Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, Congress is currently engaged in a very important debate on health care. It's complex, and Americans deserve an informed and transparent debate. Yet while this discussion continues, there is a country roughly 7,000 miles from here where nearly 35,000 American lives are on the line every day, and Congress has yet, given the changing circumstances there, to fully engage in a focused discussion with our military leaders on a comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan.

Since I was elected in 2004 and like so many of our colleagues, I have attended the funerals for fallen Nebraska soldiers. I've stood next to widows, whose young children were not of age, to comprehend the magnitude of the family loss. And yet when the time came, I did make the difficult decision to support sending more troops to Iraq in what was called a ``surge.'' It was the right call.

I have continually met with those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I recently met with those who are preparing to redeploy. Their dedication to service and their commitment to our country continues to inspire me and the families they leave behind. The solemn responsibility for their lives continues to weigh very heavily upon us all.

Mr. Speaker, Afghanistan is facing complex security and governance challenges, and the situation demands engagement by this legislative body now. Although the administration developed a strategy for Afghanistan in March of this year, there is still a lack of clarity, some seeming uncertainty and certainly a hesitation to fully engage Congress in order to move forward in a decisive manner.

Many Afghan people have braved threats of brutal violence in order to vote. Our troops are courageously fulfilling their duties, and there is concern that their resources are stretched to the limit. None of us wants our soldiers at risk nor the opportunity for stability in Afghanistan to slip away.

The administration's top field general and the national security adviser are reflecting differently on the security situation in Afghanistan. General Jones stated on October 4, ``I don't foresee the return of the Taliban, and I want to be very clear that Afghanistan is not in danger, imminent danger, of falling.''

Yet our senior military commander, General Stanley McChrystal, assessed that ``the situation in Afghanistan is serious; neither success nor failure can be taken for granted. Although considerable effort and sacrifice have resulted in some progress, many indicators suggest the overall situation is deteriorating.''

We in Congress need to know, which is it? While we are responsible for funding and equipping the troops, the administration needs to define the next way forward, and this House needs to challenge the decision paralysis that threatens our mission in Afghanistan with each passing day. Until recently, the war in Afghanistan was the other war, the forgotten war, said by some to be the right war.

Mr. Speaker, as much as anyone, I would like to wait and to make sure that all is in order, but Afghanistan is slipping. According to General McChrystal, ``Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near term (next 12 months)--while African's security capacity matures--risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.''

In his initial assessment of the security situation, General McChrystal requested up to 40,000 additional combat troops. This is going to be a very tough call for all of us. Clearly, General McChrystal's judgment is based on keen insight about what it will take to prevail.

The American people deserve to know the unvarnished truth about the situation in Afghanistan and the fundamental purpose for our being there. Military families deserve to know the truth about the challenges facing their loved ones. Americans need to know that the administration is committed to a plan for success that minimizes our casualties, stabilizes the country, and brings the main contingent of our troops home quickly.

Let me venture to say that this is not just an American problem. The situation in Afghanistan and, for that matter, in Pakistan poses an international security threat, one that demands a shared response from the members of the international community. Pakistan has exhibited a stronger will of late to engage in the ungoverned tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Yet we have witnessed a curious range of responses by other governments. Some who see the urgency join us, others sit back hoping that we will save the day, and yet others exploit international tensions for economic and geopolitical gains. While it may be difficult to engender the will to send combat troops, our partner nations must help provide resources to stabilize Afghanistan.

Just as General Petraeus returned from Iraq to testify about the impact of the surge, I believe it would be helpful for President Obama to instruct General McChrystal to forthrightly articulate before this House his views, concerns and professional judgment.

Eight soldiers, Mr. Speaker, were killed yesterday. We need to develop adequately informed conclusions about the resources needed, Afghan capabilities, and international will.

Mr. Speaker, Terry recently wrote me, ``Congressman, I can buy a car in Iowa, beer in Kansas, a fishing license in South Dakota, land in Colorado, but health insurance? No place but Nebraska.''

Mr. Speaker, in these difficult times people are hurting. Families, and especially seniors, need more affordable options, from what they put on their table to what they put in their medicine cabinets.

My constituent, Terry, pointed out a commonsense reform--purchasing health insurance across State lines. There are other reforms, such as appropriately addressing preexisting conditions, promoting a culture of health and wellness to drive down costs, creating new insurance risk pool models for small businesses and families, strengthening community health centers, and expanding opportunities for health savings accounts. These changes could mark a truly bipartisan policy effort that increases competition among health insurance companies and benefits all Americans.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican leadership standards on Member requests, I am submitting the following information regarding the earmarks I received as part of the FY10 Agriculture Appropriations Conference Report:

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 2997, FY10 Agriculture Appropriations Conference Report

Account: Agricultural Research Services--Buildings and Facilities

Project Name: Systems Biology Research Facility, Lincoln, Nebraska

Amount: $3,760,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: University of Nebraska-- Lincoln, located at 202 Agricultural Hall, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583.

Description: This funding will be used toward construction of a University of Nebraska--Lincoln, UNL/Agricultural Research Service, ARS, Research Facility. This facility would provide critically needed space for UNL and ARS research addressing two areas of national concern: renewable energy and water resource conservation and management. Agriculture is expected to provide almost 40 percent of the nation's liquid fuels within 30 years. This will further intensify demands on our soil and water resources. UNL and ARS scientists have been collaborating at UNL since the 1930s. Very strong collaborative programs continue today, including the ARS program at UNL that has been developing improved switchgrass varieties for 30 years and is the leading program in the world on the use of switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol. These scientists are scattered across the UNL campus and the proposed building will enable them to share collaborative, cutting-edge research space that will move this important research forward more rapidly. This project would advance major research focused on essential national efforts.

Well, first of all, thank you for your comments, and it's a pleasure to join you this evening. I didn't have the benefit of the conversation in its fullness before joining you just a moment ago, but I would like to try to make a contribution to what you're saying, if you can yield a few minutes to me.

Thank you. I think, if I could reframe this for just a moment, I think there's a central question we should all be asking ourselves on both sides of the aisle, and including the administration: How do we actually strengthen health care in America? How do we answer a fundamental question as to reducing cost, improving health care for all Americans, and protecting vulnerable people?

If you start to frame how we move forward on appropriate public policies that improve health care, reduce cost, and protect our vulnerable people, you begin to get actually underneath the reasons that we're in a circumstance now where you have a large section of America that is pretty happy with its health care, but generally unhappy with the rising cost. You have another section of America that has real problems with gaps of insurance coverage either because of preexisting conditions or loss of job and an inability to afford a product individually. That's a real problem.

Then you have certain vulnerable populations who, frankly, end up in the emergency room a lot of times; whereas, if there were alternative methods of care, primarily for primary care, that would reduce that cost as well. So how do you begin to answer those questions, I think.

One is--and I think there has been a certain bipartisan focus on this--and that's this positive in this overall debate--but it's the whole issue of health and wellness.

Our total health care bill in this country is about $2.2 trillion. About 75 percent of that is actually due to the onset of chronic disease. A major portion of that could actually be prevented or better managed with significant cost reductions.

For instance, some estimates suggest that 80 percent of cardiovascular disease could actually be prevented or better managed. Can you imagine the hundreds of billions of dollars that we could be saving if we had a cultural shift in the paradigm of health that looked at incentivizing both prevention and wellness? I will give you a few examples.

In Nebraska, we have a rehabilitation hospital called Madonna Rehab Hospital, and we actually held a committee hearing, a public hearing in the field back home on putting the health back in health care. It was a subcommittee of the Agriculture Committee, which we held back in August.

Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital's principal testified they have a 1.7 percent increase in their annual health care bill over the last 5 years. Incredibly low.

Exactly right. They have a very aggressive, progressive health and wellness program

where you're actually incentivized to watch your health, to take measures to actually engage in preventative care. The largest employer in Nebraska actually has a 50 percent lower increase--it's still increasing--in their own health care cost because they aggressively incentivize prevention as well.

A manufacturing entity in my hometown of Lincoln has a $5,000 per employee cost for their health insurance versus $8,000 dollars in the industry average because, again, a strong focus on health and wellness.

Right now--and, Doc, you might want to add something--we tend to pay the medical establishment, the systems, to fix or cut or prescribe. And if we incentivize wellness for persons who are in insurance plans to actually have incentives to watch their own cost, perhaps through expansion of health savings accounts and other entities that allow for the creative opportunity for families and individuals to better control their own health care as well as companies paying directly for prevention, and then incentivizing the medical establishment to be paid or to be reimbursed basically for that type of care, you'll begin to get to one of the major cost drivers that has left us in this situation. Hundreds of billions of dollars could potentially be saved.

If I could speak, Doctor, real quick.

You've made a very good point that there is an unequal tax treatment based upon your defined status in the Tax Code. And if you're an individual left out there on your own versus a multistate corporation, you have a different incentive, basically, based on the Tax Code structure. I agree with you, it's unfair.

This is well stated, doctor, that the injustice of a person who has wrongly had their insurance rescinded has to be addressed by this body, another clear point of bipartisan agreement. Persons who have preexisting conditions through no fault of their own and are caught in a cycle of not being able to find insurance for the type of problem that they're dealing with is another point of real unfairness that I think you could find appropriate solutions for in a bipartisan way and fix.

It leads to my second point that we really ought to focus on creative new

risk pools for insurance affordability and innovation as well as increased access for people out there.

I got a letter from Affiliated Foods in Norfolk, Nebraska, the other day. They are a cooperative. Now in Texas, Missouri and Nebraska we are used to the concept of cooperatives. That's where we leverage our buying power to get agriculture inputs a lot less expensively and sell our grain a lot of times. This is a cooperative grocer who basically uses their group buying power to provide the products for mom-and-pop grocery stores throughout rural Nebraska and other States. They used to be able to buy their insurance through that cooperative, but because of the change of the law a few years ago, they can no longer do so. So it leaves the small business entrepreneur out in the rural community who is struggling to make it, to have to go out on the very expensive individual or small business market instead of using the group buying power.

Now this is a legitimate business. It is a group of people who have bought into a business plan and have ownership in it. They are stakeholders. They're going to be appropriately capitalized. There's no reason that they shouldn't be allowed to use that entity as a creative form of association to leverage group buying power to provide more affordable insurance for themselves.

There's another option out there that we should actually have a creative policy discussion about in a bipartisan way which the good doctor just mentioned as well, high-risk pools is another option you have to insure or have the government basically subsidizing a market that does not exist for people who are priced out of because of preexisting conditions or other affordability problems, normal market rates through their business, through their individual policy. You could look at the expansion of those opportunities. We have a fairly good one in Nebraska. It's argued that it's a bit expensive for folks, but that's another way that the government, again, could use public dollars to ensure that people are adequately covered and pay normal rates or provide a reinsurance mechanism, and then as the doctor was saying, you will have gone a long way toward resolving the real difficult problems that exist for about 10 million Americans in providing affordable, good coverage. You'd probably have a bipartisan winner on your hands.

If I could add one more point, there are certain other options, maybe this is a little more controversial, but I think it's worth exploring, in terms of basic public health expansions like community health centers, where you actually help persons who are in more vulnerable situations avoid ending up in the emergency room for primary care treatment.

A combination of this, a focus on health and wellness incentives, new insurance risk pools for affordable innovative options and protecting those who are, because of preexisting conditions or other problems, priced out of those markets with perhaps other types of high-risk pool entities combined with other public health initiatives like that, you would have answered the question I posed initially: How do we improve the health of all America, reduce costs, particularly for families and small businesses, and protect vulnerable persons? We could all applaud and have a big bipartisan agreement and have accomplished, I think, what the people have sent us here to do.

Mr. Speaker, in his recent speech before Wall Street, President Obama was right to demand more responsibility from the American financial industrial complex. One year and $16 trillion of taxpayer liability at risk later, the American people are still shouldering the burden of the reckless behavior of the companies deemed ``too big to fail.''

I am troubled, however, Mr. Speaker, by the presupposition espoused by international leaders during last week's G-20 summit that greater global consolidation of our financial systems is in our national or in the international community's best interest. Mr. Speaker, it is the global scale of the crisis of credit and confidence that should give us pause to consider that our profound economic connectedness might actually intensify our problems.

Local businesses and local financiers best know the needs of their communities and, in their very essence, are more transparent and accountable. Rather than risk becoming more intertwined in an internationalist financial industrial model, we should focus instead on encouraging the formation of strong local economies, which are the proper models for us to build economic strength in America as well as for the world's developing nations. This should be Wall Street's and the President's guiding principle. They owe it to the American people.

Mr. Speaker, this month Lincoln Montessori School of Nebraska is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Started in 1969 by Mary and Larry Verschuur, Lincoln Montessori School is one of the first schools in the United States to be custom built to facilitate the Montessori curriculum. The school has served hundreds of families over two generations and is fully a part of Nebraska's diverse educational community.

Forty years later, Mary and Larry are still the school's motivating force. They guide young children daily with beautiful and purposeful materials, offer after-school enrichment classes for older children, conduct classes to help parents understand and implement the Montessori philosophy, and lecture on education in Nebraska and around the world. The result: children who are self-directed and self-disciplined, joyful, and eager to learn. The children are free to discover the world.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the First District of Nebraska and the United States Congress, I thank the Verschuurs, two extraordinary people, for their dedication to the formation of young children and congratulate them on the 40th anniversary of Lincoln Montessori School in Nebraska.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 691, I was inadvertently delayed.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Lieutenant General James G. Roudebush. As his 34-year career in the United States Air Force draws to a close, I would like to draw attention to some of his significant accomplishments and enduring contributions to our great Nation.

Lieutenant General James G. Roudebush is the Surgeon General of the Air Force, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Educated at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, he received a direct commission in the Medical Service Corps upon completing his master's degree from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in 1975. In his distinguished

career, he served as the Vice Commander at the Human Systems Center and the Command Surgeon General for United States Central Command. Lieutenant General Roudebush also served as the Command Surgeon for Pacific Air Forces Command, United States Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command. His commands include the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing Hospital at Bitburg Air Base, Germany, and 89th Medical Group, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Prior to his current assignment, General Roudebush was the Deputy Surgeon General at the U.S. Air Force Headquarters.

In his career, General Roudebush has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Air Force Commendation Medal. He holds a Chief Flight Surgeon rating with more than 1,100 flight hours in fourteen different aircraft including the C- 5 Galaxy, F-15 Eagle and KC-135 Stratotanker.

General Roudebush has served his career with dedication and honor in the service of his country. He significantly transformed the role and impact of the Air Force Medical Service. The breadth of his enormously positive impact on the Air Force--medical readiness; pre- and post- deployment physical and mental health assessments; suicide prevention initiatives; and the successful aero-medical evacuation of tens of thousands of wounded service members from Iraq and Afghanistan--are key pillars of his contributions to government service. As the architect for the Surgeon General's Force Development Flight Path, each of the five Corps--Medical, Medical Service, Dental, Biomedical Services, and Nurse--now have a career pathway for all medical officers from lieutenant to general specific to their Corps.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in commending Lieutenant General James G. Roudebush for his lifetime of dedication and self-sacrifice in the service of our great Nation.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on member requests, I am submitting the following information regarding the earmarks I received as part of the FY10 Defense Appropriations Bill:

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3326, FY10 Defense Appropriations Bill

Account: RDT&E, Army/Medical Technology/Program Element #: 0602787A/ Line Item #: 28

Project Name: Understanding Blast-Induced Brain Injury

Amount: $3,000,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: University of Nebraska-Lincoln located at 302 Canfield Administrations Building, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583

Description: Most of the head and brain injuries occurring in current combat situations result from roadside explosions, but there is currently only limited understanding of blast-induced traumatic brain injury. This funding

would be used to model how blast waves from explosions cause short- and long-term brain injury to warfighters and to develop devices and equipment to mitigate the damage. This research will lead to devices for improved detection and optimized equipment designs to protect against multiple insults to the brain from the blast impact and blast waves.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3326, FY10 Defense Appropriations Bill

Account: RDT&E, Air Force, University Research Initiatives, PE 0601102F, Line 2

Project Name: Safeguarding End-User Military Software

Amount: $1,500,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: University of Nebraska-Lincoln located at 302 Canfield Administrations Building, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583

Description: Military software increasingly is being created by ``end-user programmers,'' who use programming tools such as spreadsheets, military planning systems, and Matlab simulations to create software. This unvalidated software runs critical day-to-day operations and often is not dependable. The funding would be used to develop advanced software engineering safeguards that can be embedded in software programmed by military personnel to help them prevent and detect errors and produce more dependable military systems that save lives and money. Prototype safeguards implementing algorithms and mechanisms will be built and validated through carefully designed studies. These safeguards will be convenient for users and help them reason through the dependability of software as they develop it, protecting programmers and operators from errors and saving millions of dollars in programming development costs.

Mr. Speaker, we must put the health back into health care. Building a culture of wellness, including good nutrition and incentivizing prevention, moving from system-centered care to patient- centered care, and creating new insurance models can help meet this goal. These are the right solutions for strengthening America's health care, and they should be the basic components of an honest national debate.

The current debate is framed incorrectly, focusing on a loosely defined public option. This vast new government arrangement of our health care system may transfer millions of Americans against their will, Mr. Speaker, from their current insurance to a government plan and will add to our unsustainable fiscal conditions. It will

not resolve the underlying problems driving costs for small businesses and families.

We have the opportunity in the next few weeks to do something right and good for the American people, to strengthen our Nation's health care by improving health outcomes while reducing costs and protecting vulnerable persons.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased as well to rise today in support of this resolution that recognizes the contributions of general aviation in the United States. The general aviation industry employs nearly 1.3 million Americans throughout the country. General aviation, which includes all civilian flying except scheduled passenger airlines, contributes more than $150 billion in direct and indirect economic output in our country.

The resolution we are considering today celebrates the many areas in which general aviation plays an important role in the lives of everyday Americans. But, unfortunately, many of these contributions are often overlooked. Well beyond the services it provides for businesses of all sizes, the general aviation industry has a significant impact on our society. Across the Nation, 500,000 licensed pilots fly general aviation aircraft, and each year 170 million Americans use personal aviation. The 1.3 million Americans who work in the field hold high- skill jobs in aircraft manufacturing, avionics and technology development, flight training, maintenance, modification as well as technical support.

Mr. Speaker, in my own home State of Nebraska, more than 5,000 people are employed in air transportation, and general aviation airports generate $720 million annually within our State. Additionally, general aviation is used to perform essential services necessary for our safety and well-being, such as aiding law enforcement through patrolling highways, apprehending suspects, monitoring national borders or locating lost children. General aviation also helps to save lives through emergency transport of patients, supplies and other time- critical items.

The aviation industry protects the environment by assisting with the surveying of wildlife, mapping of wetlands and the patrolling of parklands. And, in addition, it serves as a vital tool for agricultural producers who often rely on air service for crop planting as well as crop protection.

For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, and others laid out in the resolution, I encourage my colleagues to join me today in recognizing the great importance of general aviation to America's families and communities.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on member requests, I am submitting the following information regarding the earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3293, the FY10 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act:

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3293, FY10 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Act

Account: Higher Education (includes FIPSE)

Project Name: Sioux City College Center

Amount: $100,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Wayne State College located at 1111 Main Street, Wayne, Nebraska

Description: To adequately address the higher education and workforce development needs of Dakota and Thurston Counties, Nebraska higher education institutions Wayne State College and Northeast Community College are collaborating with the city of South Sioux City to build and equip the South Sioux City College Center to offer academic programs specifically designed to meet the needs of Nebraska and the tri-state region. The new College Center will serve the area by creating a ``one-stop'' consolidated service center offering community and economic development resources in addition to providing educational opportunity for area residents at an affordable price. This funding would assist with the purchase of distance learning equipment, nursing/ health/science lab technology and equipment; business and industry training technology equipment; and general classroom equipment.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3293, FY10 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Act

Account: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)--Health Facilities and Services

Project Name: University of Nebraska Medical Center Rural Health Initiative

Amount: $150,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: University of Nebraska Medical Center located at 986380 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68198

Description: The funding would be used by the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) to create a biomarkers database of rural diseases to assess environmental influences on the development of diseases by collecting health information from at least 50,000 Midwesterners. Currently most information about the relationship between disease and the environment is generated by major databases located in large urban areas on the east and west coasts which tend to be regionally specific and generally not applicable to rural areas. This database would be the first research cohort in the Midwest to study the relationship between rural populations, the environment, and disease development. This project could reveal environmental factors responsible for birth defects or lymphoma, a cancer with high incidence in Nebraska. The data will provide valuable information on the factors influencing development of deadly diseases like cancer and position UNMC Eppley Cancer Institute to be designated a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center. This high distinction will allow for the most advanced patient care and research to be available in Nebraska. UNMC is the ideal institution to spearhead this database with its numerous resources, well-established statewide hospital network to collect data, a state-of-the art cancer research team and facilities, and comprehensive database capabilities to collect and assess acquired data from this project.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3293, FY10 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Act

Account: Transportation, Community, and System Preservation

Project Name: Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital First Hope Initiative

Amount: $250,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital located at 5401 South Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68506

Description: The First Hope Initiative is a technology and research initiative aimed at increasing the functional independence, quality of life, and outcomes of patients with severe disabilities arising from such conditions as stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury. The First Hope Initiative creates a model program that can be implemented at other rehabilitation facilities around the country including VA and military hospitals to ensure improved outcomes and independence for individuals recovering from catastrophic medical events.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3293, FY10 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Act

Account: Elementary and Secondary Education (Includes FIE)

Project Name: Special Olympics 2010 USA National Games, Lincoln, Nebraska

Amount: $350,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Special Olympics 2010 USA National Games, 7600 North 70th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68517

Description: The 2010 USA National Games for Special Olympics will be taking place July 18-23, 2010, in Lincoln, Nebraska. This will be the largest sporting event, to date, in the state of Nebraska and offers a great opportunity to make an economic, humanitarian, and educational impact upon Nebraskan communities as well as on the national landscape.

Special Olympics offers year-round sports training and competition opportunities for both children and adults with an intellectual disability, giving them the opportunity to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and become integrated and valued members of our society. There will be 3,000 athletes, 1,000 coaches, 8,000 volunteers, and an estimated 15,000 family and friends in Lincoln and Omaha during the week of the games. The games are projected to generate $40 million in local economic impact and an additional $5 million in tax revenue alone.

For six days there will be vigorous, Olympic-style sporting competitions for the athletes. In addition, there will be a number of non-sporting events, including a leadership program and free health screenings and services.

The estimated budget for these games is $9 million dollars with the expected revenue coming from several designated areas including Federal and State appropriations, as well as local community support. From the time the athletes arrive in Nebraska, the Games Organizing Committee is responsible for all costs including the athletes and coaches' accommodations, meals, transportation, and security. In addition, funds will go to promoting the games, building out venues for competitions, renting venues, and for communication needs.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on member requests, I am submitting the following information regarding the earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3288, the FY10 Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act:

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3228, FY10 Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Account: Surface Transportation Priorities

Project Name: Antelope Valley Project Transportation Improvements

Amount: $750,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: City of Lincoln located at 555 S. 10th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508

Description: The City of Lincoln is committing significant resources for road and pedestrian improvements associated with Antelope Valley. Some of the important projects that remain in the $125 million transportation component of Antelope Valley Project include: construction of 3.35 miles of roadway (including the Antelope Valley Parkway from Vine Street to Capitol Parkway) to improve traffic in the City's central core and Northeast Lincoln; reducing through traffic congestion on the University campus and on downtown streets; eliminating two dangerous mainline at-grade rail crossings, and providing a new overpass (16th Street Overpass) to the State Fair Park, Devaney Sports Center, state military areas, and surrounding neighborhoods.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3288, FY10 Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Account: Economic Development Initiative

Project Name: Boys Town Building Construction

Amount: $1,250,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Boys Town located at 14100 Crawford Street, Boys Town, Nebraska 68010.

Description: Boys Town, Nebraska (a non-profit, non-sectarian organization) would use this funding to increase the number of at-risk girls and boys, and their families, served at the Boys Town USA home campus in Omaha, Nebraska. The funding would help fund the construction of a new totally comprehensive child and family services facility with increased capacity to serve more than double the population of children and families currently served of approximately 1,000. Boys Town will be providing at least $7.25 million in matching funds towards the requested federal share of the project. This multidimensional service facility will include the broad range of medical and juvenile justice delinquency services so that at-risk girls and boys (and their families) can have all child related disorders and care provided. Some of the services included, but not limited to, in this facility will include juvenile justice evaluations, services to prevent delinquency and school failure, and parenting skill building services to help parents become more effective at dealing with a variety of child disorders and issues. It is expected that through these services, youth recidivism of criminal behavior will be greatly reduced as will the need for further out-of home-placement, including that of a correctional or prison facility. Youth will be prepared to be productive members of society.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3288, FY10 Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Account: Economic Development Initiative

Project Name: CEDARS Children's Crisis Center Building Construction

Amount: $200,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: CEDARS Youth Services, Inc., located at 620 North 48th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68504.

Description: The funding will be used for construction of a new Children's Crisis Center for abused, homeless, and runaway youth in Southeast Nebraska. CEDARS Youth Services plans to build a children's crisis center to provide short-term emergency shelter, immediate professional assessment of each child's needs, intense family-centered therapeutic services, and an environment that inspires a rapid return to stable and enduring family living. The 18,000 square foot facility will not only provide immediate safety and protection for vulnerable children and youth across the Midwest, but also a comfortable family- friendly setting for them to begin reunification or to meet prospective foster parents in a safe, professional supervised setting. While primarily helping persons from the Midwest area, the Center has recently served youth from the states of Tennessee, Georgia, California, Michigan, Texas and others. CEDARS is the only emergency shelter provider for children and youth in Southeast Nebraska, and this children's crisis center will expand the current service capacity by as many as 12 children each day. This is a 50% increase.

Mr. Speaker, as Congress takes on the essential task of strengthening America's health care system, we have a choice here to either rush legislation costing more than $1 trillion or to have a serious analysis on the fundamental question as to how we actually improve health care outcomes, reduce costs, and protect vulnerable persons.

One major consideration should be how any health care proposal will affect small businesses. Small businesses generate 60 to 80 percent of all new jobs each year in this country. In my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, 80 percent of those in the private sector are employed in businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

This current plan would place an 8 percent payroll tax on certain small businesses who do not or cannot provide government-mandated coverage.

Mr. Speaker, one study suggests that as many as 4.7 million jobs could be lost as a direct result of this overall health care proposal. This does not help anyone.

There are more creative solutions to get people the care they need, help families manage ever-increasing costs, and help small business entrepreneurs provide the benefits for their employees.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on member requests, I am submitting the following information regarding the earmarks I received as part of the FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill:

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3183, FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill

Account: Corps of Engineers--Construction

Project Name: Antelope Creek Flood Damage Reduction Project

Amount: $5,697,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Lower Platte South Natural Resources District located at 3125 Portia Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68521.

Description: The Antelope Creek Flood Damage Reduction Project is a critical element of a flood control, transportation and community revitalization project known as the Antelope Valley Project. The project is being constructed in central Lincoln adjacent to the University of Nebraska Lincoln main campus to improve flood control, transportation networks and community well-being in the city's down- town area.

Essential to progress on the entire Antelope Valley Project is the completion of the flood damage reduction component. This multi-purpose project is a partnership of the City of Lincoln, the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the federal Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The project reduces flooding threats to over 800 dwellings and businesses and 1,200 floodplain residents and removes 100-year floodplain restrictions on 400 acres.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3183, FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill

Account: Corps of Engineers--Construction

Project: Sand Creek Environmental Restoration Project

Amount: $500,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Lower Platte North Natural Resources District located at 511 Commercial Park Road, Wahoo, Nebraska 68066.

Description: The Sand Creek Project will restore several types of historic wetlands and add to the national wetlands inventory in support of the Administration's ``net gain'' national wetlands policy. A quantitative analysis of all environmental outputs by the Corps of Engineers in addition to the Feasibility Study demonstrated a significant level of benefits for this wetland restoration project for the Lower Platte River watershed which serves the North American Central Flyway.

The Sand Creek Project supports the national goal of a net gain in American wetlands. Active pursuit of this goal also provides for improvements in water quality and water supply to achieve watershed improvement. Flooding in Wahoo along the U.S. 77 Expressway corridor occurred twice during 2006. Completion of the wetlands restoration structure will also provide flood damage reduction benefits on the roadway allowing completion of this expressway between Lincoln and Sioux City. This is a key segment of the expressway.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3183, FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill

Account: Corps of Engineers--Construction

Project: Western Sarpy-Clear Creek Flood Damage Reduction Project

Amount: $1,000,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District located at 8901 S. 154th Street, Omaha, NE 68138.

Description: The Western Sarpy-Clear Creek Flood Damage Reduction Project is vital to the health and well-being of a large number of Nebraskans. It is planned to protect vital drinking water resources that supply up to 50% of Nebraska's population in the eastern part of the state from flooding due to potential ice jams on the Platte River. Elected officials at local, regional and state levels in Nebraska have been long committed to this project's construction because of risk to water supplies and other infrastructure.

Significant construction progress towards completion is vital to Nebraska in the year ahead. The Congress has provided construction funding for the past four years in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act.

In 1993, flooding in the Lower Platte severed one-half of the City of Lincoln's water supply and catastrophe was again threatened in 1997 from ice-jam induced flooding. That portion of the new Omaha Metropolitan Utilities District well field on the western side of the Platte River now under development south of U.S. Highway 92 will also receive vital protection from this project. Treatment facilities for water from this well-field will be completed in the months ahead.

Additionally, this project is needed to provide protection to: I-80 and U.S. Highway 6; the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, an Amtrak line; military facilities the National Guard Camp at Ashland; national telecommunication lines; and other public infrastructure.

Construction of a separate but companion levee at the Nebraska National Guard Camp at Ashland was fully funded by the Congress in the FY '04 Military Construction Appropriations Bill and is completed. Neither of these adjoining levees is effective without the other. Ice jams with the potential for flooding in the area around Camp Ashland and the I-80 Bridge where it crosses the Lower Platte River occurred again as recently as 2001 and will continue to be a significant threat until both of these projects are completed.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3183, FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill

Account: Section 205

Project Name: Fremont Section 205 Flood Control Study

Amount: No specific dollar amount

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Lower Platte North Natural Resources District located at 511 Commercial Park Road, Wahoo, Nebraska 68066

Description: This funding is for the federal share to complete the Fremont South Section 205 Flood Control Study. Funding for this Section 205 project will continue urgent feasibility planning to strengthen an existing flood control levee in order to remove a portion of South Fremont from the threat of flooding in the 100 year flood plain. This Fremont South area will be soon identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (``FEMA'') as within the designated flood plain. The total cost of the project is $1,086,000 split equally between the Corps of Engineers and the nonfederal sponsor.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3183, FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill

Account: Section 205

Project Name: Schuyler Section 205 Flood Control Study

Amount: No specific dollar amount

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Lower Platte North Natural Resources District located at 511 Commercial Park Road, Wahoo, Nebraska 68066

Description: This funding under the Section 205 authority is for the federal share to continue the Schuyler, Nebraska Flood Control Study. The amount requested will continue the Schuyler, Nebraska 205 Flood Control Study. The purpose of the study is to plan for mitigation of flooding in 40% of the city which is anticipated to be placed in the flood plain for the first time when designated by FEMA. The total cost of the study is $772,000 split equally between the Corps of Engineers and the non-federal sponsor.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3183, FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill

Account: Energy Efficiency and Renewable--Energy

Project Name: Sustainable Energy Options for Rural America

Amount: $500,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: University of Nebraska-Lincoln located at 302 Canfield Administration Building, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588

Description: This funding would be used to research the most effective sustainable energy options for rural Nebraska and to establish

demonstration sites which will include the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, the West Central Water Resources Field Lab near North Platte, the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory near Whitman, and two sites in eastern Nebraska. Alternative energy technologies to be considered include wind, solar, anaerobic digestion (methane generation), gasification, direct burning of biomass, fuel cells, diesel engines converted to high compression ethanol engines, hybrid vehicles, and flex-fueled engines. Fuels to be considered include gasoline, diesel fuel, ethanol, biodiesel, dimethyl ether, butanol, and syngas. Energy independence is one of our highest national priorities. This project addresses the need to pursue development of diverse, sustainable alternative energy sources.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Bill Number: H.R. 3183, FY10 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill

Account: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Project Name: Switchgrass Biofuel Research: Carbon Sequestration and Life Cycle Analysis

Amount: $250,000

Name and Address of Requesting Entity: University of Nebraska-Lincoln located at 302 Canfield Administration Building, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588

Description: The funding would be used to establish a production- scale switchgrass carbon sequestration and life cycle analysis research program. Research will focus on optimizing switchgrass production for use as a biofuel and developing improved life cycle analysis tools to determine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for federal compliance certification of refineries processing switchgrass into ethnaol.

In the Midwest, switchgrass appears to be the most viable cellulosic feedstock for biofuels because it is a highly productive native grass species. The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) requires that switchgrass biofuel systems meet a threshold reduction in GHG emissions of 60% compared to gasoline, and the Environmental Protection Agency will establish regulations based on the best available science. Initial life cycle analyses suggest switchgrass systems will only meet EISA thresholds if they sequester a substantial amount of carbon in soil. This analysis could be altered if switchgrass producers increase inputs (water, fertilizer, etc). Quantifying switchgrass carbon sequestration under varying input requirements is vital to developing this source of cellulosic ethanol.