Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, people are entitled to their own opinions but not their own set of facts. The historical facts are that it was the Reagan-Bush administration that busted the budget year after year establishing unprecedented deficits.

But then the Clinton administration came in, passed the Balanced Budget Amendment, against Republican opposition, implemented the PAYGO concept, and generated $5.6 trillion of projected surpluses. In fact, Alan Greenspan was worried about too much surplus.

Then, the Republican Bush administration comes in, rejected the PAYGO concept, passes two tax cuts, starts a war, not one dime of which were ever paid for, and now the Democrats will come back and pass statutory PAYGO because PAYGO is defining of the Democrat Party's commitment to fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Madam Speaker, I rise in tribute to an old friend and long-time public servant, Hugh Robert ``Bob'' Morrison, who served as the elected Treasurer of the City of Falls Church, Virginia from 1993-2006. In the cause of full dislosure, Bob was also the Treasurer of my election campaign. Bob was the epitome of a public citizen, a husband and father who served his community in public office, but also helped to create his and our community of Falls Church through his professional and volunteer services and commitments-- despite multiple battles with cancer to which he finally succumbed this week.

One of the attributes of this remarkable leader was how he used the skills he learned in his youth and his service to our country to benefit our community in Northern Virginia.

In his freshman year in high school, Bob took a course in printing. He gained a skill that he applied throughout his life and made him instrumental in the planning and establishment of the Falls Church News-Press in 1991. Bob worked closely with editor and owner Nicholas F. Benton to create the first successful newspaper to serve Falls Church. Similarly, it was about this time that he discovered photography, a passion that never left him, but has surely enriched all the rest of us.

In 1961, Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army. After training, he was assigned to a NATO support base in Fontainebleau, France, where his duties included post photographer. It was in France that Bob met a fellow American whom he married; they had a son before they divorced.

After his honorable discharge in 1964, Bob moved to this region, Takoma Park in Washington, D.C., where he enrolled at Howard University and, to help support his child and pay his tuition, answered an ad in The Washington Post for a night job as a page layout technician with the National Geographic Society--a position where he worked full time from 5 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. in page layout then as proofreader for five years, going to classes during the day.

He graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in English and minoring in philosophy, in June of 1969. Armed with his degree, he successfully applied to an opening as a writer for National Geographic. Bob's first byline came two years later with an essay on the urban environment for an ecology book. It was followed by seven more National Geographic books for which Bob was a contributing author. He also co-authored America's Atlantic Isles. His assignments took him to the Caribbean, several European countries, and 48 states. (He missed Alaska and South Dakota, which he later visited.)

Bob's achievements and tenacity were recognized with his name on the National Geographic Society's masthead. He was said to have been one of the youngest ever to achieve such an honor. He also served as managing editor for Educational Filmstrips, edited the questions for the first National Geography Bee, and brought the first IBM-PCs and Macs to National Geographic word processing, layout, and other editorial uses.

In 1971 Morrison sold a photo to the Society that ran as a full page in a book. He decided to use the unexpected windfall toward buying a kilt and looked for places to wear it, so happening onto Scottish Country Dancing. That soon became a hobby, with lasting consequences. It was through this new hobby that he met Meredith. Their friendship deepened, and they were married in 1979.

Bob and Meredith went from country Scottish dancing to foster parenting training, after which they began providing temporary care for infants. In 1988 a little rascal arrived who grabbed their hearts, and they adopted Justin in 1991. Justin needed a sister. Elizabeth was a bundle of joy with a will of iron, and she was adopted in 1992. One of the great blessings that came from their adoption was being led to Galloway United Methodist Church, where Morrison served on the Finance Committee for many years and learned the skills that made him such a successful public elected official later on. Bob also became active with Falls Church Community TV, in recognition of which he was appointed to the Board of Directors of The Falls Church Cable Access Corporation and served there for 19 years.

All these activities whetted his interest in serving in public office. He had been active in Democratic politics and began to look for an entry to public service. He defeated three other candidates in his first campaign, and he was unopposed in the next three--so appreciated was his service.

He continued his longtime hobby of photography after he retired from the Treasurer's Office in 2006, taking the time to take thousands of pictures in his community. He especially enjoyed shooting sports; his Web site has more than 10,000 pictures of George Mason High School activities, mostly of football and basketball. He served as an official photographer for The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, the Capital Fringe Festival, and the DC Divas. Some of these jobs came from friends made at TIVA, an area association of independent video and film professionals, where he served on the Board of Directors for several years. He volunteered often at DC Central Kitchen, photographing their Capital Food Fight, and received their Volunteer of the Year award in 2005. Morrison was especially proud of his contributions to their cookbook, Feeding the Soul of the City. He also worked as a publicity agent and set photographer. After he finished photography on Come What May, the producer asked him to play the role of a retired Supreme Court Justice, for which he received his first and only screen acting credits.

In 2006, he was diagnosed with colon cancer, which prompted his retirement as Falls Church's Treasurer and this week took him from us. But he has left a legacy which, like his tens of thousands of photographs, will keep him in our hearts forever. His multiple talents and convictions made him a servant to the people of our region, and he left us all richer for many, many contributions.

I thank my very good friend, the chairman of the committee. I was struck by the comments of the gentlelady from Wyoming referring to what she calls a feral horse problem here and the idea that we might be likely to vote on the basis of emotion rather than pure science.

Well, I'm going to give some hard-and-fast numbers. But first in response to that, it seems to me that we should reflect upon the fact that virtually all of our heroes are depicted in statues on horses. If they were killed in battle, their horse has the two front hooves up in the air. If they were wounded, one hoof is up.

Now, there's nothing scientific about that. It's all about emotion. It's about inspiring the American people. It's about what this country was about. And one of the things this country was about is its wild, open spaces where horses and buffalo were free to roam.

Now the argument is made they are nonnative. Well, the cows are nonnative, too, and in large measure this is to provide more room for cow grazing.

Let me get to some hard-and-fast numbers, because I strongly support Mr. Rahall's bill, because not only is it fiscally responsible, it is the right thing to do. Mr. Hastings' substitute is not the best solution.

The House has voted three times on this issue with overwhelming bipartisan support every time. This bill provides cost-effective, on- the-range management for our mustangs.

The Bureau of Land Management's program really isn't working very well. They're rounding up wild horses, only to keep them in holding pens. It's not good for the horses and it's wasting money, frankly.

Now, when you spend two-thirds of your program feeding captive wild mustangs in costly pens, you ought to figure out if there isn't a better alternative. Mr. Rahall's bill and Mr. Grijalva's is a much better alternative to let them live in the open range but to reduce the population through humane birth control measures.

The gentleman suggests this is welfare for horses. The U.S. Geological Survey, the Journal of Wildlife Management, and the GAO all agree that this saves more than $6 million as well as saving 30,000 horses. Mr. Hastings' amendment would be voting to slaughter 30,000 wild horses.

I thank my very good friend, the chairman, the gentleman from West Virginia.

I can't imagine that we want that picture that Mr. Rahall showed on the floor, which was only a half dozen horses, magnified 5,000 times. Mr. Hastings' amendment will cause 5,000 times that slaughter, 30,000 slaughtered horses.

Now, as to this wild horse welfare, the reality is that the Geological Survey has figured that by implementing herd reduction with birth control, Mr. Rahall's bill, H.R. 1018, saves more than $6 million a year. The U.S. Geological Survey says it will save $7.7 million a year. What is planned is to use a much less expensive, far more humane process of population control, contraceptive measures to humanely reduce the number of horses while allowing them to use the range. We're talking about federally owned Bureau of Land Management land. We're not talking about letting the horses loose in everybody's backyard in Wyoming or any other State. We're talking about BLM lands. What the GAO found, and I quote, ``reducing authorized grazing levels would likely be cheaper than wild horse removals to achieve the same reduction in forage consumption.''

Well, that's the economics of this. This is fiscally responsible. This saves money, according to experts. But there's also something to be said for the other, the noneconomic, nonpragmatic issue. It seems to me that it is wrong for this Congress to vote to slaughter 30,000 wild horses. Basically it was their land, and we took it from them. Let's go with Mr. Rahall's amendment and do the right thing. I thank my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I object.

Mr. Speaker, thank you, Ms. Norton, for bringing this resolution to the House floor for its consideration.

Monday, June 22 tragedy struck Washington.

Around 5:00 p.m. at the start of the evening rush hour, Metro Train 112 struck Train 214 as it was waiting for a third train to finish boarding passengers at the Fort Totten Station.

Nine people lost their lives and 76 others were injured, 41 of whom were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.

We are all saddened by the loss of life and I wish once again to express my condolences to the family and friends of those who suffered an injury or lost a loved one on that tragic Monday.

I also wish to express my appreciation to Metro and the emergency responders who were on the scene immediately with assistance.

As we gain insight on the cause of the accident, I will be working with my colleagues, many of whom are cosponsors of this resolution, to ensure this type of tragedy is never allowed to happen again.

We are in fact working to secure the funding to replace the older type ``1000'' rail cars that failed to hold up during the crash and any other resources Metro needs to restore full service.

The tragedy has brought us together as a region, and together we will work to make sure Metrorail remains a transportation system that is safe, efficient, affordable and secure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3114, and commend the Chairman for his leadership in acting so swiftly to rectify this situation.

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, located in my District, is funded entirely by the user fees it collects; it does not draw any taxpayer funds from the general Treasury.

Like many other businesses and industries, the PTO has seen significant reductions in its revenues as a result of economic belt- tightening by its customers. In response, PTO has already enacted over $140 million in budget cuts and cost-savings measures. PTO has instituted a hiring freeze, curtailed non-bargaining unit performance awards, stopped overtime for many workers and significantly reduced contracts, travel, supplies and other non-essential overhead expenses.

In the meantime, we must ensure that the USPTO can continue to maintain its personnel level and perform its critical mission of examining and granting patents that promote innovation and create jobs. As a result, a serious budget situation has developed. Absent adoption of this legislation approximately 9,000 patent office employees would be subject to furloughs during the last pay period of FY09 (last two weeks of September).

The Department of Commerce is monitoring the situation on a daily basis, and out of an abundance of caution, and to prevent a possible violation of federal law, the Department of Commerce is asking for a one-time funding fix from Congress to avoid the furlough of Patent Office employees.

The Trademark Office, as distinct from the Patent Office, within PTO has a surplus of $60-$70 million. Without asking for new monies from Congress, the Treasury, or other agency programs funds, this bill before us would provide an immediate and one-time-only borrowing option that is accompanied by a statutory repayment period. In 1999 and 2005, the opposite situation occurred, and the Trademark Office received assistance from Patents totaling $24 million.

In order for Americans to prevail against this economic downturn, and to remain competitive globally, we need to ensure new technologies, innovation, and products are fully funded. The new concepts and ideas promoted by the work of PTO are drivers for American economic recovery and growth.

At such a time as this, America should be looking for its next Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs.

This bill simply lets the USPTO's patent operation borrow from an existing balance held by the trademark operation, and only if reasonably necessary to avoid employee furloughs or a reduction in force. Payback of any borrowed funds is assured by a temporary surcharge on patent fees.

This is a crucial juncture for the PTO. We need to remain at the cutting edge of global technological progress and achievement, or we risk lagging behind other nations.

The bill amounts to an insurance policy for the USPTO to make sure it can cover its payroll for over 9,000 federal employees. I ask my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, today I am proposing bipartisan legislation to establish a program that would mirror the existing law for states. The legislation, in which I am joined by my colleagues, Representatives Wolf, Wittman, and Connolly, would allow certain types of delinquent local tax debt to be collected through the reduction of federal tax refunds. Providing local governments access to these needed and due funds is important both in principle and for budgetary purposes. In the middle of this recession, it is especially important to assist cities and counties to collect the taxes they are owed. The alternatives would be a reduction in vital services and jobs at a time when the government safety net for very poor families who lack jobs has weakened significantly and increases in deep poverty in this recession are likely to be severe. This will impose significantly higher demands on local governments for police, housing and shelter, food, and other vital services. This bill offers a unique opportunity not just to provide hundreds of millions of dollars of desperately needed assistance at no cost to federal taxpayers, but also to protect honest taxpayers from an increase in local property taxes. Under this legislation, the only cost is to the delinquent taxpayer, who would finally be made to pay his or her outstanding tax obligation.

This proposed program would have no additional cost to the federal government. Local governments would pay the federal government the fee of $25 for each offset refund. It would alleviate the administrative burden to Department of the Treasury by requiring the state taxing authority to act as the clearinghouse. Therefore, the client base for the Department of the Treasury would not increase.

This concept of an offset originated as a way to assist states with securing child support arrearages. It was expanded to allow states to submit other delinquent claims against an individual's federal tax return. This program has been very successful for the states. Now this bill would expand its successful idea and concept to local governments in all states. Doing so could potentially result in several billion dollars annually for local governments by effecting the collection of delinquent taxes.

The bill would instruct the Secretary of the Treasury, upon receiving notice from any eligible state on behalf of a local government, that a named person owes such local government a past-due, legally enforceable tax obligation and provide, consequently, for the reduction of the federal tax refunds payable to such person by the amount of such debt. That amount would be remitted to the state for payment to the affected local government, provide for notification to the state of the taxpayer's name, taxpayer identification number, address, and the amount collected; and notification of the person due the refund that it has been reduced by an amount necessary to satisfy a past-due, legally enforceable tax obligation.

This bill offers a unique opportunity to provide hundreds of millions of dollars of desperately needed assistance at little cost to federal taxpayers. For Virginia localities, it is estimated that it will bring in between 65-70 million dollars in revenue during the first year in the program. From its participation in the Federal Offset Program, for FY 2008, the Commonwealth of Virginia received over $17 million dollars in offsets of federal income tax refunds and an additional $5 million in offsets of the tax stimulus checks. This legislation has the official support of the National Association of Counties, the Government Finance Officers Association, the National League of Cities, the Treasurers' Association of Virginia, the United States Conference of Mayors, the Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada, and the Conference of State Court Administrators.

This concept of an offset originated as a way to assist states with securing child support arrearages. It was expanded to allow states to submit other delinquent claims against an individual's federal tax return. This program has been very successful for the states. Now this bill would expand its successful idea and concept to local governments in all states. Doing so could potentially result in several billion dollars annually for local governments by effecting the collection of delinquent taxes. Under this legislation, the following order of priority for payment of an offset would be: (1) past-due federal income tax, (2) past-due state child support, (3) past-due federal government agency debt, (4) past-due state income tax, and (5) local government tax. The state taxing authority for each state would act as the clearinghouse for the local government tax debts, so this will not be an additional burden to Financial Management Services (which is a division of the United States Department of the Treasury administers the Federal Offset Program).

This is a bipartisan, good-government bill. If the legislation is passed, it would allow federal, state, and local governments to work together. Good citizens, who pay their taxes, will appreciate that the federal government and the state government are assisting localities to help local government collect from the delinquents. Each citizen should share in paying his fair share of taxes.

Madam Speaker, I rise to commend Doorways for Women and Families, Arlington County, Virginia's leading provider and advocate for victims of homelessness, violence and abuse, for its deserved honor and recognition by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement as the 2009 winner of the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management. For its distinguished leadership, Doorways will receive a $10,000 cash grant and a scholarship for one person to attend the Georgetown University Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership's Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program. That is, the organization's hard work and innovation will be rewarded by enhancing its ability to help more families at this time of great need, but also by assisting the organization to be more effective in managing its resources.

As our country faces one its most serious economic challenges in a century, nonprofits will play a critical role. Consequently, coordination between nonprofits and the quality of nonprofit management will play key roles in making a difference in many, many lives. Therefore, this award is an important and richly deserved honor and acknowledgement of Doorways as a stellar example that other organizations could and should follow.

With new legislation we have enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and a new White House Office on Social Innovation, those nonprofits like Doorways that have dedicated themselves to achieve excellence in management practices will, I believe, be in the position to not only provide some of the best and most efficient services, but also to leverage new and innovative ways to serve. Our country and our citizens are best served by those who constantly rededicate themselves to finding ways and means to transform their services in ways that can make lasting differences and maximum efficiency with resources.

For three decades, Doorways for Women and Families has empowered women and families who are abused, homeless, or at-risk to live safe, secure and self-sufficient lives. The organization has provided shelter and services and educated the larger community about violence and homelessness. Through its three core programs, including an 11-bed Safehouse for women and families in imminent danger; the Freddie Mac Foundation Family Home, which houses 21 homeless adults and children in a state-of-the art residential facility; and the HomeStart Supportive Housing Program, which offers prevention, rapid re-housing and long- term supportive housing for families in crisis; Doorways has become a unique and treasured asset to our community. We are honored to have such special resources in our region.

Madam Speaker, for weeks this body has been subjected to uninformed, false demagoguery with regard to President Obama's effort to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

I want to share some actual facts with regard to the people at Guantanamo Bay. There were 772 sent between the years 2001 and 2003. They are clearly not the worst of the worst. According to the Department of Defense's own Combatant Status Review Tribunal, only 8 percent of detainees were characterized as fighters, 92 percent were not fighters.

Of all the foreign nationals at Guantanamo Bay, only 5 percent were captured by United States forces, 2 percent by coalition forces, but 93 percent were turned in primarily by Pakistani forces in return for ransom, oftentimes for as much as $5,000. And from DoD records, a significant majority of the detainees are not even accused of committing a single hostile act.

Madam Speaker, it is time to put aside the rhetoric and start informing our constituents. We are a better Nation than the demagoguery we've been subjected to over Guantanamo Bay.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be joined today with Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton, Gerald Connolly, Rob Wittman, Donna Edwards, Chris Van Hollen, Frank Wolf and Steny Hoyer to introduce legislation National Capital Region Land Conservation Act of 2009. The legislation amends the Capper-Cramton Act of 1930, authorizing appropriations of up to $50 million per year for cost share grants to State, regional and local governments to acquire land in the greater Washington Metropolitan area (as defined by the U.S. Census) for a variety of conservation, environmental and recreational purposes. The program would be administered by the U.S. National Park Service.

Few cannot help but notice the green spaces that make up the central core of our nation's capital. Were it not for some visionaries at the turn of the 19th Century, however, our nation's capital would be a different place today. There would be no Mall, monument core, Rock Creek Parkway, Union Station, Lincoln Memorial or Tidal Basin. These icons that define the city today were part of the 1902 McMillan plan, named after Senator James McMillan of Michigan, who chaired the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia. The commission Senator McMillan established to draft the master plan included some of the greatest American architects, landscape architects and urban planners of the day including such luminaries as Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and Charles McKim and sculptor August Saint-Gaudens. The commission's plan, in many respects, was an early form of urban renewal that removed many of the slums that surrounded the Capitol, replacing them with new public monuments, open spaces and government buildings.

As visionary as the plan was, it also took some vision and political muscle to make it a reality. That credit falls largely to two Members of Congress: Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas and Rep. Louis Cramton of Michigan. Both Members embraced the vision and worked over a period of years to enact legislation to advance the McMillan plan. Best known among these laws is the Capper-Cramton law of 1930 authorizing land purchases and creating today's the National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Today, more than a century since the McMillan plan and more than 70 years since the enactment of Capper-Cramton, the time is now for a new plan, one that is responsive to the development patterns and demographics that were never envisioned at the turn of the last century. In 1902, the population of the District of Columbia was 278,000. Outside a few dirt roads and a few railroad junctions that ran into Northern Virginia and Maryland, the suburbs didn't exist. Dairies and farming hamlets populated Northern Virginia and Montgomery and Prince Georges County, Maryland.

Today, the District is home to 600,000 residents and swells to more than 1,000,000 during the workday. A network of roads and heavy rail radiate out from the city, like spokes on a wheel, linking more than 5,300,000 people who are spread out into the suburbs and fringe communities that consider themselves part of the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C. region. Today, we need a program for the greater metropolitan region.

We also need a program that helps lead the way in public investments to preserve the green infrastructure of parklands, fresh drinking water sources, steep slopes, stream valleys, forests, wetlands, wildlife corridors, scenic view sheds, historic sites and land buffering national monuments, battlefields that surround the national capital region and are endangered of being lost to development. Safeguarding these green assets is critical to this region's economy, quality of life, and environmental protection. Green infrastructure have been long recognized as essential elements of urban design and critical to safeguarding our region's drinking water supplies and restoration of the nationally important Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River, truly our ``Nation's River.''

Unless we act now to protect the remaining green infrastructure around our Nation's Capital, we run the risk of permanently degrading the environment in and around Washington, D.C. Between 1990 and now, the region's population grew by about 10 percent but the amount of impermeable surface grew about 40 percent. Forecasts predict that by the year 2030, the Greater Washington, D.C. region will grow by an additional 2 million persons.

I believe Congress can and should help the nation's capital address this growing need to preserve this region's green infrastructure by amending the time honored and visionary CapperCramton Act. The original Act gave life to many of the elements that we appreciate and consider invaluable today. It is time once again to act and preserve our source of fresh drinking water, connect this region's network of nonmotorized trails, provide buffers to protect scenic vistas along the Potomac particularly above Great Falls, and in Charles and Saint Mary's Counties in Maryland, and pocket parks in the more urbanized parts of the region.

I encourage you to support this act.

Mr. Speaker, this week, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer, reported on the CIA's abduction, rendition and torturing of an innocent man.

A businessman named Khaled al-Masri, was abducted in one country, renditioned to another, where he was stripped naked and chained and given putrid water to drink.

A number of CIA officials believed from the beginning that he was innocent, but his CIA supervisor, who has since been promoted twice, overruled them. Finally, 149 days later, they went over the supervisor's head, insisting that his innocence be acknowledged, and got him released.

Another CIA captive froze to death, chained to a concrete floor and was buried in an unmarked grave.

Mr. Speaker, as Director Panetta tries to restore the agency's reputation, it is necessary that he not only acknowledge the wrongs of the past, but that he not promote those who committed them.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce, along with Representatives Lee Terry and Frank Wolf, the Comprehensive Problem Gambling Act of 2009, which would for the first time devote federal resources toward the prevention and treatment of problem and pathological gambling.

According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, approximately 6-9 million American adults meet the criteria for a gambling problem, which includes gambling behavior patterns that compromise, disrupt or damage personal, family or vocational pursuits. Over the past decade, gaming and gambling has grown in the United States and many states have expanded legalized gaming, including regulated casino-style games and lotteries. The recent economic downturn only compounds this situation as many states consider relaxing gaming laws in an effort to raise state revenues.

At the same time, the federal government and most states have devoted very little, if any, resources to the prevention and treatment of compulsive gambling. Problem gambling can destroy a person's career and financial standing, disrupt marriages and personal relationships, and encourage participation in criminal activity. Currently, no federal agency has responsibility for coordinating efforts to treat problem gambling.

The Comprehensive Problem Gambling Act of 2009 would begin to address this deficiency by designating the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) as the lead agency on problem gambling, allowing them to coordinate Federal action. The legislation would allow SAMSHA to conduct research, develop guidelines for effective prevention and treatment programs, and provide assistance for community-based services. In addition, this legislation would authorize annual appropriations of $200,000 for a coordinated public awareness campaign, $4 million for an advisory commission to research problem gambling, and $10 million for grants to state, local, and tribal governments and non-profit organizations to provide treatment and prevention programs.

Legal gambling revenue, excluding most sports betting, poker and Internet gambling, has grown into an approximately $100 billion a year industry. In 2006, the IRS reported that individuals claimed $27.902 billion in gambling winnings on their income tax returns, resulting in $5.3 billion in federal tax revenue. I feel the responsible action is to invest a modest amount (the five-year cost of this bill is less than one-fourth of 1 percent of the yearly federal tax revenues from gambling) in prevention and treatment efforts.

While there may be disagreement over the degree to which gambling should be regulated, we should all be able to support efforts to minimize the negative effects of problem gambling. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an exceptional man. On Wednesday, June 10th, the federal government and, in particular, the General Services Administration lost an exemplary public servant, a genuine and trusted friend, and a devoted husband and father. On that day Michael J. Wootten, lost his courageous battle with cancer. Mike was the epitome of a fine public servant. He was accurate, detailed, inquisitive, and thorough in his work. He left our federal government and federal workforce the richer for his service.

He began his legal career as a law clerk, serving the office of the 5th district solicitor, Richland County, South Carolina. When he arrived in Washington D.C., Mike served as Majority Staff Counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. As full Committee staff counsel, Mike was responsible for issues of Administrative Law and Procedures, Courts, and Juvenile Justice.

Mike then moved on to the Department of Justice, where he spent three years in the Civil Division as Assistant Director of the Office of Policy and Legislation and Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General. One of Mike's accomplishments as Special Counsel was assisting in the confirmation of Justice Anthony Kennedy to the U.S. Supreme Court. Before departing Justice to join GSA, Mike served briefly as the Acting General Counsel for the President's Commission on Privatization.

Upon his arrival at the General Services Administration, Mike quickly became the ``go to'' lawyer for advice and counsel on real property law and legislative matters involving the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act

of 1949. For almost 20 years Mike served in the Office of the General Counsel. In addition, he served as counsel to the Office of Congressional Affairs, the Public Buildings Service, the Office of Government-wide Policy, and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. In 2009, Mike was appointed to the Senior Executive Service. His list of opinions was endless, and his advice was sought after and followed.

Mike was justifiably proud of his legal contributions to GSA. However, his pride in his legal career was always exceeded by his pride in his family, his loving wife Shereen and his two outstanding sons, Mitchell and Corey. As a parent and husband, he was immensely proud of their accomplishments, their community involvement, and their love for each other. Mike made and maintained legions of friendships. His friends, who will cherish his memory and joyful spirit, will join me today with honor and great sadness to pay tribute to Michael J. Wootten.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the underlying bill proposed by the International Relations Committee, and in opposition to the Republican substitute because, however you spin it, it's basically a continuation of the Republicans' blank check policy towards Pakistan. And what has that gotten us after 8 years of that policy?

Well, it's time to assess it. Twelve billion dollars of taxpayers' money has been spent, and we have nearly half a million Pakistani troops on the border with India, our ally, and one brigade fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda, our enemy. Their principal defense priority is F- 16s, which is a combat aircraft. Our enemy doesn't have combat aircraft.

We don't want to be funding a nation to fight against another ally. We want them to fight with us against our enemy.

What this bill does is to enable the children of Pakistan to have a decent public education and not be forced to go to the madrasas where they learn violent extremism against India and against modernity. This enables the women of Pakistan, particularly the young girls, to grow up to be women of influence and power and consequence.

This enables Pakistan to develop economically, not to use its resources into a military posture against India, but to use its resources to become a full-fledged, first world nation.

Pakistan is our ally, and this bill will enable it to stand on its own two feet, not to be able to fight India, not to be able to engage in nuclear proliferation, but to help us fight against the forces of violent extremism.

Pakistan is a valued ally. This will give them the resources so that we can count on that ally to do the right thing.

And to continue the same blank check policy which has made matters worse rather than better, I think, is a terrible mistake.

I urge defeat of the amendment.

Madam Speaker, at a time when there is intense division between Israelis and Palestinians, it is vital that the historical perspectives of both people be taught to both sides. While forces and events pull people in the Middle East away from each other, dedicated teachers in Israel and the West Bank are helping their students to confront their apprehensions and prejudices through better understanding of the ``other.''

By teaching Palestinians about the Holocaust and Israeli-Jews about the Palestinian perspective of the 1948 war, the children in the region will hopefully grow to understand better, and fear less, those with whom they share the Holy Land. It is those kinds of initiatives that exemplify the small steps needed to be taken on the long road to peace. Let us recognize them and encourage others to do the same. Thank you.

Cosponsors of Legislation

The Honorable Brian Baird, The Honorable Tammy Baldwin, The

Honorable Steve Cohen, The Honorable Keith Ellison, The

Honorable Sam Farr, The Honorable Bob Filner, The Honorable

Maurice Hinchey, The Honorable Michael Honda, The Honorable

Dennis Kucinich, The Honorable Barbara Lee, The Honorable Jim

McGovern, The Honorable John Olver, The Honorable Nick

Rahall, and The Honorable Fortney Pete Stark.

I very much thank my good friend from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) and Mrs. Maloney and my colleagues who have fought hard for this bill.

There are a couple of reasons why I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation. One is that we are in the midst of an economic crisis in this Nation, and who do we turn to? We turn to the Federal workforce to reset our economy, to put our Nation's investments where they need to be. We turn to them because we know that they are incorruptible. This is the most professional, least corruptible organization, civil service, in the world. We should be very proud of our civil servants.

Now, as the corporate board of directors of the largest workforce in the Nation, it's incumbent on us to let them know how we see them, to recognize them, to incentivize them, to recruit the very best and brightest people in this Nation and to retain them. And how do we do that? By leading in terms of the benefits that other large corporations provide. We should be leading by example. But the reality is that other large workforces oftentimes provide much better benefits than the Federal Government. We need to be in the leadership. This enables us to catch up. We recognize these employees by doing things that are tangible, and this is a tangible benefit.

The second reason is that we recognize that the most important time in anyone's life are those first few weeks after birth where a parent has the opportunity to nurture, where the child can bond, where the child's brain can be stimulated, where the child can understand they will grow up in a secure, safe environment.

I very much thank my good friend.

And I would hope that those who are in kind of knee-jerk opposition to this legislation would reconsider, because Mr. Wolf perhaps expressed it best: These are the days that matter, the weeks that matter. We want the healthiest workforce, we want the strongest society possible. And if we are to do that when we are the corporate board of directors of the largest workforce, we should lead by example by providing paid parental leave so a child can bond with their parents, so they can get them off to a healthy start. That's what this is all about. A strong society, enabling every child born in America to have the full opportunity to realize their potential.

This legislation enables the Federal workforce to achieve that objective. It's a noble national objective. It's what America ought to be about. Let's get this legislation passed.