Floor Statements

I thank the chairman for yielding and for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, this country has a proud heritage of African American farmers who have contributed more than their fair share to our national economy, but our government has not given them its fair share of support. It is shameful that many of those farmers have faced discrimination by their own government. I applaud this effort to finally right some of those wrongs, and I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

However, I feel compelled to make the point that, while this is progress, it won't be providing relief for everyone who needs it. I have a constituent who is an original plaintiff in the Pigford suit, and because of bad lawyering and bad judging, he has never had so much as a hearing on his discrimination case. This settlement will likely do him no good.

I hate to think about how many other folks might still be left out of their rights in this instance. I hope that the passage of this bill will be the first step toward righting some of those wrongs as well.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of my constituents and one of my heroes, Dr. Prince Jackson, Jr., who died last Tuesday at the age of 85. There's an old proverb, ``He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.'' Dr. Jackson proved it, because he spent his entire life refreshing others, and he certainly seemed to be refreshed all along the way.

A mathematician by profession, with a master's degree from New York University and a Ph.D. from Boston College, Dr. Jackson was trained to think logically. But it was a passion for justice and equal opportunity that led him to fight the system of legal and economic discrimination that once defined our part of the country. After having been fired from his position in the public schools for daring to advocate an end to segregation, Dr. Jackson went on to become president of his alma mater, Savannah State University, and served as the president of the Savannah Branch of the NAACP. Even in retirement, Dr. Jackson continued to mentor teens and worked to overcome the economic vestiges of discrimination and the violence that threaten so many of our youth.

Dr. Jackson leaves an indelible footprint on the academic and political landscape of Georgia. He was a good friend to me personally, but more importantly, he was a great man and a great leader.

Madam Speaker, I was not present for votes on Wednesday, September 22, 2010. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote 532 and ``yes'' on rollcall vote 533.

I thank the gentleman. I thank him for his leadership in this area.

I, too, want to join in thanking the majority leader for his leadership and his passion on this issue and bringing this matter to the attention of the House this evening.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the people of Sudan and to pledge my continued commitment to achieving lasting peace and security for the Sudanese people.

Three years ago, I traveled to the Darfur region of Sudan as part of an official, bipartisan congressional delegation. During that time, I was able to meet with a host of individuals ranging from the President of Southern Sudan, United Nations peacekeepers, ministers from the government of Southern Sudan, the Speaker of Parliament, and rebel leader and Darfur Peace Agreement-signatory, Mr. Minni Minawi. Each of these individuals holds an essential stake in peace.

Sudan's Democratic and geographic integrity, as well as the lives of its people, depend on the continued leadership of these and many other individuals.

This year, as we mark the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that put an end to Sudan's 21-year-old civil war, I'm encouraged by the gains that have been made, but there is still much more work to be done.

The United States cannot and will not turn a blind eye to genocide in Darfur or to corruption and poor leadership in any part of Sudan. Too much blood has been shed and too many lives have been lost. The United States must continue to work with our international allies to provide aid and promote peace--because that's the right thing to do. We should do everything we can to see to it that the citizens and leaders of Sudan come together, put an end to tribal violence, and commit themselves to the welfare of Sudan.

Again, with my thanks to Mr. Payne and to the majority leader for their leadership, I yield back the balance of my time to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1613) expressing condolences to and solidarity with the people of Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating floods that began on July 22, 2010, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

On July 22, 2010, Pakistan began to experience devastating flooding, which in the subsequent days and weeks has led to a severe humanitarian crisis. Thus far, over 20 million Pakistanis have been affected. The flooding has resulted in the deaths of over 1,750 people, injured another 2,700, and left 800,000 cut off from assistance. The floods have submerged one-fifth of the country and damaged or destroyed more than 1.8 million homes, along with countless schools, farms, and businesses.

The Government of Pakistan says that the flooding has affected 30 percent of all agricultural land and could reduce by up to one-half Pakistan's economic growth rate for the current fiscal year, further destabilizing a nation already beset by daunting economic challenges.

The United States has responded to the crisis with over $250 million in relief and recovery funds, more than 20 percent of the total international humanitarian contribution, in the form of relief and recovery funds, food and medical supplies, and logistical support. Governments and humanitarian aid agencies from around the world have mobilized to provide much needed assistance to the relief and recovery efforts. We hope that all of the committed friends of Pakistan are able to galvanize additional support and funding for the recovery and subsequent reconstruction efforts.

In addition to recognizing the devastating impact of the floods, this resolution emphasizes the importance of a robust and long-term strategic partisanship between the United States and Pakistan, the enduring people-to-people and governmental ties between our two countries, and our long-standing support for a democratic, stable, and prosperous Pakistan.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bipartisan resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), and I ask unanimous consent that she be allowed to control that time.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding her leadership on this issue.

Madam Speaker, in October of 2009, the Army Corps of Engineers used temporary funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to begin the Veterans' Curation project to employ and train wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in archeological processing. The project gives these veterans an opportunity to learn transferable job skills and earn a fair wage while cataloging artifacts that the Corps has discovered and is required to preserve. The project now employs about 50 veterans in Augusta, Georgia; St. Louis, Missouri; and Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, temporary funding for the Veterans' Curation project is set to run out just when our returning veterans and our economy need it the most. H.R. 5282 provides long-term authorization for the program and will preserve the program and allow it to grow.

The Veterans' Curation project not only helps educate, train, and employ veterans, but it allows them to heal through the power of meaningful work. Since the Army Corps of Engineers has to catalog these artifacts anyway, there can be no better qualified or more deserving group than our own veterans to help get the job done. We owe no debt as citizens that is greater than the debt we owe to the veterans who fought for our freedoms. We literally owe them everything.

That is why I urge my colleagues to support this worthy program to help our wounded veterans heal and get good job skills at the same time. It's not only the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do.

Madam Speaker, due to prior commitments in my district, I was absent from the House Monday, July 19 and Tuesday, July 20, 2010, and thus did not cast any votes on those dates. Had I been present, I would have voted in the following way on bills considered by the House: ``yea'' on rollcall 448; ``yea'' on rollcall 449; ``yea'' on rollcall 450; ``yea'' on rollcall 451; ``yea'' on rollcall 452; and ``yea'' on rollcall 453.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, because I believe this bill takes positive steps to protect us from the risky and abusive behavior that took our country to the verge of financial ruin.

I voted against the bank bailout bill because there wasn't enough accountability for how that money was going to be used. It also didn't get at the root of the problem. This legislation gets at the root of the problem by protecting consumers from abusive and predatory financial practices. It also gets banks back in the business of making good loans instead of gambling with our money. I look forward to passage of this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to lend their support as well.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I have spent a lot of time meeting with small business owners across my district because small businesses are the backbone of our economy and they hold the key to our recovery. In the last decade, 70 percent of all new jobs are created by small businesses. But many are now facing a credit squeeze which makes it hard to cover everyday expenses, including hiring and remaining workers. It is in the best interest of our country that our small businesses thrive. That is why the Small Business Lending Fund Act deserves our support.

I am pleased to offer an amendment with Congressman Israel that I think makes this good bill just a little bit better. Our amendment simply asks banks receiving funds under this act to reach out to women, minority and veteran-owned businesses to make them aware of the availability of these funds. These businesses are a valuable but often disadvantaged part of our economy, and I think they deserve our special attention.

I want to thank Congressman Israel for his collaboration on this amendment and his leadership, I want to thank the chairman for his support.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for his work on this important subject.

Mr. Speaker, the grid that generates and distributes electricity across our country is one of the engineering wonders of the world, but it took generations to build, and it grew up in peacetime, safely removed from any threat of physical attack by our enemies, and it was long before the Internet. Today, we use the Internet to run this vast infrastructure, and that leaves us vulnerable to a potentially devastating cyberattack.

The GRID Act takes the first steps toward protecting our electric grid from those who want to do us harm. The necessary costs are modest compared to the cost of doing nothing. We cannot count on our enemies to wait for us. The threat is real, and the solution is in our hands, so I encourage my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Chairman, I've spent a lot of time visiting businesses in my district, many of which are large manufacturers. I've been struck that even as our economy becomes more sophisticated, we still rely a great deal on our manufacturing base. That base is threatened by competition from abroad and by financial crisis at home. What has sustained us through the hard times lately has always been American innovation. The America COMPETES Act fosters that tradition and I'm proud to support it.

I'm pleased to offer an amendment that I think makes this good bill a little bit better. In the 12th District of Georgia, we make everything from lawnmower blades to jet airplanes. But the fundamentals of both industries are very similar. It all starts with education in science, math, and engineering. My amendment simply requires that we include manufacturing education in our long-term strategic plan for manufacturing research and development. I think that makes good common sense, and good business sense,

and I thank the chairman for his support.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1087, a resolution honoring the life of my good friend, Judge Jack Ruffin of Augusta, Georgia. Judge Ruffin passed away on January 29 at the age of 75. He had a long and distinguished career of service in Georgia, and he will truly be missed.

Jack Ruffin was born in the middle of the Great Depression, and spent his formative years in the town of Waynesboro, Georgia. He left home to attend Morehouse College, and graduated in 1957. At the time his mother wanted him to be a teacher, but Jack Ruffin had other plans. He moved to Washington, D.C., attended Howard University School of Law, and got his J.D. degree in 1960.

Jack Ruffin could have built a successful law practice anywhere in the country, but he decided to return home to the deeply segregated City of Augusta to practice law. Throughout the course of his career, Jack Ruffin focused on rooting out the racial prejudice and discrimination which still held a firm grip on the political and economic livelihood of our State. Jack Ruffin fought for his own right to practice his profession, and became the first black lawyer admitted to the Augusta Bar Association and the first black Superior Court Judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit. But more importantly, he fought for the rights of everyone in the community. Among other causes he took on, he was the lawyer who desegregated the Richmond and Burke County public school systems.

Judge Ruffin was appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals in 1994. He became the first black Chief Judge of that court in 1996. After his retirement in 2008, Judge Ruffin spent the remainder of his life teaching students at Morehouse College, giving back to the college that gave so much to him.

The resolution before us today honoring Jack Ruffin's life is sponsored by every single member of the Georgia congressional delegation. That speaks not only to Jack Ruffin's character, but also to how far we have come as a State and as a Nation. Jack Ruffin did as much to change the laws and attitudes in Georgia as anyone else of his generation, and as a result we are a better and a freer people.

So today I urge my colleagues to adopt this legislation to express our lasting gratitude for Jack Ruffin's unyielding commitment to justice and equality for all.

I thank the Chair for yielding.

I rise to commend Chairman Reyes for including in the manager's amendment my amendment to develop a competitive grant program that will encourage the U.S. intelligence community to partner with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to recruit, train, and retain an ethnically and culturally diverse intelligence workforce.

We face a diverse and growing array of threats around the globe. As the means used by our enemies become more advanced, so must our defenses. Cultural, language, and educational barriers affect the quality of intelligence we can gather, and it's critical that our intelligence community have the human assets to overcome these barriers.

The area of Georgia that I represent is home to several HBCUs with specific expertise in languages and computer sciences. Engaging these centers of academic excellence, as this amendment does, will produce more sophisticated intelligence officers, who will in turn make our country more secure.

I want to thank Chairman Reyes for his work on this important legislation,

and I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bill.

Madam Speaker. I was unable to be present for votes on Monday, February 22, 2010. Had I been present I would have voted ``yes'' on Rollcall Vote No. 49 and Rollcall Vote No. 50.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present for votes today, Wednesday, January 13, 2010. Had I been present I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall vote No. 2 and ``yea'' on rollcall votes Nos. 3, 4, and 5.