Floor Statements

I am well aware of the fact that there are many Americans who think when they hear the word ``ObamaCare,'' that somehow it is a takeover by the government of our freedom and of our health care. I'm hoping that people will take another look now that the Supreme Court has declared this to be the law of the land and see what the advantages are for you, for individuals, what does it really mean.

For example, if you're a woman, did you know that being a woman is like being a preexisting condition? Over a lifetime, women pay about 48 percent more for their health insurance than men do. That is ended right now because of ObamaCare. Did you know that if you're a woman, you're now able to get lifesaving preventive services like a mammogram? You can go in now and get a mammogram at no cost because it's a preventive service under ObamaCare.

If you're a parent and you have a child with a disability, right now you are able to have that child insured. They cannot be excluded because they have a preexisting condition. Of course, that meant so much to the mother of Olivia. Let me just read the story of the mother of Olivia. Olivia suffered a stroke at birth, and now she's 11 years old. She has multiple health issues, including epilepsy and cognitive delays and cerebral palsy. ObamaCare means that Olivia can't be denied coverage based on her preexisting condition, and there is no lifetime limit. That's true of everyone now in America. There is no lifetime limit on her insurance coverage.

Both of Olivia's parents have switched jobs since having Olivia; and each time they switched, they had to fight to get the needed coverage for their daughter due to her preexisting condition. Imagine the relief that they don't have to do that, and no one with a child with a disability has to do that anymore.

This idea of government takeover is just not true. You will still be able to choose your providers. All the decisions you really want to make are not going to be taken away. You will even be able to choose your insurance company. If you can't afford it, you will be put into an exchange where you still get to choose a variety of insurance companies. If you can't afford the premiums, the government will help you do that.

By the way, all Members of Congress will be required to be in those health exchanges. You won't be able to say that the Members of Congress are taking care of themselves with their great health benefits. By the way, they are the same as all Federal workers. We pay our premiums, and we pay our copays. We're the only Americans that are going to be required to be in those health exchanges. So you can be assured that we're going to be making sure that we're taking care of ourselves, as well as all other Americans.

Because of ObamaCare, my adult son the other day on his birthday said, Thank you, Mom. He is a small business owner. He owns a tropical fish store in Chicago. He said, I just found out from my accountant that I received a pretty hefty tax credit, because that's what's given now to small

businesses under ObamaCare. So the idea that somehow small businesses are going to be hurt because of ObamaCare, the opposite is true. Right now this is helping small businesses with a tax cut.

Here are a couple of more examples. Jerry M., a constituent, said:

My 24-year-old daughter does not make enough money to pay

for individual health care. She became very ill with a throat

abscess and almost died. If it weren't for ObamaCare, she

would not be covered under my husband's insurance plan then.

If we had not been able to get her into an excellent hospital

that saved her, she might have died.

That's no longer true. You don't have to worry about that. You can stop worrying about going bankrupt over health care costs.

Here's from a senior:

My drugs are over $4,000 a year or more, and I hit the

doughnut hole--meaning a gap in coverage and the senior has

to pay on her own--by July or August. But because of

ObamaCare paying 50 percent, it's very helpful to me. It

probably saves me $1,200 or more a year.

She's an example of someone who is saving money right now because of ObamaCare. Take another look. I think it's really going to alleviate your worry about health care costs for your family.

I know that many Americans have heard over and over again that ObamaCare is a bad thing. But now that the Supreme Court has declared it the law of the land, I hope that everyone will take another look and see what's actually in the law and how it can help you.

Right now, because of ObamaCare, if you're a woman, you have free preventive services like mammograms. I hope you'll take advantage of that. And no longer will being a woman be a preexisting condition because insurance companies charge women up to 48 percent more for their health insurance. And because of ObamaCare, right now, if you're a parent and you have a sick child, a child with a disability, that child may not be denied health coverage. No one has to worry about lifetime caps anymore because of ObamaCare.

My son, a small businessman, said, Thanks, Mom, because of ObamaCare, 35 percent of the cost of coverage for my employees is paid for. And when fully implemented, no one will have to worry about having a preexisting condition. No one will be excluded. If you're an unemployed person and you lost your job and your health care, ObamaCare will make sure that you can get coverage.

For the first time in the United States of America, we say that health care is a right and not just a privilege for those people to can afford it.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 441, 442 I would not participate in what I strongly believe was an abuse of power by the majority who, for illegitimate reasons, chose to hold the Attorney General, Eric Holder, in contempt of Congress. I was against the rollcall votes.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

I rise today to mark the third anniversary of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka and to urge the U.S. Government to continue to press for full accountability for all human rights abuses committed during the conflict.

Over 70,000 Sri Lankans were killed in the course of the 26-year civil war. The United Nations found claims that both sides committed war crimes to be credible, and although the war ended 3 years ago, human rights violations are reportedly continuing. Reports suggest that over 50 people--mostly critics of the government--have been abducted in the last 6 months. Human rights activists have been targeted for harassment and labeled as traitors in the national media. Gender-based violence is on the rise in the country's north.

Mr. Speaker, the international community must continue to call for accountability for the crimes during the conflict, and we must urge the Colombo government to uphold its international commitments and fully respect the human rights of all Sri Lankans.

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 429, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Amendment Offered by Mr. Broun of Georgia

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

To not support Congressman Hoyer's motion to the Senate transportation bill for which, many times it's been said, 74 Senators, including 22 Republicans, voted for, I would suggest, is to engage in nothing less than economic sabotage.

Well into the construction season, the unemployment rate in the construction industry is at least twice the national average, and another short-term extension will not bring enough certainty to an industry that is hurting as badly as this one is.

MAP-21 is the single largest jobs bill passed by either body in this Congress. In my home State of Illinois alone, MAP-21 will save or create nearly 70,000 jobs. Nationwide, the bill will save or create nearly 2 million jobs and spur 1 million additional jobs through the leveraging of transportation funds.

It is hard to understand, as we are ending the month of June and construction needs to be done all over this country, that we are still delaying the passage of a bill that would mean so much to the workers across the country and to strengthening our economy. I think that we need to support this motion right now, to support MAP-21, and to send it to the President's desk immediately.

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I appreciate his leadership on the Energy Subcommittee.

As a member of the full Energy and Commerce Committee, frankly, I'm ashamed that this House is actually considering legislation that puts public health decisions in the hands of the oil industry.

Title II of H.R. 4480 eliminates a core principle of the Clean Air Act with respect to smog. For over 40 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has set health-based air quality standards using scientific and medical evidence to identify the maximum safe levels of air pollution for human beings to breathe. Title II would do away with that precedent by requiring that the cost to industry be the primary consideration in determining healthy emission standards. Yes, if this legislation passes, health-based decisions will play second fiddle to dollar considerations for the first time.

Over the years, our air has become cleaner and safer because industry has had to comply with more stringent standards. Lead is no longer poisoning our children from the pump. There are fewer kids with asthma due to gas pollutants. And oil companies, rather than suffering, are now making record profits. We don't have to pass the hat for the oil companies. The five largest made $137 billion in profit last year and $33.5 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Our health decisions should be made by health experts, not our worst polluters.

H.R. 4480 continues the policy of the 112th Congress: if the oil industry asks, the oil industry gets, no matter the impact on American families.

Title II sets up a new interagency bureaucracy to conduct an impossible study of the alleged economic impact of several EPA rules to reduce pollution from refineries and fuels--which haven't even been proposed--using data that doesn't exist. In the meantime, this title blocks the EPA from finalizing several air quality protections that the oil industry would prefer go away.

Title II does nothing to protect the consumer from price spikes at the pump or to reduce our country's dependence on oil. Instead, it is a giveaway to the oil industry under the false pretense of lowering gasoline prices.

The oil industry doesn't want to reduce the amount of toxic air pollution spewing from its refineries. The oil industry doesn't want to produce cleaner burning gasoline. The oil industry would rather not construct new refineries that are more efficient and less damaging to the world's climate. Oil industry executives would prefer to pocket all their billions in annual profits rather than invest any of it in modern, less polluting technology.

I offered an amendment yesterday that would have simply said that the unnecessary and impossible study required under title II would be paid for by the one industry that most stands to gain from its implementation, Big Oil. My amendment was not made in order.

The American people deserve better than this. They deserve clean air and clean water. They deserve more than a few months of a transportation bill. They deserve a jobs package that will put millions to work, including teachers and construction workers and firefighters and police officers. They deserve affordable student loan rates. Instead, the Republicans of this House have elected to carve out additional privileges for Big Oil.

Mr. Speaker, the House Republicans are doing nothing short of sabotaging our economy and jeopardizing millions of jobs by refusing to pass a long-term, well-funded transportation bill like the bipartisan Senate bill. There were 74 Senators, including 22 Republicans, who voted in favor of S. 1813, MAP 21. At one point, Speaker of the House John Boehner expressed his support for the bipartisan Senate bill. It is time for us to pass that legislation.

The unemployment rate in the construction industry remains nearly triple the national average. Construction workers, engineers, architects, managers, contractors, and developers tell me that another short-term extension will not bring enough certainty to the industry. In Illinois, my State, the failure to pass a long-term transportation extension at the peak of the construction season has kept many unemployed and put thousands of other jobs at risk. Our States, our localities, our businessowners, and our workers deserve better.

MAP 21 is the single largest jobs bill passed by either body in this 112th Congress. In my home State of Illinois alone, MAP 21 will save or create 70,000 jobs. Nationwide, the bill will save or create nearly 2 million jobs and spur 1 million additional jobs through the leveraging of transit funds.

I am a strong supporter of MAP 21, and we should send it to the President's desk this week. I can't support and our workers can't support another short-term extension that will leave thousands of Illinois jobs hanging in the balance. We need to move forward with legislation that does more than kick the can down the road.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Dick Heidkamp, a former Catholic priest and member of the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America, an organization that seeks to promote peace and improve the lives of people living in Latin American countries. Throughout his career, Dick has passionately advocated for human rights, peace, and justice for all, with a special focus on Central and South America.

Dick has been a member of the Peace and Justice Committee at the Mary Seat of Wisdom Church in Park Ridge, Illinois, for 38 years. He has also advocated for justice at organizations throughout Chicagoland, including Illinois SOA Watch, Eighth Day Center for Justice, Su Casa Catholic Worker, and Cristo Ray High School.

Dick first brought his high energy commitment to Chicago Religious Leadership Network in 1998. He has been a dedicated participant in CRLN, serving on its Board of Directors since 1999. In his time at CRLN, Dick has traveled throughout Latin America promoting justice and peace in underdeveloped countries, seeking to improve the lives of people living in nations such as Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia.

Dick has consistently advocated for policies that would increase standard of living for all people, recognizing that poverty is not just a tragedy for individuals and families but a key cause of global instability. Dick has fought for a U.S. foreign aid system that considers human rights above militarization. He has also lobbied Congress to end military aid to Colombia and to eliminate the trade embargo of Cuba, arguing that it keeps essential goods away from the Cuban people.

Understanding the plight of impoverished economies, Dick led the CRLN public policy delegation to Washington D.C. for the Jubilee 2000 campaign. That successful campaign pushed to cancel third world debt owed to the wealthiest nations of the world. Looking out for the average citizen, Dick and CRLN believed that this debt cripples already-struggling nations, preventing their governments from supplying services for their people.

Dick has always sought to give a voice to the voiceless. He has been a cheerful and committed public witness for nonviolent action in response to injustice worldwide, bringing attention to some of the Western Hemisphere's most overlooked problems. I congratulate him on his decades of service and his vocal support of justice, peace, and human rights in Latin America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Jewish B2B Networking (JBN) and its founder, Shalom Klein, for their outstanding work in promoting and nurturing small businesses in the metro Chicago area. Next week, on June 14, JBN will hold its second ``Business Event'' at the Lincolnwood Town Center in my district, just one of the many ways that it is helping small businesses, workers and our economy.

I attended last year's inaugural Business Event, along with representatives from over 2,700 small businesses, elected officials and job seekers. It was extraordinary--a vibrant, exciting and incredibly useful opportunity for small businesses to network, learn from each other, make contacts, set up meetings to help build their companies, and share their experiences and concerns with Members of Congress. It was so successful that plans began right there on the spot to hold another Event in 2012.

Small business men and women are essential to our economic well- being. In Illinois, they represent 98 percent of all employers. They also represent the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that has made our country so strong. It is imperative that we foster small business creation and expansion--and that is the mission of JBN.

It is never easy to start a small business, but it is especially challenging today as we work to recover from the impacts of the Great Recession. JBN was formed in 2010, through the vision of Shalom Klein, to help provide the support and tools needed to help small businesses thrive.

Through its monthly networking events, JBN provides critical and practical information to help small business owners learn about available lending resources. Business to business networking through monthly forums provide the opportunity to share ``best practices'' and pick up tips that can help small businesses succeed. JBN is creating a vibrant network--not just among Chicagoland small businesses but between small businesses and policymakers at the local, State and national levels. This year, for example, they brought small business owners to Washington, D.C. so that they could share their experiences and recommendations with the Obama Administration and Members of Congress and also learn about opportunities and assistance.

JBN has touched over 6,000 active business networking partners and has over 17,000 subscribed networkers receiving weekly communications and utilizing its interactive website.

Through its Business Event and through online job listings, JBN has helped more than 200 job seekers obtain employment. Over 5,000 businesses and job seekers are expected at next week's event in Lincolnwood, to exchange business information, ideas, and resources.

There are many wonderful small business men and women who have contributed to the success of JBN, but I want to specifically recognize the vision and work of Shalom Klein, its founder. As a small businessman, Shalom felt the need to connect with others. As an organizer, he did something about it. He invited 20 people to an informal ``networking'' lunch at the Slice of Life kosher restaurant in Skokie--and 70 people came.

Out of Shalom's initiative, Jewish B2B Networking was born. Open to all, the non-profit organization has taken off--serving a role that had been missing in the community. What I so admire about Shalom Klein-- beyond his enthusiasm and skill--is his refusal to rest on his laurels, despite the many successes he has already achieved. As he has said, he will not be satisfied if JBN reaches a plateau--as high as it may be-- he wants it to keep growing and growing, empowering more and more small business men and women. His spirit is infectious, his ability to inspire people to action is enormous, and I know he and JBN will continue to excel in their efforts.

JBN knows that local communities cannot prosper without small businesses, and they are committed to providing the climate that will help them succeed. I want to thank JBN for all that it has done already and wish it well as it, like the small businesses it assists, seeks to expand its activities in the future.

I would hope that everyone would support this motion to instruct because I think you probably know that nothing annoys American taxpayers more than the notion that offshore tax havens is a place for tax cheats to go so that they don't have to pay their taxes that normal Americans, everyday Americans, have to pay to the government.

This amendment will give the Treasury greater power to fight against offshore tax havens and tax cheats, that will allow the Treasury Department to take a range of measures against foreign governments and financial institutions that significantly stand in the way of U.S. tax enforcement.

These special measures already exist for Treasury in combating money laundering by foreign governments and banks, money that could be used to finance terrorist activities. Now Treasury will have greater power to investigate offshore tax abusers and tax abuses and crack down on offenders and banks that aid them.

For example, Treasury could prohibit U.S. banks from accepting wire transfers or honoring credit cards from banks found to significantly hinder U.S. tax enforcement.

Treasury can impose conditions on foreign banks and prohibit them from opening or maintaining bank accounts within the United States that are significantly standing in the way of U.S. tax enforcement. Enacting this amendment makes our tax system fairer and helps reduce the deficit.

This is a commonsense amendment that could raise nearly $1 billion to help tackle the Nation's deficit and debt. The provision ends offshore tax abuses without raising any taxes, without creating any new obligations for Americans, and without amending the Tax Code. We need to crack down on foreign governments and foreign banks that help privileged individuals and corporations dodge taxes while the rest of Americans have to shoulder the extra tax burden. This amendment does that.

Mr. Speaker, this week, Republicans are bringing to the floor a bill that purports to stop abortions based on sex selection, but it is so broadly written and so clearly unconstitutional that it is obvious that they are really after rolling back the clock and undermining comprehensive health care for women.

The bill includes a provision that would allow a woman's husband or parents--by merely alleging that an abortion is because of gender--to seek injunctive relief to prevent the doctor from performing abortion procedures, sending an incredibly private and personal decision into the courts and potentially forcing women against their will or health to go through with a pregnancy.

Republicans oppose protections for immigrant women under the Violence Against Women Act, they oppose pay equity and access to contraceptives, but with this bill they claim to be defenders of women?

Today marks the third anniversary of the death--and the murder--of Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, Kansas, who performed legal abortions. His motto was ``Trust women.'' He believed that women--not the government--should make the decisions about their health and their lives. I'm not fooled, and American women aren't fooled. This bill is just the latest strike by Republicans in the war on women.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help end the pay disparity between men and women in the workplace. You heard that women earn 77 percent of what men earn; that's the average. But for African American women, it's 62 percent, and Latinas, it's only 53 percent. In Illinois, as a group, full-time working women lose approximately $21 billion a year due to the wage gap. If the Illinois wage gap, which amounts to nearly $12,000 a year, were eliminated, a working woman in Illinois would have enough money for approximately 108 more weeks of food, 7 more months of mortgage and utility payments, 14 more months of rent, 36 more months of family health insurance premiums, and over 3,000 additional gallons of gasoline.

American families and our economy are paying the price of this wage discrimination, and it is time to end it. I urge all my colleagues who support fairness, who support women, to support the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Thank you so much, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for your leadership role in making Jewish American Heritage Month a reality. Really, this was your idea, and you mobilized the Members of the House in a bipartisan way to make this happen, and we're so appreciative.

I think Jews and non-Jews alike realize that it's important that we honor the culture and the heritage of the Jewish community. Throughout American history, Jewish Americans have helped shape American culture and society. For over 350 years, Jewish Americans have made untold contributions to our country, through science, art, medicine, education, sports, technology, entertainment, and government. Jewish Americans have served in the military and in government, have helped build and grow our economy, and have served their communities as teachers, nurses, organizers, and in countless other critical roles.

American Jews played a critical role in creating and sustaining a homeland for all Jews around the world--the State of Israel, our beloved State of Israel, first, as a refuge for those who survived the Holocaust, continuing to be a place where all Jews are welcome, and today, an enduring and essential ally of the United States of America.

As a first-generation Jewish American, I have personally witnessed the struggles and successes of Jewish immigrants who came to this Nation in order to create a better life for themselves, their families, and future generations, the reasons that all immigrants seek out the United States. Like other important immigrant communities, the Jewish experience in the United States represents the promise, the opportunity, and the freedom of America.

I think today about my grandparents, Sam and Mary Cosnow, who settled in Chicago with three of their four children. The fourth was born in the United States. My mother was not. They came from Russia. They left a place that they knew they would never return to, left a place where there were pogroms, where it was dangerous for the Jews, and came to Chicago, Illinois.

And every Sunday we would go to my grandparents House in Humboldt Park, and I would rush out to what is now the garage, but then was the barn, where Teddy, the horse, was there. And I would say hello first to Teddy, I think, even before my grandparents.

Teddy would pull the cart that my grandfather, a peddler, would-- every weekday he would get up at the crack of dawn and take Teddy and the wagon to the vegetable and fruit market several miles away and load up the cart and carry bags of potatoes up several flights of stairs in the alleys of Humboldt Park to his customers.

My grandmother stayed home. She made the clothes for her children and was a homemaker. And they put all of their children through college. That was the American Dream.

My grandfather, as a peddler--now, college tuition wasn't what it is today and it was easier to do that, but two teachers, one lawyer, one business college student, all of those children of Sam Cosnow, the peddler, could make it in America. That is the American

Dream. It's the immigrant dream. It's the dream of hardworking people who believed that if you are willing to get up at the crack of dawn and carry potatoes up the back porch that you could do it here. That's the America we dream for everyone and for our children and their children; that they can have a good life if they are willing to work hard.

An estimated 250,000 Jews live in Chigago today. Chicago's vibrant Jewish community has been home to countless prominent figures, from sports to the arts to politics. Saul Alinksy, the father of community organizing, came from a Russian Jewish immigrant family. Nobel Prize- winning author Saul Bellow grew up in Chicago, a Jewish--from Humboldt Park, as my grandparents and my parents lived. And his work strongly reflects both his Jewish roots and the city of Chicago.

Actors Jeremy Piven and Mandy Patinkin were both raised in Jewish households in Chicago. And Benny Goodman, the clarinetist known as the ``King of Swing,'' called Chicago home.

Sidney Yates, my predecessor, served in the House for nearly 50 years, passionately working for environmental protection and government funding for the arts. Also, two current members of the Chicago Bears NFL team, Gabe Carimi and Adam Podlesh, are Jewish Americans.

So, Mr. Speaker, Jewish American Heritage Month is an opportunity to recognize the contributions of Jewish Americans to our community, to our country, to our culture. For 350 years, Jewish Americans have made extraordinary contributions to American life and culture; and in Chicago and throughout the country, American Jews continue to be leaders in their communities.

All of those Jews in America today owe a thank-you to Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz for creating the Jewish American Heritage Month of May, so I thank you.

Since 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has strengthened communities and provided critical, lifesaving support to victims of violence.

VAWA reauthorization must continue the fight to protect all victims and their families from the fear of violence, including those victims who are immigrants, Native Americans, members of the LGBT community, and college students. Unfortunately, for the first time in VAWA's history, we will not have a bipartisan reauthorization bill. Even worse, H.R. 4970 is a step backward and is opposed by hundreds of anti- violence groups.

While there are many problems with the bill, I am most distressed by the provisions regarding battered immigrant women. H.R. 4970 destroys years of work of protecting immigrant women. It creates more obstacles for these victims to report crimes, and it limits U visa protections and adds restrictive certification requirements that will only discourage cooperation with law enforcement agencies, which themselves oppose these provisions.

Victim safety is a core principle of VAWA. We must remain firm in our commitment to ensure that all victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and trafficking have meaningful access to protection under the law.