Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 3183, ``Making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.''

Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan

Account: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Project Amount: $500,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: NTRCI, 2360 Cherahala Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37932

Description of Request: NTRCI will conduct over-the-road, heavy vehicle testing and research to validate the benefits and reliability of the Legacy rotary engine to demonstrate the capability of the Legacy engine to deliver greater fuel efficiency and thus lower consumption and reduced emissions for the $7 billion Class 8 heavy vehicle engine market.

Madam Speaker, I wish to pay tribute to an exemplary public servant from my District in Tennessee.

Fred Nelson recently retired as the General Manager of the Lenoir City Utilities Board in Lenoir City, Tennessee. His career is a testament to the American dream and community service.

Fred began working at the Lenoir City Utilities Board in an entry- level position for $1.90 per hour. More than four decades later, he retires following a successful tenure as General Manager. Dedicated public servants such as Fred are the seeds of any great community, and I only hope that more people follow in his footsteps.

Like many of his generation, Fred also served his country admirably in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. We owe a debt to Fred and many others who selflessly put their community and country before themselves.

Recently, the News-Herald in Lenoir City published an article commemorating Fred's service, which is reprinted below. I gladly bring the service of Fred Nelson to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record, and I wish him all the best in his much-deserved retirement.

[From the Lenoir City (TN) News-Herald, Sept. 23-24, 2009]

Nelson Set To Retire

(By Greg Wilkerson)

After a more than 43-year career with Lenoir City Utilities

Board, General Manager Fred Nelson announced his retirement

Monday, effective Jan. 22.

``It's been my life,'' Nelson said as he reflected on his

long career.

Nelson got his start with the utility after leaving the

Marine Corps in 1966.

He said his plan had been to make a career in the armed

forces, but his mother did not want him to return to Vietnam,

so he left to start a civilian career.

He considered a position he was offered in Florida within

the space program, but ultimately decided to come to Loudon

County because of an offer to work at the Hosiery Mill.

That job paid $1.80 an hour and the LCUB job paid $1.90 an

hour and he's been working there ever since.

``I think the Lord's led me and actually guided me in ways

I needed to go,'' he said. ``It's always been right.''

Nelson said health concerns were a major factor in his

leaving. Doctors have encouraged him to retire for years

because of advanced artery disease in his heart and he said

he recently had his sixteenth and seventeenth stints put in.

``I'm going to start walking on the trail and try to lose

weight and hopefully play golf,'' Nelson said. He also said

he plans to do more travelling and see more of his out-of-

town friends.

When Nelson started with LCUB he worked for about six

months as a groundman before starting a four-year

apprenticeship to become a lineman. He said he still pays his

lineman dues to stay a part of their union.

``There's not much I haven't got to do here,'' he said.

His career has included the title of foreman, assistant

superintendent, superintendent, manager of operations and in

2004, general manager.

``It's been a wonderful ride,'' he said.

He said he will miss the employees the most.

``We have a great bunch of employees and everybody is very

friendly,'' Nelson said. He recognized there have been

disagreements through the years but everything always gets

worked out.

``If somebody was to need something, the employees are

always ready to help,'' he said. ``Since I came to work at

LCUB in 1966, 46 people have passed away that I worked with.

I have a lot of good memories with all of them.''

Nelson was quick to thank the board for giving him the

opportunity to be general manager and said he was proud of

the accomplishments of the utility in the five years he's

been in charge. He also attributed much of the success to his

department heads.

``We've built five new substations in the last three years

and we paid for them in-house without having to borrow any

money,'' he said. They also haven't been to the bond market

since 2001, and Nelson said they used to go every three

years.

``We've really tried to buy the best equipment you can

get,'' he said. ``We've had an excellent safety record.''

Nelson's wife, Judy, retired from Y-12 two years ago. They

have two daughters and five grandchildren, all living in

Loudon County.

Madam Speaker, my grandmother taught for 40 years and my sister Beverly, taught for over 30 years in the public

schools of Tennessee. I am proud of both of them.

In Tuesday's Knoxville News Sentinel, there was an interview with Woody Watson, whom I have known since high school.

Mr. Watson has now taught in Knox County Tennessee where I also am from, for 41 years. Very few people teach for that long, and those who do should be highly praised.

I admire and respect Woody Watson for his many years of dedication to the young people of east Tennessee.

I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record, the News Sentinel interview with Mr. Watson.

[From knoxnews.com, Sept. 29, 2009]

40 Years of Educating: Watson and Anderson

(By Jessica Boyd)

Editor's Note: The News Sentinel will profile two local

teachers who each have about 40 years of education experience

within the community in this twice monthly series.

Woody Watson, 41 years

Woody Watson, 62, says a smile and a kind word goes a long

way when dealing with students. He should know since he's

been smiling and speaking kindly to them for 41 years. The

Knoxville native taught eighth-grade science at Karns Middle

School for 23 years before he spent nine years at Northwest

Middle School teaching the same thing. He's been back in

action as a seventh-grade teacher at Karns Middle since 2001.

``I always tell people, I taught eighth grade for 32 years,''

the University of Tennessee graduate in natural science said

before he laughed. ``And then I got demoted.''

Why teaching? ``I liked the subject matter, and I like

being around young people, they keep me young at heart. I

just couldn't go sit at a cubicle and do the same thing every

day.''

What techniques do you use to teach? ``I like to have

students get involved and be hands on in the science lab to

help them understand the world they live in.''

Do you have a favorite year? ``I think that would probably

be 1986. The highlight of that year is we took a trip to New

Orleans for a long weekend, and (the students) learned about

the history of the area.''

What has changed for better since you've been teaching?

``Our class averages were lowered. State law has limited that

to 30 in seventh and eighth grade . . . It really makes a

difference to have five or six fewer kids in a class.''

What has changed for worse since you've been teaching?

``When I came to Karns, it was a small farming community. Of

course now the farms have been sold off, and it's wall-to-

wall subdivisions, so just the lack of the community

closeness and the breakdown of the family.''

What's been the best advancement in education? ``Probably

all the information available online . . . I think Karns

Middle was one of the first schools to have a computer lab

when the first Apple computers came out back in the 80s. That

area of technology has made a lot of opportunities for our

students. It also presents some problems if the parents don't

monitor what the kids are doing.''

Do you have any words of wisdom for teachers just starting

out? ``Be patient, keep up with your paperwork, and try not

to be overwhelmed with all the things you have to do that's

not related to the teaching of students.''

Archie Anderson, 42 years

Archie Anderson, 65, taught for 26 years at Maryville

Middle School before he made the big switch to

administration. For 12 years, he was the assistant principal

of the middle school before he made an even bigger switch.

Now he's in charge of transportation and attendance for

Maryville City Schools. Archie graduated from Maryville

College and received his master's degree at Tennessee Tech.

What do you do now?

``I come up with bus routes, and I work with the bus owner.

I'm kind of a trouble shooter. I handle all parent and or

school complaints and try to resolve all those.''

What did you teach before you moved into administration?

``I taught P.E. I coached football, basketball and track

for about 26 years.''

Did you have a favorite year when you were teaching?

``I enjoyed the early years because being a younger guy, it

seemed like I had better relationships with kids. As you get

older and your hair's grey and you have more wrinkles, kids

are more standoffish.''

What's the coolest technological advancement you've seen?

``Computers in the classroom and access to the internet.

Everything you want is there. The negative part is we've got

text messaging and cell phones in the classroom. So

(technology) is not all good. That's a daily struggle.''

Do you miss teaching? ``I miss the relationship with the

students. I don't get to know the students as well as I used

to. I have gotten to know the staff better . . . I've really

gotten to know the administrators of the schools.''

Mr. Speaker, Bjorn Lomborg, one of the world's leading environmentalists, wrote in Monday's Washington Post these words:

``Today, coal accounts for almost half of the planet's electricity supply, including half the power consumed in the United States. It keeps hospitals and core infrastructure running, provides warmth and light in winter, and makes lifesaving air-conditioning available in summer. In China and India, where coal accounts for more than 80 percent of power generation, it has helped to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

``There is no doubt that coal is causing environmental damage that we need to stop. But a clumsy, radical halt to our coal use--which is what promises of drastic carbon cuts require--would mean depriving billions of people of a path to prosperity.

``To put it bluntly: despite their good intentions, the activists, lobbyists and politicians making a last-ditch push for hugely expensive carbon-cut promises could easily end up doing hundreds of times more damage to the planet than coal ever could.''

I wish we would heed those words of this environmentalist because if we drastically cut back on coal, we're going to hurt millions of poor people in the process.

Madam Speaker, Billy Stokes is the founder and senior partner of the law firm of Stokes, Williams, Sharp and Davies in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was one of the highest-ranking state officials during the administration of former Governor Don Sundquist.

Like most Americans today, he is worried about our Country's future. He has given a lot of thought to where we are and where we are headed as a nation, and he has written to me with a proposal for a ``Bill of Rights for the New Millennium.''

Bill of Rights for the New Millennium

I. We the People of the United States:

This means all of us;

II. In Order to Form a More Perfect Union:

We pledge to cooperate and communicate with members of the

opposing party to address and to resolve issues affecting our

Nation in a civil manner;

Communication and cooperation does not require abandoning

our core principles;

The Federal Government will not impose its will on state

and local governments;

III. Establish Justice:

The right of the people to seek redress and remedy in the

Courts will not be impeded;

Those who seek to demean or simply profiteer by abusing our

judicial system through frivolous lawsuits will not be

tolerated.

IV. Insure Domestic Tranquility:

Lines of communication from the citizenry to the Goremment

will be open and welcome;

Citizens will not be intimidated or insulted for

petitioning the government through their elected

representatives, to be heard;

V. Provide For the Common Defense:

The greatest and most honorable military in the history of

the world will be maintained and supported;

We will use our might to protect our freedoms and will

protect the USA from enemies of such freedoms, state-

sponsored or otherwise; foreign or domestic, by all means

necessary;

VI. Promote the General Welfare:

We will see that access to adequate healthcare is available

to all Americans;

The helpless will be helped;

Meaningful opportunities for success will be open to all

who are willing to work;

VII. Secure the Blessings or Liberty to Ourselves and Our Posterity:

We will support the principles of hard work that this

Nation is built upon;

While taxes are necessary, hard work and success will not

be punished by attempts to redistribute wealth gained

thereby;

We cannot and will not pile debt upon our children and

grandchildren;

If the gentleman will yield.

I want to speak very briefly to say that the Republicans want--or that our health plan is to hope that all of the people die quickly is--I have been here 21 years, and that is about the most mean- spirited, partisan statement that I've ever heard made on the floor of this House. And I, for one, don't appreciate it at all, and that brings the debate on this important issue to about the lowest level of any debate I've heard since I have been here.

Madam Speaker, I had the privilege of going earlier today to the flag ceremony at the State Department for Victor Ashe who is retiring as our ambassador to Poland. Victor Ashe is a longtime friend of mine, and in fact, we roomed together in San Francisco where we were attending the 1964 Republican National Convention. I was between my junior and senior years in high school and at the time was an honorary assistant sergeant at arms at the convention. I don't suppose you can get any lower than being an honorary assistant, but it got me in the door. And Victor that summer had just completed his first year at Yale, and I'm sure had a much more important position.

In the years since then, Victor Ashe has had one of the most distinguished careers of anyone from our State. He was elected to the Tennessee State House at the age of 21, the minimum age for service in that body. He began his service in the Tennessee State Senate at the age of 30, also the minimum age required. He was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate and then spent a year and a half as the executive director of the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors.

In 1987, he was elected as mayor of Knoxville, eventually serving for 16 years and becoming the longest-serving mayor in the city's history. In that position, he achieved national recognition by being named president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Five years ago, President George W. Bush named Victor Ashe as our Ambassador to Poland, where he served longer than any other U.S. ambassador to that country. Political appointees usually become our very best ambassadors, and that was certainly true in the case of Victor Ashe. He visited approximately 200 villages, towns and cities in Poland, covering almost every nook and cranny of that country. He hosted receptions and parties for over 28,000 people and had 320 overnight guests at the ambassador's residence. Showing that he never forgot where he came from, most of his overnight guests were from the Knoxville area.

I had the privilege of leading a congressional delegation of 11 Members to Poland; and Ambassador Ashe and his wife, Joan, went far above and beyond the call of duty in hosting us at that time. In addition, I had several Members of Congress who had met him on other trips, and they always came back singing the praises of our great ambassador.

I have met many U.S. ambassadors and ambassadors from other countries during my time in Congress. I have never met, heard of, or read about anyone who has worked as hard or has spent as much time going around the country getting to know people from all walks of life. I want to commend Victor Ashe for all his service to the people of Tennessee in the State house and senate and as mayor of Knoxville. But tonight I especially want to salute him for his great service as the 24th U.S. Ambassador to one of our strongest allies, the nation of Poland.

Having summed up his distinguished career thus far, I also want to commend him for continuing to advocate good things for our Nations.

James Morrison, a friend of mine, writes the ``Embassy Row'' column for the Washington Times. This past Friday, most of his column was about the farewell message Victor Ashe posted on the Web site of the U.S. embassy in Poland. In that message, Ambassador Ashe criticized the construction of ``fortress-like'' American embassies throughout the world. He pointed out that these fortresses have been built even in countries where Americans face little danger of terrorist attacks.

Going ridiculously overboard on security causes two very serious problems. One, it sends an unfriendly message from our diplomats, who are supposed to be trying to make friends; and, two, it has cost U.S. taxpayers many unnecessary billions all over the world. Ambassador Ashe wrote: ``The design of many of these buildings quite often creates a fortress-like atmosphere, and the impression given to host nations can be less than friendly, not the warm, welcoming impression we should offer as Americans.''

He complained that the State Department is imposing security requirements and design elements for all new U.S. embassies, regardless of the threat posed in more peaceful nations. ``Given different security situations in virtually every nation, wide flexibility in construction design and location is needed, as opposed to the one-size- fits-all approach,'' Mr. Ashe said. ``As such, different sites and designs can be adopted at less cost and with greater architectural warmth.''

I agree with Victor Ashe and congratulate him on his outstanding service to our country.

Mr. Speaker, over the last few days, thanks to Sean Hannity, millions of people have seen or heard about the plight of farmers and farm workers in central California. In some areas, over 40 percent are unemployed and many thousands are having to stand in food lines so their families can have something to eat.

Farms have dried up because the Federal Government has cut off their water to save a 2-inch minnow elsewhere. This will drive up food costs elsewhere.

What many do not know is that the House voted on this issue twice, on June 18 and again on July 23. On the first vote, 171 Republicans voted for the farmers, 215 Democrats voted for the minnow. On the second vote, 176 Republicans, all but one, voted for the farmers. All but three Democrats voted for the fish.

Unfortunately, neither vote was close. Wealthy environmentalists won. The farmers and farm workers lost.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding me this time.

First of all, I want to say that I certainly agree with and support the comments that he made on this legislation a few moments ago. I find myself in the same position, and I certainly want to thank him for the great leadership he has given me in his position as the ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. I want to commend our great chairman, Chairman Oberstar, because all of us, Chairman Oberstar, Mr. Mica, myself, Chairman DeFazio of our subcommittee, we all would like to stop these extensions. Nobody wants a 3-month extension or any kind of extension. What we all want is to pass a major reauthorization bill.

I am in my 21st year in the Congress. I have been here for all of the major highway bills since I first was elected in 1988, and those bills have always passed with overwhelming margins and strong bipartisan support on both sides of the aisle, almost unanimous support.

Today, what you have, you have the Chamber of Commerce wanting a bill, you have the National Association of Manufacturers wanting a bill, you have the American Trucking Association wanting a bill, you have labor groups wanting a bill. I could give a whole long speech just naming all the different groups and people across this country that want a bill who say that we need it, especially with the economy in the situation it is in now.

So it is unfortunate that we have to talk about a 3-month extension or a 6-month extension. What we really need to be talking about is a strong, bipartisan highway reauthorization bill to help get this country moving once again and do all of the projects that have been getting backed up and are causing problems and delays all over this country.

Madam Speaker, my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee lost a great citizen and community champion recently.

Wallace Baumann was a longtime friend of mine and a tireless contributor to the arts in East Tennessee. His family is an institution in Knoxville, and the building that housed their business has been a fixture in downtown Knoxville since just after the Civil War, when Wallace's grandfather Captain W.W. Wooddruff opened the hardware and furniture store.

The store remained open through most of the 20th Century, being passed down through the generations and standing out as a downtown staple even during difficult economic times. Although the business is now gone, the unique building which housed it remains with the family name still attached. I could not imagine downtown Knoxville without this landmark.

Wallace never stopped serving his Country or his Community during his 84 years. He served during World War II in the 10th Armored Division, surviving the Battle of the Bulge.

He was also a member of many boards and organizations throughout Knoxville, most notably serving on the Knoxville Symphony Society Board. Wallace could often be found at the Tennessee Theatre, and he even personally financed the restoration of the Theatre's historic organ.

Wallace's life is a living history of Knoxville, Tennessee that I hope will not soon be forgotten. Recently, the Knoxville Publication Metro Pulse wrote of this great loss to our community, recounting how Wallace was there to see John Barrymore and Glenn Miller perform at the Bijou Theatre and witness Ingrid Bergman plant a tree on Market Square.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record the article by Jack Neely in Metro Pulse, which is reprinted below. I thank Wallace Baumann for his dedication and love of East Tennessee, and I will greatly miss my friend.

[From the Metro Pulse, Aug. 19, 2009]

Wallace Baumann, 1925-2009--A Memory of a Surprising Philanthropist

(By Jack Neely)

Wallace Baumann died last week. I'd seen him a few times

this summer, and he seemed more or less the same as he did

when I was first aware of who he was, sometime in the '60s.

Cheerful, well-dressed, and with a cogent remark about the

last issue of Metro Pulse.

He didn't look 84, or even 74, as several people have

observed this week; some who hadn't known him for long had

assumed he was 20 or even 30 years younger. Wallace may have

been evidence of a paradoxical truth, that while young men

look older when they wear a jacket and tie, old men look

younger. I never in my life saw Wallace without a jacket and

tie, and with prominent horn-rimmed glasses, he looked like

an executive in one of those business-office comedies of the

'60s. For the last couple of years, there's been a big

portrait of him in the Tennessee Theatre in the landing of

the right

stairway up to the balcony. He was in recent decades the

theater's biggest supporter. He directed much of the recent

painstaking restoration of the theater; he was three when it

was built, and remembered it in its earliest days. But many

weren't aware of the extent of his personal investment in the

place.

Baumann was a merchant, by trade. He was, for some decades,

the president of Woodruff's Furniture, the Gay Street

institution his great-grandfather, William Wallace Woodruff,

founded at the end of the Civil War. About 20 years ago, when

downtown retail was widely reputed to be deceased, Woodruff's

was an extravagant exception, this multi-story emporium with

inventory that seemed fresh and up-to-date. The last time I

was there--it was the early '90s, we'd just had a second kid

and needed a kid-proof dining table--I found a plausibly

trendy one at Woodruff's. It was the last time I saw a

representative of a bygone profession in my home town:

Wallace may have been our last merchant to employ elevator

operators.

The place is now the Downtown Grill and Brewery. The last

time I talked to Wallace about it, he hadn't been inside to

see his great-grandfather's building renovated as a popular

restaurant and brewpub. He seemed all right with the fact of

it, but didn't feel an urgency to look. The family name is

still on the building; Woodruff was Wallace's middle name.

Wallace and I had some sharp disagreements about some

downtown issues, but stayed friendly, and he was my handiest

resource for certain questions about the past of our shared

hometown. A lifelong bachelor, he lived alone in Sequoyah

Hills and was usually there to answer his phone. For a guy in

my position, it's been handy to have the phone number of a

person who remembered going to see John Barrymore get off the

train for his show at the Bijou, 70 years ago, and who

recalled both of Glenn Miller's shows at the Tennessee as if

they were last Tuesday. (``Wallace never said, `Ah, it was a

long time ago, I just don't remember.' '') A few months ago,

when I heard an implausible story about Ingrid Bergman

planting a dogwood tree on Market Square 40 years ago, I was

pretty confident Wallace would know something about it, and

sure enough he was right there beside her, and had a funny

story about it.

He was also an authority on architecture, though I don't

think he would have claimed to be perfectly objective on the

subject. The Baumann family, German immigrants who arrived in

East Tennessee in the mid-19th century, was arguably

Knoxville's first architectural dynasty, dominating local

commercial and institutional architecture in the late 19th

and early 20th centuries. Wallace was a Baumann who didn't

design buildings, but he was a champion of the Baumanns'

architecture. Wallace's father, who died almost half a

century ago, was the last of them. (Wallace once corrected

me, rather sternly, when in a column I referred to his father

as Albert B. Baumann Jr. That was his given name, maybe, but

Wallace told me no one ever called him anything but ``A.B.'')

Baumann was a great supporter of several civic

organizations, especially the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra,

and he could be counted on to attend each performance with a

lady friend. Even if you'd known him for decades, as I did,

you might not gather, in conversations with this elegant

gentleman in the lobby of the Tennessee, that he was a combat

veteran of World War II, a member of Combat Command B of the

10th Armored Division, one of the first to breach the

Siegfried Line. He spent much of 1944 in a foxhole near

Bastogne with an M1 for company. He hardly spoke of the war.

I never even knew he'd been in the service until he was

invited to write an article about his wartime memories, in an

especially interesting collection of memoirs of members of

First Presbyterian Church, called We Were There. It's

characteristic that in his description of the Siegfried Line,

he mentioned that he'd previously known it only from

newsreels at the Tennessee Theatre.

(That book, by the way, is as good a collection of local

memories of that war as I've seen. Bill Tate, another

contributor to that book, a B-17 navigator who was shot down

over Germany, and a survivor of a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp,

also died last week.)

Back in 2001, Baumann personally financed the complete

restoration of the theater's original Wurlitzer organ; they

sent the organ away to one of the world's top organ

technicians. Today it's said to be one of fewer than 20

concert-grade organs in America which are installed in their

original locations. Wallace was proud of that fact.

The bill came to $180,000. Wallace was a private man, and

during his life didn't want that detail to be known. I hope

it's okay to mention it now.

Madam Speaker, I submit the following.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan

Account: OP--Army

Project Amount: $5,000,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: TN Army National Guard, Houston Barracks, 3041 Sidco Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37204

Description of Request: The funding would be used to allow Army National Guard trainers (both fielded and yet-to-be procured) to network together on a Combined Arms virtual battlefield.

Madam Speaker, consistent with House Republican Earmark Standards, I am submitting the following earmark disclosure information for project requests that I made and which were included within H.R. 3326, ``Making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.''

Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan

Account: RDTE--Air Force

Project Amount: $2,000,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: University of Tennessee, 328 Ferris Hall, 1508 Middle Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996

Description of Request: The funding will be used for design, testing, and evaluation of systems needed for the harvesting and storage of green energy. The need for the nation to design, implement, and test systems and processes capable of producing renewable energy at a large scale is vital for the U.S. military and the nation as a whole.

Madam Speaker, I submit the following.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Duncan

Account: RDTE--Defensewide

Project Amount: $2,000,000

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Lentix, 800 South Gay Street, Suite 1625, Knoxville, Tennessee 37929

Description of Request: The funding will be used for the development of a very high resolution benchmarking vision system for long-range surveillance with focus on SOCOM and Navy tracking needs.

Mr. Speaker, in the early 1990s, I went to a reception in Lebanon, Tennessee, and the doctor who delivered me came and brought my records. I asked him how much he charged back then, and he said he charged $60 for 9 months of care and the delivery if they could afford it.

Before the Federal Government got so heavily involved in medical care, medical care was cheap and affordable by almost everyone, and doctors even made house calls.

Then the Federal Government got into the business and costs exploded. In fact, the predictions on Medicare and Medicaid, it costs about 10 times more after 25 years than what was predicted.

The same thing will happen on the health care plan that is before the Congress today. The costs will far exceed the predictions. Medical care will become even more expensive and more unaffordable. In fact, Mark Levin, the radio commentator, said a few nights ago that it will put massive costs over onto the States to expand their Medicare programs, and then States like mine of Tennessee, which don't have an income tax, will be forced into having one.

This plan is not good, especially for the poor and lower-income people.

Madam Speaker, I have the greatest respect and admiration for those involved in the Girl Scouts of America, and I have always attended as many Gold Award Gala ceremonies as I am able in my District.

These programs prepare our girls for the challenges of higher education, employment, and adulthood, and their experiences in the Girl Scouting program open many doors for them throughout their lives.

In my hometown of Knoxville, TN, there is one name that is the gold standard for devotion to the Girl Scouts: Lucille Griffo.

Lucille has devoted her career--and her life--to enrich the lives of girls in East Tennessee, and they could not have had a better mentor. With the Girl Scout Promise as her guide, Lucille has been an ambassador for the values and leadership that Girl Scouting teaches.

After graduating from Jacksonville University in 1969, Lucille set out to conquer the business world, but time and again she was told by companies that they did not hire women for management. When a recruiter sent her to a job interview with the Girl Scouts, she thought her gender had type-cast her to a life of arts and crafts.

For more than 40 years, she has steered countless young girls through a transformative time of increasing opportunity for women. As she told the Knoxville News Sentinel recently, ``Girls haven't changed--just society around them.''

Her job was much more than arts and crafts. As CEO of the Tanasi Council, Lucille was responsible for a multi-million dollar budget and 13,000 Girl Scouts and volunteers in 16 East Tennessee counties.

Lucille began her career much before her role in Girl Scout management. At age 7, she

became a Brownie, and it is an experience she describes as sending a shy little girl through a ``journey of self-confidence.'' It would be hard to count how many girls have benefitted from her leadership and example, but I can say that East Tennessee is a much better place because of Lucille Griffo's devotion to our youth.

Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate Lucille Griffo on her recent retirement as CEO of the Tanasi Council Inc. in Knoxville, Tennessee and bring her remarkable career to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record. I encourage everyone to get involved in Girl Scouting programs and help shape our next generation of youth. As Lucille would say, ``We need Girl Scouting now more than ever.''