Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, last fall, 2008, this country got a lesson in how central the housing market is to the American economy. When housing prices started to fall, the financial markets soon followed, and we are today now in the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

In the stimulus bill last February, we included a first-time homebuyer tax credit, which by all accounts has been a smashing success in terms of increasing home sales and stabilizing housing prices. The market, though, needs a little bit more time to nurture, and that is why, as has been said earlier, there is strong bipartisan support for extending this tax credit.

I, along with Congressman Calvert from California, put together a letter with 165 signatures in support of extending the tax credit. I salute the chairman and all the leadership who worked hard on a bipartisan basis to make sure that we are going to continue to grow the real estate market. That's how we got into this recession and that's how we are going to get out of it.

I urge strong support for the measure.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor retired National Guard Command Sergeant Major William W. Chapman II of Willington, Connecticut. I rise to recognize his being named an Honorary Grand Marshal, one of the most prestigious salutes to a veteran in the United States.

Sergeant Major Chapman has served over 35 years in the Marine Corps, Army Reserve, and Connecticut Army National Guard. He joined the military at age 17 because he felt the need to serve his country. During the Vietnam War, Chapman served as a Marine in Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan. He was deployed after 9/11 as part of Operation Noble Eagle and Operation Iraqi Freedom serving for some of this time in Tikrit, Iraq. He recently retired from the Connecticut Army National Guard, and is the recipient of a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Meritorious Service Medal, and three Army Commendation Medals. He was named Connecticut Army National Guard Honor Soldier of the year in May 2008. Chapman is a former Captain and trainer with the Connecticut Department of Correction, DOC, having retired after two decades of civilian service in 2002. He is also a member of the DOC Military Peer Support Program, which assists employees and their families during deployments.

Chapman will be featured in the 10th annual Connecticut Veterans Day Parade in Hartford on November 8. Over 4,000 people will march that afternoon near the Connecticut State Capitol to honor our nation's servicemen and women.

Chapman's dedication and sacrifices as a U.S. soldier and public servant will be remembered for years to come. I ask all of my colleagues to join with me, and the people of Connecticut in thanking Sergeant Major Chapman for his distinguished service to our country and wishing him the best in his new endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, as we enter now an historic moment in our country's progress towards creating a fair, a more just, and a better economy for ourselves and for our children, I want to offer for the record a quote--a fee quote--from a business in my district with 60 employees which underlines why we need to move forward. This is one of the good guys. He employs 60 people with good wages and benefits, and for 2010, he has been told that his health insurance premiums are going up 32 percent.

We have heard for months now about how we're moving too fast and about how we've got to take our time, but the fact of the matter is that it is time to act so we can have an economy that can address creating new jobs without taking on enormous new benefit costs, which is the reality today, particularly for small businesses and for the self-employed.

If you care about growing this economy, if you care about giving the risk-takers of America the opportunity to go out and to pursue their dreams, we have got to create a stable marketplace, which H.R. 3692 will do with a national health insurance purchasing exchange.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mayor Benjamin P. Lathrop who is retiring after years of service to the City of Norwich, Connecticut. I rise to recognize him on his retirement after 4 years of service as Mayor, and over a decade of service to the community as a whole.

Ben has dedicated his life to public service, and is a veteran of the Air Force who served our nation during the Vietnam War. He has served as Mayor of Norwich since 2005 and previously on the Norwich City Council from 1997, the final two terms as President Pro-Tem. A perpetually enthusiastic booster for the city, Ben's good cheer, kindness, and dedication have helped him unite the people of Norwich and set the stage for further progress in the years to come.

Ben founded both the Mayor's Cup Challenge and the Norwich Ambassador Program. He has volunteered in community groups such as the American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes, and as a mentor at the Norwich Public Schools and the Greeneville School. Ben has served on many of Norwich's boards and commissions, notably as a member of both the Greater Norwich Area and Eastern Connecticut Chambers of Commerce.

We will honor his service on November 19 with a dinner, the proceeds of which will benefit Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut and Thames Valley Council for Community Action Inc.

Ben's dedication as a citizen of Norwich, and his passion as the city's Mayor will be remembered for years to come. He truly believes in the importance of community, and wears his love for his city on his sleeve. I ask all of my colleagues to join with me and my constituents in thanking Mayor Lathrop for his service and wishing him the best in his new endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday the front page of The New York Times reported a survey of insurance brokers across America who have now predicted that the increase in insurance rates for small businesses in 2010 will be 15 to 23 percent. Last year it was 7 to 12 percent. So if your premium as a small business for a worker was $4,500 in 2008, it will be $5,500 in 2010. That is the Halloween surprise for small businesses in America today. There is no group in America that takes a harder hit than the self-employed and small group markets who have no mechanism to pool their risk that large employers and people in the Congress benefit from, as members of the Federal Employee Health Benefits plan.

This bill will create a national purchasing exchange so that the risk-takers in America will actually have the opportunity to provide and buy affordable health insurance for themselves and their employees. It is for America's capitalism and for America's entrepreneurs that the need to fix this market is the most critical, and that is why it is time to stop listening to the voices of ``no'' and move forward with real health care reform that will make America's economy grow and be viable.

Madam Chair, I want to applaud my friend, Chairman Jim Oberstar, and his committee for putting together a strong bill that invests in the needs of our Coast Guard. This bill makes many key investments in the ability of our Coast Guard to protect our nation, guard our waterways, and make sure it is ``always ready'' to respond.

However, I rise today in reluctant opposition to this bill because of the very significant changes it makes to the admissions process for the United States Coast Guard Academy.

As many of my colleagues know, the Coast Guard Academy is located in my district, in New London, Connecticut. Established at Fort Trumbull in 1910 first as the School of Instruction to the U.S. Revenue Cutter Academy and then as the U.S. Coast Guard Academy after the consolidation of the Life Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915, the Academy has been a part of New London at its present site since 1932. Over its last century in New London, the Academy has helped to train, educate and shape generations of young leaders of the Coast Guard.

Today, the Coast Guard Academy is a highly competitive educational institution. Called ``the best kept secret in higher education'' by the Princeton Review, it is a challenging school that attracts driven, committed leaders who go on to serve our nation in the many diverse roles played by our Coast Guard today. In fact, the number of applicants who said that they were not seeking admission to one of the other service academies--that the Coast Guard Academy was their first choice--rose from 61 percent of the class of 2009 to 66 percent of the class of 2011.

As of July 2009, the Coast Guard Academy had 973 cadets enrolled representing 43 states and 15 foreign nations. For the newest class, the class of 2013, 1,672 completed the application process, 411 were offered appointments to the Academy, and 288 cadets--17 percent of those who applied--were sworn in. Nearly 80 percent of Academy graduates go on to graduate programs, with most paid for by the Coast Guard, and 85 percent of graduates choose to serve beyond their required five-year commitment.

The Academy is particularly proud of its high recruitment of women cadets. Of the total corps of cadets, 27 percent are women: 23 percent female in the class of 2010, 30 percent in the class of 2011, 28 percent in the class of 2012, and 29 percent in the class of 2013. Its success in this area sets the Coast Guard Academy apart from other service academies, and is worthy of recognition.

However, there are two areas in which both the Congress and the Coast Guard Academy agree that there is some work to do--the recruitment of underrepresented minorities in the cadet corps, as well as a lack of geographical diversity. I absolutely believe that, as a publicly funded institution, the Coast Guard Academy should represent a cross-section of our society, reflecting the racial, gender and geographic composition of our nation. Any young person, regardless of race, gender or geographic location, should have the opportunity to serve our nation as an officer in the Coast Guard.

In my ongoing discussions with the leadership of the Coast Guard Academy, they have made clear that some of their top priorities include increasing diversity, both of underrepresented minorities and geographical regions, and spreading the word about the excellent education it has to offer to a wider audience. While involving Members of Congress in the application process may be one of the answers to these challenges, there are likely other ways to achieve these goals that should be considered as well before taking this step.

For example, the Academy has significantly increased its efforts to get the word out about their unique institution and what they have to offer to underrepresented minority and geographic populations. For example, they are specifically directing recruitment efforts through mailings, advertising on online college search websites, and ramping up efforts to get recruiters in cities and regions with high minority populations, as well as those states and regions not typically represented at the Academy.

There is some indication that these efforts are paying off. For instance, compared to last year, inquiries to the Academy by minority students are up 40 percent to 1,800. And, online applications from minority students are up 34 percent to 317.

In addition, the Coast Guard Academy recently released a comprehensive Strategic Plan focusing on diversity, leadership, and character development. This plan outlines a clear goal of achieving 20- 25 percent representation by underrepresented minorities by 2015, and in faculty and staff by 2020. This plan is getting off the ground now.

Even without congressional nominations, there is much each of us can do to contribute to the makeup of the Academy. For example, we can all include Coast Guard Academy admissions information our offices distribute related to service academy nominations, and direct interested constituents to the institution. And, we can ensure that our websites include information about the Academy. Earlier this year, a survey of congressional websites showed that over half made no mention of the Coast Guard Academy and did not post a link or other information about the institution. In March, I circulated a ``Dear Colleague'' letter urging that Members make sure their websites reflect this important information--and I will continue to work with my colleagues to encourage them to do so.

I strongly believe that any change to the application process or the character of the institution must be carefully considered, hand in hand with the Academy, before moving forward. The manager's amendment to this bill included a provision to require the Government Accountability Office, GAO, to evaluate the Coast Guard Academy's efforts to improve minority and geographic diversity. While I strongly support this review and look forward to its findings, I am disappointed that this

kind of evaluation was not done first before pursuing changes to the existing admissions process.

To this end, I reluctantly oppose the Coast Guard authorization bill, and hope to continue to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate, as well as the leadership of the Academy, to address these concerns.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the service and dedication of a man who has been a pillar in his community for more than half a century. For the past 50 years, Albert A. Grenier has dedicated much of his personal time to the Baltic Fire Department and the residents of Baltic, Connecticut.

This year marks his 50th year as a volunteer firefighter for the department, and I am honored to offer my sincere thanks and gratitude for his many years of service

Albert Grenier joined the Baltic Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter in 1959 where he put his life on the line regularly to protect his community and the families of Sprague, Connecticut. During his many years as a volunteer firefighter, Grenier also worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. As a member of the Baltic Fire Department, Albert embraced several leadership roles recruiting new volunteers, maintaining the department's facilities, and competing on the department's recreational Water Team. Most notably, he was a key player in establishing the Emergency Squad in 1961, which acted as a foundation for the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) teams we see in use today.

While always a public servant, perhaps the most important role Albert has played is that of husband, father and grandfather. For the past 57 years, Albert has been happily married to his wife Rita Fortin, with whom he raised three children. Albert and Rita have been blessed with five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

Madam Speaker, our communities are safe because of dedicated volunteers like Albert Grenier We are grateful for his extraordinary contribution to our region and look forward to his continued efforts in the years to come. I ask my colleagues to join me and the residents of Baltic in recognizing his decades of service.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to welcome Stephen C. White, as the new president and chief executive officer of Mystic Seaport Museum, in my Congressional district.

The Board of Trustees of the Museum conducted a national search of many qualified candidates and found an individual capable of building on the Museum's many accomplishments during its 80-year history. Mystic Seaport Museum, the Museum of America and the Sea, hosts nearly 300,000 visitors each year, including 30,000 children attending with school or youth groups.

Prior to joining the Museum, Steve served 18 years as headmaster of Fay School, the country's oldest junior boarding school. During Steve's tenure, Fay School established a dynamic strategic plan and a comprehensive master plan for future campus development. Under Steve's leadership, Fay dramatically increased its endowment and, most recently, completed a $20 million campaign designed to support key elements of the strategic plan, including compensation, scholarships, program development and campus expansion.

A native of Camden, ME, Steve has long enjoyed a connection to the sea, sailing wooden boats with his grandfather and father. He found his call to education through the sea as well, having spent summers as a director of junior sailing programs at Camden Yacht Club and Ft. Worth Boat Club. He's also made two trans-Atlantic crossings on a sloop from Connecticut. Steve is excited to get back to his maritime roots as he takes on the position of moving Mystic Seaport forward.

Steve has a B.A. in English and Education from Hartwick College. Additionally, he has completed coursework at Columbia University/ Teachers College through a Klingenstein Fellowship. He currently resides on Cape Cod with his wife, Maggie, and is planning to relocate to Mystic soon.

As Mystic Seaport celebrates its 80th year, the team there continues to strive toward achieving the vision the founders laid out in 1929-- that the Museum be educational in purpose, national in scope and an inspiring force for the future.

Based on my work with Steve White during his first few months in office, I am confident that he has been an excellent selection to continue working toward this vision, and I look forward to working closely with him as he does so.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the exemplary work of the men and women of the Enfield Fire Department who have given tirelessly of themselves in defense of the community they love so dearly. In addition to their selfless acts of heroism, the department has seen fit to establish a memorial which honors the memory of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

For more than 100 years, the men and women of the Enfield Fire Department have put their lives on the line every day to protect their community and the citizens of Enfield. The department was founded on October 15, 1896, after a group of individuals joined together to investigate and combat fires that had been deliberately set. Since that day, more than a century later, the department has continued to serve and protect the people of Enfield with honor and distinction.

In addition to their service to the community, the Enfield Fire Department has taken it upon themselves to create a memorial garden commemorating those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. On September 11, 2008, the memorial was dedicated with a public ceremony and parade attended by hundreds of Enfield residents. Each year residents of the town will gather to honor the memory of those whose lives were lost on that most fateful day.

The Enfield Fire Department continues its tradition of service to their community, and thanks to their efforts the people of Enfield will never forget that most tragic of days in our Nation's history. The admirable efforts undertaken by the Enfield Fire Department to memorialize the tragedies of September 11, 2001, should inspire each and every one of us to better appreciate the sacrifices made on that fateful day and I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the Enfield Fire Department.

Madam Speaker, on Monday, July 27, 2009, I was returning from a congressional delegation to Iraq and Israel and regrettably missed three recorded votes. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

On rollcall No. 647, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 593, Recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the entry of Hawaii into the Union as the 50th State, I would have voted ``yea'';

On rollcall No. 648, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 1376, the Waco Mammoth National Monument Establishment Act of 2009, I would have voted ``yea'';

On rollcall No. 649, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 1121, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Town of Blowing Rock Land Exchange Act of 2009, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, when a Member of Congress is sworn into office, you get a pin, you get a voting card, and you get access to a health care purchasing exchange that's operated by the Federal employees health plan. Every Member of Congress has the ability to buy into or to choose a plan through the Federal employee health plan which, when you boil down the health care reform bill that has passed the Ways and Means Committee and the Education Committee, is exactly what is going to be before this House.

For example, the minority leader from Ohio has, as a Member of Congress, the opportunity to choose 13 different plans under the Federal employee health plan. That's what the Obama health care proposal plans to do for all Americans. So when the time comes for the vote, ask your Member of Congress whether they're prepared to give to the people of America exactly what the people of America give to Congress, and that vote should be ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I also rise tonight to discuss the issue of health care. And again, we've just heard remarks which are part of a campaign really to try and, I believe, and I say this respectfully, mislead and scare people about what it is that the committees of this Congress are taking up and deliberating on. I'm on one of those committees, the Education and Labor Committee. And what my message would be here tonight is that Americans should not be alarmed. In fact, they should feel reassured about the fact that we are finally, in a serious, coherent way, trying to address a broken system. I know it's broken. I come from the State of Connecticut. Earlier this week, on Monday, there was a hearing at the State of Connecticut Department of Insurance where Blue Cross/Blue Shield came in asking for a 32 percent rate increase for its individual health insurance policies that they sell in the State of Connecticut. That's the status quo. That's the so- called patient-driven health care system that we have right now. Thirty-two percent increase. You can't blame that on Barack Obama. You can't blame that on a government-controlled system. That's the marketplace that exists today, and it is bankrupting individuals and families at an alarming rate. Twelve thousand Americans a day are losing their health insurance. What the bill is that we are offering and as part of this effort which the President will be talking about tonight is a way of trying to control those costs and to try and create some sort of stable system for individuals and American families.

Let me give you an example. For a single woman, working at a convenience store, earning about $25,000 a year, if she went out today, before the 32 percent rate increase that Blue Cross is asking for, and tried to buy an individual insurance policy in Connecticut, it would be $381.22 a month for a premium through the Blue Cross plan. It has a $1,500 deductible, 20 and $30 copays for primary care and specialist physicians, respectively, and an annual prescription drug benefit of only $500. The bill that we're working on, which was reported out by the Education and Labor Committee on Friday, for an individual who's earning $25,000 a year, their monthly premium would be $158, less than 50 percent of what an individual is paying today, and that's without some kind of outrageous skyrocketing premium increase which Blue Cross is asking for today under our broken system.

How do you do this? Well, the answer is very simple. And Members of Congress can answer it better than anybody because they should just look in the mirror and see the system that we have today for Members of Congress. We have the opportunity to be part of a purchasing exchange, a purchasing allowance which allows millions of Federal employees across the country to spread risk, to spread cost, and to offer a broader range of choices, private plans which Members of Congress have that opportunity to pick from. And that moderates, it stabilizes the cost of the system and allows the system to operate without these harsh pre-existing condition exclusions which if a person has a heart condition or a diabetic condition, which today in the individual market completely and totally excludes them from buying insurance at all.

Now if you ask your Member of Congress about their health insurance plan and the cost of increase which took place over the last year, you could ask a Member from Ohio, where the minority leader comes from, and what it would show is that there were increases from 2008 to 2009 of only $10 a month for many of the plans. One of the Ohio plans which was offered to Members of Congress actually reduced its monthly payment. And this is because it's just a basic market principle, and that is what the Democratic plan is proposing for all Americans, which is that we will create a large purchasing exchange which will spread risk, which will protect individuals from pre-existing condition exclusions, and which will moderate and stabilize premium costs so that you would not face the 32 percent rate increases that insurance companies like Blue Cross are asking for back home in my State, the State of Connecticut.

We also add a public option as one of the choices that can be selected by Americans who participate in this purchasing exchange. Private plans and a public option as a way of keeping the system honest and making sure that we get every efficiency possible. But no one has to choose that public option. And no provider, no doctor, or hospital has to participate in it.

You would think, from the descriptions on the other side, that people are going to be marched at gunpoint into a government plan. The opposite is completely true. There will be open choice. There will be private plans that will be offered under that purchasing exchange and it will, again, allow people the benefits of spreading risk and spreading costs just like Members of Congress have today. Every taxpayer and every citizen of this country should ask that question of their Member when the time comes to vote: Are you prepared to stand up and vote for a plan which will give us what we give you?

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Scott for bringing this resolution, which I sponsored along with 70 other Members, and for bringing it to the floor. His leadership with the farm bill last year that extended the milk subsidy program, which was probably the number one priority of dairy farmers, was critical in terms of trying to keep farms afloat that are hanging on by a thread.

Also, he changed the system of the milk subsidy program to include input costs into the formula for the first time, which, again, is a critical benefit for folks going through a very challenging and difficult time, as the chairman described it and as Mr. Thompson described it.

Usually, Mr. Speaker, these types of resolutions--let's face it--are kind of fluffy. They're here to kind of put the spotlight on a product or on a segment of the economy. Everybody kind of gets up and does a little boosterism for, maybe, their regions of the country; a voice vote is taken, and it's probably forgotten pretty quickly. This year, there is an urgency surrounding the crisis that exists in dairy all across America that, I think, makes this resolution, which is an opportunity to put the spotlight on the challenges that dairy farmers are facing, important for all of us in the Congress and certainly for all of us in the country.

As has been said earlier, we have seen a collapse of dairy prices over the last year. Back in June 2008 when the farm bill passed, the price per hundredweight across America was, roughly, $20. Today, that has literally fallen in half. Exports have fallen by 57 percent, which many experts believe is one of the reasons prices have reached a level where sustainable economics exists for dairy farmers across the country. That export market, along with the world recession, has made it impossible for the normal market forces to keep prices at a level at which farms can sustain their overhead and their input costs.

In the Northeast, particularly in New England, we are seeing the effects of this drastic, dramatic collapse. Ten percent of farms in Connecticut, particularly in eastern Connecticut, which I represent, have gone out of business, and that number has been reflected in other parts of New England. The one thing about a dairy farm going out of business is it's not like an up-and-down cycle. When they go out, they go out for good, and you lose a characteristic of a State's look and its economy that you can never recover again.

That is why it is so important for Chairman Scott to be holding the hearings that he is holding with the Agriculture Committee, to make sure that we do everything we possibly can in this emergency right now to provide immediate support and relief. The ideas are out there in terms of whether or not we need an emergency boost to the milk subsidy program and in terms of whether or not we need to have the Department of Agriculture use its administrative powers to raise the base price for dairy.

It is imperative, again, that we pass this resolution, but that we also do everything we can as a Congress to keep the pressure on. Recently, I was home in Connecticut, and I and Congresswoman DeLauro, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture in Appropriations, met with a number of farms, Greenbacker Farms, Cushman Farms. These are farms that go back literally to the colonial days of our country which are now facing a death spiral in terms of having to borrow to pay operating costs just to keep the bills paid and their workforces going to work every day and with paychecks.

If we do not intervene, we are going to lose a part of our economy that we can really never recover again. There is a bumper sticker out there that some of you may have seen and that some of you may have on your cars, like I do on my car, which says, ``No farms, no food.''

At some point, we, as a Nation, have to recognize that if we do not come up with agriculture policies that allow for sustainable farms in our country, then we are going to lose, not just those wonderful families and parts of our economy, but also critical parts of our food supply. You only have to look at recent events, in terms of the damage that has been done to American citizens from unsafe food imported into this country, to know the stakes could not be higher.

So I applaud the chairman for bringing out this committee. I appreciate the bipartisan support for this resolution. Obviously, it's a resolution which deserves our support, but we need to follow up on it with real acts and with real action by the Congress to make sure that we deal with this emergency crisis that exists here today. I hope the strong support that we're going to see around this resolution will be reflected in those efforts.

I again thank the chairman for bringing this resolution out.

There is probably not a more difficult and challenging enterprise to operate today than running a food bank. We're obviously in a time where our economy is extremely weak. The demand for food bank help is up and the ability of people to provide donations for food bank services are down.

In Connecticut, over 350,000 people were served in the last year by our food banks--a number that is way higher than the prior year. And as was recently reported in the New London Day, the largest paper in southeastern Connecticut, while there was a growing need for food assistance in 2008 and 2009, traditional donations are way down. There is only one area where we have seen an increase, and that is in the area of wild game that was donated by hunters who are part of this program which is being given accolades with this resolution.

In my district, hunters and constituents like Warren Speh and Bob Jean have donated more than 10,000 pounds of deer meat that was hunted at Bluff Point State Park in Groton alone as part of an effort to manage the deer population and also donated that food to the local food bank in the New London area. So they are a perfect example of what this program is about.

Again, I strongly support this resolution's effort to put the spotlight on the great work that these people are doing and urge adoption by the full membership.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 30) commending the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the occasion of its 125th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on Senate Concurrent Resolution 30 into the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 30, which commends the work of the Bureau of Labor Statistics as it celebrates its 125th anniversary.

Since its founding in 1884, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has served as the principal factfinding agency for the Federal Government for all matters in the fields of labor, economics, and statistics. In this capacity, it has collected, analyzed, and disseminated essential labor- related data to all levels of government, various Federal agencies, and the American public.

As an institution, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has evolved throughout its 125 years. Originally serving a broad fact-finding mandate, the Bureau has since developed into many specialized arms that study a multitude of labor issues, including wages and prices, the state of industrial relations, unemployment, demographic shifts, and workplace safety conditions.

The Bureau has stringent criteria for its data and analyses in order to ensure that it is not only accurate but relevant to society. As a result of rapidly changing economic conditions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has developed a reputation for responsiveness, swiftly adjusting its measures and indices to provide citizens and policymakers of this Nation with high-quality statistical data.

In its commitment to disseminate this valuable information, the Bureau of Labor Statistics established a Web site in 1995. Since that time, a variety of data access tools have been developed, providing increased access to the statistical data it analyzes and develops. Today, the use of the Web site is over 1,000 times what it was when it began, with more than 20 million users in the months of this year alone.

The data and analyses provided by the Bureau are invaluable, contributing to policy development process as well as the allocation of Federal funds

and private payments. I commend the work of the Bureau's many economists, mathematical statisticians, information technology assistants, and administrative specialists as they celebrate an impressive 125-year legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in support of this important resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, the resolution which we're focused on is about celebrating 125 years of great work by the people from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Obviously the discussion, because the rules of our House permit it, sort of went off into different areas. I would like to just quickly note two things: number one, the Bureau of Labor Statistics would demonstrate or would show that we've had serious job losses over the last 6 months; but it would also show that in the final quarter of 2008, the GDP of this country dropped by 6 percent, the biggest drop since the Great Depression. Obviously, it was the policies which preceded that downturn that have created the situation and the environment that we're in right now.

Given the fact, as the Bureau would show, we have exhausted almost every tool in the monetary toolbox in terms of lowering interest rates, it was critical for our country to step in and use fiscal policy as a way of turning this country around. And if we look at the bipartisan Governors conference, which met this past weekend, Republican and Democratic Governors all acknowledged that the fiscal relief that came through Medicaid payment boosts, through increases in education spending through the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, through increased funding in title I and special education literally made the difference of whether dozens of States were able to balance their budgets in this critical downturn.

Go ask a Realtor in this country whether or not the stimulus bill, which

provides a first-time home buyer tax credit, has, in fact, revived the real estate market, because they will tell you a resounding ``yes.'' I know in my district we saw a 4 percent increase in home sales; and every single Realtor that was interviewed--in the reporting, again, that came out from the government on that increase in sales--attributed the stimulus package and the first-time home buyer tax credit for the fact that we are seeing that turnaround.

Now as we see the infrastructure dollars filter their way through the bidding process, which every State must conduct for surface transportation projects, we are going to see an uptick in construction and building trades from the stimulus package.

The other brief mention and the second point I want to make is, again, I respect Dr. Broun for his profession and many of the doctors that serve in the House of Representatives. But as we listen to some of the hysterical statements about the health care reform initiative, I would point out that the American Medical Association, the largest trade group which represents doctors all across this country, came out foursquare in support of the House health care reform bill.

I will not yield because I sat and listened to representations about that plan which are inaccurate in terms of what it's going to do, in terms of patient choice, but certainly, and more importantly, in how providers are going to be treated. Because the AMA and the American College of Surgeons came out loud and clear in support of this measure and for good reason, because they know that we have a system which is in desperate need of reform.

In conclusion, regarding this resolution before us, when we make choices, both as policymakers in the legislative branch and the executive branch, the key is that we need good data. We need to see where we're going as a Nation, and the people who work at the Bureau of Labor Statistics provide decision-makers and policymakers that opportunity with the great work that they do. I think it's wonderful that on a bipartisan basis we're able to come together, celebrate and recognize the great work that they do.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.