Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking my colleagues, Senator Tom Carper and Susan Collins, and especially the cochair of the Congressional High-Performance Building Caucus, Representative Russ Carnahan, and also Representative Pete Sessions for all of their hard work in bringing this bipartisan legislation before us today.

The Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of 2010 will save taxpayers dollars, it's been mentioned many times, by putting Federal buildings on the cutting edge of energy efficiency and will help build expertise among America's workforce needed for tomorrow's green jobs.

As my colleagues are aware, the Federal Government is the Nation's largest property manager, with more than 500,000 buildings and structures worldwide. So this bill presents an opportunity to lead by example and to demonstrate the immense savings and efficiency that can be achieved by making smart investments in human energy through the Federal workforce.

This bill will help ensure that Federal buildings are operating at peak efficiency. It will equip Federal employees who maintain our buildings with the resources they need to utilize green building technologies, implement industry best practices, and cut energy costs for the public.

Madam Speaker, thanks to America's scientists and engineers, we are making rapid strides in sustainable building technologies and designs. But the full rewards of this work, both to the environment and to taxpayers, cannot be realized unless our building managers have the training to utilize them.

The Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of 2010 will require the General Services Administration to identify core competencies necessary for Federal personnel to utilize high-performance building practices and technologies. The GSA will then work with private industry and institutions of higher learning to create comprehensive continuing education courses to ensure that the Federal employees know how to employ green technologies. This training will ensure that the Federal Government can meet its energy reduction goals and get a proper return on taxpayers' investment.

Madam Speaker, American taxpayers are demanding a renewed focus on eliminating wasteful government spending, and this bipartisan bill presents an opportunity to do just that while conserving our domestic energy supply.

The Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act will put us on the forefront of building technology and transform our Nation's building stock for years to come. Just as importantly, it makes an investment in the training of our workforce that will help American workers compete for the green jobs of tomorrow.

Again, I would like to thank the gentleman from Missouri, my colleague and cochair of the High-Performance Building Caucus, for his hard work in bringing forward this bill. And I'd like to thank Chairman Norton for her support and Ranking Member Mica and particularly Chairman Oberstar. He will certainly be missed here on this House floor, and I know that we all wish him well.

I would urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6398, which would extend the current Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's, or FDIC's, guarantee of Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts, also called IOLTAs, for another 2 years.

I would also like to thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Doggett) for introducing this corrections bill to amend the Dodd-Frank Act.

The IOLTA program represents a significant source of financial support to civil legal aid programs for the poor. These programs operate in all 50 States. In 37 States, including my home State of Illinois, they are mandatory. IOLTAs contain client funds held by a lawyer for a short period of time. Interest generated from these accounts is paid to charitable organizations, not to the lawyer or the client.

In 1978, Florida was the first State to establish an IOLTA program. Illinois became the 11th State to establish IOLTAs, and in 1983, the Supreme Court of Illinois required that the interest from these accounts be collected and administered by the Lawyers Trust Fund, a not-for-profit corporation created in 1981 by the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. Since then, these funds have supported civil legal assistance to the impoverished in Illinois.

When State legislatures and State supreme courts created IOLTA, the FDIC carved out an exception to Regulation D that allowed the payment of interest on these demand accounts.

The current Term Asset Guarantee program, or TAG program, under which the FDIC guarantees the total amount of client funds maintained in IOLTAs, expires December 31, 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act creates an equivalent program, running for 2 years beginning January 1, 2011, but makes several changes, including a more narrow definition of a ``covered account.'' In what appears to have been a drafting error, IOLTAs were not covered under the new program established by the Dodd- Frank Act. This bill corrects that inadvertent omission so that IOLTAs are fully insured.

If the current guarantee were allowed to lapse, attorneys in the 37 States with IOLTA mandates, acting in accordance with their fiduciary duties to maintain the security of the client funds, might be forced to transfer IOLTA accounts from local community banks to larger, safer institutions, and attorneys in the other jurisdictions might be forced to transfer funds from IOLTA accounts to non-interest-bearing accounts to qualify for unlimited FDIC coverage. If the coverage for these accounts is not extended, a critical source of civil legal aid might unnecessarily and inappropriately shrink. In addition, according to the Independent Community Bankers of America, the ICBA, ``without this coverage, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars will be withdrawn from IOLTAs, adversely impacting liquidity in the banking system with a disproportionate impact on community banks.''

This bill is supported by the ICBA and the American Bar Association. The Congressional Budget Office has determined that, although the bill costs $15 million over a period of 5 years, the bill would raise $2 million over a 10-year period.

I again urge support for the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as an original cosponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 325, supporting the goals and ideals of National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day on December 21, 2010.

I thank Mr. Peters of Michigan for managing this bill. I would also like to thank my colleagues, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Davis of Kentucky and Ms. Bernice Johnson of Texas, who all worked to bring this important measure to the floor.

As many of you know, the four of us joined together this May to form the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Homelessness. As part of that effort, we aim to raise awareness about the importance of preventing and ending homelessness in our country through efforts such as the resolution before us today. I would strongly encourage any Member who hasn't already done so to consider joining this important new caucus. Following our initial launch, we held a successful briefing in October to discuss ending veterans' homelessness. During the 112th Congress, we hope to hold similar forums to facilitate exchanges among interested stakeholders to raise national attention and discuss solutions to the challenges facing homeless families, veterans, and especially children and youth.

Today, with this concurrent resolution, we bring to the attention of our colleagues one of the most tragic realities that too often goes unnoticed among homeless Americans, the loss of life. Each year, the National Coalition for the Homeless organizes memorial events on the first day of winter to recognize those Americans who have passed away. Last year, over 150 cities held events to honor those homeless children and adults who died, many without any family, friends or loved ones being given a chance to bear witness to their final moments or to mourn their loss. While homeless individuals too often die in anonymity, their lives each held meaning, purpose and value. This resolution is an opportunity to recognize that fact and reflect on the lives that have been lost.

This winter in the Chicago area, church officials and members, homeless providers, volunteers, government officials, and others will gather on National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. In my home district, DuPage Public Action to Deliver Shelter, or DuPage PADS, will host an event to recognize the lives of six homeless people in DuPage County who passed away in 2010. In the City of Chicago, where an estimated 25 homeless people have passed away this year, the Ignatian Spirituality Project will sponsor a memorial service at St. Patrick's Church.

Whether in public or in prayer, I encourage my colleagues in Congress as well as Americans across our great country to take a moment during this holiday season to remember our homeless neighbors who have passed on. I also encourage every American to join together at local events this winter as we continue our national campaign to prevent and end homelessness.

I ask my colleagues to support this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

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

I am pleased to be a cosponsor of H.R. 5866, and I thank Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall for their leadership on this legislation.

Due to population and estimated economic growth over the next 25 years, the United States' demand for electricity is expected to rise by 30 percent. To meet rising demand for power for our homes and businesses, we need to expand our domestic and electricity production and create affordable, reliable electricity production in an environmentally responsible way. Nuclear power is the only way to do this.

My home State of Illinois already leads the way, deriving half of its electricity from nuclear energy, but we need to do more to expand nuclear here and across the country. That is why I cosponsored this legislation which supports the development and deployment of small modular nuclear reactors and reauthorizes nuclear R&D activities at the Department of Energy.

A complement to existing large-scale reactors, small modular reactors create less time and money to construct and are based on current reactor designs, thereby reducing the burdensome licensing process. This is an ideal solution for growing communities and cash-strapped utilities that need extra generation capacity at a fraction of the cost.

More importantly, H.R. 5866 extends and modifies R&D activities that promote advanced research to close the nuclear fuel cycle and recycle spent nuclear fuel. My district's scientists and engineers at Argonne National Laboratory lead the Nation in research and development for nuclear fuel or recycling.

Recycling is not just important for the reduction of waste created but also for the conservation of worldwide uranium resources. It will also encourage the deployment of expanded nuclear power for industry and States that want to provide affordable electricity without unnecessary liabilities.

In summary, H.R. 5866 is a strong bipartisan bill. It will complement the current revival of the nuclear industry by extending DOE's research and development activities to pursue longer term advances in three ways: reactor designs, fuel cycle R&D, and in crosscutting areas such as materials and computer modeling and simulation.

I do want to note that there are a few minor changes made to the bill that was reported by the committee in section 4 and section 15. These changes should in no way be interpreted to change the intent or purpose of the language.

This bill is endorsed by a comprehensive group of key stakeholders, including the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Next Generation Nuclear Plant Industry Alliance, the American Chemical Society, Toshiba- Westinghouse, and GE-Hitachi.

I urge Members to support H.R. 5866.

I reserve the balance of my time.

In closing, I would like to thank the chairman for all of the work he has done as chairman of the Science Committee, and this bill shows what you've been able to accomplish in the research and development, the basic science, and how this will benefit so much our country, and we really thank you for all the work that you put into this.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with heavy heart to mourn the loss, in my hometown, of the Hinsdale Fire Department's Deputy Chief Mark Johnson. Mark's family, his fellow firefighters, and the community of Hinsdale are grieving his unexpected loss, but we are also celebrating his life as a dedicated public servant.

In 1986 Mark joined the Hinsdale Fire Department and has since served as a firefighter, lieutenant, captain, and finally deputy chief. He was driven, committed to the job, and a mentor for many young firefighters. His colleagues remember him as someone you could always count on and a selfless, positive person to be around.

A seasoned veteran with the fire department, Mark dedicated his career to saving lives and rescuing people from harm's way. He will be truly remembered as a hero. In addition to his work, he was loved and respected by all who knew him. The community of Hinsdale has really lost one of our own. I offer my deepest sympathies to his wife, Cheryl, and his son, Matt.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of today's YouCut proposal to fulfill a promise made to the American people. TARP must end. Since January 2009, many of us in this body have voted to end TARP and the continued abuse of taxpayer dollars. Congress created the emergency Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, as a temporary stopgap against an imminent financial collapse. Ronald Reagan once said that ``no government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this Earth.''

The emergency has ended. It is time to terminate TARP and return the money to taxpayers, as promised. Instead, the administration has continued to hand out billions of dollars to irresponsible actors on Wall Street. It has used the money as a slush fund, created new Federal programs, and paid for $19 million in new spending in the Dodd-Frank bill.

In August, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that TARP will cost taxpayers an additional $4 billion to $7 billion per year over the next 3 years, and let's not forget that the Dodd-Frank Act makes taxpayer-backed bailouts permanent.

Our country can't afford this kind of excessive spending and permanent government intrusion into the private marketplace. American taxpayers--our constituents, families and small businesses--are demanding tax relief, not more spending and bailouts. Congress must listen to the American people.

This week, Americans voted overwhelmingly through the YouCut initiative for this House to end TARP bailouts. We need to stop the hemorrhaging, end the bailouts and return the TARP funds to the American taxpayers.

I urge my colleagues to vote against the previous question. In doing so, support today's YouCut initiative, and protect taxpayers from more bailouts that we cannot afford in this economy.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, small businesses create the majority of new jobs and their growth is America's best ticket to economic recovery. But today our small businesses are finding it difficult to keep their doors open.

Since the end of July, I have held 14 town hall meetings, two job fairs, two small business grant supermarkets and several tours of area businesses.

In just a few short months, I have had conversations with thousands of business leaders and have asked them what they need to become stable again. Not once did business leaders come to me asking for a $30 billion bank bailout. What they do want is crystal clear. They want government to get out of the way. They want Washington to quit burdening them with higher taxes, new bureaucracies and excessive regulations. They want Washington to stop throwing taxpayer money at the problem with failed spending. They want incentives so that they can have certainty in the business climate so that they can anticipate their cost, to invest wisely and start hiring again.

The most important thing for small businesses to give them certainty is extending all the tax cuts. Instead, this bill sets up a mini-TARP bailout, sending $30 billion to banks that promise to improve lending. Rather than telling businesses what they want, let's listen to what they really need.

I urge my colleagues to reject this plan and work with us to give our small business community the tax relief they need to create jobs and lead us toward an economic recovery.

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, September 14th, I was not present for rollcall vote 519. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate August 15th as Indian Independence Day--a day for all Americans to honor the hardships and sacrifices that paved the road to Indian freedom.

After centuries of struggle and suffering under British rule, India won its independence from Great Britain on August 15th, 1947. Just as America struggled to achieve independence, thousands of Indian freedom fighters died in their efforts to attain sovereignty for India.

Coincidentally, my own birthday falls on this same day as the birth of the world's largest democracy, and I am pleased to share in the celebration.

Americans of Indian descent have made countless and distinguished contributions to the United States in numerous fields, including business, education, medicine, science, and public service. Nowhere is this more evident than in the 13th District of Illinois, which is home to a thriving Indian-American community deeply rooted in the traditions of Indian culture.

To honor this day, the city of Naperville, Illinois will conduct a flag ceremony as a tribute to India's independence and will host a cultural celebration to commemorate the occasion with traditional patriotic dances and youth performances.

Madam Speaker, let us join with Americans of Indian origin from across the country to celebrate Indian Independence Day and take this opportunity to appreciate the rich culture, traditions, and history that have contributed so much to the United States of America. I invite my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to join me, Naperville Mayor George Pradel, and the residents of the 13th Congressional District in celebration of India's Independence Day.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this rule and to ask this body to step back for a moment to do a quick sanity check. What's the purpose of this bill? I thought its purpose was to rein in Wall Street and end the abuses that precipitated the most massive financial meltdown and economic downturn since the Great Depression. Its purpose is to make Wall Street pay for the abuses, not Main Street. I am all for that.

In fact, along with my Republican colleagues I offered the first reform bill, H.R. 3310, back in July, and many amendments designed to rein in Wall Street, end the abuses, but not harm Main Street. Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd's first regulatory reform proposal was similar to ours, and offered great promise. Unfortunately, these commonsense and necessary reforms were scrapped in favor of the bill that we consider today.

Instead, we have before us a bill that turns the stated purpose upside down. What do I mean? Well, the end result is that Goldman Sachs supports the bill and the Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill. Goldman's CEO testified, and I quote, ``I am generally supportive. The biggest beneficiary of reform is Wall Street itself.'' Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber, which represents Main Street American businesses, opposes the bill.

Wall Street supports this bill while Main Street suffers? Where is the logic in that? Main Street didn't engage in shady accounting gimmicks. Main Street didn't make risky derivatives trades. Main Street didn't issue subprime loans. And yet what we have here is a bill that makes Main Street pay the price. And what is that price? Increased taxes on community banks, manufacturers, small businesses, consumers, and American families that will increase the cost of credit. New taxes will decrease the credit available to those who need it most, small businesses who seek financing to create desperately needed jobs.

How will new taxes rein in Wall Street? This bill expands the size of government, increasing our national debt, making taxpayer bailouts permanent, and distorts our free market by allowing bureaucrats to pick winners and losers. It regulates the wages of every financial employee, from the janitor to the CEO.

We need commonsense financial reform. And that's not what this bill delivers. I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule and the underlying bill.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this conference report and the bill.

In the fall of 2008, our entire financial system and economy were on the verge of collapse. The $750 billion TARP program was hastily proposed. I, for one, would never have backed it were it not for the taxpayer protections--a promise that the taxpayers would be repaid.

This bill flat out breaks that promise to taxpayers. It siphons away unspent money from the TARP program. Instead of returning it to the taxpayers or instead of paying down our $13 trillion debt as promised, it uses the money to pay for new Federal spending.

Contrary to my colleagues' rhetoric, this bill makes bailouts permanent. Look at section 210N(5) and section 210N(6). These provisions authorize bureaucrats to bail out the six largest too-big- to-fail Wall Street firms to the tune of $8 trillion. What you have is taxpayers footing the bill to pay for failed Wall Street firms. That is a bailout.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim that this bill requires that taxpayers be paid back. Yet how in heaven's name can taxpayers believe that when this very bill breaks the earlier promise that taxpayers would be paid back for TARP?

This bill also fails to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage giants at the center of the housing crisis. Taxpayers have bailed Fannie and Freddie out to the tune of $150 billion and billions more to come, but this bill doesn't reform them. It merely calls for a study, and it fails to include as part of our Federal budget the trillions in liabilities taxpayers now face because the Federal Government owns and operates both Fannie and Freddie.

Finally, let's not forget our hidden costs in this bill. Our Midwest manufacturers had nothing to do with the housing crisis or with the financial meltdown. Yet this bill requires them to divert trillions of dollars of working capital to pay for financial transactions, which may stifle job growth and raise the cost of commodities for American families.

What is the cost to small businesses? It is job growth. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, it is taxpayers, small businesses and consumers as they pick up the tab for new Federal bureaucrats, 355 new rules, 47 studies, and 74 reports.

In the name of financial reform, we must not stifle job creation by saddling our small businesses and manufacturers with additional burdens. We need to get financial reform right so that innovators and entrepreneurs can secure credit and can expand and create desperately needed jobs. We need to get reform right, but this bill doesn't pass the test.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this conference report and bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks.

Founded in 1926, the Blackhawks are one of the National Hockey League's organizational six teams. The team has had a remarkable history, but this past season was very, very special.

On April 6, the Hawks won their 50th game of the season setting a new franchise record for wins in a season. During a game the very next night, they scored their 109th point of the season, setting yet another franchise record.

The Hawks made the playoffs for the second season in a row this year with a record of 52-22-8. They went on to defeat the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup, then the Vancouver Canucks, and the San Jose Sharks before facing the Philadelphia Flyers in the final round. In a tense game 6, the Hawks defeated the Flyers when Patrick Kane scored the game-winning Cup-clinching goal in sudden death overtime, marking the team's fourth Stanley Cup Championship-- their first since 1961.

As the world saw during the Chicago parade in their honor, the city's sports fans moved past their long-time baseball rivalries and came together in support of the Blackhawks.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Blackhawks for their title and thank them on behalf of sports fans all over the metropolitan Chicago area for their contribution in making Chicago the dynamic sports city that it is.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1244, recognizing the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition for its 5-year effort to promote cyber security curriculum in institutions of higher education.

In April of 2005, the University of Texas at San Antonio held the first Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, or CCDC, for the Southwestern region. The CCDC focuses on the operational aspects of managing and protecting an existing network's infrastructure. Teams acquire points based on their ability to deduct and respond to outside threats, to maintain availability of existing services such as mail servers and Web servers, to respond to business requests such as the addition or removal of additional services, and to balance security needs against business needs.

The mission of CCDC is to provide a controlled, competitive environment to assess a student's understanding and competency in managing the challenges inherent in protecting a corporate network or business information system. The competition is supported by members of the cyber security industry and by organizations that understand the importance of innovation in the field of cyber security.

The 2010 winner of the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition was Northeastern University.

I urge my colleagues to join me in applauding this significant achievement, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the support of this resolution.

I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 284, recognizing the work and importance of special education teachers.

Special education teachers work with children and youth who are facing a variety of disabilities. Some special education teachers work with students with severe cognitive, emotional or physical disabilities, primarily teaching them life skills and basic literacy. Many special education teachers work with children with mild to moderate disabilities, using or modifying the general education curriculum to meet a child's individual needs and providing required remedial instruction.

These gifted educators work with students who are struggling with speech or language impairments, intellectual disabilities, autism, combined deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and many other health impairments.

Special education teachers design and teach appropriate curricula, assign work geared toward each student's needs and abilities, and, of course, grade papers and homework assignments. They are involved in a student's behavioral, social and academic development, helping each student to develop emotionally and to interact effectively in social situations. Preparing special education students for

daily life after graduation is also an important aspect of the job.

Special education teachers help general educators adapt curriculum materials and teaching techniques to meet the needs of students with disabilities. They coordinate the work of teachers, teacher assistants and related personnel, such as therapists and social workers, to meet the individualized needs of the student within inclusive special education programs.

Whether teaching a class of special education students or working with individual students in a general classroom, special education teachers ensure that all students have access to a quality education. Today, we salute them for their commitment and dedication.

I support this resolution, and I ask my colleagues to do the same.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and I rise today in support of the resolution, but I really wanted to support the previous resolution, but I was in a conference.

As the co-chair of the High-Performance Buildings Caucus, I am delighted to join my colleague and caucus co-chair, Congressman Russ Carnahan, to recognize June 13 through June 19 as High-Performance Building Week, House Resolution 1407.

Last week's celebration was marked by numerous events, including Hill briefings and offsite green infrastructure tours, and I would like to thank the National Institute for Building Sciences, the American Society for Landscape Architects, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology for organizing these tours throughout last week.

Congressman Carnahan and I first formed the High-Performance Buildings Caucus in 2008 to heighten awareness and inform policymakers about the major impact buildings have on our health, safety, and environment. Through monthly briefings, we explore the opportunities to design, construct, and operate high-performance buildings that reflect our concern for these impacts. In fact, since we first started this caucus, we've had almost 25 briefings on everything from lighting technology and building modeling to smart-grid facilities management and green job creation.

Understanding how every element of a building affects us--and our energy bill--is important. Buildings consume 40 percent of the energy used in the U.S. while emitting 39 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Perhaps a more surprising statistic is that Americans spend, on average, 90 percent of their time indoors. With this in mind, new building construction and sustainability of our current building inventory is more important now than ever.

Consider two statistics from the U.S. Green Building Council: Students with optimum daylight in the classroom performed 20 percent faster on math tests and 26 percent faster on reading tests in 1 year than those with less daylight. Improvements with indoor environments are estimated to save $17 billion to $48 billion in total health gains and $20 billion to $160 billion in worker performance.

Most importantly, a 2009 McKinsey study on energy efficiency demonstrates the potential for the residential building sector to reduce its energy consumption by 35 percent over the next 10 years, and 40 percent in the industrial sector. For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, it is important that we maintain our commitment to and awareness of high- performance buildings and the benefits they offer society.

We could not honor the goals and ideals of High-Performance Building Week without thanking those groups that have helped us over the last 2 years. Dozens of building and standard organizations make up the High- Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus Coalition. I know I speak for myself and my fellow caucus co-chair when I say thank you for your help educating, researching, and advancing the goal of high-performance buildings.