Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a distinguished educator from Southern Illinois on the occasion of her retirement. Dr. Mary Jo Oldham served the residents of Southeastern Illinois for 40 years, as an instructor, a division chair, a vice president and then President of Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg.

Dr. Oldham began her career as an instructor at North Gallatin Community Unit High School in 1964. She moved on to Harrisburg High School, before taking a job at Southeastern Illinois College. Dr. Oldham has been deeply committed to the philosophy of the comprehensive community college, and has always been a strong advocate for the Illinois community college system. She has worked with a variety of grant projects, most of which were focused on curriculum development and the use of alternative delivery systems at SIC. In 2000, she became the fourth President of Southeastern Illinois College.

Dr. Mary Jo Oldham is a native of Shawneetown, Illinois. She resides in Shawneetown with her husband, Larry Morgan, a farmer. It is an honor to pay tribute to Dr. Oldham for her years of service to the people of Southeastern Illinois. She will be missed, but I want to wish her and her family a very happy and well-earned retirement. Dr.

Oldham's career will serve as a model for community college administrators for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to the village of Westervelt, as she celebrates her centennial. Established in 1904, the people of Westervelt have given much to the United States of America.

The village of Westervelt was named after Dr. J.C. Westervelt, who provided advice to many citizens on how to live happy and healthy lives. Since the founding of the village, many citizens have been blessed to call Westervelt home. This is true as well for Dr. Westervelt, who lived there until 1955, when he passed away at the age of 100.

I am proud to represent the people of the village of Westervelt and to share in this special occasion with them. I thank them for all they give to this great Nation and wish them continued success in years to come. Congratulations.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding to me, and I appreciate this special order.

I will be brief. I know I have got colleagues here on the floor who also want to address this issue.

Sometimes in this whole Medicare prescription drug debate, we focus on the prescription drug benefit, and I am glad we do because it is the first time we have ever offered real help to seniors, especially the poor, those in need. And I was talking to a group of homecare folks on Saturday morning at their in-service and educating them on the 1-800 number and the www.medicare.gov so that they can help their clients access this needed program.

So that is what we have got to continue to do, and that is what I hope all of my colleagues, whether they were for the bill or against the bill, if they are for their seniors, they ought to be educating them on the benefits of this package.

But, also, before I even go on the Medicare prescription drug debate, I always tell the folks in rural Illinois, and I represent 30 counties south of Springfield down to Indiana and Kentucky, that in this bill is the best rural package for hospitals ever passed.

And that is why we have got a good bipartisan vote by some Democrats who represent rural America and realize that in the debate on funding aspects, there was always the concern, well, if it is rural, it must cost less so we can pay less. But when we talk about buying the needed high-tech fancy equipment that is needed today and they do not have the buying power of a major network, those pieces of equipment come almost more costly than they would if they are buying multiple copies of this equipment.

So for anyone who represents rural America, this bill was a huge victory in making sure that our rural community hospitals can operate and keep their doors open. And I want to thank the leadership of the chairman to make sure that that was part of the package.

The other thing that I am very excited about and I like to talk about it all the time because I want feedback from my constituents. In fact, Bob Ney, who is the mayor of the District of Columbia, he is our mayor, I have asked him countless times to make sure that we get options for health care and insurance packages, do your best to make sure we have a health savings account provision that we ourselves can look at as part of our buying options and your working options for our insurance. The health savings accounts are probably, I think, our last great chance to reform an entitlement system and get individuals back in control of their buying decisions and costs. Making health care decisions based upon quality service, timeliness, people they like, and cost.

What has happened, in my humble opinion, because I am not an expert in this field, is that we do not know what we are paying for health care delivery and services, and we do not know actually who is paying and how much they

are paying because there are multiple levels.

I have got a farmer in my district that has moved to a health savings account plan, and he is saving $10,000 a year on his catastrophic plan. And the deductible portion, which, if he does not use or even if he uses a portion of that, that can roll over. Think of the great benefits to young kids getting married now. This health savings account, if it is going to be offered and if they take advantage of that, having that tax-free savings continue to roll over and what it will do in the buying decisions and costs, and they are shopping around for the basic health care services, eyewear, dental visits, things that now are put in this big pool of insurance that some offer and some do not. If they need it, they have got it. If they want the preventative care, go get it. It is going to save money in the long run. And the more money one saves in this health savings account, the more that rolls over in the next years.

So I want to thank the chairman for letting me butt in line, and I want to thank my colleagues for allowing me to do that. I would ask our colleagues, when we talk about the benefits of the Medicare prescription drug bill, spend time on the prescription drug benefit. It is a great benefit and people should take advantage of it. But look at other portions of the bill. For the rural hospitals, we did great. And the future of getting people back in control of their health care costs and decisions on their health care savings accounts, I am hoping that it is everything that it is going to be advertised to be.

And I am asking people to let me know if it is doing what we think it should do because no piece of legislation that we pass here on the floor of the House is perfect. We all know that. We will get another look at it. We will have hearings. We will try to reform and adjust. And we only do that by getting good feedback from our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, 28 years ago we built the last refinery in the United States, 28 years ago. We import 7 percent of our refined product in this country. We import gasoline. We hear all the problems of the crises of imported crude oil. What many people do not understand, or they believe, is that we import refined product, the gasoline that goes into people's tanks. Seven percent is imported from foreign countries. We must and we can do better.

These countries that are importing refined product, they get the value-added benefit of refining the crude oil. They get the jobs of refining that product. They get the jobs of building those refineries. They also get the tax benefits from the national government and the local level. We can and we must do better. That is why I applaud my colleague for bringing this bill to the floor.

In Illinois over the past year we have lost 220,000 barrels per day of refined capacity with the closure of three refineries. With the number of boutique fuels in Illinois, this has led to large price spikes when problems occur in other refineries. The most recent refinery closure resulted in the loss of 300 jobs. The number of refineries in the United States has gone from 324 in 1981 to 153 today. In Illinois alone, we have decreased from 11 refineries to four.

This bill protects existing environmental regulations on clean air, and what better place than to address the siting issues than to put them on old, abandoned refinery sites. So people who know and have lived and now have these abandoned refineries, it is brilliant to say let us get these sites that are abandoned back into use.

Mr. Speaker, this is a critical issue at a time of not just high demand for crude oil but demand for product. It is unconscionable that we import refined product. In fact, the Governor of Illinois recognized that when he ordered the reopening of a closed refinery outside of my district to help ease the supply of refined product. This specifically will help Lawrenceville with a closed facility and Wood River, Illinois. We have to get these refineries back into refining product, and then we need to address our crude oil shortages. I applaud the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Barton) and look forward to the vote on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 10th annual Flag Day Party hosted each year by Jake Willhite of Chesterfield, Missouri.

Jake has been celebrating and honoring Flag Day with his family and friends for most of his life now and has inspired many of us to have a greater appreciation for our flag and its meaning. It is significant to note that someone so young can teach us so much.

Jake's parents, Bill and Shannon Willhite send out an annual invitation to Jake's party. This is what this year's invitation had to say: Jake's 10th annual Flag Day Party

``When Jacob's party began in June of 1995, he carried his flag everywhere. His patriotism was alive. Carrying the flag was Jacob's own way of showing us all that June 14th was its day. Since that first party, friends and family have come through when it's time to celebrate the red, white and blue. So come join us again. The years go by fast. We're ready to celebrate with Jacob's 10th Annual blast.''

According to Bill and Shannon, a great time was had by all of Jake's friends and family members including his sisters Samantha and Kennedy.

Jake, we want to thank you for reminding us how important our flag is.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman for the time.

While Rome burns, Nero fiddles, and that is what we seem to be doing here in Washington. When we have historically the highest gas prices that any of us have ever seen, highest natural gas prices in our lifetime, a major blackout of the northeast, and we cannot pass an energy bill, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves.

The nay-sayers point out all these little problems for them and disregard all the humongous benefits that we have in this bill.

Let me talk about MTBE. I am an ethanol guy, ethanol State, Illinois. We grow it, we refine it, we use it. The MTBE provisions do not relieve people of their liability if they spill MTBE. It does not relieve people of their liabilities if it goes out of their storage areas and contaminates the groundwater.

What it does is it says if the Federal Government asks these people to refine MTBE, we told them to make MTBE, and now we are going to say they created a faulty product after the Federal

Government told them to produce MTBE? That is why we do not have industry investing in this country. We have no certainty. Who else but the government tell them to go build a product and then that same government 15 years later sues them and says you can sue them, take them to court, close down this industry. It is a shame, it is embarrassing, and for that to be the reason that this bill fails, we ought to be embarrassed for ourselves.

This country has to make a decision. If we want to use electricity, guess what, we have got to have a fuel, we have got to have generation, and then we have got to be able to transmit that electricity over lines. This bill does that.

Our country is a large country. We are going to be a very mobile society for decades. We are going to need to drive in our vehicles, and we are going to need to have fuel for our vehicles. This bill does that.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today it adjourn to meet at noon tomorrow, Friday, June 4, 2004.

Mr. Speaker, this is the longest 1-minute that we will see on the House floor in a year, and this is the annual farewell to our pages who have served us so well this last year. I would like to ask the page class of 2003-2004 to come on down to the well of the Chamber. Come on. Come on down, and find a place in the first two rows here.

Well, here we are. It is a special time. As you finalize your activities today on the floor and you go through your graduation tomorrow and you get loaded up, first of all, thanks. Thanks for serving us. Thanks for serving your country. We are going to miss you.

As chairman of the House Page Board, it is my privilege to acknowledge and thank this outstanding group of young men and women. Today marks your last day of service in the 2004 page class. You are starting another phase of your life, and all of these phases of life always continue. New phases, new challenges.

While today is the ending of the page experience, it is the beginning of a multitude of opportunities that may not even be revealed to you yet. Universities and careers, travels and adventures, families and friends all lie on the horizon for each one of you.

It is true that whenever one door closes, another one opens. Go boldly through each new door that presents itself during the course of your life and embrace the challenge that the world puts in front of you with the same vigor and expertise and the commitment to work that you have shown here on the floor.

We really are proud of you. You have had an insider's view that a lot of people would pay a lot of money for. As many of you know, part of my West Point experience was leadership; it is a leadership school. What we teach at West Point is that there are good examples of leadership and there are bad examples of leadership, and take the good and remember the bad and try not to replicate the bad.

As you have seen, a multitude of things happened in this last year, I challenge you to do the same thing. Look at the good qualities of the Members and the staff, not just the page program staff, from the dorm to the school, to here on the floor, but also your interaction with Members of Congress, your interaction with their staffs. Take the good. Remember that. Use that to help mold you into the kind of adult you want to be. But also remember the bad experiences, how maybe some of you saw the treatment of other individuals that you did not really think was right or proper, and use that and commit yourself to say, that is not going to be me when I am an adult. That is part of the learning and growing experience.

I am going to be able to interject as we have a chance to share, but I want to yield now to the ranking member of the Page Board, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee), a man who has been involved with this program, I would like to say forever, although he may not agree with that.

Mr. Speaker, at this point, I will submit for the Record the names of the class of 2003-2004.

2003-2004 Pages

republicans

Rebecca Ball-WA, Manfred Bekeris--AK, Ryan Bieshaar--CO,

Daniel Boden--CA, Anthony Bonna--FL, Clinton Brown--MO,

Diamond Bruner--VA, Tiffany Cannon--GA, and Michael

Capovilla--NV.

Tom Church--MI (Camp), Dominique Clay--MI, Michael Dennis--

PA, Jenna Douglass--DE, Andy Duberstein--VA, Chris

Fitzwater--CO, Patrick Fortune--CA, Andrew Gall--PA, and Tim

George--MD.

Andrea Hall--KY, Clay Hammock--SD, Katelyn Hancock--IN,

Weston Jones--SC, Clara Kang--CA, Jenna Kelsey--NJ, Craig

Kreinbihl--OH, Carolina Krohne--FL, and Allison Kushner--NY.

Nicholas Lane--AR, Matthew Mazzetta--IL, Elizabeth McCune--

TX, Rachael McMillan--NC, Matthew Merighi--NJ, James

Orlando--NY, Sarah Reed--WY, Liesel Rickhoff--TX, and Ashley

Rubenstein--WV.

Taylor St. Claire--AZ, Michael Sala--PA, Rebecca Sher--TX,

Kara Skarda--NC, Nicholas Smith--MI, Katherine Souza--CA,

Lynda Thorne--GA, Nicholas Vorpagel--WI, and Christine

Wright--CO.

democrats

Clarice Bennett--IL, Kathryn Byerly--KS, Joseph Carliner--

MD, Melissa Eddy--NC, Alexander Gates--PA, Omar Halabi--OH,

Demetrius Harrison--IL, and Ian Herron-Cary--IN.

Corinna Holden--VT, David Horvath--MA, Sarah Johnson--WI,

Frances Mercedes--NY, David Miller--CA, Monica Ramos--CA,

Jennifer Ridder--CO, and Mallory Scarritt--FL.

Samantha Shinberg--DC, Alison Shott--PA, Mary Swick--PA,

Maza Men-asche-Untemeyer--FL, Jeffrey Waters--NY, Brian

Wright--MN, and Blake Yocum--IA.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), who has always been very, very supportive of the program and very gracious with his time to come down on the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, now I would like to ask my colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley), who, as many of you know, has been very involved in following your progress and lack thereof throughout this year, to address you all.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his chance to share with you.

Did he not mention that maybe it might be your high privilege and honor to be the chairman of the Page Board some year? He always leaves that off. I do not know why that is.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), who has a great history in education as a superintendent of schools, and I thank my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) to come up as he wants to address the group. This is a perfect example. The gentleman and I are very good friends. We do not agree very much on about anything, but one thing we agree on is the service that you all conduct and the honor of this institution and the hard work that everybody puts into it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown).

Mr. Speaker, I want to send my regards for the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), who has visited with many of you. He is receiving an award down at the EPA. I know he is trying to get back here on time, but it looks like he will not. As you know, he has been very close to the program. He will get a chance to extend his remarks.

To whom much is given, much is expected. And I think that is really is summary of what the Members who have come on the floor have attempted to say in their own way. We thank you for your service. We have all bled a little bit this year. We have all sweated a little bit this year. We have all cried a little bit this year, not only the pages but of course, of course, the dorm staff, the school staff, the floor staff. Make sure you go and tell them to thank the adult supervision folks who have been so patient to get us through this year.

Again, from the House of Representatives, from the Speaker, from the minority leader, thank you for your service. Have a great graduation tomorrow. May God bless you all, and may God bless the United States of America. You are now dismissed.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the subject of my Farewell to the Pages 1-minute speech.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Bramley Funeral home in Divernon, Illinois on the occasion of its 80th anniversary on June 6, 2004.

Bob Bramley helped his late father, Chester Bramley, in the family's mortuary business many years ago. Bob graduated from high school in 1939 and went to work as a clerk for the C & IM Railroad; served in the armed forces from 1942 to 1946 as a Master Sergeant in the Army Medical Corp. In 1947, he attended mortuary school in Saint Louis, Missouri and graduated in 1948. Bob and his wife Carolyn were married on December 27, 1947, and worked with his father until his father passed away in 1967. The Bramley's also operated an ambulance service, which discontinued service in 1981.

Tim Bramley, Bob and Carolyn's son, went to mortuary school in Carbondale, Illinois and received his license in 1979. Tim then went to work at the Bisch Funeral Home in Springfield, Illinois for 13 years. Tim left Bisch Funeral Home and went to work with his father when the Bramley's opened a second funeral home in Auburn, Illinois on June 4, 1991. Tim's daughter Sarah graduated from the Carl Sandburg Mortuary School in Galesburg, Illinois in May of 2003 and is currently serving as an apprentice with her grandfather and father.

In addition to the family's business, Bob has also worked for the Postal Service for 22 years, kept books for the Divernon School District for 30 years, and worked as the Village treasurer for 49 years. Bob also served many years the secretary and treasurer of the Divernon Fire Protection District and is currently the secretary and treasurer of the Brush Creek Cemetery Board, a position which he has held for 45 years.

Bob states that his wife, Carolyn, has always been there in the background; her help and support have been invaluable to him throughout the years. Mr. Bramley feels strongly about providing this service to the community, even though being in a small town is difficult because every person who passes away is your friend. Mr. Bramley has dedicated his whole life to the community and the village of Divernon has recognized June 6, 2004 as ``Bob Bramley Day.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Corporal Forest Jostes who recently was killed in action fighting for freedom in Iraq.

Corporal Jostes was a 21-year-old from Albion, Illinois who served as an Army Corporal with the 1st Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division from Ft. Hood, Texas. He was a 2000 graduate of Edwards County High School, after which he joined the National Guard at the age of 17. He had only been in Iraq for about a week, when military personnel say his Humvee was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing Jostes and the driver, in a suburb of Baghdad.

Corporal Jostes is survived by his parents, Von and Diane Ibbotson; a sister, Michelle Lee Teeter; two brothers Benjamin L. Jostes and Evan R. Ibbotson; and his grandparents, John and Laura Ibbotson, Glen and Darlene Kellison and Norman and Shirley Costley. I am proud of the service this young man has given to our country and the service he and others are doing everyday. Not enough can be said about Corporal Jostes and our other brave men and women who are serving in Iraq. It is troops like him that are risking their lives everyday to ensure our freedom here at home and to others throughout the rest of the world. I salute him and my best wishes go out to his family and all the troops fighting to ensure freedom and democracy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Torrey Stoffel-Gray, who was recently killed in action in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Torrey Stoffel-Gray was a 19-year-old Marine from Patoka, Illinois. Patoka is a rural town in my district with a population around 630. At 16 he left Patoka to enter Lincoln Challenge, a military-style alternative school at Rantoul, Ill. Many friends and family say that Lincoln Challenge changed his life and helped him find his way. This young man was recently killed in action in Iraq when his convoy was struck by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire in the Al Anbar Province. My condolences go out to his family and friends.

Lance Cpl. Stoffel-Gray is survived by his mother, Mary Stoffel, his stepfather Jerry Stoffel and his three brothers, Brandon, Russell, and Blake. Lance Cpl. Stoffel-Gray was awarded the Purple Heart, which was presented to his mother at the time of his burial. Not enough can be said about Lance Cpl. Stoffel-Gray and the rest of our brave men and women serving in Iraq. These soldiers are risking their lives every day to ensure our freedom here at home and for others throughout

the world. I salute him and my best wishes go out to his family and all the troops fighting to ensure freedom and democracy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Kim Bigley who was recently killed in Kosovo.

Kim Bigley was an employee of DynCorp International which was serving with the United Nations as international police officers. Kim and other members were fired upon by a Jordanian police officer for unknown reason and she and two others were killed in the resulting firefight.

Kim Bigley was a 47-year-old who lived most of her life in southern and Southwestern Illinois. She was the former warden of the Shawnee Correctional Center, and had just completed her first day of job orientation when she was killed. She is survived by her parents, Jim and Janice Bigley of Greenfield; sons, Casey Morrow of Springfield and Quinn Morrow of Decatur; daughter, Karly Morrow of Paducah; and a brother, Joe Bigley of Sherman. My thoughts and prayers go out to her families and loved ones. Ms. Bigley gave her life in an effort to improve the lives of others. This sacrifice should never be forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, last week, an article in Biofuels Journal stated that, according to a new report by economist John Urbanchuk, motorists would be facing much higher gasoline prices, an additional 30 cents per gallon, were it not for the growing ethanol industry adding billions of gallons to U.S. fuel supplies.

Without ethanol, our country would be even more reliant on foreign imports of gasoline, and the pain at the pump would be much more severe. More than 30 percent of all U.S. gasoline is blended with ethanol. Without ethanol, refiners would be forced to import about 217,000 barrels per day of high-octane, clean-burning gasoline blending components.

Over the last 25 years, while no new U.S. refineries have been built and scores have been closed, 78 new ethanol plants have been built and 10 more are under construction today.

Ethanol use will bolster U.S. gasoline supplies by more than 3.3 billion gallons in 2004 alone.

We need the Senate to pass H.R. 6, the first comprehensive energy legislation Congress has put forth in years. It will increase our use of renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel and reduce our continued overdependence on foreign oil.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Captain John Tipton who was recently killed in Iraq.

Cpt. Tipton, 32, a 1989 Granite City High School graduate, died this past Sunday in an explosion during combat in the Al Anbar Province in Iraq. The province, west of Baghdad,

is where Camp Fallujah is located and is one of the most hostile regions in Iraq. Capt. Tipton was commander of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas with his wife, Susie Tipton, of Collinsville, and their two children, Austin, 4, and Kaitlyn, 2.

I am proud of the service Cpt. Tipton has given to our country and the service he and others provide on a daily basis. Not enough can be said about the sacrifice and dedication these men and women display while serving in Iraq. It is troops like Cpt. Tipton, those risking their lives everyday, that ensure our freedom here at home and to others throughout the rest of the world. I salute him and my heart felt condolences go out to his family and all the troops continually fighting to ensure freedom and democracy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Gary Weston, who was recently killed in Kosovo.

Gary Weston was an employee of DynCorp International, which was serving with the United Nations as international police officers. Gary and other members were fired upon by a Jordanian police officer for unknown reason. Two fellow workers were killed in the resulting firefight. Gary was flown to a hospital after receiving several gunshots. He later died from complications of the gunshot wounds, his wife Nina Weston was there by her husband's side.

Gary Weston was 52 years old and lived in Vienna, Illinois. Not enough can be said about the great sacrifice this man made for his country, the ultimate sacrifice. He is survived by wife, Nina Weston; his mother, Christine Weston of Metropolis; a son, Richard N. Weston of Granite City; two daughters, Rachel A. Weston of Honolulu, Hawaii and Elizabeth E. Weston of Vienna; five grandchildren, Trey, Derek, Heather, Dalton and Parker; two brothers, Ben and wife Jan Weston of Vienna and Ed and wife Susan Weston of Cape Girardeau; a sister, Melinda and husband Ron White of Austin, Texas; and his mother-in-law, Marilyn Whiteside of Vienna. My thoughts and prayers go out to his families and loved ones. Gary Weston gave his life in an effort to improve the lives of others. This sacrifice should never be forgotten.