the city of Dillon. Dillon is not in my district. It is a city made famous by its School District No. 2, on the evening that the President of the United States addressed a joint session here in this room, and he identified a young lady sitting next to his wife, Ty'Sheoma Bethea, and talked about the letter she wrote to him. Ty'Sheoma Bethea is one of the students benefiting from this program, and Dillon is not in my district.

This is not about seeking largesse for the district I represent. This is about educating the children of this great Nation and of my home State.

This program is very, very important, and it has been around for 9 years, and I would like the gentleman to know that this is not anything that we are trying to wean off of. This is something that I wish we had more money to spend on. We cannot put this kind of condition on the education of our children.

Now, I don't understand why it is that we can understand the necessity for repeat expenditures to educate people and not understand why partnerships ought to exist, because students are being born every day. This program is not being maintained for the same students. It is being maintained for students who are being born every day and who are reaching a level every day of benefiting from this program.

So Ty'Sheoma Bethea will go on to college or will go on to university, and I am going to help ensure that she does. There will be others behind her to benefit from this program. So this is not repetition on the same students. This is the repetition of a program that has proven to be very, very beneficial.

In closing, might I say that this program is so important to the business community in South Carolina until Richard Powell recently ended his career at ESAB, which is a global welding and cutting firm, where he held positions of senior vice president of strategic planning, of senior vice president of information technology, vice president of manufacturing, and controller, and he took over the directorship of this program.

This is one of the reasons we exist--to make the quality of life better for those young people, especially those who live along the I-95 corridor that so many of us like to talk of as the ``corridor of shame.'' What we're trying to do with this program is to turn that corridor into an oasis of opportunity for those children.

Mr. Chairman, let me just say to the gentleman that I agree that we must find places to cut, and I have worked very hard on this side of the aisle to do that, but I think it is foolhardy to cut from the education of our children. They are, in fact, our future. This is an investment in the future of our children and of this great country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding constituent and an award-winning educator, Dr. Isaiah R. McGee. Dr. McGee is a 2009 recipient of the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Inc. Excellence in Teaching Award. He is the director of choral studies and assistant professor of music at Claflin University. He also directs the Claflin University Concert Choir.

Dr. McGee is a native South Carolinian, having been born and raised in Anderson. He is a graduate of my alma mater, South Carolina State University, and earned his masters from the University of South Carolina. Dr. McGee earned his doctorate from Florida State University in Music Education--Choral Conducting, and served as a graduate assistant and director of the Gospel Choir at Florida State.

During his career, Dr. McGee has earned a reputation as an accomplished vocalist, conductor, adjudicator, and clinician. He has international experience, debuting as the Conte in Cimarosa's II Convito at Teatro Signorelli in Cortona, Italy. He stays very active in professional organizations including the American Choral Directors Association and MENC.

Dr. McGee joined the Claflin University faculty in 1997, and has made an enviable mark on the Orangeburg campus. Dr. McGee is always looking for ways to enrich the experiences of his students to promote their performance and their commitment to their craft. Last year, he took Claflin's Concert Choir to China to participate in the pre-Olympic ceremonies. They performed in both Beijing and Shanghai.

Dr. McGee has developed a great deal of respect from his colleagues and students. Claflin University's president Dr. Henry Tisdale calls him ``an exemplary member of our faculty and committed to teaching and service.'' Claflin's vice president for academic affairs Dr. George Miller says, ``Dr. McGee's approach to teaching and scholarship with his student partners demonstrates the strength of the amalgam that results when theory and practice are combined.''

Dr. McGee was selected for the Excellence in Teaching Award by his peers at Claflin University. The purpose of the award is to honor faculty members who demonstrate the highest standards of teaching that encourage students to strive for excellence in their studies and intellectual pursuits. In addition to the recognition, Dr. McGee receives a $3,000 grant to be used for professional development opportunities.

Madam Speaker, I invite you and my colleagues to join me today in applauding the tremendous accomplishments of Dr. Isaiah McGee. He is an extraordinary example of an educator who inspires intellectual curiosity and demands outside enrichment to ensure his students reach their full potential. This award is well deserved and is recognition of a job well done.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, a visionary educator and an unsung American hero. Ms. Wright founded Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina in 1897, a remarkable accomplishment for a 25-year-old African American women during the post-Reconstruction era. Her tremendous legacy will be honored by Voorhees College on April 7, 2009 as the campus commemorates and Founders' Day and celebrates the extraordinary contributions of this amazing young woman.

When Elizabeth Evelyn Wright was born on April 3, 1872 the seventh child of John and Virginia Wright in a poverty-stricken black community in Talbotton, Georgia, it would have been hard for anyone to believe she was destined for great things. Yet her academic talents were clear as she worked on the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic in the basement of St. Phillips AME Church. Her instructors urged and encouraged her to further her education, and despite significant financial challenges, she enrolled at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1888.

While at Tuskegee, Elizabeth worked in the cafeteria to pay for her tuition, and she caught the attention of its principal Booker T. Washington and his wife Olivia. They became her mentors and encouraged her to dedicate herself to the education of young African Americans as they had.

Elizabeth was forced to drop out of Tuskegee in her senior year due to illness. However, she was summoned by Mrs. Almira Steele, a white trustee at Tuskegee, and asked to teach at a school in McNeill, South Carolina. Elizabeth accepted, and in 1892, she began teaching in the Hampton County School. She spent only six months there before arson fueled by bigotry burned the school to the ground.

In 1893, Elizabeth returned to Tuskegee and completed her degree. Still committed to her mission in McNeill, she returned and opened another school for the black children in the area. Two more times, arson destroyed any hope of the school's success, but Elizabeth didn't let that destroy her dream. She encouraged the school's other teachers to join her in opening another school in Denmark.

As it was with her educational pursuits, finances were the primary obstacle for getting the school started. Undeterred Elizabeth began visiting churches to collect donations

for the new school. In a fortunate turn of events in 1897, she met Mrs. Sontag, the white owner of a two-story general store in Denmark who gave Elizabeth permission to house her school on the store's vacant second floor. On April 14, 1897, the Denmark Industrial School opened its doors to 14 students.

In one year the enrollment swelled to 270, and Elizabeth's mentors, the Washingtons, sent Martin Menafee, a Tuskegee graduate, to Denmark to help her raise money for a more permanent school. He was able to arrange a meeting with blind-philanthropist, Ralph Voorhees of Clinton, New Jersey. He and his wife Elizabeth became the primary benefactors of the school and enabled it to purchase land for a new structure on the outskirts of Denmark. To honor their generous contributions, the school was renamed Voorhees Industrial School, and in 1904, the South Carolina State Legislature voted to incorporate it.

The following year, Elizabeth Wright and her financial officer, Martin Menafee, married on the campus of their beloved school. But their life together was cut short when Elizabeth again became gravely ill. She went to a hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan to receive treatment from two of the country's best physicians--Dr. Jean Harris Whitney and one of the Kellogg brothers, Dr. John Kellogg. Despite their best efforts, Elizabeth died on December 14, 1906 at the age of 34.

Elizabeth Wright Menafee believed her mission in life was ``to try and help my fellow man to help themselves and if a way was not open for them, I must open it myself.'' President Cleveland Sellers, his faculty and staff, and the students and alumni of Voorhees are to be commended for celebrating the life and sharing the story of Elizabeth Wright. Hers is an example for others to follow.

Madam Speaker, I ask you and our colleagues to join me in applauding the tremendous legacy of Elizabeth Wright-Menafee. Her life is a testament to President Lincoln's declaration that ``it's not the years in your life that count; it's the life in your years.'' The accomplishments of this extraordinary woman, within such a short life are truly inspirational.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the National Park Service on the dedication of its newly installed museum exhibit African Passages, which will be housed at the Fort Moultrie Visitors' Center in Sullivan, South Carolina. It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge this scholarly contribution to our historical memory.

Historians estimate that slave ships brought 200,000 to 360,000 men, women, and children into Charleston's harbor. Between 1707 and 1799-- when arriving ships carried infectious diseases--their free or enslaved passengers were quarantined either aboard ship or in island ``pest houses.'' This painful history makes Sullivan's Island a gateway through which many African Americans can trace their entry into America. This exhibit thoughtfully examines the role of Sullivan's Island as a quarantine station during the international slave trade when Charleston was the main port of entry for captive Africans in North America.

The exhibit includes the haunting Middle Passage charcoals of Thomas Feelings and the exuberant Gullah art of Jonathan Green. West African objects, leg shackles and an 1803 slave identification badge are among the artifacts on display, which are on loan from the collection of the Avery Research Center for African American Culture at the College of Charleston.

The historical display also includes the story of Priscilla and her 7th generation granddaughter's return to Sierra Leone, which spans three centuries and provides a modern day link from Charleston across the Atlantic. The narrative of Priscilla places a stronger human element on the hundreds of thousands of persons oppressed by slavery. We owe a great debt to historians Edward Ball and Joseph Opala whose scholarship uncovered this timeless tale.

I would also like to acknowledge journalist Herb Frazier, who wrote the text; Studio Displays of Charlotte, NC, who created and installed the exhibit; and the Committee of Descendants, which provided an early investment for the project in 2004. In addition, I would like to thank Michael Allen of the National Park Service. The Remembrance Committee of Charleston has also been instrumental with the completion of the project. Their contributions and service to this initiative are greatly appreciated.

Legendary conductor of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman said, ``Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.'' The election of President Barack Obama has brought long due historic change to our country. It is important, however, to also pay homage to the singular events that defined a country and its people. This exhibit seeks to engage not only the Charleston community, but also the American community about its painful past, which I believe is a prelude for a brighter future for our country.

Madam Speaker, please join me in celebrating the dedication of African Passages in Sullivan, South Carolina. I commend the community and all the stakeholders for their hard work and vision to bring this exhibit to fruition.

Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the resolution on the table.