Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Jeffrey Baugus upon receiving the Hurlburt Air Force Association Chapter 398's Middle School Teacher of the Year Award for 2010. Mr. Baugus is an innovator and an inspiration to his students, and I am honored to venerate his achievement.

Jeff is an 8th Grade Math and Advanced Algebra 1 Honors Teacher at Woodlawn Beach Middle School in Santa Rosa County, in my district in Northwest Florida. In only his second year of educating, Jeff is rapidly becoming known as an innovative thinker. He uses real world techniques such as crime scene investigations, sports, and cooking to explore math concepts. Jeff also created an educational math blog entitled ``Mr Bloggus' Mathlete Corner'' for his Algebra students that contains video lessons on the skills learned in the classroom. The blog concept has proven so popular that other math courses in the school and throughout the school district have used Jeff's work as a model for their classrooms. Additionally, he introduced Google Sketchup into his math instruction, allowing his students to visualize three-dimensional objects manipulated live on the computer. For his innovation, Jeff received the 2009 Woodlawn Beach ``Rookie of the Year'' Award.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am privileged to acknowledge Jeffrey Baugus as the Hurlburt AFA

Chapter 398 Middle School Teacher of the Year. He is a dedicated educator, an inspiration to his students, and an honorable public servant. Vicki and I wish Jeff and his family all the best for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Amy Davis upon receiving the Hurlburt Air Force Association Chapter 398's Elementary School Teacher of the Year Award for 2010. Ms. Davis' students have truly benefited from her inventive lessons and the passion she exudes for her profession. I am honored to acknowledge her contributions today.

Amy teaches third grade at Kenwood Elementary School in Okaloosa County, Florida. In her six years of teaching she has enthusiastically pursued opportunities to develop lessons that motivate student learning. For instance, Amy was inspired to introduce aviation sciences into her classroom after attending a Teacher Workshop hosted by the Hurlburt Air Force Association. Amy thoughtfully incorporated flight charts into her lessons in order to teach her students how to measure distances and angles. Likewise, Amy enhances her lessons with space- related material inspired by a Space Camp for Teachers she attended in Huntsville, Alabama. Her method of combining tangible materials and advanced concepts in every lesson has greatly promoted student success. Amy has recently received her certification as a Gifted Instructor and is working toward her National Board Certification, with which I wish her the best of luck.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I proudly recognize Amy Davis as the Hurlburt AFA Chapter 398 Elementary School Teacher of the Year. Her passion for learning truly makes her a great asset to her students and colleagues. Vicki and I wish Amy and her family all the best for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Sandy Palmer upon receiving the Hurlburt Air Force Association Chapter 398's Overall Teacher of the Year Award for 2010. Ms. Palmer has been a dedicated educator for 27 years, and I am proud to recognize her achievement.

Currently teaching third grade at Shalimar Elementary School in Okaloosa County, Florida, Sandy has taught at every grade level and in a variety of subjects over the course of her illustrious career. She is known for her enthusiasm for and commitment to incorporating space and aviation into her daily classroom instruction. After attending Space Camp for Teachers in 2001, Sandy changed her way of thinking to integrate these ideas into math and science curricula. She uses paper airplane construction to introduce concepts such as distance, angles, and measurements. Sandy also thinks outside the box to keep her students involved, including an annual play that involves launching the International Space Station. The performance provides parents with the unique opportunity to learn what their children are doing in the classroom with Ms. Palmer's innovative teaching methods. For her outstanding efforts, Sandy is this year's AFA Hurlburt Chapter nominee to the Florida State/Regional Teacher of the Year Competition.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am humbled to recognize Sandy Palmer as the Hurlburt AFA Chapter 398 Overall Teacher of the Year. For 27 years, she has inspired her students and her colleagues, and she is highly deserving of this honor. Vicki and I wish Sandy and her family all the best for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Walter Richardson, a veteran, a Tuskegee Airman, and a true American hero. Walt has spent his life dedicated to his country, his community, and his family, and I am proud to honor his achievements and life of service.

A Pensacola, Florida native, Walt Richardson is first and foremost an American patriot. During his thirty years with the United States Air Force, Walt served in many of our Nation's wars and conflicts. Walt joined the revered Tuskegee Airmen, training at Tuskegee Army Airfield in a variety of disciplines that would serve him throughout his entire career. During his time with the Tuskegee Airmen, Walt was part of ``Operation Happiness,'' the first all-military troupe to entertain at air bases. His military service also took him to Vietnam, and while stationed at Dover Air Force Base, Walt became the first African- American to be promoted to master sergeant in the field maintenance squadron. He retired as a chief master sergeant, the highest enlisted rank in the Air Force.

Beyond his full-time career with the Air Force, Walt is a dedicated community servant in Northwest Florida. For the past 29 years, he has served as a permanent deacon of St. Mary Parish in Fort Walton Beach. He also recently completed a book about his life story entitled ``How Great Thou Art: A Black Boy's Depression-era Success Story.'' In 2009, Walt traveled to Washington, DC, as a special guest of the President for the inauguration. For his service to his country as part of the Tuskegee Airmen, I have the honor of presenting Walter Richardson the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am humbled to venerate Walt Richardson as an American hero and a community leader. Our Nation is proud and grateful for his courage, service, and patriotism. My wife Vicki and all wish all the best to Walt, his wife, Helen, his eight children, his grandchildren, and his entire extended family.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this flawed health care bill.

Madam Speaker, this bill does, in fact, make important and much-needed adjustments to the Federal land provisions to allow for better management of both Federal and State lands.

This bill provides for the interchange of Federal and State land to make land management more contiguous for both the State of Florida and the U.S. Department of Forestry because, within our national forest system, adjacent land has become intermingled over the years, and allowing Florida to interchange land with Federal land would make land management much more efficient for both sides.

The Florida National Forest Land Adjustment Act permits both the U.S.

Department of Forestry and the State of Florida to, in fact, better manage their forest systems.

As the vice chair of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, I do know how vital Federal and State land management is in the protection of wildlife and resource conservation. So H.R. 3954 is a significant step toward better forest management, and I do urge my colleagues to vote in support of this bill.

Madam Speaker, the health care reform debate has become a farce, and I am outraged. I am outraged at this proposed law. I am outraged at the process. I am outraged at the majority party's sham of a health care bill. But I'm not the only one. The American people are outraged. Americans have marched, they have protested and they have written letters and they have made phone calls. Americans have spoken, Madam Speaker, and they do not want this health care bill.

But the worst part about it is that we may not even vote on it. The majority party wants to deem the Senate bill passed and then hope that the Senate changes the bill later. Was this the hope and the change that we can all believe in? Madam Speaker, this has become a legislative sleight of hand, a gimmick, a parlor trick.

I urge my colleagues to listen to the American people and kill this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Dan Henry, a Northwest Florida community leader. Dr. Henry has spent his life serving others, and I am proud to honor his dedication, passion, and service.

Adopted at the age of seven by Sam and Helen Henry, Dan was raised in Crestview, Florida. He met his wife, Melinda, as an undergraduate at Florida State, and then went on to earn his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Maryland in 1975. His family moved to the Pensacola area in 1977 and have remained an active part of our community ever since. Dan has received countless awards for his work as a dentist, and served as President of the Florida Dental Association in 2006 and 2007.

While Dr. Henry's list of honors, awards, and achievements are impressive by any standard, his most important work happens while serving the underprivileged. For 23 years, Dr. Henry has led dental missions overseas in association with the Methodist Church. In founding, inspiring, and orchestrating these missions, Dr. Henry has faced daunting challenges. Many of the areas in which he performed missions are without electricity or basic necessities needed for dental hygiene. Dr. Henry created portable equipment and invented power systems that allow the dental teams to set up clinics overseas. The missions are able to provide dental care to some of the poorest areas of the world because of Dr. Henry's dedication and service. He has inspired a generation of volunteers to participate in similar overseas missions.

In addition to yearly missions overseas, Dr. Henry never forgets those in need throughout our local community. Dr. Henry leads a Dental Fair at Chumuckla United Methodist Church, providing free dental care for children, youth, and adults of the surrounding area. Hundreds of people are able to receive proper dental care because of the Healing Springs Dental Fair. Dr. Henry and the countless other volunteer dentists, dental assistants, and hygienists

who give their time and their services deserve special recognition for all they do to ensure any member of our community can receive proper dental care.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am privileged to recognize Dr. Dan Henry as a Northwest Florida leader and international inspiration. My wife Vicki and I wish Dan, his wife Melinda, and his children Matthew and Kelly, all the best for continued success.

I thank the ranking member for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to use my 2 minutes in a colloquy with the chairman of the full committee.

If you believe what you've just said, why are we striking section 506 from your manager's amendment?

Reclaiming my time, why did you do that?

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, again, please, I am going to continue the colloquy.

You are saying there are misimpressions on our side. It was your side last night that blew up when this issue was brought forward, and you didn't have the votes to do it. So my next question is: If you had defended it all-day long, why did you allow it to be put in the bill in the first place?

Thank you, sir.

Reclaiming my time, that is exactly what I am trying to put forth to the public today.

You talk about our being entitled to our own opinions but not to our own facts. Facts are facts. The facts are the chairman of the committee had this put into the bill. The chairman of the committee is now having it pulled out of the bill, which is the way they want to go.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Virgil White Miller, who passed away on February 20, 2010 at the age of 68. Virgil spent his life serving his country, his community, his family, and his church, and I am honored to recognize his life of dedication and service.

A native of Texas, Virgil Miller graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1964. In college, Virgil met his wife, Kathryn Rogers, and he served in the Corps of Cadets. Upon graduation, he received a commission in the United States Air Force and moved to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Virgil worked as a Mechanical Engineer for the Air Force Armament Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base. He and his wife loved Northwest Florida so much that they decided to stay, and Virgil began his 32 year career as a civil servant with the Air Force Research Laboratory, retiring in 2000.

In addition to his service to our country, Virgil was an active member of our Northwest Florida community. A dedicated member of Fort Walton Beach First Baptist Church, he taught Sunday School, church training, Royal Ambassadors, and was a deacon, serving as chairman of deacons for two terms. Virgil also participated in disaster relief efforts with the Florida Baptist Convention on numerous occasions. In 2007, Virgil was elected to the Fort Walton Beach City Council, where he served faithfully until his passing.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am humbled to recognize Virgil Miller as a veteran, public servant, community volunteer, and loving father and husband. My wife Vicki and I offer our prayers for his entire family, including his wife, Kathy, his children, Michelle, Kristyn, and Randy, his grandchildren, and entire extended family as we remember and honor the life of Virgil Miller. He will be truly missed by all of us.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Michael Varner upon receiving the Escambia County, Florida Teacher of the Year Award. For thirty-five years, Mr. Varner has been an inspiration to his students, his colleagues, and his community, and I am honored to recognize his achievements.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science Education Degree and from the University of West Florida, Mr. Varner began his teaching career at J.M. Tate High School in 1975. For thirty-five years, Mr. Varner has been at the vanguard of teaching at Tate. He taught anatomy and physiology for eleven years, botany for ten years, and biology for thirty-five years. He has also worked as a Dual-Enrolled instructor with Pensacola Junior College for fourteen years. Since 2004, he has served as an adjunct professor at PJC. Mr. Varner is a member and a leader of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

Mr. Varner has been widely recognized and honored for his years of teaching the students at Tate High School. He received the Tate Teacher of the Year Award in 1976, 1990, and 2010 and has been nominated twice for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Program. From 1998 to 2004, he was a top ten finalist for the NABT Outstanding Biology Teacher in Florida, and in 2005, Mr. Varner earned the NABT Florida Outstanding Biology Teacher Award.

Beyond the awards and the achievements, Mr. Varner is a top-notch teacher and a dedicated public servant. He goes above and beyond the call of duty to serve his students, utilizing real-world techniques to teach them concepts beyond the classroom. His students sign contracts, receive job orders, and earn paychecks for work completed. When the Tate administration was faced with canceling a dual-enrollment biology class because of low enrollment, Mr. Varner volunteered to sacrifice one of his planning periods to teach the class in spite of the cutback. His innovative methods of teaching have been adapted and utilized by dozens of other faculty members.

Mr. Varner's tremendous efforts extend well outside of his biology classroom. He served as the Senior Executive Board Advisor for nine years, teaching students to lead others and inspiring them to achieve success. He has also served as a scoutmaster, youth and music minister, and a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and Relay for Life. Mr. Varner is also known as the voice of Tate's band, the Showband of the South, and is commonly viewed as the custodian of the cultural history of Tate High School.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am privileged to recognize Michael Varner as the Escambia Teacher of the Year. He is a dedicated teacher, an inspiration to his students, and an honorable public servant. Vicki and I wish Mr. Varner, his wife Kathleen, and his sons, Jason and Brian, all the best for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Edward Pate upon receiving the Santa Rosa County, Florida Teacher of the Year Award. Edward is a dedicated teacher and public servant, and I am honored to recognize his Teacher of the Year achievement.

Edward joined Gulf Breeze High School in 2005 following a career as an attorney and ceramics gallery owner in New York City. He currently teaches English III and Pensacola Junior College Dual Enrollment classes. These core classes have achieved a passing rate of 94 percent or better during his tenure. Edward also coaches the Boys Golf Team, this year's District 2A Champion and a state Academic Team Champion. The team had the highest cumulative GPA of the 251 schools in District 2A.

Edward serves on the PTSO Board, the SAC Committee, and the Rtl Committee. He received his National Board Certification in 2008 and serves as the English Department Chair. As Department Chair, he is developing a new department-wide program to assess and improve student writing. He always imparts a positive attitude to his students and other teachers, and his high level of energy inspires the entire school.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am privileged to recognize Edward Pate as the Santa Rosa Teacher of the Year. He is a true public servant and a dedicated teacher. My wife Vicki and I wish Edward and his family all the best for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Reverend Herb Sadler, a northwest Florida leader who is retiring after fifty years of service to his church and to his community. Revered Sadler spent his life serving others, and I am proud to honor his dedication, faith, and service.

After completing his sophomore year at Huntingdon College, Herb was called to pastoral service by the United Methodist Church at the age of 20. In 1962, then-superintendent Marshall Ford asked Herb to pastor six small churches in West Alabama. Herb became senior pastor of Gulf Breeze United Methodist in 1975, where he served until 2003. Over the course of his tenure, church attendance grew from a little over 100 to more than 2,000. In 1999, he oversaw the opening of the church's second campus--the Community Life Center--which provides support groups, recreational ministries, and workshops to thousands of local community members.

Reverend Sadler was appointed as the Superintendent of the Dothan District of the UMC in 2003, ministering to 99 churches in Southeast Alabama. He returned to Gulf Breeze in 2008 as the interim senior pastor for a year as the church searched for a permanent senior pastor. The church honored his dedication by renaming the Community Life Center after Reverend Sadler.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am honored to recognize Reverend Herb Sadler for his fifty years of pastoral service to the United Methodist Church. He has been a dedicated pastor and a community leader for northwest Florida. My wife Vicki and I wish all the best for Herb and his wife Barbara as they embark on this next journey in their lives.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dawn Pack upon receiving the Okaloosa County, Florida Teacher of the Year Award. Dawn is a dedicated public servant, and I am honored to recognize her on this achievement.

Dawn's career as an educator spans over nineteen years. Since 2003, she has taught 5th grade students at Destin Elementary School in Okaloosa County. Dawn motivates her students, but goes above and beyond to inspire other teachers and the local community. From day one, she has advocated to integrate science into all of the curricula at Destin Elementary, conducting training to show other

teachers how to use the scientific method. Additionally, she has reached out to the parents and the community to work with her students on science-related projects. Dawn is the kind of teacher who loves her students and loves what she does. She is truly an inspiration to all of those around her.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am privileged to recognize Dawn Pack as the Okaloosa Teacher of the Year. She is a great educator to students and teachers alike, as well as a passionate community leader. My wife Vicki and I wish Dawn and her family all the best for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Mr. Russell ``Tony'' E. King upon the occasion of his 90th birthday. Mr. King has spent a lifetime serving his community and his family, and it is a privilege to recognize him on his accomplishments today.

Known as Papa King to his family, Tony has lived in Florida for almost 70 years. He was married to Jonnie King for 62 years before she passed away in 2008, and the two are the proud parents of five children, ten grandchildren, and 22 great-grandchildren. Tony served his country in the U.S. Navy for two years before starting a career at the St. Regis Paper Company, now International Paper, where he retired after 33 years. He was a very active member of the community, serving as Assistant Chief of the Brent Volunteer Fire Department and spending fifteen years in the Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary. Tony also volunteers much of his time at the Gonzalez United Methodist Church, where he is still a member.

Madam Speaker, Tony King is a Northwest Florida community leader who has spent a lifetime serving his country and his community. My wife Vicki and I wish him a happy birthday and his entire family all the best for the future.