Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

I rise today to offer an amendment that would prevent the closing of four field offices of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. These offices are located in Atlanta, Dallas, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. The Justice Department announced plans to close these offices with the stated goal of saving $8 million. These closures will not save a dime. In fact, these closures would actually end up costing the government money in lost criminal fines and restitution.

Closing the Atlanta office does not even reduce Federal overhead. The Atlanta field office is located in a Federal courthouse building which will continue to operate. Not only will the antitrust division likely lose those talented lawyers who do not choose to relocate to one of the remaining offices, but it will also move people to some of the most high-cost locations in the country.

The southern region is home to the corporate headquarters of over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies. The Atlanta office prosecutes individuals and companies who engage in bid-rigging, price-fixing, and illegal kickback schemes. Shutting down the Atlanta and Dallas sites leaves the entire southern region of our Nation without any local presence to prosecute and deter antitrust violations and white collar criminal activity.

We cannot and should not underestimate the deterrent effect that the presence of regional law enforcement officers has on white collar crime. We cannot afford to leave the Southeast and Southwest without vital law enforcement officials who are tasked with reducing white collar crime.

I ask all of my colleagues to vote for this amendment to prevent the closure of these critical law enforcement offices until a more thorough review of the consequences can be undertaken. This is not a done deal. Congress should and must act.

My amendment won't cost a cent, but it would bring in more than a few dollars. Over the past 11 years, the Atlanta field office alone brought in over $265 million in fines and restitution. Let me be clear that is a 600 percent rate of return on this investment. What better proof do you need?

Mr. Chairman, I ask each and every one of my colleagues again to support the Lewis-Johnson amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

It is hard and difficult and almost unbelievable that any Member, especially a Member from the State of Georgia, would come and offer such an amendment.

There is a long history in our country, especially in the 11 States that are old Confederacy--from Virginia to Texas--of discrimination based on race, on color. Maybe some of us need to study a little contemporary history dealing with the question of voting rights.

Before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it was almost impossible for many people in the State of Georgia, in Alabama, in Virginia, and in Texas to register to vote, to participate in the democratic process. The State of Mississippi, for example, had a black voting age population of more than 450,000 and only about 16,000 were registered to vote. In one county in Alabama, the county was more than 80 percent and there was not a single registered African American voter. People had to pass a so-called ``literacy test''; interpreting sections of the Constitution. One man was asked to count the number of bubbles on a bar of soup and another man was asked to count the number of jelly beans in a jar.

It's shameful that you would come here tonight and say to the Department of Justice that you must not use one penny, one cent, one dime, one dollar to carry out the mandate of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. We should open up the political process and let all of our citizens come in and participate. People died for the right to vote-- friends of mine, colleagues of mine--to speak out against this amendment. It doesn't have a place.

I agree with the chairman.

No, I will not yield.

I urge all of my colleagues to vote against this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Offered By: Mr. Lewis of Georgia

Amendment No. 6: At the end of the bill (and before the

spending reduction account) insert the following:

Sec. 541. None of the funds provided by this Act may be

obligated for the purpose of closing the regional field

offices of the Antitrust Division of the Department of

Justice.

Madam Chair, I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ruppersberger) for yielding.

Madam Chair, I rise to oppose H.R. 3523. It is a step back.

Those of us who protested in the fifties and the sixties, who were called Communists, who had our telephone calls recorded, we have a long memory. We remember our Nation's dark past.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s telephone was wiretapped. His hotel room was wiretapped. His home was wiretapped. Our office was wiretapped. Our meetings were wiretapped. And it was not just people spying on civil rights activists, but people protesting against the war in Vietnam.

We didn't have a Facebook, a Twitter, or email. These new tools must be protected. Today we have a mission, a mandate, and a moral obligation to protect future generations of activists and protestors.

So I say to my colleagues, stand with us today. Stand up and stand on the right side of history. Oppose H.R. 3523.

Madam Speaker, again this year, the Republican budget would end Medicare's guarantee to our seniors. The Republican budget takes aim at the very heart of our moral obligation to our seniors.

Medicare has been both a blessing and a lifeline for our seniors and the disabled. Our seniors have worked a

lifetime to make our country great, and we will not break our promise that Medicare will be there for them in their retirements. Medicare is at the core of our social compact. It is at the heart of what has made our Nation strong. We must not turn Medicare into a voucher program. We will not--we must not--balance our budget on the backs of our seniors.

Madam Speaker, for more than 30 years, Monica Pearson has been a voice of WSB-TV, the Atlanta ABC station. She is a sensitive, caring individual, and one of the most loved and admired television anchors in the Nation. You can always see her out in Metro Atlanta somewhere, serving and sharing, giving back to the community of people who have supported her for many, many years.

When Monica delivers the news, people believe it because they believe in her, and they know she believes in them. She didn't just read the news, but as a member of a community she tried to discover the truth, and we trusted what she said. Though she may be leaving the airwaves, she is not retiring from her involvement in our city, our State, and our Nation.

I wish Monica and her husband, John, the very best. We love her. She's been good for our city, for our State, and for our Nation.

I want to thank the gentlelady for yielding.

I rise today to honor the memory of our beloved colleague, the distinguished gentleman from the State of New Jersey, Donald Payne.

Today we have lost a wonderful and good friend, and the people of the 10th District of New Jersey have lost a fearless leader and advocate.

Any American can be elected to public office, but not everyone can serve with dignity and great respect. Donald Payne, my friend, my brother, enjoyed the admiration of his colleagues because he led by example, and through quiet, determined diplomacy he accomplished a great deal.

A deep sensitivity to the human condition was at the center of all he did. His work was an extension of the belief that each of us has a responsibility to serve one another, and that we must use the power and resources of a great Nation to relieve the burdens of the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, and the sick. That is why this former public school teacher wanted to unlock the power of education to free those who are struggling in the urban centers in America. And that is why he was a tireless advocate for the people of Africa because a heartfelt compassion guided all that he did.

In a time when the needs of the poor are hardly spoken, when the cries of the locked out and left behind are rarely heard, the Chamber will deeply miss a gentle statesman with a heart that was big enough to serve all humankind.

The thoughts and prayers of the people of the Fifth District of Georgia and many Members of this Congress are with his family, staff, and friends now as they move through a difficult time. Just know that Donald Payne was loved, and he will be deeply missed, not only by the people of the 10th District of New Jersey, but by people around this Nation and all around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to thank my colleagues, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Congresswomen Terri Sewell and Martha Roby, for offering this resolution today.

I am so pleased that this resolution will preserve the oral histories of current and former Members of Congress who participated in the civil rights movement, and it will also preserve the experiences of Members who have come on the Faith & Politics Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama.

Together, we have retraced the steps that were walked so many years ago and have spent time with some of the people who shaped the civil rights movement. Some of the Members who have gone on this pilgrimage were not even born during the civil rights movement, and they come to learn about our Nation's history. Many Members have come away changed by this experience forever.

This resolution will help us preserve a powerful and transformative period in American history. Without the brave and courageous souls who shed blood, sweat, and tears in Alabama and throughout the South, this would be a very different Nation today.

It is very important that Members of Congress understand and acknowledge the debt we owe to ordinary people with extraordinary vision, who, as Dr. Martin Luther King once said, ``injected new meaning into the very veins of our democracy.''

Mr. Speaker, on March 7, 1965, 600 peaceful, nonviolent protesters attempted to march from Selma, Alabama, to the State capitol in Montgomery to dramatize to the world that people of color wanted to register to vote.

We left Brown Chapel AME Church that morning on a sacred mission, prepared to defy the dictates of man to demonstrate the truth of a higher law. Ordinary citizens with extraordinary vision walked shoulder to shoulder, two by two, in a silent, peaceful protest against injustice in the American South. We were met at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge by a sea of blue--Alabama State troopers. Some were mounted on horseback, but all of them were armed with guns, tear gas, and billy clubs, and beyond them were deputized citizens who were waving any weapons they could find.

Then we heard:

I am Major John Cloud. This is an unlawful march. You

cannot continue. You have 3 minutes to go home or return to

your church.

We were preparing to kneel and pray when the major said, ``Troopers advance.''

The troopers came toward us, beating us and spraying tear gas. That brutal confrontation became known as Bloody Sunday.

It produced a sense of righteous indignation around the country and around the world that led this Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Eight days after Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress and made what I believe is the greatest statement any President has ever made on the importance of voting rights in America.

He said:

I speak tonight for the dignity of man and for the destiny

of democracy. At times, history and fate meet at a single

time, in a single place to shape a turning point in man's

unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and

Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was

last week in Selma, Alabama.

During that speech, President Johnson condemned the violence in Selma and called on Congress to enact the Voting Rights Act. He closed his speech by echoing the words of the civil rights movement, saying over and over, ``And we shall overcome . . . And we shall overcome.''

Congress did pass the Voting Rights Act, and on August 6, 1965, it was signed into law.

This weekend, starting tomorrow, is the 12th congressional pilgrimage to civil rights sites in Birmingham, Montgomery, and in Selma with the Faith & Politics Institute. We will remember the distance we have come and the progress we have made. We will end our time together in Selma by crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

During this trip, we see ourselves not as Democrats or Republicans or as adversaries. We see ourselves as Americans on a journey to discover our history. We all come away from this pilgrimage with a deeper appreciation of our democracy and the power of people to make a difference in our society. I am so pleased that this story will be told.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California, the Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi.

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire about how much time remains.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

We don't have any additional speakers.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and my colleague from California for his commitment, for his dedication, with all of his kind words today.

I think this resolution is saying to all of us that we have come a distance. We've made a lot of progress, and the Members of Congress participated in helping to bring about what I like to call a nonviolent revolution in America, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas.

It is unreal, it is unbelievable. Just think, a few short years ago, in a place like Selma, Alabama, or Lowndes County, Alabama, between Selma and Montgomery, Lowndes County was more than 80 percent African American. There was not a single registered African American voter in the county. Today there's a biracial county government.

That in a city like Selma, in 1965, only 2.1 percent of African Americans were registered to vote. Today there is a biracial city government.

Or in a State like the State of Mississippi, in 1965, the State had an African American population, voting age population, of more than 450,000, and only about 16,000 were registered to vote. Because of the action of Presidents and Members of Congress, we have changed, and it's my hope and my prayer that every Member of Congress will vote to pass this resolution.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and celebrate the

life of Ed Jenkins, a fellow Georgian, a dedicated public servant, and a good friend. I had the honor of serving on the Ways and Means Committee alongside Congressman Jenkins.

Born in the small town of Jasper, Georgia, Congressman Jenkins would often describe himself as a country lawyer, but he was a country lawyer with an extensive knowledge of the tax system. He was knowledgeable; he was very informed. He was an advocate for the people and industries of Georgia. He was a champion of the South's textile industry and a fierce protector of the local economy.

Although often soft-spoken, Ed Jenkins bravely pressed for the facts of the Iran-Contra affair. He believed the American people deserved to hear the truth, and he was not afraid to speak out, he was not afraid to speak up.

He was thoughtful, considerate, a brave negotiator and an unbelievable, just excellent colleague. When I first came to Congress, he was so helpful and so caring. I learned so much from him. He was a good man, a decent human being. I never heard him say a mean thing about anyone.

I only wish we had more Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, with not just his demeanor, but with the pride he took in this institution and this Congress. He was very proud to be a Member of Congress and proud to be a member of the Ways and Means Committee, and that pride made him a powerful leader.

I can remember over the years each time the Ways and Means Committee came together for a reunion. He would always show up long after he retired from the Congress.

I was so sad to hear of his passing and would like to express my deepest sympathy to his wife, Jo; his daughters, Janice and Amy; and his entire family. As a Nation, we greatly benefited from his service. As a colleague, I learned so much from his example and his friendship.

He will be deeply missed by the people of Georgia, the people of this Nation. He made a lasting contribution to our country; and we must never, ever forget this good and great man.

I want to thank the gentleman for yielding.

Here we go again, Madam Speaker. Instead of working on legislation to help create jobs, House Republicans have gathered us here for political games. This bill is not constructive. Madam Speaker, it is destructive. It is disruptive to the most important task we face--helping struggling Americans get back to work and getting our economy moving again.

We've been down this road before. We fought this so-called ``battle'' last year. The debt limit is America's credit card bill, and just because we don't like the balance doesn't mean we don't have to pay it. It's just that simple. When you get a balance on your credit card, you pay it. We all do it. This exercise is a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.

I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill. Let's come together and work for the good of this Nation and not partisan dissent. The time is always right to do right.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and my colleague, Mr. Levin, for yielding.

If we go home without passing the bipartisan Senate bill, we disgrace ourselves and this Congress. We are out of time. We cannot go into this holiday season without helping our unemployed brothers and sisters. We cannot keep our seniors from seeing their doctors. We cannot allow taxes to go up for millions of Americans.

What is happening here today is shameful, it is a disgrace, it is unreal, it is unbelievable. We can do better.

If we fail today, how will you face your neighbor, your family, who are suffering? Where is your compassion? Where is your heart? Where is your soul? I, sir, vote ``no'' on this motion and pass the Senate bipartisan bill.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, my colleague, Mr. Levin, for yielding. And thank you for all of your great and good work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. It is a very sad day for this body. Day in and day out, unemployed Americans beat the pavement applying for jobs everywhere and anywhere, sending hundreds of resumes applying for many jobs. These people lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They don't want a handout. They want a job.

In Atlanta we had a job fair where more than 4,500 people from as far away as New York showed up with the hope of just getting an interview. This bill is an insult to them. It is an affront to their dignity. It says that millions of Americans do not want to work or they are not searching hard enough for a job.

Instead of extending unemployment benefits before the holiday break, giving equal treatment for struggling Americans, as we do for the wealthy and large corporations, this legislation strips the program down to its bones. It's not right. It's not fair. It is not just.

This body represents the people, and we should not stomp on the souls of our fellow citizens. We can do better. We must do better. We must do better for the sake of our fellow citizens.

Mr. Speaker, is this the spirit of the season? Last night we offered an amendment to the Rules Committee that the Republicans refused to even consider. These amendments said, in effect, stop the politics, stop the games. Stand up for the people, for the people that voted for us, for our people that need our help. They are depending on us.

Mr. Speaker, we should stay here, stay here, don't go home until we can meet their expectations. We must come together and do what is right, and do it now. I urge all of my colleagues to oppose this bad bill and come together, pass a long-term, clean extension of unemployment benefits. That's the thing to do.

Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today with a heavy heart. Martina Davis-Correia, the older sister of executed Georgia prisoner, Troy Anthony Davis, died last week in Savannah. She was the most outspoken advocate of the ``I Am Troy Davis'' clemency campaign, which spread to countries all around the world. Correia traveled far and wide to any group that would give an ear in a strenuous effort to save her brother's life. Despite several commutations of his sentence, Davis was killed by lethal injection in Georgia in September of this year. The Davis case has helped turn the tide of public opinion in the struggle for repeal of the death penalty.

I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Martina Davis- Correia. The agony of this death sentence and execution has killed not just one man, but has decimated an entire nuclear family. After 22 years of struggle, Davis's mother died in the spring, her son

was killed by the state of Georgia in September, and now her daughter has died. Correia was a brave and courageous woman who was her brother's most stalwart advocate for clemency. She was an angel of mercy who sacrificed her health to win her brother's life.

For a state which could have used its power to do what is right, the outcome is tragic. But for the Davis family, if it had to be this way, it is an elegant ending. God has finally accomplished what the state of Georgia could not. In his mercy he granted their prayers to be all together again--happy, healed and whole. They leave us the lessons of their lives and a legacy of struggle that strengthened a movement for repeal of the death penalty in this country. I send my deepest condolences to the Davis family and to Martina Correia's son, who needs our support in this time. May God richly bless you for the sacrifice you as a family have made in the long, hard struggle for justice in America.

I want to thank my friend and colleague for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to extend unemployment benefits now.

It is amazing that we have time to debate this farm dust bill. We are polluting our air, but we don't have time to create jobs or to help people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. It is our moral obligation to give just a little bit of hope, a little bit of justice to help people survive these cold, difficult, hard times.

During this holiday season, I ask each and every one of you to take a deep, hard look within and ask yourselves: Is this how I wish to treat my mother? my father? my sister? my brother? my son? my daughter or my neighbor?

The unemployed lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They don't want handouts. They want jobs. This small amount of money is just enough to squeeze by while they continue to look for jobs. Help them. Please help them keep roofs over their heads, shoes on their feet, food on their tables, and heat in their homes.

Madam Speaker, this is the least we can do. It is the right thing to do. It is the fair thing to do. Fairness cannot wait. Give them just a little bit of hope in the name of those elected to serve them. Let's come together. Let's put politics aside and just get it done. Vote ``no'' on this rule, and extend unemployment insurance here and now.

Madam Speaker, recently Atlanta Magazine gave a voice to the jobless in America. The words of one person speaks for millions. ``Unemployment dehumanized the real person,'' one American writes. ``You lose the essence of your identity and value. You become a number, a label, a resume, a failure, a defect, desperate, poor, and separated from society. Being unemployed is to be silently disrespected, on par with being homeless, mentally ill, or addicted.''

Today we speak for millions of Americans who will be pushed to the edges of our society, locked out and left behind, if we fail to act.

The jobless in America elected us so that they would have a voice in these debates. They are not points on a graph or numbers on a page. They are human beings. We must not abandon the people of this Nation. We must pass the unemployment insurance extension and do it without delay.

Wake up, Congress. Wake up, and do what is right.

Madam Speaker, the most important task we face today is helping Americans get back to work. People stop me all over metro Atlanta and tell me how long they've been looking for work, how many applications they have filled out, how many resumes they have sent.

And with the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans over 12 percent, Senator Tester's amendment is a good start. It is a necessary start. These are people who want to work, who need to work. They don't want a handout; they want a job.

These men and women put on that uniform to serve and protect our country. We can and must do more to honor their service. It is simply the right and good thing to do.

Now, I must say, Madam Speaker, that I strongly object to the Republican effort to stain a bipartisan bill with a partisan poison pill, making it more difficult for America's seniors to get private health insurance and Medicaid. It is not right, it is not fair, and it is not just.