Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my chairman, Chairman Rangel, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, this is a historic day. As President Kennedy said in his book ``Profiles in Courage,'' there comes a time when men must act according to the dictates of their conscience and not according to political expediency.

We have a mission. We have a mandate. We have a moral obligation to lead this Nation into a new era where health care is a right and not a privilege. Now is the time. Be on the right side of history, the right side of the sick, the right side of the vulnerable. We have been tracked down by the spirit of history. If we fail to act on health care, if we fail to do what we must do, history will not be kind to any of us.

So I say to you, my colleagues: be not afraid. Be not afraid. Be of the courage. The time is always right to do what is right. On this day, at this moment, answer the call of history, and pass health care reform, and pass it today. Pass it now for the people of this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this legislation. I want to thank my good friend, the chairman, Mr. McDermott, for his hard work in bringing this bill to the floor.

Under this bill, a Georgian would receive an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits. Many have been waiting, worrying, and juggling bills for months. People from all over the State of Georgia call my offices every day asking what is taking Congress so long to act. Let me be clear, these are not people who want a handout. These are people who want to work. Many are older workers with all levels of education who have worked in the same jobs for years, and now their jobs are gone, just gone.

We can act today, and we must act. Now is the time to act to pass this legislation, send it to the President, and let him sign it into law so our citizens will receive the necessary benefits.

Mr. Speaker, we are at a historic moment in our Nation's history.

After a half century of debate, the time has come to make health care a reality for every single American. We must make health care a right and not a privilege. People are dying without health care. This week we must say, No more. No more.

People are losing their homes because they are without health insurance. This week we say, No more.

The American people cannot wait a moment longer. Every day that we wait, 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance.

We have a good bill before us. We have resolved our differences. We have been struck in the paralysis of analysis, and this must end and end now. Now is the time to act. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.''

We must not perpetuate this injustice. The spirit of history is upon us. We have been called to lead. Now is the time for the Congress to act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Jasmine Lynn, a rising star, a wonderful daughter, and a successful student who was the victim of a senseless tragedy.

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Jasmine attended the Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, where she was an active student, athlete, musician, and leader. Even though she was a member of the ROTC, the varsity basketball team, and the high school marching band, Jasmine found time to shine as a student. Her intelligence and academic success won her an opportunity to attend Spelman College in Atlanta, making her the first in her family to receive a college education. At Spelman, Jasmine continued to excel with a 3.8 GPA and intended to focus her academic program around psychology and pre-law studies. Jasmine had just completed a summer internship at Cerner Corp over the summer and had bought her first car. This accomplished young lady had a bright and promising future.

On September 3, the life of Jasmine Lynn was cut down by a stray bullet as she was

walking down an Atlanta street with some of her friends. Violence cuts through the heart of too many communities across America, but when a gifted young woman--simply an innocent bystander--is the victim of a senseless murder, the toll hostility and aggression take on our society becomes painfully clear.

Today, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the Lynn family for their heartbreaking loss. The thoughts and prayers of the people of the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia are with them during this difficult and trying time. My heart goes out to Jasmine Lynn's parents, brother, family, friends, and the Spelman and Clark/ Atlanta University community who also mourn her passing.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the vision of a thousand ``Points of

Light'' and to celebrate the growing tide of commitment to service and volunteering that is a hallmark of this great nation. Tomorrow, President George H. W. Bush and President Barack Obama are together to mark this important milestone in the history of the service movement.

Twenty years ago, President Bush spoke of a thousand points of light, individuals and organizations ``spread like stars throughout the nation, doing good.'' From this idea rose the Points of Light Foundation which has both recognized and organized exemplary acts of giving for the past two decades.

In 2007, it merged with Hands On Network, which started in my district, in the city of Atlanta, and the combined organization is now the Points of Light Institute, the largest volunteer network in the country. Their mission is to mobilize, not just a thousand, but millions to answer the call to solve our most pressing problems-- volunteers working together to help those with HIV in San Francisco, building wheelchair ramps in Greenville, and creating award-winning tutoring programs in Atlanta.

In today's hard times, people are hurting. Americans are having to choose between paying their mortgages and putting food on the table. In these tough times it is more important than ever that we, as American citizens, give back to those in need. National Service becomes ever more important when people are hurting. I am proud of my fellow citizens who have heeded the calls to service, and have dedicated their time to helping others. In 2008, 61.8 million Americans volunteered, dedicating more than 8 billion hours of service worth an estimated $162 billion.

The Points of Light Institute and its 250 Hands On Action Centers reach 80 percent of our nation's communities have been at the forefront of this remarkable growth. I am so pleased to be able to recognize this organization's first 20 years of harnessing the energy and enthusiasm of our people to be a part of a better world and their ongoing contributions as a part of President Obama's United We Serve initiative.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the United States Civil Rights Trail System Act of 2009. I would like to commend my colleagues and friends, Congressman William Lacy Clay and Congressman Zach Wamp for championing this important legislation.

The fight for civil rights was one of the most significant social and cultural movements in our nation's history. Because of the hundreds and thousands of ordinary people with extraordinary vision who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, we witnessed a nonviolent revolution under the rule of law, a revolution of values and ideas that changed this nation forever. We must ensure that the next generation, and the current generation, learn and do not forget the story of the Civil Rights Movement and the ideals that it strove to achieve. This proposed system of trails, would mark the geographic locations in the United States of historically significant events tied to the struggles for racial equality. I saw firsthand the struggle and the pains that ordinary citizens endured at many of these sites to help break down the walls of segregation and their efforts must be memorialized and never forgotten. It is my hope, and belief, that this trail system will help to educate and inspire the next generation of Civil Rights leaders who still have many fights ahead of them. This act will help to preserve and protect the legacy and the story of the Movement for future generations and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague Ed Markey and members of the Massachusetts delegation for holding this Special Order in honor of Senator Kennedy. I rise today just to say thanks to Senator Kennedy and to the Kennedy family.

During the sixties, I had an opportunity to meet President Kennedy, in June of 1963, when I was only 23 years old, and then to see him at the end of the March on Washington when he invited us back down to the White House. I got to know Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General, meeting with him in his office and campaigning with him in Indiana, Oregon, and California.

I have known Senator Ted Kennedy for a long time. He was a very special man, a very special friend. I remember long before I came to Washington as a Member of Congress on an occasion we needed him to speak at a fundraiser for nonpartisan voter registration efforts in the South. He answered our call without hesitation. He spent time among us, honoring not just men and women of means, but everyday people and their little children.

Senator Kennedy, this extraordinary man, was an elegant man who walked with kings, but never lost the common touch. As a colleague, he was generous and committed. He was our leader, our champion, our shepherd. He took up the causes of those who were weak and tried to make them strong. He stood tall and spoke with passion for all of those who have been left out and left behind; the people who had no voice in America.

Ted Kennedy never lost hope. He demanded justice for people of color when it came to civil rights and voting rights, and he also took a stand for seniors and for those with a different sexual orientation and for the disabled.

Senator Kennedy was a man who lived his faith and tried to act on it every single day by doing good to help the least among us. At some of the most tragic and difficult moments in this Nation's history, Senator Kennedy had the capacity, had the ability to gather his strength and lead us toward a more hopeful future.

As a Nation and as a people, he encouraged us to build upon the inspirational leadership of his two brothers and use it to leave a legacy of social transformation that has left its mark on history.

I would say tonight, Mr. Speaker, and to members of the Massachusetts delegation and to Patrick and to other members of the Kennedy family, Senator Kennedy was so thoughtful and so considerate. He was one of the most sharing, caring, giving human beings that I have ever met.

During July 2006, when the Senate was about to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, he invited me over to the other side of the Capitol to be his guest on the Senate floor. When the last vote had been tallied, he gave me a copy of the tally sheet. Then he suggested that we walk out into an adjoining room, and he showed me the desk where President Lyndon Johnson had signed the original act on August 6, 1965.

He had a photographer to take a picture of the two of us standing near that desk. A few days later, I received the most beautiful copy of that picture with an inscription from Senator Kennedy. It is hanging on the wall in my home in Atlanta. I will always cherish it as long as I live.

I remember in 1977, Senator Kennedy came to Atlanta and we hosted a little reception for him at my home. He met a few of our friends: my wife, Lillian, and our son, John Miles. He spent so much time playing and talking with my young son, who was not quite a year old.

Senator Kennedy had a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love that never forgot the spark of divinity that runs through us all, no matter whether you were his closest friend or his fiercest adversary.

A brilliant light has gone out that uplifted not just America, but the entire world community. During his life, Senator Kennedy touched so many of us with his brilliant light. He touched more than Members of Congress, but also ordinary people. He touched our President and the leaders of tomorrow.

The spark of light that he gave to each one of us still burns brightly, and it is our duty, our obligation to continue his legacy and pass that light on to unborn generations.

Senator Kennedy will be deeply missed but not forgotten, and his legacy will live on in all of us. He was a wonderful friend. He was a wonderful friend, a wonderful colleague. He was like a brother.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank Chairman Oberstar and members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for moving with all deliberate speed to bring this resolution to the floor today.

As many of you know, for the past week it has been raining all over the State of Georgia. In some parts of the State, the rain has been devastating. I offer this resolution with my colleagues from the State of Georgia to express my sincerest sympathies to the families of those who have lost their loved ones in the floods. This is a terrible tragedy for the people of the State of Georgia. Some families have lost their homes; they have lost everything.

I am deeply concerned about the damage this flooding has caused to homes and businesses, to roads and bridges. Some schools in the State remain closed, and at least one school has been destroyed. The Governor is estimating that the damage will rise into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and that is based on what can be seen. Many areas are still underwater, and we hear that the rain is not yet over.

I appeal to the citizens of Georgia to be careful as you move around. It is impossible to know how deep the waters are or how fast they are moving.

Finally, I want to thank all of the emergency personnel for all of their hard work in protecting people from the dangers of the floodwaters.

I know that my colleagues join me in my commitment to working with the State, city and county officials, as well as FEMA and the Federal Government, to ensure that the State of Georgia has everything it needs to protect human life and to help our citizens rebuild and recover from these unbelievable waters, this unbelievable flood.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members of this body to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act of 2009. The purpose of this legislation is to create three international initiatives that take the philosophy and examples of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and apply them to current day issues.

In recent years, increasing youth violence has been the center of national headlines. Gangs, drug abuse, stabbings, shootings, bullying, unnecessary harm and heartache plagues schools and communities from Atlanta to Chicago and in unsuspecting urban, rural, and suburban areas all around and in between. In response to this alarming trend, I introduced the SAFETY through Nonviolence Act, a bill that would teach the doctrine of nonviolence in thought, words and actions to students, educators, local police, and community leaders. In reality, Madam Speaker, violence, human rights abuses, discrimination, unprecedented poverty, and terrorism are devastating every corner of our globe, and despite so much progress, much work remains.

In February, I led a congressional delegation with my good friend, the Gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) to India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King's visit to the country. With an official send-off from Secretary Clinton, the delegation was welcomed by the Indian government and Indian people. Martin Luther King, III, his wife, Mrs. Arndrea Waters, and outstanding musicians from the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz also celebrated this historic visit with concerts, meetings, and ceremonies across the country.

The congressional delegation also met with Indian government officials, business leaders, and non-governmental organizations on issues of terrorism, democracy, human rights, child labor and trafficking, poverty, and international conflicts. Each of us returned to the United States inspired and determined in our own way to see how we could apply our experiences, our shared history, and the legacies of these two great men to some of the issues facing the international community. How can we build a new generation that understands the benefit of peace?

This legislation responds to that question. The Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act of 2009 would create an undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate student exchange program in which students would travel to significant sites of the American Civil Rights Movement and the Indian Independence Movement. They would then develop proposals on how to apply the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to modern issues such as human rights, peaceful conflict resolution, civil rights, and democracy.

The second initiative created by this bill is a professional training module for international state, local and national government employees from conflict regions to develop international conflict solutions based on Gandhian principles.

Last but not least, the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act would develop an annual public diplomacy forum to be held alternately in the United States and India which will focus on the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the resolution of global conflicts.

I believe that each person must ask themselves how we can make this little piece of real estate that we call Earth, a little cleaner, a little greener, a little safer, a little more peaceful. Gandhi once said that, ``If we are to reach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.'' The Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act of 2009 does just that and a little bit more.

Madam Speaker, I hope all of my colleagues will support this good, common-sense legislation that should be a cornerstone of our public diplomacy efforts.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce the Look-Back Elimination Act of 2009.

I am proud to serve on the Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support led by Chairman McDermott. I would like to thank Chairman McDermott, my good friend, the Gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), and all of my colleagues on the Subcommittee for their hard work in the areas of child welfare and foster care.

Today, American families are struggling in ways not seen since the Great Depression. Rising unemployment, health care costs, and a struggling economy are all taking their toll, and children in the foster care system must not be forgotten during these very difficult times.

When Congress passed welfare reform legislation in 1996, they eliminated the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a cornerstone of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, and replaced it with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF. At the same time, Congress locked the income eligibility requirement for federal foster care and adoption assistance benefits at the various existing 1996 income thresholds established by States under the now nonexistent AFDC program. This is known as the look-back standard.

Since that time, the federal law has not been changed, and despite changing economic realities like inflation and wage growth, states cannot update their income eligibility requirements. As a result thousands of children in foster care and adoption assistance programs are ineligible to receive federal benefits.

Last year Congress passed and the President signed legislation to phase out the look-back standard for children in the adoption assistance program. The bill I am introducing today would assist the other children affected by the look-back standard--those in the foster care system. We need to help these children, and we need to help them now.

The look-back standard sets the income limit for eligibility at thirty-one percent of the federal poverty level--a level so low that even a parent's part-time job at minimum wage could render a family ineligible. As a result, states are prohibited from using federal funds to assist those most in need. In my home state of Georgia almost sixty percent of children in the child welfare system cannot receive federal IV-E assistance. Thousands more foster care children across the country are ineligible to receive benefits. This is wrong; it is just plain wrong.

Foster care children need this support, and states are struggling to juggle services to try and prevent children from falling through the cracks. You just cannot put a price on helping a child. We must have this oversight corrected. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this commonsense legislation.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor a warrior for civil rights and social justice, a veteran of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement, a resident of the 5th Congressional District, and a friend. In a few days, we in Georgia will be honoring the life of the Reverend Dr. Cordy Tindell Vivian, better known as C.T. Vivian, who will turn 85 years old on July 30, 2009.

Born in 1924, Vivian grew up in Macomb, Illinois and was raised by his mother and grandmother. Even though Illinois was not segregated by law, C.T. Vivian was keenly aware that the customs and traditions of racism and discrimination pervaded his life. As a young man Vivian wanted to find a way to make an impact on society, so after leaving college he began working with youth at Carver Community Center in Peoria, Illinois. As a young man deeply influenced by the church and the visionary faith of his grandmother and mother, Vivian recognized the power of nonviolence as a tool for social change. He joined a successful non-violent movement in Peoria in 1947 to integrate restaurants in the city, which brought down barriers in all public eating establishments throughout the city.

In 1955, C.T. Vivian was called to the ministry and enrolled in what would some years later become my alma mater, American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. That same year, he began working with a new subdivision of Martin Luther King Jr.'s organization established by the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith called the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference. The NCLC began training Nashville college students in the discipline and philosophy of non-violence and was involved in organizing the first student sit-ins and marches in the city in 1960.

Vivian's experiences in Peoria helped provide leadership for student organizers in Nashville, and in 1961, he joined the Freedom

Rides, after the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) had suspended their efforts. One bus had been set on fire in Anniston, Alabama. Freedom Riders had been surrounded by an angry mob in a church in Montgomery, Alabama. Attorney General Robert Kennedy had called in the National Guard to protect riders traveling from Montgomery to Jackson, Mississippi. CORE suspended its efforts to test the desegregation of interstate transportation. In spite of these dangers, Vivian joined a new attempt to renew the rides on a bus trip from Nashville to Jackson. Martin Luther King Jr. asked Vivian to join the executive staff of his organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He worked with SCLC campaigns in St. Augustine, Florida; Danville, Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois. Vivian was in Birmingham in 1963, participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project in 1964 and came to Selma in 1965.

In Selma, he worked with the voter registration efforts that the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee already had in progress, and would serve as a lead protestor, persistently confronting Sheriff Jim Clark on the steps of the Selma, Alabama courthouse at the head of a band of non-violent marchers seeking to register and vote. He was arrested and jailed in Selma several times.

In February 1965, Vivian was a speaker at a non-violent, peaceful night-time rally meant to support protestors jailed in Marion, Alabama. The marchers were ambushed by a violent posse who killed military veteran and Marion native Jimmie Lee Jackson. Efforts to commemorate Jackson's death ultimately became the historic Selma to Montgomery march which culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act. The act opened up more free and fair access to the ballot box for all African Americans, as well as other Americans of color, and it resulted in the election of literally thousands of black elected officials in subsequent years, including the first African American president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Following the death of Martin Luther King Jr., Vivian formed an organization dedicated to the training of African American youth called Vision, which ultimately became known as Upward Bound, an educational program that provides college students with scholarships. After working with SCLC, Vivian organized campaigns against racism and advocated for racial justice. He has worked to found other organizations, including the Black Action Strategies and Information Center, the Center for Democratic Renewal, and the C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute, all based in Atlanta. In 2008 he led the Yes We Care campaign, which contributed over $500,000 to Morris Brown University, a fiscally challenged historically black university in the city. He is the author of Black Power and the American Myth.

The Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian has served as an inspiring leader, an electrifying minister, and a force for good in our society. As a participant in the modem-day Civil Rights Movement, he successfully implemented the discipline and philosophy of non-violent social resistance that helped to transform America forever. For this role, C.T. Vivian must be seen as one of the authors of a new chapter in American history that hastens the advent of a society based on simple justice that values the dignity and the worth of every human being, or the Beloved Community. For his eloquence, insight, vision, persistence, determination and courage, we commemorate the service of C.T. Vivian on his 85th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because America needs health care, and they need it now. The American people cannot wait. Every day that we wait 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance. 46 years ago, at the March on Washington, I said, ``They tell us to wait. They tell us to be patient.'' We cannot wait, we cannot be patient. People are losing their health, their homes or their very lives because our health system does not work for them. This is not right. It is not just. And we can do better, much better.

It is our moral obligation to lead. The insurance companies do not need our leadership. The drug companies do not need our leadership. They do not need our help. Real, hardworking people need us to lead. We must make sure that in our rush to appease the few, that we do not harm the many. We must adopt a bill that has a strong public health insurance option. We must adopt a bill that makes health premiums affordable to low and middle-income workers. We must not negotiate away our commitment to the working poor and to middle class Americans. This is the kind of leadership Americans need.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.'' If we do not protect our most vulnerable hardworking Americans and their families, we will perpetuate this injustice. The time is always right to do what is right. We should not be afraid to do what is right. We must answer the call of history and pass health reform that works for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3357) to restore sums to the Highway Trust Fund and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill H.R. 3357, as amended.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, transportation is one of the most important issues in our country, so I am proud to have served on both the Ways and Means Committee and on what was then the Public Works and Transportation Committee.

I would like to thank Chairman Rangel and Chairman Oberstar for their leadership on this important issue.

The bipartisan bill before the House today will provide the necessary funds to keep important transportation projects operating in States around the country. As we all know, the Highway Trust Fund will run out of funding by September. We must act, and we must act now.

In 1998, Congress passed a highway bill that took more than $8 billion out of the trust fund and put it in the Treasury. In addition, Congress stopped the Highway Trust Fund from earning interest on its investment. If these steps had not been taken, the balance in the Highway Trust Fund would be nearly $20 billion more than it is now.

Last year we transferred $8 billion back, and the legislation we are considering today would transfer $7 billion more.

I want to be clear, Mr. Speaker. No new money is spent under this bill. This bill should keep the Highway Trust Fund fully funded until 2009. If we fail to act today, our people, our States, and our economy will be harmed. In Georgia, where unemployment is already above 10 percent, we cannot afford to lose another 8,500 jobs because of failure to act.

Last year, all sides understood how critical highway funding is to our economy. I hope the legislation we are considering today will enjoy similar bipartisan support. I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this important legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota, the Chair of the Transportation Committee, Mr. Oberstar.

I yield the gentleman another 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington, the Chair of the Income Security Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, Congressman McDermott.

(Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I yield an additional 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), the Chair of the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal).

Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, who long has been active in highways, waterways and many environmental efforts.

I am pleased to yield to the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon, Congressman DeFazio, the Chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee of the Transportation Committee.

Mr. Speaker, may inquire about how much time I have left?

I thank the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. Speaker, having one speaker remaining, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts, Congressman Olver from the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I fully support H.R. 3357. In the future, the Ways and Means Committee will need to look at different funding proposals and administrative changes to keep the Highway Trust Fund running for the long term. Today we need to make sure it doesn't run out of money. This very simple bill does not cost a single dollar, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because we cannot wait another moment to pass health reform. We need health care, and we need it now. The American people cannot wait. Health care delayed is health care denied. It is our moral obligation to lead the way. Every day that we wait, 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance. People losing their health, their homes or their very lives because our health system does not work for them. This is not right. It is not just. It is not fair.

And we can do better. We can do much better. At the March on Washington 46 years ago, I said, ``They tell us to wait. They tell us to be patient.'' We cannot wait. We cannot be patient. I say, today, we want health care reform, and we want it now. We must answer the call of history and pass health care reform, and pass it now.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to reintroduce the Consumer Product and Food Safety Information Act.

This very simple bill creates a comprehensive information process to notify American consumers about food and product recalls. It seems that practically every week there is another product or food recall, but there's no single, comprehensive, federal resource to relay this information to consumers. As a result, many Americans are rightfully concerned and confused about what products might endanger the lives of their loved ones.

In the 110th Congress after a steady stream of countless food and product recalls, I co-chaired a Ways and Means joint Oversight and Trade subcommittee hearing on Import Safety. In that hearing, we learned that there is no collective federal public information process to inform Americans about food and product safety recalls. Instead there is an expectation that press releases and Internet announcements with moderate outreach efforts are sufficient communication tools.

This legislation is not about creating a new bureaucracy; the sole purpose is to establish a process. We must provide consumers with single resources--through various media phone, print, Internet, and radio--to learn exactly what toys are safe for their children, what food is safe to eat, what beds are safe to sleep in, and what medicines won't compromise their health. The Consumer Product and Food Safety Information Act of 2009 presents a clear plan to relay accurate and timely information to all consumers--regardless of age, income or location.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this basic, common-sense legislation. I want to make sure that my constituents-- parents, senior citizens, those who have access to the Internet, those who prefer newspapers and libraries--are provided with universal, consistent information about what foods and products are harmful to themselves and their loved ones.