Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on April 7, 2011 I missed rollcall vote 245. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' or ``nay.''

Motion to Recommit

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady. I wish her a happy St. Patrick's Day.

Mr. Speaker, there is a pattern here. Americans are seeing through what amounts to an ideological purge.

In Wisconsin, under the guise of dealing with the deficit, they are taking away collective bargaining rights.

In Washington, under the guise of dealing with the deficit, they are cutting Planned Parenthood and taking away women's rights.

Under the guise of dealing with the deficit, they are planning to privatize Social Security and voucher Medicare, as if they had anything to do with causing the deficit and the problem we are in.

And under the guise of saving taxpayers' dollars, what they are doing is silencing NPR, not because it saves money, but because it is not on the same ideological frequency of the extreme right.

Mr. Speaker, on March 14, 2011 I missed rollcall votes 175 and 176. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' or ``aye'' on both.

Mr. Speaker, the following entry is a poem that was given at the Irish Embassy by the Democratic Caucus' Poet Laureate the Honorable Bill Pascrell. As we approach the ``Day'', I think it only fitting to submit Mr. Pascrell's work for the Congressional Record--in which he honors Ambassador Michael Collins and the Nation of Ireland.

Mike Collins--At Best

(By the Honorable Bill Pascrell, Jr.)

Raising glasses to a white sky,

Pausing . . . to look at twinkling eyes,

In blue skies hemorrhaging avocado

dreams of a homeland of Irish monks who saved Ireland--

as Cahill wrote,

indeed,

saved the world . . .

Raising glasses many times, with many chimes and voices clear

And monks as advocates of avocadoes

And prose to beat for Gaelic friends good cheer

And

Have no fear . . .

Long live Ireland

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Democratic Caucus, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 129 I was unfortunately detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Amendment No. 548 Offered by Mr. Jones

I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment by Tom Rooney of Florida. Let me commend my colleague from Florida, first and foremost, and those that have joined him in this amendment.

At the President's State of the Union message there was a symbolic gesture in this Chamber for us to sit together, and we did. And we talked about the camaraderie and the need to reach out and work together.

I applaud my colleague for his strong stance and his willingness to work bipartisanly to do what the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the Secretary of Defense, the Bush administration and the Obama administration have asked Congress to do: end this wasteful, duplicative spending.

There are new Members that have come to Congress on both sides with new zeal and the ability to perhaps look outside the beltway at what people have to experience on a regular

basis, and they scratch their heads in awe of what seems to be a commonsense proposal by the Bush administration, by the Obama administration, by the Air Force, by the Marines, and by the Navy, and that's to end this wasteful spending.

We've heard great talk about competition. My God, I'm all for competition. I don't think there isn't a person who isn't for competition. Two engines, why not three? Why not four? It would be better overall for our industrial base.

But the people on the committee know the hard truth, as do all Americans. We've seen it. I fault no one for support of the interest of their State or their district or their employees, but let's be honest about this. We're going to have to make priorities. I've witnessed it in the C-17 and the F-22. And there comes a time when you recognize that we need these precious dollars. There has to be cuts. Both sides have acknowledged, and again I want to compliment my colleagues on the other side for the zeal that they have come here with to say, listen, the Pentagon isn't sacrosanct either, and we have to make these cuts.

And here's the Secretary of Defense pleading yesterday at a conference saying, please, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force do not want this engine.

Look, competition is great, but let's look at some of the facts here that have been cited as well. If you have 86 percent of the market currently, and you're seeking to get 92 percent of it, where does competition lie? With a company that has 86 percent? I don't think so.

And I think anyone who looks at this from a commonsense perspective comes to that understanding, comes to that difficult decision that has to be made with respect to the Nation's deficit.

Now, Mr. Rooney has proposed that this money go directly into a lock box to deal with the Nation's deficit. There are a lot of good proposals where to use money, but that's what he's proposed. I submit, as a Democrat who would like to see the money going to COPS funding, to make sure that LIHEAP funding gets there, that these are the kinds of compromises and decisions that we have to make. And this is what's right for the country. We have to address this deficit.

And if we have our leadership, the Bush administration, and their Pentagon, the Obama administration, you heard Joe Courtney talk about Admiral Roughead again saying today the absurdity involved in this argument.

It doesn't matter what company. What matters is this country. I strongly support his amendment.

Offered By: Mr. Larson of Connecticut

Amendment No. 168: Page 33, line 16, after the dollar

amount, insert ``(reduced by $225,000,000)''.

Page 34, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert ``(reduced

by $225,000,000)''.

Page 359, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert

``(increased by $450,000,000)''.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add one more story to this debate to help illustrate why the Affordable Care Act is so important. One of my constituents recently wrote to tell me that his 19 year old son has a rare liver disease and that his only hope is a transplant. Under the new healthcare reform law, he is now able to keep his son on his insurance plan to age 26. His household would be out of luck without healthcare reform as last year his son's health care costs exceeded $120,000.

It is stories like these that are the essence of why passing health reform was so important. It provides protections to ensure that someone like my constituent can access health care and not face exorbitant personal costs when an illness strikes.

I urge all of my colleagues to oppose this repeal legislation and hope we can all work together to find ways to move our country forward.

Mr. Speaker, on January 26, 2011 I missed rollcall votes 22 and 23, due to a family emergency. Had I been present on rollcall vote 22, I would have voted ``no'' or ``nay''. Had I been present on rollcall vote 23, I would have voted ``yes'' or ``aye.'' Had I been present on rollcall vote 24, I would have voted ``yes'' or ``aye.'' Had I been present on rollcall vote 25, I would have voted ``no'' or ``nay.''

Mr. Speaker, on January 18, 2011, I missed rollcall vote 12. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' or ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Democratic Caucus, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Equal protection under the law is the cornerstone of our Constitution. That is why we as Nation strive to form a more perfect Union in a commonsense way of looking out for one another. No one can prepare for a birth defect, catastrophe, or accident of life that may await any one of us. This Congress cannot disenfranchise the 129 million Americans with preexisting conditions impacted by this repeal proposal. The proposal that is before us is not worthy of the party of Lincoln or the tea party. Repeal, repeal, repeal is not a plan. It is an empty political refrain.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are honorable people. I cannot accept that they are indifferent to the 129 million Americans with preexisting conditions who would continue to be denied coverage and forced to pay higher rates with repeal. I cannot accept that they are indifferent to millions of children who would once again face denial of health care coverage. I don't believe they are indifferent to the millions of seniors who would be facing higher prescription drug costs because of repeal. I cannot accept that they are indifferent to the families that face cancer diagnosis and would once again be subject to lifetime limits on coverage and possible bankruptcy because of repeal. Addressing these fundamental issues of fairness was what the health care legislation and law is all about.

In this Chamber, and clearly down the hall, we understand the charade of this repeal legislation. But it is not lost on the 129 million Americans with preexisting conditions that are counting on us.

I thank the gentleman from Arizona.

Shakespeare tells us in Othello that when Iago whispers mistruths in the ear of Othello, something beautiful dies.

Something beautiful died in Tucson, Arizona, this past Saturday. People who came to an event, to hear their congresswoman speak--one little girl, 9 years old--all beautiful, all celebrating the great beauty and majesty of our democracy, passed on that day.

Who knows what mistruths were bouncing around in the head of the assassin. Who could know that? But something beautiful died. Democracy died just a little that day.

But beauty has a way of coming back. It resides in people like Gabrielle Giffords. She epitomizes all that is good and rich about serving in the United States Congress. From her very demeanor, to her graciousness, to the way she carried herself in committee, with her legislation, and how she held forth with her constituents in an accountable manner that has become so much a fabric of our democracy-- our Congress on the Corner.

She truly is a beautiful person. And that beauty had others responding that day with acts of heroism that have already been recounted on this floor. And that beauty lies with her husband by her side and with the fervent prayers of a Nation in hope, knowing and feeling confident that she will return from this awful incident and be back here with us gracing us with her beauty and dignity and vision and purpose.

One of her last remarks, in speaking to Mr. Trey Grayson, director of the Harvard Institute of Politics, was to say, I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation. I think we need to figure out how to tone down our rhetoric and the partisanship that exists here.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Democratic Caucus, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.