Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize the initiative and achievement of Shannon Parks from Rogers, Arkansas. Shannon is a recipient of the Congressional Award Bronze Medal.

The Congressional Award Program recognizes excellence and service among young Americans who are challenged to set goals and carry through in public service, personal development and physical fitness and expedition or exploration.

Shannon diligently worked completing her volunteer hours through two different avenues, choosing to volunteer with children because she aspires to become an elementary teacher. She volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club in Rogers, Arkansas, and then she started to help kids learn at the Benton County School of the Arts.

She improved her personal development by learning to fence and practicing at her local fencing club. She completed physical fitness goals by lifting weights, running, and dancing. She also planned a family outing that included camping and rock climbing over a weekend.

Shannon has worked very hard for this award, and it is refreshing to see that young Americans in my district and all across the country are working so hard to improve themselves and their communities.

I want to thank Shannon for her efforts and encourage her to keep working towards her goals.

Mr. Speaker, I agree that the cost of health care has become expensive for my constituents, too expensive for my constituents and all Americans. What we need is to reform the current system and not turn it over to the government.

Letting patients choose the coverage that reaches their health care needs should be the focus. This is not a one-size-fits-all conclusion. Just ask my constituents Brad and Christy Norwood. They became the proud parents of Brycen in May of 2008. At birth, he appeared to be a healthy baby boy, but during a routine exam, a nurse discovered a heart murmur that was keeping blood from reaching his lower extremities. One week later, he underwent surgery to correct the problem; and thankfully today, Brycen is a happy, healthy 1-year-old.

His parents hate to think that if the proposed health care plan had been in place, the decision about Brycen would have to go through a government bureaucracy and could have possibly taken too long to save his life.

Let's not put Brycen's life or anyone else's in the hands of a government bureaucrat.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased the House is moving H.R. 2093, the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009. This is an example of the good we can accomplish when we're able to work in a bipartisan manner to address the Nation's water resources needs.

Our Nation has nearly 23,000 miles of ocean and gulf shoreline along the continental United States and 5,500 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. Beaches are an important part of American life, providing numerous recreational opportunities for millions of people, including swimming, fishing, boating, beach-combing, surfing, sunbathing, and bird- watching.

This bill enables the EPA and the States to complete the important work they have begun so they can better protect public health and safety and so that they can continue to improve the quality of our Nation's recreational coastal waters.

H.R. 2093 increases the authorized annual funding for grants to States from $30 million to $40 million, and it extends the program through fiscal year 2014. This will help ensure that the public can get timely warnings of potential health hazards associated with a trip to the beach.

H.R. 2093 also requires the EPA to review State compliance with the BEACH Act, and it provides the means for dealing with States that remain out of compliance. H.R. 2093 passed the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by unanimous vote.

I am pleased the House is moving H.R. 2093, The ``Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009.''

This is an example of the good we can accomplish when we are able to work in a bipartisan manner to address the Nation's water resources needs.

Our Nation has nearly 23,000 miles of ocean and gulf shoreline along the continental United States, and 5,500 miles of Great Lakes shorelines.

Beaches are an important part of American life, providing numerous recreational opportunities for millions of people, including fishing, boating, beachcombing, swimming, surfing, sunbathing, and bird- watching.

Each year, over 180 million people visit coastal waters for recreational purposes.

This activity supports over 28 million jobs and leads to investments of over $50 billion each year in goods and services.

Public confidence in the quality of our nation's waters is important not only to each citizen who swims, but also to the tourism and recreation industries that rely on safe and swimmable coastal waters.

To improve the public's confidence in the quality of our Nation's coastal waters and protect public health and safety, Congress passed the ``Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000,'' commonly called the ``BEACH Act,'' in the 106th Congress.

The BEACH Act aimed to limit and prevent human exposure to polluted coastal recreational waters by assisting States and local communities to implement beach monitoring, assessment, and public notification programs.

The act also called on States with coastal recreational waters to adopt pathogen-related water quality standards, and directed EPA to conduct research and develop updated water quality criteria to protect human health.

Under the BEACH Act, EPA has been making grants to States to help them implement programs to monitor beach water quality and notify the public if water quality standards for pathogens are not being met.

An important indicator of progress to date is the fact that all eligible States are now implementing the beach monitoring, assessment, and public notification provisions of the BEACH Act.

The number of monitored beaches has increased from approximately 1,000 in 1997 to more than 3,700 in 2008.

In addition, EPA has strengthened water quality standards throughout all the coastal recreation waters in the United States.

All 35 States and Territories with coastal recreation waters now have water quality standards as protective of human health as EPA's water quality criteria. This is an increase from just 11 States and Territories in 2000.

Further, EPA has improved public access to data on beach advisories and closings by improving the agency's electronic data systems.

Moreover, EPA has been conducting cutting-edge research to support the development of new water quality criteria to protect human health from pathogens, and new monitoring methods to more accurately and rapidly detect pathogen contamination in recreational waters.

Faster and better decisions are good for public health and good for the economy in beach communities.

We are optimistic that this work will help State beach managers make the best decisions possible about keeping beaches open or placing them under advisory.

Although EPA and the States have made substantial progress in implementing the BEACH Act, there is important work left to do in the areas of monitoring, research, and updating existing water quality criteria.

H.R. 2093 recognizes this, and reauthorizes and amends the BEACH Act.

This bill enables EPA and the States to complete the important work they have begun, so they can better protect public health and safety and continue to improve the quality of our Nation's recreational coastal waters.

H.R. 2093 increases the authorized annual funding level for grants to States from $30 to $40 million, and extends the program through fiscal year 2014.

In addition, the bill requires the development and use of rapid testing methods and quick notification to State officials and the public if a problem is found.

This will help ensure the public can get timely warnings of potential health hazards associated with a trip to the beach.

H.R. 2093 also requires EPA to review State compliance with the BEACH Act, and provides means for dealing with States that remain out of compliance.

H.R. 2093 passed the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by a unanimous voice vote.

I would like to thank the chairman of the committee, Mr. Oberstar, and the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and especially thank the ranking member of the committee, Mr. Mica, for all their hard work that enabled us to bring to you today a consensus bill that enjoys strong, bipartisan support.

I urge all members to support the legislation.

I would like to thank the chairman of the committee, Mr. Oberstar, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and especially their staffs for their hard work on both sides. Also, I would like to thank Mr. Mica for his hard work in helping us to bring this forward.

Again, I urge adoption of this. I am so glad that it enjoys bipartisan support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Again, I would like to thank the chairman and the ranking member and my chairman, Ms. Johnson. I urge its adoption.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the service of Merlin Walters, who has distinguished himself as an exemplary citizen with 58 years of service to our country, five in the military and an astounding 53 years with the U.S. Postal Service.

Mr. Walters served as a master mechanic in the Arkansas National Guard at Camp Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas, and has committed himself as a public servant ever since. In 1956, President Eisenhower appointed him as a full-time carrier for the Hartman Post Office in Hartman, Arkansas. After 11 years of dedicated service, he was appointed to the office of Postmaster of Hartman by President Johnson. He has been a familiar face at the Hartman Post Office for 53 years, and at 89 years old, you can still find him there every day hard at work.

Mr. Walters said he always finds enjoyment in working at the post office in Hartman. He believes in working until the job is done and done right. His hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed. I thank him for his service to the residents of Arkansas.

Mr. Speaker, I join those Members of Congress who are concerned about the rapid growth of deficit spending by the Federal Government, lots of spending with little job growth. For that reason I rise today to express my concern that the administration budget attempts to cancel a project that will literally cost the taxpayers more to cancel than it will to complete.

On July 7 the New York Times reported on the Ozark Powerhouse Rehabilitation project. According to the Times: ``Shutting down the Ozark-Jeta project won't save taxpayers a dime since the government would pay a $12 million cancellation fee and reimburse utility ratepayers for their $20 million share. Bottom line: Federal Taxpayers would spend $32 million to kill the project, $4 million more than it would cost to complete it.''

I think it is important for the record to contain some background information on the Ozark Powerhouse Rehabilitation project. So let's take a moment to do that.

The Corps of Engineers is in the middle of a major rehabilitation of the Ozark-Jeta Taylor Powerhouse on the Arkansas River. Construction is under way. This project involves turbine redesign and replacement that will improve and allow the continued operation of this 100-megawatt hydropower facility. The electricity produced at the Ozark Powerhouse is sold to customers in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. As the Times article noted, electricity customers have already invested $20 million through their utilities in this project. Neither the President's fiscal year 2010 budget request nor the initial announcements of stimulus money for the Corps contain any funding for this project.

My hope is that the administration will now work with the Congress to do the right thing and ensure that funding is provided to complete this project. If the project is not funded in 2010, work would be closed out on the project as fiscal year 2009 funds are exhausted.

If that happens, what will we have? We will have one turbine unit disassembled and inoperative. We will have another inoperative unit due to a cracked shaft. We will have three units that are available only on a day-to-day basis due to frequent outages caused by problems with old turbine runners. We will have five new units that have already been purchased and may be left sitting uninstalled and onsite with no place to store them. Most regrettably, the taxpayers will have an additional $32 million bill on top of the money they have already spent on an incomplete project.

If this project is cut, how can we say we want to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and cut emissions? If this project is cut, how can we say we want to encourage renewable energy? If this project is cut, how can we say we will avoid wasting the taxpayers' money?

In fact, because the electricity produced by this Federal project will be sold, once the rehabilitation is complete, every taxpayer's invested dollar will be returned to the Treasury plus interest. At this point how could we even consider not completing the work?

I encourage the President to make an honest effort to reduce Federal spending, and we can start by completing this project rather than canceling it. During the Presidential campaign, then-Senator Obama talked about the importance of using a scalpel, not a hatchet, when cutting spending. A quick look at the facts shows that this project was thoughtlessly cut, the kind of cut that is made with a hatchet.

We have all seen crazy decisions made by both Republicans and Democrats in the White House; so I'm not trying to be partisan expressing my concern about the way this project is being handled. Instead, I believe this cut illustrates that the government too often makes poor decisions and mishandles taxpayers' dollars. It just doesn't make any sense to cancel a project in the middle of construction when it will cost more to cancel the project than it would to finish it.

Again, my hope is that the administration now will work with Congress to do the right thing and ensure that funding is provided to complete this project.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as a part of H.R. 2997, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3293

Account: Higher Education (includes FIPSE)

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: North Arkansas College

Address of Requesting Entity: North Arkansas College, 1515 Pioneer Drive, Harrison, AR 72601

Description of Request: It is my understanding that the funding would be used to purchase new technology and technology upgrades for 4 computer laboratories, allied health classrooms and laboratories, professional development, and the student center.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3293

Account: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)--Health and Facilities Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: North West Arkansas Community College

Address of Requesting Entity: NorthWest Arkansas Community College, One College Drive, Bentonville, AR 72712

Description of Request: It is my understanding that the funding would be used to support an expansion of the current nursing program, including expanding program delivery and curriculum, staff development, purchase instructional supplies/equipment, and provide for facility renovations.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3293

Account: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)--Health and Facilities Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: St. John's Hospital

Address of Requesting Entity: St. John's Hospital, 214 Carter Street, Berryville, AR 72616

Description of Request: It is my understanding that the funding would be used to purchase a standby generator to provide additional emergency electric generating capacity.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as a part of H.R. 3288--Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill, 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3288

Account: Interstate Maintenance Discretionary

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: State of Arkansas

Address of Requesting Entity: Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, 10324 Interstate 30, Little Rock, AR 72203

Description of Request: $1,000,000 in funding would be used to continue development and construction of a project to widen Interstate 540 and improve existing interchanges from Fayetteville north in Washington and Benton Counties. The purpose of these improvements is to relieve existing traffic congestion, to provide increased capacity to accommodate future traffic growth, and to enhance motorist safety.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3288

Account: Buses and Bus Facilities

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: State of Arkansas

Address of Requesting Entity: Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, 10324 Interstate 30, Little Rock, AR 72203

Description of Request: $1,050,000 in funding would be used for buses and bus facilities for Arkansas' small urban and rural transit systems, and to supplement the procurement of ADA vans and small buses for Arkansas' 250 community human service organizations serving the elderly and persons with disabilities.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3288

Account: Economic Development Initiatives

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: City of Fort Smith

Address of Requesting Entity: 623 Garrison Avenue, Suite 315, Fort Smith, AR 72902

Description of Request: $250,000 will be used for the planning, design, and construction of a Riverfront area, which will include the new U.S. Marshals Museum. This is a revitalization and redevelopment area that is expected to bring visitors, new businesses, and focus to this area of Arkansas. Because this area is adjacent to historic and National Park sites, taxpayer dollars will be spent creating an area focused on showcasing US history, and which is expected to attract tourists from all over the world.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 609 on H. Res. 69 I am not recorded. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, we must reform health care. Too many Americans do not have access to quality, affordable health care. Instead of resolving these problems, however, the President prescribes an overhaul that will deny Americans treatments they need and make them wait to get treatments that a new health care commissioner allows.

This is not the way to reform our health care system, and my constituents agree. I've received many calls and letters from Arkansans, like Michael who recently told me he owes his life to the fact that we don't have a system like the British-run government health structure that is being hastily proposed.

In 2007, Michael was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, something he's sure his doctor would not have caught had he had his hands tied in red tape health procedures. He owes his life to the care we were able to give through a free-market system.

We cannot rush through legislation that will have serious implications on care Americans like Michael receive. We need to take a reasonable amount of time to listen to the concerns of Americans like Michael and craft a commonsense bill that addresses the real problems.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the floor my constituents' opposition to the cap-and-trade bill recently passed in the House. At a time when this country faces the possibility of a double-digit unemployment rate, a tax that will lead to fewer jobs, force Americans to pay more energy costs and raise the price of every manufactured good is unthinkable.

My constituents, as well as I, wonder how we will afford the predicted $1,200 to $3,100 increase in annual energy costs. Take, for example, one senior citizen in my district who lives on a fixed income and is no longer able to work. Already living at a bare-bones level, he cannot afford a $3,100 increase in his expenses. My constituent will not find himself alone in such a predicament. If cap-and-trade were to become law, it would amount to the largest tax hike in United States history; and in our current economic climate, it would leave many Americans pinching pennies simply to turn on the lights.

No one is opposed to clean air and water, but there are other methods of protecting our environment that support the best interests of our citizens. Instead of legislation that would deepen our economic troubles, Congress should prioritize legislation that will protect jobs, create jobs, and stimulate the economy.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as a part of H.R. 2997, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3170

Account: Salaries and Expenses

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Arkansas Research and Technology Park

Address of Requesting Entity: University of Arkansas, 119 Ozark Hall, Fayetteville, AR 72701

Description of Request: Through the development of the Arkansas Research and Technology Park, the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation, the City of Fayetteville, the State of Arkansas, and the region are building an economic development engine, focused on innovation and Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial strength that is attracting and retaining knowledge-based, highly

skilled jobs and the production of technology-based business cluster formation. The ARTP provides the physical infrastructure and environment to encourage research and development. Therefore the ARTP is viewed as the cornerstone toward developing the building blocks essential to growing and sustaining a knowledge-based economy in Arkansas.

Mr. Speaker, I share the views of my constituents in the Third Congressional District of Arkansas that we need health care reform. I believe all Americans deserve access to quality, affordable health care; but the one-size-fits-all experiment won't give hardworking Americans, like Melissa Swaim, the peace of mind that she and her family deserve when seeking medical treatment. Melissa is all too familiar with doctors offices. Her son requires special medical treatments every 3 months that her insurance helps pay for. She is grateful to have insurance help cut the cost of these beneficial procedures and told me if her family didn't have insurance, finding the money to cover the cost would be very difficult. But she would rather scrape her pennies together and make sacrifices on her own to pay for her son's health care rather than have someone else decide treatment on his behalf.

We need to preserve the doctor-patient relationship that Melissa and millions of Americans have learned to depend on. This allows patients to make choices that suit their individual requirements, not Washington bureaucrats. Politicians making decisions about our health care needs is a prescription for disaster. Instead of taking away health care choices, we need to be offering more opportunities for patients.

We need patient-centered health care that allows them to get the treatments and the care that they need when they need it. The Obama prescription will deny patients treatments and make them wait to get the treatments that they are allowed to receive. Recently my mother needed to have the battery changed in her pacemaker. My mom is 88 years old. She is doing very well and is a wise and caring mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to her family. With government-run health care, after taking $500 billion from the Medicare program to help pay for the new plan, it's not a given that she would have gotten the treatment when she needed it at the proper time. This is not the standard of care that I want; it's not the standard of care Melissa wants; and it's not the standard of care 90 percent of my constituents, who have taken my online survey about government-run health care, want.

We need a plan that reduces health care costs, expands access and increases the quality of care. Unfortunately the 1,018-page Obama proposal does not achieve these goals. We need to be asking some tough questions. We need to be asking the President, we need to be asking the authors of this plan such things as, Will this allow illegal immigrants, illegal aliens access to health care? There's nothing in the bill that says no. We need to ask about the elderly, people who in the past have enjoyed access to cataract surgery to restore their vision, access to artificial hips, artificial knees to increase their mobility in a timely fashion. Will this plan allow that sort of care to continue? Those are the things that we need to be working on, and certainly to try to cram this down the American public's throat in 2 weeks is not workable. Luckily we still have time to get this right. Let's work together and make patient care the top priority of our reform.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as a part of H.R. 3183--Energy and Water Appropriations Act of 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3183

Account: Inspection of Completed Works, AR

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: City of Fort Smith

Address of Requesting Entity: 623 Garrison Avenue, Suite 315, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 72902

Description of Request: The City of Fort Smith would use the funding of $425,000 to coordinate with the Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform an Engineering assessment on the Arkansas River levee system, to ensure that adequate design and maintenance of the levee system is in place to provide reasonable assurance that protection from the base flood (100 year flood event) exists and/or that design criteria is being met. This is necessary to ensure FEMA accredits the levees for purposes of flood risk studies and flood map modernization. The project is vital to ensure the safety of lives and property protected by the levee system.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as a part of H.R. 3183--Energy and Water Appropriations Act of 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3183

Account: Construction

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Corps of Engineers

Address of Requesting Entity: 2 Natural Resource Drive, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205

Description of Request: When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) built the dams that created Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes, the primary purpose of those dams was to provide flood control, hydroelectric power, and municipal and industrial water supplies. Providing adequate water flow below each dam to protect fish and wildlife habitat was not a consideration. Once the dams were constructed, the water releases were much colder than what was previously in the warm-water stream. Consequently, with the exception of certain minnows, none of the previous species of the fish could survive in the changed environment. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that trout could survive in the newly formed cold- water rivers and began stocking brown, rainbow and cutthroat trout. As the economics of energy and power generation changed over the years, the Corps changed dam operations from continual to peaking (i.e. when demand is highest). As a result, low-water events at certain times of the years are much longer destabilizing the in-stream environment for trout and other aquatic life in the rivers. An increase in minimum flow to the desired levels would provide many benefits for both fish and wildlife in Arkansas, including mitigating high water temperatures in the summer that stress or sometimes kill trout by flushing fresher, cold water into rivers during low-water intervals; and increasing water flows that could improve dissolved oxygen, a critical factor in fall and winter when low oxygen levels can leave trout gasping on the surface near dams. The COE will use $7,500,000 to address this issue.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3183

Account: General Investigations

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Corps of Engineers

Address of Requesting Entity: 811 Fayetteville Avenue, Alma, Arkansas, 72921

Description of Request: $500,000 in funding for the Pine Mountain Dam project will be used to assist cities and counties in the western River Valley conduct extensive studies and environmental analysis for long- term planning to meet the needs of the region's rapidly growing population. These studies will be used by state and federal environmental agencies to determine feasibility for long-term projects.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Boozman

Bill Number: H.R. 3183

Account: Department of Energy, Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Corps of Engineers

Address of Requesting Entity: 119 Ozark Hall, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 72701

Description of Request: $1,500,000 is requested to support the continued development of advanced power electronics equipment at NCREPT. The University of Arkansas brings expertise on power electronics and power grid applications that does not currently exist in these efforts.

I rise today to honor Ms. Susan Lewis, who spent her life in the classroom devoting her time to educating our youth. Ms. Lewis is retiring from 45 years of teaching. More than 30 of those years were spent at Coleman Junior High in Van Buren, Arkansas, teaching algebra.

Coleman Junior High will undoubtedly be losing an amazing individual who contributed to the lives of two generations of Arkansans. Her time in the classroom provided her students the necessary tools for building a brighter future.

Ms. Lewis exemplifies the idea that with good teachers there is improved student achievement. Her hard work and dedication made her a model for

success for students and her coworkers. We are blessed to have had such a caring teacher as Ms. Lewis. I commend her for her service as well as her good work and wish her continued success in future endeavors.

I ask my colleagues today to join with me in honoring Ms. Lewis, a wonderful teacher who has always and will be dedicated to the students of the Third District of Arkansas.