Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate WSIU/WUSI-TV, the public television stations serving southern and southeastern Illinois on their switch to digital technology.

I have seen first hand the enormous challenge it is to not only commercial television stations but to public broadcasters to convert to digital programming. However, public stations are taking the lead and using digital technology for education.

Such is the case with WSIU/WUSI by sponsoring and developing these worthwhile programs: PBS Kids will offer Ready to Learn programming and afterschool specials. Chalkwaves will offer K-12 classroom instruction. Adult education will be improved. The Illinois Channel, a CSPAN-style broadcast bringing Illinois state government to the people, will become available.

I want to wish WSIU my sincere congratulations on the switch to digital this Sunday. I am sorry that I cannot join them in person but want to acknowledge their service to the people of Illinois.

Congratulations from us all to WSIU/WUSI Channels 8 and 16!

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to recognize the 50th Anniversary of Electric Energy, Incorporated located in Joppa, Illinois. Electric Energy Incorporated has done an excellent job of providing energy to southern Illinois for the past fifty years.

I am very proud to have Electric Energy, Incorporated located in the 19th Congressional

District of Illinois. Construction first began on the Electric Energy, Incorporated Joppa location on February 15, 1951. Since the first synchronization on April 10, 1953, Electric Energy, Incorporated has been producing coal generated energy to serve the needs of southern Illinois.

I am proud to represent Electric Energy, Incorporated and to share in this special anniversary with them. I thank them for all they do to provide energy to southern Illinois and this great nation and wish them many successes in the years to come. Congratulations!

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

Mr. Speaker, this motion would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to offer a Medicare prescription drug plan. There is no need for this type of government-run fallback because the House-passed legislation already guarantees that every Medicare beneficiary will have a choice of at least two Medicare prescription drug plans. My colleague represents rural Texas. I represent rural Illinois. We know that one of the problems in the past was Medicare plans leaving rural areas. I think the benefit of what we have crafted is that it broadens the scope of the region, so it brings in urban and suburban and rural areas.

The motion also instructs conferees to recede to the Senate and remove the hospital market basket update adjustment contained in the House bill.

I would note for my colleagues that we are not cutting hospital reimbursement. We are reducing the increase they are going to receive. According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, MedPAC, the nonpartisan panel of experts that advises Congress on Medicare policy, hospitals make a 10 percent profit for Medicare inpatient services and a 5 percent profit, on average, for all services provided to Medicare patients. MedPAC unanimously advised Congress to increase payments by 3 percent, which is what the House bill does. This is often referred to as market basket minus 0.4 percent.

Finally, this motion would instruct conferees to accept every rural provider increase contained in both bills. This budget-busting motion would mean the cost of the entire package would greatly exceed the $400 billion allocated under the budget resolution for Medicare prescription drugs which would jeopardize our ever getting to a final bill. Obviously, in our budget resolution we passed a bill for prescription drugs at $400 billion. If we go above that amount, we will raise to a point of order, and really we will have no resolution to this.

This motion is unnecessary. The House has already recognized the need to ensure that rural Medicare providers are paid fairly. In fact, the House-passed bill contains a $24.9 billion increase in payments to rural providers which would help rural hospitals and physicians, among others, continue to provide care to rural Americans. Let me just say that again. I traveled all through the August break to many of the rural hospitals. They do not have the numbers to be able to bring to bear all the benefits; so they really need this increase, and this rural increase of $24.9 billion is real dollars to rural hospitals, and I know my colleague knows the need for an increase in rural hospital coverage.

I would also note that conferees have reached agreement in a bipartisan, bicameral basis on a number of issues that will be reopened under this motion. Do we really want to tell the conferees to start over all from scratch? I do not because we want to see success in this Medicare prescription drug bill, and we want to finally get help to the seniors who have asked for it.

Mr. Speaker, we should allow the conferees to work out the differences between both bills. Since both Chambers have made a significant commitment on helping rural providers, I have every confidence that they will develop sound policy.

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

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

Let me just respond to my colleague. The private sector already does manage the Medicare system. The private sector is already involved in Medicare. They have been doing the job now. They can do it again. If we mandate, as in our bill, that there would be two providers and, again, expand the area of coverage from cities to suburbs out to the rural areas, we will have coverage. I would remind folks $24.9 billion for rural hospitals is real money.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time. Mr. Speaker, it is my time.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, it is because it is on a county-by-county basis. What this Medicare bill does is set up at least at a minimum two coverage areas that would cover the cities, the suburban areas, and out to the rural areas. That way we bring in a bigger pool. But I will also say again $24.9 billion to rural hospitals we jeopardize if we go off in an opportunity to start instructing conferees and distract from this debate.

Let me say one other thing about this legislation. I know my good friends and colleagues are budget watchers, and the idea is that we have a budget that has $400 billion for prescription drug benefit coverage. Anything other than what we have going down the track would probably be risen to a point of order because what they are going to do is expand the cost structure.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson) be allowed to control the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the village of Elsah, Illinois and honor its sesquicentennial this year.

Elsah was founded in 1853, and named by one of its founding fathers, General James Semple. General Semple's ancestors were from Scotland, and, according to town tradition, the village's prominent limestone bluffs reminded him of an island just off the Firth of Clyde, ``Ailsa Craig.'' Named after this Scottish island, the Mississippi River village slightly resembles a typical small, English town, with clusters of stone cottages mixed together with small yards and private gardens.

Recognized by the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the village stands as a reminder of nineteenth century living along the Mississippi River. Its buildings represent a midwestern interpretation of nineteenth century styles, and many original buildings remain in place today. The newer buildings were built in the old styles as well, as the village wants to retain its historic feel.

However, in 1993, Elsah was greatly affected by the floods on the Mississippi River. Some nearby cities decided to take state and Federal aid and leave their waterlogged homes and businesses behind, deciding to rebuild elsewhere. The people of Elsah, however, recognized their city's historic foundation, and rebuilt their town. Damaged public buildings were refurbished, and residents worked together to rebuild their homes and lives; and they did so, successfully.

Elsah is quieter now than it was in the past, as mills, warehouses, river shipping, two railroads, local businesses, and farmers have gradually disappeared. But, the village remains strong. Inviting tourists to ``leave the fast pace of everyday life'' behind, Elsah represents a remnant of Midwestern, small-town life from the late 1800s. Its sesquicentennial this year is a significant milestone, and I wish the village and its people the best.

Mr. Speaker, last year we passed on this floor the ``kids.us'' site. President Bush signed this bill into law. It is a safe Internet site for kids.

Now I call upon corporate America, nonprofits and governmental entities to put information on the kids.us site. I also call upon all parents to demand that these entities do so.

The World Wide Web is an amazing, but dangerous, place for kids. With the arrival of kids.us, it has now become safer.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for this time.

I sat in 2 days of hearings, too, and I would agree that most all of the panels said we need mandatory reliability standards, but 99 percent of them said we also need an empowered FERC. They also said we needed the ability to site. Even the Governors from Ohio and Michigan said if the States cannot get engaged in the siting of transmission after a date certain, we need a Federal authority to site transmission power, and they all said that. They also said there has to be a return on the investment so that capital will flow to the grid. Yes, they said mandatory reliability standards, but they said much, much more, and that is why I oppose this motion.

What has been the biggest concern on electricity in the last couple of years? It is an issue that is because of a constrained grid, because we need to expand the grid. Whether it is market manipulation, because of supply and demand issues in California, if they had an expanded grid that would not have been a problem. If it bottlenecks in the Northeast, they call it a cascade, and a power outage. If we would have had an expanded grid, that probably would not have been a problem.

Illinois needs a national energy plan. We need an expanded grid. We need to have our coal mines reopened and electricity generation. We need to keep our marginal oil wells open. We need to make sure that we decrease our reliance on foreign oil by enacting an ethanol standard, 5 billion renewable fuel standard for ethanol.

The Speaker and the chairman enacted a natural gas task force. Why? We are doubling demand for natural gas, and we are not doing anything on the supply end. So producers are stopping to produce fertilizer for our farmers. The price to dry corn has doubled, and it is disastrous for the agriculture community.

Do we want to continue to be reliant on foreign imported fossil fuel? The answer is no. I spoke in the hearings. I said this reliability issue is a Band-Aid. We need more than a Band-Aid. We need a healing. We need structural reform and a national energy plan. That is why any attempt to do anything other than this is really an attempt to kill a national energy bill. That is what it is. That is what we have identified, and Illinois cannot afford not to move on coal generation, transmission, ethanol, nuclear power, a transmission grid, and any other attempt to split this bill apart and not move now is an attempt to kill the bill.

I thank the Chairman for the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to the City of Harrisburg, Illinois, as she celebrates her sesquicentennial. Established in 1853, the people of Harrisburg have prospered while giving so much to this great nation.

The City of Harrisburg was founded as an administrative center for the newly-created Saline County. Since that time, many people have been blessed to call Harrisburg home. Harrisburg boasts of a quality educational system, the unrivaled natural beauty of the Shawnee National Forest and one of Illinois' top

track and field programs. Each fall, the City of Harrisburg celebrates its history with a Past to Present Festival. As well, Harrisburg has served as a vital part of the coal industry in southern Illinois for many years.

I am proud to represent the people of the great City of Harrisburg and to share in this special occasion with them. I thank them for all they give to this great nation and I wish them many successes in the years to come. Congratulations!

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the citizens of Shelbyville, Illinois and their celebration of the Shelbyville Chautauqua's Centennial. The Chautauqua Auditorium is on the National Register of Historic Places, and on August 6th, the town will be celebrating the building's 100th birthday.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, thousands of people would gather in Shelbyville every August for the 2-week celebration known as the Chautauqua. It was the event of the summer, and families from around Central Illinois drove miles by horse and buggy to attend. The Chautauqua started off as a kind of community tent meeting where people who lived miles apart would gather, share news, and visit for this one time every year.

Then, in 1903, the Shelbyville Chautauqua Auditorium opened in Shelbyville's Forest Park. The one-of-a-kind structure boasts a huge, round auditorium that is free of interior support posts that would obstruct the audience's view, instead relying on a unique series of beams in the ceiling. It is the largest building of its kind anywhere in the world.

With the new auditorium, the event transformed from a community tent meeting into a larger event where families came to hear many of the famous speakers and entertainers of the time. Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, evangelist Billy Sunday, and future President William Howard Taft all had turns taking the platform in Shelbyville.

The Shelbyville Chautauqua closed down in 1930, but the memories live on in events such as this Centennial Celebration. The Chautauqua brought a sense of community to the area that is unknown in our day, but with events like this, that sense is returning. I wish the people of Shelbyville the best in their celebration of a truly historic building that exemplifies what was so right about community life in the early 1900's.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding for the purposes of a colloquy.

The House State Department authorization bill, H.R. 1950, included provisions that prohibited the elimination of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe broadcast essential to Eastern Europe for another 2 years. While the authorizing level was 8.9 for fiscal year 2004, my amendment would have authorized $5.5 million for the funding of the international broadcast for the purposes of continuing Voice of America and Radio Free Europe to the newly emerging democracies in Eastern Europe, particularly Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and the other countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

This amendment we thought would have been a reasonable request because the authorization bill had $8.9 million. This would have asked for $5.5 million from various accounts in the appropriation process.

Despite new demands on the U.S. Government resources for expanded international broadcasts to other regions, we agree with both the chairman and the ranking member of the House Committee on International Relations who have agreed that these broadcasts to the Eastern European countries, the newly emerging democracies, is an important aspect of what we should be doing in foreign policy. It has only been 10 years since the Soviet military occupation ended in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; and the last 50 years of Soviet-imposed communism distorted the social, economic, and political order of these countries.

Much has changed for the better in these three countries and the rest of Eastern Europe, but corruption is still pervasive and touches every sector of these young democracies. Even the European Union and NATO, which have invited these young countries to be members, have admonished these candidates for corruptive levels in their government that threaten the development of their democracies.

U.S. international broadcasting serves as a role model to indigenous media of Eastern Europe of what nonpartisan, fair and accurate new coverage should be and as a standard by which local audiences can measure their own media performance.

In small countries like the Baltics, U.S. international broadcasters also fill an important niche as a balanced source of international news, which local news operations, lacking in financial resources, cannot afford. To cease Voice of America and Radio Free Europe broadcasting to Eastern Europe including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, most importantly would weaken the ability of these countries' media and civic societies to withstand the social, political and economic pressures of their transition to stable, democratic and free market states.

Let us not lose our investment in these valuable European allies. And I urge the chairman, as we move this bill forward, to really consider the risk of not having a fair, balanced voice in the media to these new, emerging democracies, one that can be dominated only by media that is coming out of Moscow.

Offered By: Mr. Shimkus

Amendment No. 19: In title IV (relating to Department of

State and Related Agency--Administration of Foreign Affairs)

under the heading diplomatic and consular programs after the

second dollar amount insert ``(decreased by $2,000,000)''.

In title IV (relating to Department of State and Related

Agency--Administration of Foreign Affairs) under the heading

capital investment fund after the first dollar amount insert

``(decreased by $1,000,000)''.

In title IV (relating to Department of State and Related

Agency--Administration of Foreign Affairs) under the heading

embassy security, construction, and maintenance after the

first dollar amount insert ``(decreased by $1,000,000)''.

In title IV (relating to Department of State and Related

Agency--International Organizations) under the heading

contributions to international organizations after the first

dollar amount insert ``(decreased by $1,000,000)''.

In title IV (relating to Department of State and Related

Agency--Broadcasting Board of Governors) under the heading

broadcasting capital improvements after the first dollar

amount insert ``(decreased by $500,000)''.

In title IV (relating to Department of State and Related

Agency--Broadcasting Board of Governors) under the heading

international broadcasting operations after the first dollar

amount insert ``(increased by $5,500,000)''.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we had the opportunity to hear Prime Minister Blair here in this Chamber; and I want to thank him for his straight talk, his compassion, his love of freedom, and the words he imparted to this Chamber.

He spoke from the heart about the dangers to the world and the importance to meet these dangers head on. He also spoke about the importance of the transatlantic relationship, which is really, I think, the world's next best hope to rid the world of dangerous tyrants and weapons of mass destruction.

The world is blessed by having firm, strong, committed leaders like President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. This country thanks them for their service, and we thank him for visiting this Chamber.

Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order that section 310 of the bill violates clause 2 of rule XXI of the rules of the House of Representatives prohibiting legislation on appropriation bills.

Section 310 extends requirements on the DOE that are inconsistent with its authority to self-regulate its facilities and contractors for nuclear safety and worker health and safety provided for in its organic statutes. Section 310 requires the Secretary of Energy to fund infrastructure improvements at nondefense science facilities to comply with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. This requires the Secretary to implement infrastructure improvements not currently required by law.

The language in section 310 clearly constitutes legislation on an appropriation bill in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House. I therefore insist on my point of order.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and achievements of Congressman George Edward Shipley.

A Representative from Olney, Illinois, he served the United States Congress from January 3, 1959-Jauary 3, 1979. Congressman Shipley was a member of the Eighty-sixth Congress and served as a Democrat for the succeeding 9 Congresses. His diligent efforts as chairman of the Legislative Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and as a member of the committee's Public Works Subcommittee were of great value to the citizens of this Nation.

Mr. Shipley helped secure a $1.2 million grant to help in the building of East Fork Lake in Richland County and he was known as a true representative of the people and a family man. It wasn't uncommon for him to bring his children out to Washington and let them see the political process up close. When he couldn't bring them out to Washington he seemed to always get home, even though the allowance for trips home wasn't as great as it is today. He realized that his first duty was to be a good father and he wanted to make sure he was there for his family.

Congressman Shipley was born in Richland County near Olney, Illinois on April 21, 1927. He served as a private in the United States Marine Corps from 1944 through 1947, with service in the South Pacific. He went on to attend East Richland High School and graduated in 1950.

Shipley then went on to become the chief deputy sheriff of Richland County, Illinois from 1950-1954 and then the sheriff from 1954-1958. He died on June 28, 2003 in Olney, IL. He is survived by his wife, Gloria Ann Shipley, their children, Lucinda Jane Lewis, George Edward ``Buddy'' Shipley Jr., Mimi Fehrenbacher, Shawn Marie Dwyer, and Robb Edward Allen Shipley, and his seventeen grandchildren. His first great grandchild will be born in September. He was a great man who served his community, his state and his nation in many capacities and he will be truly missed.

Mr. Speaker, demand for natural gas is expected to rise by as much as 50 percent over the next 25 years. Currently the Nation's inventory of natural gas lags behind past inventories of the popular fuel, and rising demand illustrates the need for consumers to become mindful of energy use.

During a press conference yesterday, Secretary Abraham unveiled the Department's new energy saver Web site, www.energysavers.gov. From tips on insulating a home, to heating and cooling, to buying new windows, the Web site serves as a consumer resource to start cutting home energy prices.

In addition, a number of energy associations such as the Alliance to Save Energy, the American Public Power Association, the American Gas Association and the Edison Electric Institute have teamed up with the Department to further educate their members and consumers in methods to help save electricity and in turn positively affect our Nation's natural gas supply situation.

I encourage my constituents, as well as Members, to review this material on this Web site as it provides a number of useful tips for consumers to begin to reduce their energy use and in turn lower their annual costs as we work to address the supply needs for this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to recognize Donald Baker of Jefferson County, Illinois. Don was recently inducted into the Semor Saints Hall of Fame of Jefferson County.

Don received this honor for his lifelong service to others. He served his country for four years in the U.S. Navy on the USS Remy during the Korean War. Today he is a regular participant in the Sweet Corn & Watermelon Festival, the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, Jefferson County's Crime Watch program, Memorial Day services, the Mt. Vernon City Wide Cleanup, and the National Day of Prayer. He has also assisted with the Emergency 911 Telephone Testing process.

I want to congratulate and thank Don for all he has done and will continue to do for the people in his community. He is a saint to all who know him and is very deserving of this prestigious honor.