Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a wonderful public servant, an exceptional individual and a patriotic American on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Sir Michael Berry is a prominent lawyer in Dearborn, Michigan whose venture into politics began in 1948 with the first campaign of G. Mennen Williams, who was running for governor of the

great State of Michigan. Michael was active in Michigan's 16th Congressional District of the Democratic Party, which he joined in 1950. Michael became a precinct delegate, then a member of the Executive Board, and finally a member of the Democratic State Central Executive Committee, a position he retained until 1964.

Under Michael's leadership from 1964 until 1972, the 16th Congressional District became one of the most powerful congressional districts in the State of Michigan, and grew in the 1960s into the largest in the United States. Michael led the district with an extraordinary sense of fairness and discipline.

Michael was one of the best district chairmen the 16th District ever had. He was smart as all get out, hard-working and he had a great sense of policy and public interest. His sensitivity and honesty always kept the district in good shape. In over 50 years in Congress, the 16th District had many good chairmen, in fact, we have never had a chairman I didn't respect, admire and love, and Michael was amongst the best of them.

Michael Berry went on to serve as the longtime chairman of the Wayne County Road Commission. The International Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport and the Michael Berry Career Center in Dearborn were named in his honor. He was awarded the National Order of Cedar by the Lebanese government on October 21, 1993, and was the recipient of the 1998 Ellis Island Medal of Honor--among many other honors.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues rise and join me in wishing Sir Michael Berry, a truly great American, a very happy 90th birthday.

Madam Chair, I am proud to stand in support of HomeStar, which holds much promise in three important areas. First and foremost, it will create jobs. Second, it will lead to greater residential energy efficiency. Third, it has the potential to lead to significant consumer savings.

In terms of jobs, Madam Speaker, my home state of Michigan is in a desperate situation. Our current unemployment rate is 14.3 percent and Wayne County has an unemployment rate of 15.7 percent. Between 2001 and 2009, Michigan lost nearly 43 percent of its construction jobs. The bottom line, we need jobs and we need them desperately. This program has the potential to put 168,000 workers back on the job. Not only will this help individual workers, but also small business, which has been a particularly hard hit segment of our economy. We cannot afford not to move forward.

According to the HomeStar Coalition, the energy efficiency gains have the potential to equal the removal of 615,000 cars from the road. This is particularly important since the Senate has yet to act on broader climate change legislation.

Finally, this program will be of great benefit to homeowners. This could save families as much as $9.4 billion in energy costs over ten years. In addition, it makes homes more valuable. In these economic times, these savings and increased home values cannot be underestimated.

Madam Chair, HomeStar follows on the heels of the wildly successful Cash for Clunkers program in which the federal government provided consumers vouchers to purchase new, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The initial allocation of $1 billion was exhausted sooner than anticipated and we had to secure an additional $2 billion in funding for the program. Cash-for-clunkers was responsible for the sale of nearly 700,000 new vehicles in the U.S. during its run, and it added nearly one percent to third quarter GDP growth. Cash-for-clunkers has been hailed as the most successful of all recent government economic stimulus programs. According to the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), cash-for-clunkers created approximately 40,200 new jobs nationally, of which 5,800 were in Michigan.

I urge all my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 5013--the IMPROVE Acquisition Act of 2010. I thank my good friends and colleagues Congressman Rob Andrews and Armed Services Committee Chairman, Ike Skelton, for continuing the good work the Committee did last year to reform the defense acquisition process. Importantly, the bipartisan IMPROVE Acquisition Act will save taxpayers $27 billion each year.

H.R. 5013 will, among other things, update the system by which the Department of Defense acquires weapons systems, commercial goods, and services. Over the past 20 years, the Defense Department has shifted its primary purchases from weapons systems to services. To reign in the costs associated with this outdated system and ensure the warfighter's needs are met, the committee has written a comprehensive bill that provides for better management of the acquisition system, reform of the requirements process upon which the acquisition process depends, a more professional acquisition workforce, more effective financial management, and improvements in outreach to the industrial base so that the government is getting the best quality at the lowest price.

In particular, Title IV of the IMPROVE Act has several important provisions to Michigan's 15th District and cleaning up the abuses of government contractors. First, it develops measures to utilize more of the defense industrial base in order to reach small- and mid-size businesses. I am fully supportive of this provision. As a personal note, Mr. Chair, I hear from companies throughout Michigan's 15th Congressional District with innovative technologies and ideas, companies that have been working on cutting edge research and development in association with our Michigan Universities but which have not developed the necessary relationships with the Department to successfully sell the Department their products, services and ideas. This section will help link the Department to these smaller companies by identifying and communicating with non-traditional suppliers using tools and resources available within the federal government and in the private sector.

Second, this Title reinforces a major priority for the Obama Administration by requiring a contractor to disclose whether it has outstanding tax debt when it is bidding on a new contract. Like many Members of Congress, I have been disillusioned by the scandals and abuse perpetrated by government contractors. Not only have some of these bad actors cost American and foreign lives, but they have also been a heavy burden to taxpayers. I support measures in this Title to ensure the government is contracting with responsible, high-quality suppliers. Moreover, this section gives the government better enforcement mechanisms by providing contracting officers new statutory authority to verify with the Treasury Department that the contractors under review are being forthcoming in their applications with respect to their tax status.

Finally, Title IV creates a new, independent oversight authority over the Department's contracting system. It provides for an independent General Counsel within the Defense Contract Audit Agency to carry out reviews of contractor business systems. This provision will also help to save taxpayers money in the long run, ensure effective services are provided to the Department, and ultimately protect the warfighter and the American people.

Mr. Chair, the IMPROVE Acquisition Act contains many important provisions deserving of the House's full consideration. I am pleased to support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to proudly support the House Amendments to S. 1963, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act; legislation that recognizes and aims to meet the needs of our veterans who have bravely served in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/ 11. My colleagues will remember that this legislation was held up in the Senate due to one senator's objection that the bill was not paid for. However, our warriors have already paid a very high price through their sacrifices and selfless devotion to our national security, and they should be repaid with excellent care when they return to civilian life. Fortunately, this legislation builds on the Democratic Congress' record of supporting our veterans through new and innovative programs, fixing some of the existing problems in the VA, and increasing funding for the VA budget.

The legislation we are voting on today is a comprehensive approach to caring for our veterans. Specifically, it provides robust support for those who care for our wounded warriors, addresses the needs women veterans, expands services to rural veterans and for mental health care, and closes a loophole for disabled veterans health care.

Specifically, the House amendments to S. 1963 provides services, training, and reimbursements for the caregivers of veterans who return from war with serious injuries. It will strengthen support for caregivers of all veterans and will provide reimbursements for lodging and healthcare to caregivers of Afghanistan and Iraq War veterans through the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In addition, the legislation expands health care services for our 1.8 million women veterans including provisions mandating a study of the barriers to women veterans seeking health care, education and training for mental health professionals caring for veterans with sexual trauma, a reintegration and readjustment pilot program, establishment of a child care pilot program for women receiving regular and intensive mental health care and intensive health care services, and post- delivery health care for new born children.

This comprehensive bill also improves health care for our veterans living in rural areas, including by expanding transportation for veterans to local VA hospitals and clinics through VA grants to local Veterans Service Organizations and provides increased access to counseling and other mental health centers to any member of the Armed Forces.

Other provisions in this legislation include prohibiting the VA from collecting copayments from veterans who are catastrophically disabled; creating a pilot program to provide specified dental services to veterans, survivors, and dependents of veterans through a dental insurer; providing hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for certain Vietnam-era veterans exposed to herbicide and Gulf-War era veterans who have insufficient medical evidence to establish a service-connected disability; and expanding the organizations offering transitional housing and other support for homeless veterans that can receive grants or per diems from the VA, which is particularly important to veterans in rural areas.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation and for the Senate to swiftly act so that this legislation can become law and our veterans can begin to benefit from the important programs this comprehensive bill implements.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of one of the most respected and honored musical groups in the nation, the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club.

Alumni of this august group, which has received international acclaim for its outstanding singing over the years, will be hosting a reunion in Ann Arbor to help mark the 150th anniversary of the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club on April 8th through the 11th.

Since the class of 1859-1860, the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club has been entertaining audiences well beyond the boundaries of their namesake. Formed from many different glee clubs, the singular Men's Glee Club has become one of the signature facets of one of the world's foremost universities, which I have the pleasure of representing in Congress.

The group has toured around the world over the past 50 years on behalf of the university. It has been recognized for its excellence from New York City to Europe, South America, and Asia, as well as all across the nation and has won numerous competitions and awards.

The University of Michigan Men's Glee Club ensemble has been so successful and talented that it has spawned many subgroups, including the Friars, who patterned themselves on Yale's Whiffenpoofs. The group's sesquicentennial is being held this April and their camaraderie and tradition is so strong that over 400 alumni have registered to return to campus for the celebration.

Whether it is singing familiar U of M songs like ``Laudes atque Carmina'' and the alma mater ``The Yellow and Blue,'' or performing classical or humorous songs of the day, the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club has always carried itself with both class and enthusiasm.

There are many things for which I am proud of the University and having such a wonderful asset as the Men's Glee Club is one of my favorite reasons for that pride. As the second oldest of such musical groups in the nation, The University of Michigan Men's Glee Club will continue to bring excellence in musical performances for many more years to come, I am sure.

Madam Speaker, I hope the House will join me in saluting this outstanding musical ensemble on the eve of their 150th anniversary.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the University of Michigan's men's gymnastics team on winning the 2010 NCAA national championship.

Michigan won the championship with a score of 360.500, edging defending champion Stanford, 359.800, and Oklahoma, 357.050. This is the program's fourth national championship, and Michigan's first varsity team championship since 2005.

The national championship capped a successful season for the team, as well as individuals. Chris Cameron won the NCAA men's all-around championship and Mel Anton Santander finished third. Michigan swept the high bar, with Ryan McCarthy, Ian Makowske, and Mel Anton Santander finishing first, second, and third, respectively. In all, Michigan finished with the team championship, all-around championship, seven individuals earning all-America honors, and the Elite 88, an award given to the competing student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average, which went to Ben Baldus-Strauss, a chemistry honors student.

In addition to its considerable athletic achievements, the team serves as a model of community service and academic excellence. The 20- member team is comprised of individuals from 13 States and Singapore. Members study topics as diverse as American culture, English, economics, political science, biology, and aerospace, biomedical, and mechanical engineering. The program also consistently has one of the highest team grade point averages at the University and is a leader in community service and volunteerism.

Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating the student-athletes and coaches of the 2010 NCAA national championship- winning Michigan men's gymnastics team: Ben Baldus-Strauss, Syque Caesar, Kent Caldwell, Chris Cameron, David Chan, Devan Cote, Steve Crabtree, Phillip Goldberg, Adam Hamers, Garrett Hamers, Evan Heiter, Douglass Johnson, Jr., Thomas Kelley, Torrance Laury, Joe Levine, Ian Makowske, Ryan McCarthy, Mel Anton Santander, Rohan Sebastian, Andrew Vance, and coaches Kurt Golder, Geoff Corrigan, Xiao Yuan, and Ralph Rosso.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a true public servant, Mary Canavan. Mary has been with the Federal Government since a week after graduating from college in 1970. After 40 years of dedicated work, Mary is retiring this spring.

Mary is one of two children of Irish immigrants--who like most immigrants to the United States--worked incredibly hard to provide for their children. The family was a close one, with Mary taking care of her parents as they got older. To this day, Mary is incredibly close to her brother, a priest, who comes over every Sunday for dinner with his sister. A few years back, Mary's brother was in a car accident and was hurt severely. Typical for Mary, she stepped up to ensure he got the best possible care.

As I mentioned, just a week after graduating from college, Mary joined the Federal Water Quality Administration in June of 1970. She joined the Environmental Protection Agency when it was established and the Federal Water Quality Administration was abolished. She began her career in public affairs and thoroughly enjoyed working with students on college campuses. Mary also worked in the water grants program and as a State coordinator, working with Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In 1987, Mary became a congressional relations officer and has served in that capacity ever since.

Mary is very involved in her Church, Chicago's 135-year-old Holy Name Cathedral. She recently served as head of the parish council. And after a fire damaged the cathedral last year, Mary, yet again, stepped up to the plate, making sure that the church could continue to accept parishioners and guests during construction. She also helped to plan a fund-raiser to help with church renovations. Mary continues to plan events like the annual gala.

I have never heard a bad word about Mary Canavan. She is universally loved and respected. Mary is a Federal employee of the highest caliber. She has served EPA and the offices she deals with tremendously well. I know my office will miss her and based on my discussions with the rest of the Michigan delegation, we are not alone.

I wish Mary all the best in retirement, as she looks forward to travel and being able to devote more of her time to her Church and her beloved brother. I ask all my colleagues to rise and pay tribute to Mary Canavan as she leaves Federal service.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in appreciation of Dr. John Hartig of Michigan. On April 22nd he, along with 15 others selected from over 300 nominations, will be recognized by the Detroit Free Press as a Michigan Green Leader. This is the first year of the Michigan Green Leader awards to honor the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, our environment, and the hard work and dedication of these outstanding institutions and people.

Dr. Hartig currently serves the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as the Refuge Manager for the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. He is responsible for the conservation, protection, and restoration of habitat for 29 species of waterfowl, 65 different species of fish, and 300 species of migratory birds in the nearly 6000 acres abutting the Detroit River in Southeast Michigan. The Refuge was established in 2001 as part of an effort to preserve this beautiful area, which is the intersection of the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways and where an estimated 7 million ducks, geese, swans, and coots traverse the region annually as part of their migratory patterns.

As a Trenton native, Dr. Hartig spent his youth fishing on the Detroit River. He is trained as a limnologist and has over 30 years of experience in environmental science, management, and policy. He served a term as President of the International Association for Great Lakes Research--a group dedicated to the study of large lakes and watersheds around the world. He spent 5 years as the Detroit River Navigator, a federal liaison identifying and enacting valuable economic development, environmental stewardship, and historical preservation, for the Greater Detroit American Heritage River Initiative, established by Presidential Executive Order to protect and preserve America's Rivers. He also worked for the International Joint Commission, established by the United States and Canada to resolve Boundary Water issues, and helped establish the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement for more than a decade. He has taught Environmental Management and Sustainable Development as an Adjunct Professor at Wayne State University. Dr. Hartig has written over 100 published articles on the Great Lakes and authored or co-authored a number of books including ``UNDER RAPS: Toward Grassroots Ecological Democracy in the Great Lakes Basin,'' ``Honoring Our Detroit River, Caring for Our Home,'' and recently ``Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught on Fire.'' His work has garnered numerous other accolades, including the 2003 Anderson-Everett Award for contributions to the International Association for the Great Lakes, the 2003 Community Luminary Award from the DTE Energy Foundation for his leadership in the development of communities in Michigan, and the 1993 Sustainable Development Award for Civic Leadership from the Global Tomorrow Coalition.

John Hartig has dedicated his career to the protection of some of Michigan's most valuable and most vulnerable resources. His work affects the present and the future of one of our nation's great treasures and I am proud to stand before you today in order to honor him and the causes he has so diligently championed.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of William Clay Ford Jr. Mr. Ford has been chosen as one of 16 people and institutions by the Detroit Free Press as a Michigan Green Leader. Selected from over 300 nominations, Mr. Ford will be recognized on April 22 as part of a 40th anniversary celebration of Earth Day. Green Leaders are people or entities who have had exceptional impact on the community through their leadership and contributions in their efforts to protect our environment.

Born May 3, 1957, in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Ford is the great- grandson of both Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University in 1979 and a master of science degree in management as an Alfred P. Sloan fellow from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984. Immediately after graduating from Princeton, Mr. Ford went to work as a financial analyst for Ford Motor Company. In his first 10 years with Ford he held 11 jobs. In 1987 he became managing director for Ford Switzerland and in 1990 he was head of business strategy. In 1992 he was appointed general manager of Climate Control Division where he created the company's first wildlife habitat at a plant and established the first automotive plant to use 25 percent post-consumer materials in all of its plastic parts. Under his lead, the division won the President's Commission on Environmental Quality Award for the substitution of water for hazardous chemicals in a production process. He was elected vice president and headed the Commercial Truck Vehicle Center in 1994 and in 1995 took the chair of the board of directors finance committee. He was elected chairman of the board of directors and took office at the start of 1999, served as Ford's chief executive officer from October of 2001 to September of 2006, and was subsequently named executive chairman.

Mr. Ford is a lifelong environmentalist and throughout his time at Ford he has not only given to our environment through personal choices, but has proposed rigorous environmental policy changes for the company. The company published its first corporate citizenship report in 2000 with him at the helm. The report assessed the environmental, economic, and social ramifications of the company's projects and products around the world. In 2004, while Mr. Ford was CEO, the company finished the world's largest brownfield reclamation project with the Ford Rouge Center in Detroit. As a long-time advocate of hybrid vehicle technologies, Mr. Ford not only owns a hybrid, but has overseen the launch of expansive plans to offer electric and hybrid-powered automobiles to consumers.

In addition to his work with Ford Motor Company, Mr. Ford is a vice chairman of the Detroit Lions and has championed the environmentally friendly stadium in Detroit. He chairs the Detroit Economic Club board, co-chaired the National Summit in 2009, is the vice chair of the Business Leaders for Michigan, serves on the board of directors of eBay, and is a member of the board of trustees for The Henry Ford.

This is the first year the Detroit Free Press has held the Green Leaders event. Mr. Ford is a superb choice. His great drive and dedication are assets to us, our community, and our environment.

Madam Speaker, I commend, congratulate, and thank my good friends on the committee for their kindness, and I thank my good friend from Massachusetts for yielding this time to me.

I rise in strong support of the resolution expressing the sympathy of the United States for the people of Poland in the aftermath of the tragic plane crash that killed the country's President, First Lady, and 94 other Poles. My thoughts and prayers are with the Polish people at this difficult time.

As an American of Polish descent, proud of my heritage, I grieve at this loss. And what a sad time it occurs when the Poles were going to Smolensk, Russia to commemorate the killing of 20,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia under the direct orders of the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin.

I am grieving about the situation in Poland, but I am proud that the Polish people have established a democracy which is not only a friend of the United States, but which is able to survive these difficult times and maintain not only its friendship for America, but its leadership in the world and its superb work in maintaining a democracy for which the Poles have yearned so long.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Sam Hamilton, the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, who we lost on February 20, 2010. Sam's work was that of a champion--the guardians of our environment are the stewards of what we leave to our descendants and they deserve unending praise. I never knew or needed to ask if Sam was a Democrat, Republican, or Independent because he worked with everyone and was a biologist first. If I can try to sum up his character, I will have to quote the man himself when he said:

My greatest challenge is to help bring conservationists,

hunters, anglers, landowners, state and federal agencies, and

business people together to help us conserve and enhance what

makes America great--our treasured wildlife resources.

His work for conservation and collaboration was driven by sound science, and his affection for the environment was unrivaled. Sam Hamilton devoted his career and over 30 years of his life to service within the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. In fact, Sam's first involvement with the agency came when he was 15 years old as a member of the Youth Conservation Corps in Mississippi. Near Starkville, Mississippi, where he grew up, Sam learned the importance of managing a wildlife habitat while banding wood ducks and Canadian geese to build waterfowl pens.

In 1991, Sam became the first Fish and Wildlife Service State Administrator in Austin, Texas. While there, Sam held strong in his commitment to protect the golden-cheeked warbler from further endangerment. Years later, Sam went on to work on the restoration of the coastal wetlands and wildlife habitats along the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Sam was nominated in June 2009

by President Obama to be the 15th director of the Service. Three months later, as he was being sworn in, he reaffirmed his commitment to addressing the threat of climate change, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, limited water supplies, and the illicit trade of wildlife. Perhaps he put it best when he said, ``as wildlife goes, so goes the nation.''

Sam Hamilton was loved by all conservationists. He leaves behind his wife, Becky; two sons, Sam, Jr. and Clay; and grandson Davis. I am proud to have known Sam D. Hamilton, and to be able to help carry on his vision here in Congress. I ask my colleagues to stand and join me in celebrating his achievements and remembering his legacy as a person who embodied the very best of the American spirit.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4849, the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act. First, I would like to commend my friend and colleague from Michigan, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Sander Levin, for sponsoring this legislation. As all economists note, any true recovery must contain healthy and sustained growth in our small business sector. Fortunately, the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Act will spur growth among our small businesses, provide incentives to invest in small businesses, and encourage small businesses to hire workers and entrepreneurs to take risks and start new businesses. Moreover, the bill does this without increasing the deficit.

The Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act contains several small business tax provisions to spur investment, such as excluding capital gains taxes for those that purchase stock in small businesses, providing relief from burdensome tax penalties, and increasing the amount that can be deducted for expenditures made for starting a small business.

I am also pleased to see that this legislation emphasizes the job creation potential through local rebuilding. By extending the Build America Bonds program, state and local governments will be able to continue rebuilding our schools, hospitals and transit in an affordable manner. More importantly, extending this program through 2013 would allow our state and local governments to plan further into the future the necessary rebuilding projects. The Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act also extends the Recovery Zone bonds for economically distressed areas through 2011, which will ensure areas like Southeast Michigan, now struggling with over 16 percent unemployment, can continue to invest in infrastructure projects, job training programs, education and economic development in our communities.

In addition, this legislation extends the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Fund. This fund was created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help States handle increasing expenditures on assistance for families and to help create jobs programs that subsidizes employers or small businesses that hire unemployed workers. With the Fund already helping to employ 160,000 workers, this one-year extension will allow this good work to continue.

Finally, the bill will help to save American jobs by cracking down on foreign tax haven corporations that are taking advantage of the U.S. tax treaty network to dodge paying taxes and gain an advantage over American companies that play by the rules.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this job-creating legislation.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Waxman, for his leadership and for his gracious comments. And I want to thank and praise our Speaker, our majority leader, and the leader in the Senate for the great leadership that they have given us in this great undertaking.

Today is a day that is going to rank with the day we passed the civil rights

bill in 1964. Today we are doing something that ranks with what we did on Social Security or Medicare. This is the day on which we can all be proud if we vote for that legislation.

Facts are an intransigent hard thing. And let's look at this from the standpoint of the facts of what it does.

Thirty-two more million Americans are going to have health care. They don't now. America, which has health care of the best character in the world, does not make it available to 32 million people because they can't afford it, and Americans every day are losing their health care. Eighteen thousand Americans every year die for want of health care, and 44,000 Americans also go bankrupt because of it.

What does this bill do? It gives Americans the same health care that we here in the Congress have. It preserves their choice, and it sees that if those Americans want to change, they can do so.

It also fixes the insurance company. And as the President has said, this bill is the patient's bill of rights on steroids. And as my colleagues who worked on this bill when we passed it years ago will remember, that that is legislation which protects the rights of citizens and ratepayers.

And the reason that the insurance companies are so up in arms about it, and they are the ones that are opposing this bill, is because it is going to take care of their patients and because it is going to take care of their customers.

What is it going to do? No more preexisting conditions. And, they can't cancel your policy while you are on the gurney riding into the operating room because you are sick.

I want to commend my colleagues for this.

Madam Speaker, I have much humility, joy, and pride in supporting H.R. 3590 and H.R. 4872.

Madam Speaker, all the arguments, for and against, have been made. There have been endless hours of debate in committees, on the floor of this House, and in meetings throughout the country.

We have heard innumerable stories that inspire us to act, and unfortunately stories that have caused us to question whether the civility of our discourse has reached irreversible lows.

As the historic vote draws near, I urge my colleagues to act on behalf of the American people.

Let us this day stand boldly to do what is right for the health and well-being of the our constituents, what is essential for the viability of American business, and what is necessary for our government.

Let us resolve to do what generations before us determined needed to done to address one of the greatest needs in the history of our people.

When we do this, history will smile upon us. And generations to come will say on this day, this President and this Congress performed something worthy to be remembered.

For the sake of the American people, and in honor of my late father, I support the legislation before us and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of my friend S. L. Roberson of Ypsilanti, Michigan and to pay tribute to him on the occasion of his upcoming 90th birthday on Saturday, March 14th, 2010.

The Reverend Dr. S. L. Roberson is a pillar of the Ypsilanti-area community, a servant for his fellow man and a dear friend of mine; one whose wisdom and counsel I have been lucky to receive.

S. L. Roberson was born in Alabama to Estella and Reverend Gaither Roberson, Sr., on March 14th, 1920. As a child he moved to Michigan and received his education in the Ypsilanti Public Schools. The church has always been central to S. L.'s life, and he was baptized at an early age while attending Second Baptist Church of Ypsilanti where his father served as pastor. It was at this time that S. L. received his calling, preached his trial sermon and was ordained in his ministry. He was later called to pastor the now Metropolitan Memorial Full Gospel Baptist Church and has led that congregation for over 50 years. S. L. has undergraduate degrees from Eastern Michigan University, has studied at Detroit Bible College and has a doctorate of divinity from Urban Bible College. Reverend Roberson has also served his country with great pride and distinction as a member of the United States Marine Corps. He is quick to tell you that once a Marine, always a Marine.

My friend S. L. is a devoted husband to Elder Hollie Roberson, who is not only his wife, but his ``right hand.'' He is also the loving father of five children, but he serves as a fatherly figure to many more individuals throughout our community.

Reverend Roberson's service has not gone unnoticed. He has received many distinctions, including the Liberty Bell from the Lawyers Association, the Ypsilanti Police Department Honor Award, and the Washtenaw Community College Service Award. December 14th has even been recognized as Reverend S. L. Roberson Day in the City of Ypsilanti. In addition to these achievements, I had the pleasure of hosting Reverend Roberson when he gave the opening prayer for the United States House of Representatives on September 5, 2007.

As he celebrates his 90th birthday on March 14th, 2010, I hope that S. L. Roberson will know how beloved he is by his community, myself included. S. L. has lived a life of service, dedicating himself to his fellow human beings and the great cause of justice. I ask that the House join me in paying tribute to a fine and decent man as he comes to this remarkable milestone in a life so well lived.