Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the blood, sweat and tears of this Nation's immigrants are interwoven in the fabric that makes America great. We are a Nation founded with a Constitution, a Bill of Rights, on the ideals of family, equality, dignity, and respect for life.

Immigrants contribute to America. They pay taxes, worship in our churches, serve us proudly in our military.

Henry Cejudo, this summer, won an Olympic gold medal in free-style wrestling. Sergeant Rafael Peralta is being recognized with a military decoration for making the ultimate sacrifice.

Immigrants throughout our history have contributed to making our communities a lot stronger, but anti-immigrant rhetoric continues to cloud the

picture. Comprehensive immigration is the only way to solve the problem, an approach that respects our core American values of family, equality and human rights.

I challenge my colleagues, as we approach the next session, to look beyond the anti-immigrant rhetoric and join me in comprehensive immigration reform.

Mr. Speaker, I support H. J. Res. 62, the Native American Heritage Day Act of 2008, which I authored. This bill will help pay tribute to Native Americans for their many contributions to the United States by encouraging all Americans to recognize the Friday after Thanksgiving as Native American Heritage Day.

I thank Senator Daniel Inouye, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Chairman George Miller, Representative Dale Kildee, and the NIGA for their help on this bill.

I have been a strong advocate for Native Americans and have fought hard to preserve their heritage for the past 8 years that I have served in Congress and since my time in the California legislature.

It is important that we recognize the contributions of Native Americans in all aspects of our society, including government, language and history. We must not forget that Native Americans have fought with valor in every American war, dating back to the Revolutionary War.

My bill encourages public schools to teach Native American history and culture.

I also want to thank Tribal Chairman James Ramos of the San Manuel Tribe for helping us create this bill. This bill represents the first time in history that Congress is recognizing the great achievements of Native Americans in this manner.

I thank my colleagues for supporting this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 3597) to provide that funds allocated for community food projects for fiscal year 2008 shall remain available until September 30, 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may

have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3597. I thank my colleagues in the Senate. I thank my colleague Mr. Goodlatte, as well as Mr. Harkin, for introducing this legislation. I introduced its House counterpart,

Mr. Speaker, again, I want to encourage support for the Community Food Projects. This is a valuable grant. This is a technical error that was done. I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) for his support in this bipartisan effort. This is a correction of a technical error.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6897, Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008. Congress must recognize the veteran status of the 250,000 Filipinos who served in the United States Armed Forces in World War II.

In 1941, President Roosevelt drafted 140,000 Filipinos into the Service. They were promised US citizenship in exchange for fighting for our country. Unfortunately, in 1946 they were denied citizenship and Veteran's benefits. It was a post-war cost-cutting measure that President Truman said he later regretted signing into Law.

We have a chance to right a wrong that has been allowed to continue for over 60 years. We must act quickly to honor these brave men before it is too late. I urge my colleagues to join me and vote in support of H.R. 6897, Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008.

Madam Speaker, I stand here to honor a true American hero, Sergeant Rafael Peralta, an immigrant that made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, using his body as a shield to protect his fellow marines from a grenade blast.

Peralta's story is an example of the heroes that love this Nation. For his disregard of personal safety and heroism, his commander recommended him to be awarded the Medal of Honor. This was not the case. Sergeant Peralta was awarded the Navy Cross, which is also an extraordinary feat.

However, his sacrifice merits that of the Medal of Honor. That is why I have joined my colleagues in asking the President to review this case.

Sergeant Peralta is a true example of how much many immigrants in America love this country. No one can deny Peralta's love for this country, having joined the United States Marine Corps right after becoming a legal permanent resident.

Recognizing the sacrifice of Peralta, America cannot turn her back on immigrants.

I urge my colleagues to support comprehensive immigration reform.

Mr. Speaker, I speak on behalf of the 12 to 14 million immigrants who otherwise would not have a voice.

America was founded by the sweat and tears of immigrants and hardworking families. The strong work ethic of immigrants has always been the cornerstone of this country. Today

there are many immigrant families that continue to live by and reinforce America's tradition of hard work.

These immigrant families day after day sacrifice to make ends meet. At a time of skyrocketing gas and food prices, we must recognize these sacrifices.

These are the same sacrifices made by many other families in America. History is full of examples of how immigrant groups unjustly were seen as popular targets. Why are we repeating these same cruel mistakes? What about love thy neighbor?

We cannot let anti-immigration rhetoric rule our actions. I urge my colleagues to join me in comprehensive immigration reform for the immigrant families who love America and continue to sacrifice.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here to share with you the history of Henry Cejudo, a true believer in the American dream.

Henry Cejudo proudly represented the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in China, winning a gold medal in free-style wrestling. Henry was the youngest American wrestler in history to do this.

Overnight, Henry became a beacon of hope for so many in sports and wrestling in the United States. He is now also a beacon of hope for so many Latino immigrants. As the son of an immigrant mother from Mexico, Henry's story of struggle and sacrifice embodies what so many immigrant families have done every day.

Thanks to Henry, America has an Olympic gold medal in free-style wrestling. Thanks to Henry, the story of an immigrant's story for the American dream is still alive.

The contributions of immigrants throughout history for this country cannot be and must not be denied. I urge my colleagues to join me in this serious discussion of comprehensive immigration reform to help families like Henry's.

Madam Speaker, I rise as a proud cosponsor of the H.R. 5244, Credit Card Holder's Bill of Rights.

Access to fair and affordable credit cards is important for families entering the financial market for the first time, as well as those that rely on cards in times of financial emergency.

Credit card reform is vital to the Latino community.

Like most Americans, Latino families rely on credit to help them manage their monthly finances and purchase assets that will move them firmly into the middle-class.

Currently, 22 percent of Latinos do not have enough credit information available to generate a credit score, and more than one- third do not maintain traditional banking or savings accounts.

Because creditors generally rely on automated data mining, the fact that Latinos and immigrants are less likely to have robust credit files leaves them at a disadvantage.

As a result, issuers do not solicit our communities with their best priced credit cards. Instead, they offer high fee cards, with higher rates, and engage in other practices that regularly trap families in cycles of debt.

The Latino community is often targeted by ``affinity'' cards, cards that claim to be looking out for Latinos, but end up taking their money as an advanced loan scam, leaving consumers with no credit history and more fees than the card is worth.

Shopping for safe credit cards has become impossible, with mail solicitation rates rising 30 percent since 2006.

According to a Federal Trade Commission survey, 14.3 percent of Hispanics are victims of credit fraud, compared to 6.4 percent of non- Hispanic Whites.

Therefore, Latinos are hard hit by unfair credit card industry practices. Hispanic credit card users are more likely to be struggling to manage their debt, and are more susceptible to adverse industry practices.

Common abusive practices such as universal default, retroactive fees, no advance notice of changes in terms, and double-cycle billing make it hard for families playing by the rules to get ahead.

The Credit Card Holder's Bill of Rights, H.R. 5244, is important to Latinos and families across America for many reasons.

H.R. 5244 stops credit cards from changing their terms arbitrarily-- instead, the bill requires up-front disclosures of all reasons for an increase in fees or changes in contract terms.

H.R. 5244 requires card companies to apply consumer payments to the highest interest balances first, making payments proportional and fair. Currently, many credit card companies apply payments first to lower- rate balances, preventing consumers from paying-off higher interest rate balances until the lowest rates are paid-off. This practice creates a situation where fees and finance charges accrue on the higher-cost balances, beginning a cycle of debt for many families.

H.R. 5244 stops universal default. Universal default is an unfair practice of many card companies, in which a consumer's rates can retroactively increase on a card that they have a perfect payment record with, if they have a decline in their credit score, or issues with an unrelated credit card. Minimum monthly payments can skyrocket, affecting a family's ability to successfully manage their debt and maintain financial stability.

H.R. 5244 ends unfair late fees on payments that were received on- time. Clearly outlined due dates that can not arbitrarily change will be made explicit to the consumer and companies must mail bills 25 days before their due dates.

The complaints of over 30,000 Americans have flooded the Federal Reserve Board in the last 2 months, urging the Board to make their recent credit card proposals permanent. H.R. 5244 will codify the Board's recent proposals so that they cannot be weakened. Congress can send a strong message of approval to the Board, encouraging them not to weaken their proposed protections for the American consumer.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I'm here on behalf of immigrant families who otherwise would not have a voice. There are those who insist that undocumented immigrants have broken the law, that they are criminals, but what image do you get when you hear that someone is a criminal? Your image is of a murderer, of a thief, of a drug dealer, of someone who intensely wants to hurt another person.

These families who are wrongly called ``criminals'' come to the United States without the intent to hurt anyone. Yet there are anti- immigrant attacks that continue to say otherwise. What happened to the Ten Commandments? to love thy neighbor?

There are those who say that these families should play by the rules. The rules now are to form a line and to wait many years and to pay a huge fine, but the reality is the immigration process is so complicated that some of us would have a difficult time getting through it. We need comprehensive immigration reform to address the 12 to 14 million people in the United States to play by the rules and to also fix this broken system.

I urge my colleagues to support comprehensive immigration.

I appreciate Congresswoman Virginia Foxx talking about Mickey Mantle. He was an idol to many of us that played a lot of sports. I know as a young gentleman who was playing during that period of time, I admired Mickey Mantle.

Not only was he a positive role model for myself, in terms of trying to aspire to become a professional baseball player during the time I was in high school, but he was a coal miner, an individual that came from that area in Oklahoma that showed us that with hard work and dedication that you can make it.

Not only hearing the history of his personal life but what he did for a lot of us, because not only did he hit from both sides of the plate, which is very important for many individuals, we saw a switch hitter that could hit a lot from both the left and the right. We saw the competition that he led with Roger Maris during that period of time when they were competing for the home run championship.

I think having a post office named after Mickey Mantle is a great honor for many individuals, especially as we look at many of the Little Leaguers that play in Little League right now that look towards major league ball players who have played in the past who were a positive inspiration to many of us who say that if you can lead, you can be an inspiration to a lot of us. Therefore, I say that we should support this kind of legislation in naming the Mickey Mantle Post Office Building.

I support the legislation, which is S. 171, and I compliment Congresswoman Virginia Foxx for carrying on and going through a whole history of his history and background, where he came from.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my sincere condolences for the passing of the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Not only was she a true hero and noble leader in the United States Congress, a trailblazer for all minorities, but she was also a friend who will be dearly missed.

Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones' passing is a tragic loss for this Congress and our Nation. Her leadership on the ethics committee and on voting rights will never be forgotten. On behalf of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, we send our prayers and condolences to her family, friends and staff.

As Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I worked with Representative Jones together on a variety of projects, including our fundraising efforts for Gallaudet University here in Washington, as well as other endeavors which promoted advocacy for low-income and minority communities.

Having been blessed with the opportunity to get to know her outside the walls of Congress as a team member of the Democratic Congressional Basketball Team, I was impressed by her continually cheerful disposition and lively energy. Due to this vigor, she was always able to spread joy to others and add a positive light no matter the situation.

Stephanie's death will be felt by all, not just within Cleveland community, but also throughout the Nation because of the ideals she stood for. I offer the thoughts and prayers of my wife Barbara and myself to Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones' son Mervyn and for her family for their loss.

Mr. Speaker, we are a Nation with a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, with human rights; and that's what makes our country so great.

These rights were violated for hundreds of families in immigration raids throughout the country, including Postville, Iowa. What we fail to see at times are the long-lasting and devastating impact raids leave behind.

In Postville, hundreds of children have been ripped from their families, elderly left to fend for themselves, single parents forced to wear ankle bracelets are prohibited from working to feed their children. And the schools now resemble ghost towns with the absence of so many children.

We cannot continue to look the other way and ignore what is happening in this country.

The human dignity of these families have been stepped on. We are a country with moral principles and core family values. There is no blanket solution for the immigration crisis. We need to look beyond this ugly anti-immigrant rhetoric that is dividing our Nation and work towards comprehensive immigration reform.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 1338 and I want to thank Congresswoman DeLauro for her leadership on this important bill.

She has fought for paycheck fairness for women during every Congress for the past decade and should be commended for her tenacity.

We are a nation with a constitution and bill of rights.

It is sad to admit that in a country as prosperous as ours, women only earn 77 cents to every dollar that men earn.

It's even worse for minority women: with African American women earning 66 cents to the dollar of Latinas earning 55 cents to the dollar.

This bill corrects this injustice by making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform equal work.

In 1923, women's suffragist Alice Paul, wrote the Equal Rights Amendment which would guarantee ``equal justice under law'' to all citizens. I was proud to sponsor a bill that would honor Alice Paul with a congressional Gold Medal for her heroic leadership in fighting for the ERA and in working to achieve women's right to vote. My bill, H.R. 406 passed the house with 406 cosponsors, a historic record of support! While the ERA was never ratified, the Paycheck Fairness Act brings us closer to achieving its intent.

Wage discrimination keeps women down and harms the overall economy. It also represents the worst of America. We must confront discrimination head on and ensure that all Americans, regardless of gender, receive equal pay for equal work.

Mr. Speaker, the foreclosure crisis is hurting communities all across the Nation and my district has been especially impacted: In San Bernardino County, 11,817 notices of default were recorded in the first quarter, 130 percent more than a year earlier.

Everyone pays when there are foreclosures. Crime increases, home values decline, schools are affected, and cities run deficits which impacts revenues for local police, fire, and social services.

Last Wednesday, I came to the floor in support of a legislative package that would stimulate our Nation's struggling economy and help prevent foreclosures. The House passed the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 with bipartisan support on that same day and the Senate approved it last Saturday, sending the bill straight to the President for his signature.

I am particularly pleased that the final package included an important housing counseling provision which I offered with support from Reps. Mahoney from Florida and McCarthy from New York. This provision directs the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to give greater consideration to counseling agencies that have a demonstrated track record in working with servicers and that provide in-person contact and in-person [face-to-face] housing counseling to borrowers in trouble when awarding their grants. It evolved out of the growing concern that despite all of the media attention given to the foreclosure crisis, as well as the creation of the HOPE Now Alliance, many homeowners were still not receiving assistance they needed to avoid entering foreclosure. According to a Freddie Mac study, 56 percent of homeowners don't even know free counseling exists. Also, counselors across the country have reported delays and challenges connecting with telephone counseling. Counselors that receive referrals from hotlines often have to start fresh with the client, and language minorities report having difficulty reaching a live counselor.

Whenever possible, in-person foreclosure counseling is preferable over telephone counseling alone. In fact, one-on-one counseling is shown preference in the HUD Housing Counseling Program--one that has demonstrated enormous success.

Of course, the intention of this provision is not to exclude any struggling family. If telephone counseling is the only means of support available, the family should absolutely have access to it. The intention is to promote first the most effective and efficient services to families, then ensure a back up is in place. Telephone counseling should augment and supplement in-person counseling when it is unavailable or work is overflowing. Not the other way around.

The intent of the effort which I have described is to make housing counseling dollars as effective as possible and to reach as many borrowers in trouble as possible. Providing in-person outreach to homeowners in trouble and in-person housing counseling is more effective than just sending a default notification in the mail. Having someone individually reach out to these borrowers to work through their options to avoid foreclosure by analyzing their specific situation, including their loan document, is a necessary line of prevention and defense.

My amendment simply directs some of the counseling funding in the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221) to organizations that already promote this proven method.

It is our hope that the lenders, servicers, and federally regulated and federally chartered institutions like the GSEs and HUD would also do everything possible to include in-person outreach and in-person counseling in their efforts, including working with organizations that have the demonstrated capacity to reach out to homeowners needing assistance. Increasing this type of outreach and assistance is especially critical in non-judicial foreclosure states where notice of default and foreclosure is limited.

We also hope the language in this bill will help level the playing field to ensure organizations with established servicer partnerships and the demonstrated experience and capacity to offer more in-depth service through in-person counseling and outreach can receive grant funding so that they have the resources they need to assist those hard- to-reach borrowers.

This is good public policy and good business because it will increase loan modifications and decrease foreclosures and thereby minimize the adverse impact on local communities. It will also strengthen relationships between counseling agencies, servicers, and lenders to enhance outreach out to borrowers who are behind in their payments. More importantly, it will help keep struggling families in their homes.

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased that the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act contains another provision I authored in my bill, H.R. 4019, the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act and I want to thank Senator Reed (RI) the author of the companion bill, for his leadership in shepherding this provision in the Senate. This provision will ensure that consumers are provided with timely and meaningful disclosures in connection with not just home purchases but also for loans that refinance a home or provide a home equity line of credit. It requires that mortgage disclosures be provided within 3 days of application and no later than 7 days before closing. This should allow borrowers to shop for another mortgage if they are not satisfied with the terms. If the terms of the loan change, the consumer must be notified 3 days before closing of the changed terms.

If consumers apply for adjustable rate or variable rate payment loans, there will now be an explicit warning on the 1-page Truth in Lending Act form that the payments will change depending on the interest rate and an estimate of how those payments will change under the terms of the contract based on the current interest rate. The bill also provides a new disclosure that informs borrowers of the maximum monthly payments possible under their loan.

The bill provides the right to waive the early disclosure requirements if the consumer has a bona fide financial emergency that requires they close the loan quickly and increases the range of statutory damages for TILA violations from the current $200 to $2,000 to a range of $400 to $4,000.

Finally, it requires lenders to include a statement that the consumer is not obligated to purchase the mortgage loan just because they received the disclosures. This will give consumers the opportunity to truly shop around for the best mortgage terms for the first time ever. They will be able to compare the payments and costs associated with a certain loan product and decide not to sign on the dotted line if they do not like the basic terms of the loan.

This will help prevent foreclosures in the future especially given the fact that many consumers facing foreclosure on their homes who have adjustable rate mortgages never understood how their loan products worked or how high their payments would be once their loans reset.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of two great Americans, Jose and Felice Zamora, beloved parents, grandparents, and friends on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary.

Jose and Felice--known to all as Tony and Phyllis--first met in the spring of 1958. They met at a Los Amigos dance at Barstow High School. After dating for only four months, they were married on August 29, 1958. Tony proposed to Phyllis in between innings of a baseball game he was playing in. She happily accepted. The two were married in a small private ceremony attended by close friends and family.

After renting a house for a year, Tony and Phyllis bought a house in Barstow, the same house they still reside in today. Tony started work as a bus boy at the Bun Boy restaurant in Barstow. He eventually worked his way up to chef, while Phyllis was a homemaker. In 1967, Tony started working as a warehouseman at the Marine Corps Logistics Base and stayed there until retiring in 1996. Phyllis began working as a housekeeper at a local hotel, and would continue for 20 years.

On July 16, 1959, the Zamoras were blessed with their son, Victor Anthony. On October 10, 1967, the Zamoras celebrated the birth of their daughter Donna Lynn. On October 19, 1981, Tony and Phyllis had their second daughter, Crystal Ann.

Family has always been the focus of the Zamora's life. And they have been blessed with six grandchildren. They have four granddaughters-- Kristina Victoria Zamora, Heather Marie Zamora, Ciera Ariel Taylor, and Cienna Faith Davis. They also have two grandsons, Sebastian Antonio Taylor and Simon Antonio Taylor. In addition, they now have three great-grandsons and a fourth on the way. Children have always been a big part of Tony and Phyllis' lives, and since 1959, the sound of kids at play has filled their house in Barstow.

Growing up with Tony, we played fastpitch softball together for many years. He was a great second baseman and I feel fortunate to have such wonderful memories of our days together, all of the great tournaments we used to play in as part of the same team and our young days spent in the sun.

Having known the Zamoras nearly all of my life, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. On behalf of my wife Barbara, my family and I, felicidades, and may you have many more years of happiness. God bless you.