Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of my friend Phyllis Busansky. Phyllis served my community in so many ways. Her last post was the Supervisor of Elections for Hillsborough County, Florida. Phyllis will always be remembered in our hearts for her brave leadership, for her open, gregarious style and for her ability and zeal to fix problems that were tough to tackle.

Phyllis served under Florida Governors Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush and established the Welfare-to-Work program, which helped the state's poor find employment and financial stability.

After graduating from Wheaton College, Phyllis earned her master's of business administration from Brandeis University. She taught leadership and coalition building at Columbia University's School of Public Health. A native of Connecticut, Phyllis lived in Tampa for nearly three decades, and she and her husband, Sheldon, raised their three children there.

Before being elected Supervisor of Elections for Hillsborough County in 2008, Phyllis served our seniors as director of Hillsborough's Department for Aging Services and our entire community on the Hillsborough County Hospital Authority. In 1988 she was elected to serve two terms as a County Commissioner. There Phyllis led the fight to provide innovative and visionary county-wide health care for poor and working folks. Her legacy as the primary author of the Hillsborough County Health Care Plan lives on every day in the improved health of our neighbors and our community. She was truly passionate about making sure those who could least afford health care or had limited access had a fighter on their side. She was already showing her same passion as Supervisor of Elections, working tirelessly to guarantee that voters' rights were protected.

Phyllis was proud to be a ``happy warrior'' for so many causes. It is especially poignant to lose her during this crucial time when the Congress struggles to make health care a reality for all our neighbors. We will all need to draw on her energy and commitment and, being mindful of the huge gap she has left us, vow to work even harder.

Phyllis' big heart resulted in her describing many in our community as ``fabulous'', but the truth is that few are or ever will be as fabulous as Phyllis.

Madam Speaker, my thoughts and prayers are with her husband, Sheldon, and all her family. She will be sorely missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House that the economic recovery plan is working in my district.

Yesterday, I was at the Johnny Ruth Clark Community Health Center in South St. Petersburg, Florida, where we made the announcement that $1 million will go to expand that community health center. That community health center is the lifeline for that community, for the neighbors and businesses in that community. It's going to allow them to build new patient exam rooms. This $1 million grant comes on the heels of a half million dollar grant that will allow them to hire new doctors, nurses, and medical professionals, very important because our community health centers are the places where folks receive quality, affordable health care.

Fortunately, in our health care reform bill, we are going to make an additional investment in our community health centers. They are the lifelines to our communities. This is one of the only ways we're going to make quality health care affordable and convenient for families and small businesses throughout our neighborhoods.

I thank my good friend Congresswoman Matsui from Florida for yielding and say that it is absolutely appropriate that Congresswoman Doris Matsui leads off the debate today on behalf of the Rules Committee because she has been one of America's most outspoken advocates for a new, clean-energy economy.

Madam Speaker, the American people's election of President Obama was a call for a change in the direction of the country, especially our energy policy.

America's energy policy is outdated. We rely too much on foreign oil, which has serious economic and strategic risks. We have not invested in renewable energy or in cost-saving technologies as we should. Meanwhile, carbon pollution is changing our climate and destabilizing global markets. Unless carbon pollution is addressed, we face an uncertain future.

But thanks to the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Waxman, Chairman Markey, and many of my colleagues and businesses and citizens all across America, we now have a golden opportunity to act and to modernize energy policy and to bolster science and research.

We are going to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and none too soon. It comes at a critical time for our Nation and right on the heels of the Economic Recovery Act. Together the Clean Energy Act and the recovery plan provide a new foundation for economic recovery, new jobs, and clean-energy manufacturing. We are going to drive the development of new, clean-energy jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced.

People are fed up with the wild swings in gas prices and tired of watching America's economy rise and fall along with the price of a barrel of oil. So we're going to commit ourselves to a new economic future.

The Clean Energy Act has special significance to my home State of Florida because alone in the continental United States, my State is surrounded on three sides by water. If we do not take action to address carbon pollution, it is possible that much of my State in future decades will no longer be habitable. We must act now.

I thank my colleague.

Scientists tell us that if carbon pollution is not addressed, the seas could rise and the coasts could move inland. Florida has already seen increasing droughts and saltwater intrusion of our aquifers. What happens if we do not act? Property insurance rates are already out of sight. What if the scientists are right that warmer waters increase the intensity of hurricanes?

So for those that say that it's not time to build on a new energy economy or that environmental changes can be ignored, you are on the wrong side of history. We are going to make good on the promise to future generations of Americans and break our dependence on foreign oil and create the clean-energy jobs that will revitalize America's economy in the coming century.

I thank the distinguished Chair of the Armed Services Committee. I rise in support of this en bloc amendment which includes the Castor-Bilirakis amendment, an amendment I introduced jointly with my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

Under the Castor-Bilirakis amendment, each member of the armed services serving in combat operations would be provided with a monthly postal benefit that they can transfer to their families or to a charitable organization so they can afford to send care packages and other communications while they are serving bravely overseas. Just think of the benefit to our brave men and women serving in combat operations, a benefit to their morale, a boost in the morale when they receive that letter from home, when they receive that all-important care package.

This effort has been ongoing for many years. It has been included in past Defense authorization bills. It passed the House last year only to be taken out in conference. It is time to get this provision enacted as a stand-alone bill, H.R. 707, the Homefront to Heroes Act. We have more than half of the House of Representatives as cosponsors. It is time to get this done finally.

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

Mr. Chairman, I'm pleased to offer an amendment that promotes economic growth and fairness.

My amendment eliminates redundant and expensive additional background checks that are making the Transportation Worker ID Card less effective and keeping qualified verified workers from jobs at our ports.

The Transportation Worker ID Card was designed to ensure that people working at our ports are not security risks. We now verify that port workers have not been involved in activities related to terrorism or other serious criminal activity.

The TWIC harmonizes port security across the Nation, so that any port authority in the country can be secure in the knowledge that job applicants have been examined by the TSA and deemed qualified and safe to access our ports.

While the Transportation Worker ID Card has standardized port security for the vast majority of States, in Florida a worker who holds that national TWIC card is still not allowed to access ports without additional background checks and additional fees under a parallel and duplicative State-run system. That's not fair.

A trucker delivering a load to a port in Georgia or South Carolina can simply present the TWIC card and make his or her delivery, as Congress intended when the TWIC program was designed. However, the same trucker in Florida will have to pay additional fees because the State refuses to recognize the TWIC as a sufficient security credential.

Florida is the only State in the country to require two security clearances to enter public seaports. These duplicative clearances not only defeat the purpose of having a Federal port security credential, but they put Florida's seaports, tenants, trucking companies and workers at a competitive disadvantage, and this is hurting Florida's economy. It's a terrible burden on business.

Now, in 2007, this Congress directed TSA to work with Florida to come to a mutually agreeable solution that would allow the TWIC to serve its purpose, but the ensuing years of negotiations led Florida to reaffirm this spring that it would not accept the national standard for port security but would continue to require expensive duplicative and unnecessary extra background checks.

The criminal background checks are almost identical. Both screen for crimes such as trafficking and narcotics, robbery and assault. Both agencies also have the ability to issue waivers to applicants when offenses are judged to represent no threat to port commerce or national security.

The price of the DHS TWIC port credential 5-year card is $132.50. And if you're in Florida, you have to pay an additional $100 to $130 for the Florida clearance for the same 5-year period. This additional financial and bureaucratic burden on Florida port businesses and workers is unnecessary.

The amendment I'm offering will restore a reasonable, rational, and cost-efficient maritime business environment. Duplicative and unnecessary costs erode the efforts to stimulate and grow Florida's economy and decrease the effectiveness of national standards put in place by Congress through the TWIC program.

Now, for those that might be concerned, if Florida can justify additional background checks with legitimate homeland security concerns, this amendment gives them the opportunity to do so, and the parallel program could be maintained. But if the duplicative and expensive background checks required by Florida are not making our ports safer, workers should not have to pay for them.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to adopt the amendment.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank the chair of the committee, Mr. Thompson from Mississippi, for his leadership on this issue and the professional Homeland Security staff who are the committee supportive of the amendment.

I'd also submit, for the Record, letters of support from the Transportation Trades Department, the Florida Ports Council, Port Everglades, Port Manatee, Port of Miami, the Tampa Port Authority, and the Passenger Vessel Association.

I urge my colleagues to support the amendment and come down on the side of economic growth in a time of economic disaster; to come down on the side of the hardworking folks at our ports, to say that it's not fair in America that just because you live in one State, that you're going to be subjected to additional bureaucratic barriers to get to your job. I urge approval of the amendment.

Transportation Trades

Department, AFL-CIO,

Washington, DC, June 4, 2009.

Support the TSA Authorization Act and the Castor Amendment

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades

Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I urge you to support the

Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act

(H.R. 2200) which will make significant improvements to the

security of our transportation network. I also urge you to

vote for an amendment offered by Representative Castor which

seeks to eliminate duplicative security credentials.

As we approach the 8th anniversary of the September 11,

2001 attacks on our country, we are reminded that much work

remains to better secure our entire transportation system and

to ensure that front-line workers are well-positioned to help

address our security vulnerabilities. Toward this end, we

applaud Chairman Bennie Thompson and the members of the

Homeland Security Committee for reporting out legislation

that will impose new security requirements and move to ensure

that rules already on the books are quickly implemented.

Specifically, we support the provision in the bill that

will finally ensure that flight attendants receive the

uniform and mandatory security training they need to respond

to threats in the aircraft cabin. Despite claims by some in

industry, the costs of this program are minimal--it would add

five hours of training to pre-existing safety training and

would only occur every other year. This provision is a

significant compromise from the original multi-day proposal

and we simply do not see how industry can responsibly oppose

it. The concept that workers themselves should have to pay

for this mandatory training is ludicrous and we thank the

Committee for rejecting this concept.

We also support the expanded training and support for the

Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program. The bill provides

that Federal Air Marshal Service field office facilities can

be used for the FFDO activities. The section also allows for

reimbursement of costs incurred by flight deck officers

during requalification for this program, which is required to

work as a flight deck officer. The bill also provides

additional training for cargo pilots. For years, security

regulations pertaining to cargo operations have been

inadequate and this mandate will take an important step to

address this problem.

Section 206 mandates the issuance of security standards for

foreign and domestic aircraft repair stations performing

maintenance work on U.S. aircraft. The provision also

mandates that security standards at foreign stations working

on U.S. aircraft are comparable to the security standards for

maintenance work done in this country. These regulations were

originally mandated by Congress in 2003 and were supposed to

be finalized in August 2004. With over 70 percent of

maintenance work now outsourced to domestic and foreign

stations, security rules and the required inspections must

be immediately implemented.

The TSA Authorization makes several urgently needed

improvements to the Transportation Worker Identification

Credential (TWIC) program. Section 403 requires the Coast

Guard to coordinate with owners and operators of port

facilities and vessels to allow TWIC applicants to be

escorted on port facilities by a TWIC holder. This will

provide relief to workers who have waited up to several

months in some cases to receive their credential. Many now

are suffering severe financial harm because, through no fault

of their own, they cannot access their job sites. This

section also reiterates the need for TSA to process

applications in a timely manner by instructing TSA to respond

to applicants within 30 days after receiving a completed

application and creating a 30-day timeline for the review of

requests for appeals and waivers. Additionally, this

provision addresses serious deficiencies in the TWIC

distribution process by allowing credentials to be sent to a

card holder's home and subsequently activated at a TWIC

enrollment center. These changes are absolutely essential to

the creation of a functional and trustworthy TWIC program

that improves our nation's maritime and port security.

Rep. Castor's amendment would prohibit a state or local

government from imposing a separate, additional security

check for a purpose for which a federal transportation

security card has already been issued. Workers, for example,

who have already applied for and received a TWIC should not

be subject to additional and duplicate security checks for

entering a port or a maritime vessel. The purpose of the TWIC

and other federal security checks was to create a uniform

credential that minimizes costs and creates one level of

security. To allow states to impose their own security checks

without any limitation would defeat one of the main goals of

the TWIC and make it hard for workers and cargo to move from

state to state. This is a modest prohibition and can be

waived by DHS if a state can demonstrate compelling homeland

security reason for imposing additional security checks.

Again, I urge you to vote for H.R. 2200 and for the Castor

amendment.

Sincerely,

Edward Wytkind,

President.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to herald the life and philanthropic contributions of Maria Esther Carrillo, and to express our gratitude for her achievements in the Tampa Bay area as a passionate community activist and educational leader.

Carrillo and her husband Francisco escaped a violent Colombia, controlled by Marxist guerillas and drug cartels, to settle in Tampa in 1990; only five years after graduating from The University of the Andes in 1985. Carrillo immediately identified with the strong Hispanic culture in Tampa. She made it her life's work to focus on improving the education of those around her. She sought to bridge English and Hispanic cultures by introducing multicultural studies in language and heritage. Through her work with the Tampa Hispanic Heritage Inc., Carrillo was able to bridge communities of Hispanic and non-Hispanic citizens through countless cultural celebrations and in so doing fusing together diverse groups within the Tampa area.

Carrillo's faith and fervor in a multicultural Tampa, led to the foundation of the Taller Intercultural Hispano-Americano (TICH) in 1998. Her non-profit was established to champion the coexistence of diverse groups; to educate, share and enjoy other cultures and heritage. Carrillo, the Founder-Director, amassed sponsorships for a free festival that emphasized dance, folklore, food, culture, lifestyle and art for the Tampa community.

Her core beliefs were founded in the limitless potential of the next generation and it is with her commitment that her intrinsic reaction was not surprising. Sacrificing herself, Maria Esther Carrillo moved her body into harm's way, allowing her maternal instinct to shield her daughter from the out of control truck in Miami, Florida. The proud mother was accompanying her daughter, a high school senior, home after accepting a college scholarship so that she could attend Columbia University in the fall.

She lived as she died, protecting and helping the future of the hardworking Hispanic youth that she loved so dearly.

I wish Maria Liliana Carrillo a speedy recovery and my thoughts and prayers are with the Carrillo family.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the dramatic rise in the cost of health care for American families and the need to take action.

Yesterday, Families USA, a national health advocacy group, released a report that showed in my home State of Florida and all across the country, more and more families are dealing with huge increases in premiums and copays. The report explains that for many years now, rising health care costs have been devouring a larger and larger portion of family income. Health care costs were too high even before this economic crisis. And now the rising costs are a serious drag on economic recovery for middle class families and businesses, unless we act soon.

The Families USA report highlights how vital it is that we tackle health care reform now to help American families out of this middle class squeeze. Our health care reform efforts must be focused on making care more affordable for families and businesses.

To lower costs, we must focus on prevention, computerizing medical records, eliminating waste, and more cost-effective treatments.

Thankfully, the White House and many in Congress are committed to taking action this year.

I thank my colleague for yielding time and for his years of leadership in the fight against discrimination.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act and this rule.

Mr. Speaker, hate crimes are different from other types of crimes because the perpetrator targets a certain type of person based upon physical or other personal attributes. Hate crimes are a purposeful, violent and dangerous manifestation of prejudice.

Now, to increase public safety and fight crime, we offer today additional tools for law enforcement to fight hate crimes.

I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation that will ensure that hate crimes based upon sexual orientation are covered along with other crimes committed with hatred based on race, religion and national origin.

This bill provides important resources to State and local law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute hate crimes, and it will also be a Federal criminal offense to cause or attempt to cause bodily harm.

I am proud today to stand up for all of my neighbors. You see, hate crimes are not only a problem for victims, but also for our communities and neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, my community in Florida has not been immune from hate crimes. Tampa leads the State of Florida in the number of reported hate crimes, according to an annual FBI report. It is likely that Tampa ranks high because the police there have a zero tolerance policy. All possible or borderline cases are reported.

Last year in Florida we had cases like the KKK being scrawled on something and shoved into a family's mailbox. And a 25-year-old woman in Daytona Beach was intentionally hit by a car just because of the color of her skin. How do we know? Because the man driving the car yelled, ``Help me kill these (blanks). These (blanks) have to die.''

In 2007, a Polk County person was stabbed to death for being gay. Police arrested and charged two Pinellas County teenagers after they spray-painted anti-Semitic and racial slurs on nine portable classrooms at a high school.

The Islamic Education Center of Florida in Tampa was set on fire, and thousands of my neighbors were left without a place to hold services.

Hate crimes have no place in my community or anyplace else, but they are an unfortunate reality that must be addressed. Mr. Speaker, this legislation has languished, and it's time that it be signed into law.

I thank Chairman Conyers for his leadership. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this rule and the underlying bill.

Madam Speaker, the economic recovery plan signed by President Obama is saving and creating jobs all across the country. It was just signed into law 6 weeks

ago, but millions of jobs are being created, including in my community in Tampa, Florida.

Monday, in the Tampa Bay area, we announced that we are going to draw down over $3.5 million for our community health centers to hire new doctors, nurses, and medical professionals that will be able to serve more patients in an affordable way. This is happening all across our country.

In addition, we expect additional dollars to put folks back to work constructing community health centers across this country in just a matter of weeks.

The economic recovery plan is working. We are going to recover and America will be stronger than ever before.

Madam Speaker, in recognition of Women's History Month, I rise today to honor Janice Kaminis Platt, a devoted advocate for our natural environment, high ethical standards, and education in the Tampa Bay area. Ms. Platt's life is an example of true integrity in public service.

Ms. Platt was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and is a 1958 graduate of Florida State University where she was the Vice-President of the student body, President of the Student Council and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi, Mortar Board, and Hall of Fame. Later in life, from 2004-2006, Ms. Platt returned to her roots, serving as the Chair of the Tampa Bay Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association.

Ms. Platt's love of Tampa Bay's natural environment formed her strong advocacy for growth management and environmental protections. She was never afraid to say ``no'' to special interests who sought unwise or untimely permission to promote development or environmental harm.

Ms. Platt was elected to serve on the Tampa City Council from 1974- 1978 and then elected to serve as a commissioner on the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners from 1978-1994 and from 1996-2004. She also served as chair of the commission several times during her tenure.

Ms. Platt was named as a member of the American Library Association's ``Freedom to Read Honor Roll'' and received the ``Best Friend of the Year'' award from the Friends of the Library of Hillsborough County, Inc. in 1999. In honor of her committed work with libraries and education, the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library was dedicated to her on December 11, 2000. Hillsborough Head Start is viewed as a model among other institutions nationwide because of Jan Platt's guiding hand over many years.

Her extensive list of awards and achievements is remarkable. She has received more than fifty, demonstrating how much time and energy she devotes to truly making a difference. Her awards include: the Florida State University Distinguished Alumna for the College of Social Sciences Award, The University of Tampa Ethics Award, the Mortar Board Distinguished Lifetime Member Award, and the Don Hansen Conservationist of the Year Award.

In her lifetime as a public servant Ms. Platt has been a member of more than 40 community Boards and has served as chair of more than 20 of these organizations. Ms. Platt was also a distinguished member of the Constitutional Revision Commission.

Madam Speaker, Jan Platt is an incredible woman who has dedicated her life to improving reading education in Tampa. I was proud to call her a colleague. She served as one of my most important role models of what a public servant should be. I join many others to applaud her lifelong contribution to the Tampa Bay community.

Madam Speaker, in recognition of Women's History Month, I rise today to honor Matilda Martinez Garcia, a devoted advocate for Hispanic Americans in Florida. Ms. Garcia exemplifies the power of women to make a difference in their communities.

Ms. Garcia is a third generation Floridian whose grandfather came from Spain to Tampa via Cuba. Ms. Garcia serves as a liaison between the Tampa government and the Hispanic community as a council member of the Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council. She also serves on several boards including the Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council, LULAC and the University of Florida's Mental Health Institute.

Ms. Garcia is a member of the Tampa Hispanic Heritage Board of Directors, which is comprised of Hispanic Americans with varied roots who share pride in being Hispanic. The organization serves to share rich Spanish language, culture, and traditions with the community during Tampa's Hispanic Heritage Celebration.

Ms. Garcia served as the Former State Director of The League of United Latin American Citizens. LULAC's mission is to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. In 2007, Ms. Garcia spoke at a LULAC convention seminar on the historic and ongoing contributions that Latina leaders have made to the civil rights struggle in the U.S. and the development of LULAC as a civil rights organization. Women's leadership has long been a cornerstone of the Latino community.

As a member of the Florida Institute for Community Studies (FICS) Board of Directors, Ms. Garcia speaks to children about her life growing up in Tampa as the child of Spanish immigrants and the challenges facing the Hispanic community.

In 2001 the Department of Child and Family Studies created the Matilda Garcia Initiative, or ``Latin American Research Scholars Exchange,'' to ensure continued collaboration between the Department of Child and Family Studies and Latin American researchers and practitioners. The Matilda Garcia Initiative provides the Institute with a means for strengthening the level of exchange with Latin America through the funding of these and other activities. Ms. Garcia's support has encouraged a new vision of future collaboration between the Department of Child and Family Studies at FMHI and a wide variety of Latin American academic institutions and organizations.

In 2002, The Community of Tampa Bay proudly awarded Ms. Garcia the Silver Medallion Humanitarian Award. This award is given to members of the community who have helped to promote dialogue and respect among cultures, religions, and races.

At the age of 89, Ms. Garcia attended the 2008 Democratic National Convention as Florida's oldest delegate. At the convention Ms. Garcia inspired Florida's delegates with her

youthful sense of humor and her passion about changing American politics.

Madam Speaker, Matilda Garcia is a highly regarded woman who has touched the lives of many in Tampa. I am proud to call her my neighbor, and I join many others to applaud her lifelong contribution to the Tampa Bay community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the contributions of the nation's Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) and applaud the vitally important healthcare workforce programs they conduct to improve access to healthcare for medically under-served individuals.

AHECs, established by Congress in 1971 as one of the Title VII Health Professions Training programs, are the workforce development, training and education machine for the nation's healthcare safety net programs. Across the nation, 54 AHEC programs and more than 200 affiliated AHEC centers collaborate with over 120 medical schools and 600 nursing and allied health programs to improve the quality, geographic distribution and diversity of the primary care workforce.

Last year, AHECs facilitated the placement of more than 44,000 health professional students in almost 17,000 community-based practice settings nationwide including community health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, tribal clinics and public health departments. To address the growing shortage of health care professionals in America, nearly 102,000 students received more than 20 hours of health career exposure, information, and academic enhancement to prepare them for health professions training programs.

The University of South Florida's AHEC Program connects students to careers, professionals to communities, and communities to better health. The USF AHEC Program inspires youth to choose a career in the health professions with its health career camps, mentoring programs, college preparatory courses and more. USF focuses on recruiting more minority and disadvantaged youth into health careers because as the nation's population becomes more diverse, it is important that the health care workforce reflects that diversity. AHECs in the Tampa Bay area are dedicated to community service and committed to enhancing the lives of Florida's most vulnerable

populations who often go without health care due to geographic isolation and economic or social status. Local AHECs work tirelessly to ensure that no Floridian is without timely access to quality health care, and last year alone more than 1,700 medical students from the USF AHECs provided more than 215,000 hours of care to an estimated 350,000 patients.

Not only have AHECs have supported the education of future professionals, but they have supported more than 400,000 health professionals caring for the medically under-served with programs designed to enhance their skills, knowledge, and quality of care. AHECs have awarded 1.1 million contact hours of continuing education programs to current health professionals. AHECs extend the academic resources of health professions training programs into rural and medically under- served communities throughout the United States by creating partnerships between the health science centers that train health professions students, residents, faculty, and practitioners and the local providers that care for our nation's increasing number of medically under-served citizens.

Madam Speaker, through community-based interdisciplinary training programs, AHECs identify, inspire, recruit, educate, and retain a health care workforce committed to under-served populations. To that end, I would like to take this opportunity to officially recognize National AHEC Week, March 23 through March 27, 2009.

Madam Speaker, last month when we worked with President Obama to adopt an economic recovery plan, our intent was to put people back to work. Well, the recovery plan is just now starting to work, and I'm very pleased to report that this week I joined the director of the Tampa International Airport to announce that $8 million from the recovery plan will come to the Tampa Bay area to reconstruct our fabulous airport. In particular, we are going to reconstruct a taxiway and begin construction on a new north terminal.

Now, this is absolutely vital because the unemployment rate in my hometown now is about 10 percent. So when we can put folks back to work, the utilities, especially in the hard-hit construction sector, rebuilding this fabulous economic engine in my community, I know that it is going to have a ripple effect throughout my local economy.

This is what's happening all across America. So as we recover and put people back to work, America will be stronger than ever before.

According to a poll released this week, more Americans believe that the country is on the right track than before the election, and they believe that President Obama is handling his new job very well.

What I hear from folks back home in Florida is they have faith that the recovery plan is going to help them. Indeed, the moneys are being delivered to local communities to create jobs. In Tampa, we're going to construct an important link for economic development out of our port, moneys for our public schools, and students will arrive this month.

Energy efficiency. We are going to weatherize homes throughout the Tampa Bay area and the State of Florida.

On Monday, we announced a computer initiative to computerize medical records throughout the Tampa Bay region. Health care for Floridians will be provided because we are not going to let our neighbors fall through the crack during this economic downturn.

The budget priorities President Obama has sent us are right--health care reform, education, and investments in energy. We will recover, and

America will emerge stronger than ever before.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from Florida and my good friend, Mr. Hastings, for yielding the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act and this rule. This Act throws a lifeline to families who are fighting to stay in their homes during this economic crisis.

Now, as Mr. Hastings knows, we have a very high rate of foreclosures in the State of Florida, and my Tampa Bay area community has been particularly hard hit. That is why last year I began holding foreclosure prevention workshops, so that homeowners could sit down, face to face with lenders and servicers and work out a refinancing. I'm planning my fourth workshop now.

These homeowners appreciate the opportunity to sit down one on one because most of the time they have a very difficult time getting in touch with the lender or servicer. They won't answer the phone.

I know many in the banking industry do not like this bankruptcy provision that allows bankruptcy judges to modify home loans. But, frankly, they've brought this on themselves to a great extent. I encourage you all to check the video of Congresswoman Maxine Waters staying on the phone for an hour just trying to get a bank to answer the phone and pick up the line so that a responsible homeowner can get into a refinance. They don't want a bailout. They just want a little breathing room and the opportunity to refinance.

This Act today will help. It won't help everyone, but it will also provide a prod, an incentive to these banks to refinance these loans. It's fair and equitable to allow home loan modifications because right now, in bankruptcy, every other asset can be worked out. The new law will allow loan modifications in bankruptcies and it will prod the lenders and servicers to hire the necessary personnel, answer the phone, begin the refinancing that they should have been doing over the past year.

Many of these banks have received billions in taxpayer dollars. And I know that President Bush did not include a condition that these banks should refinance or sit down with folks and begin a discussion, but that must be a requirement now, or else foreclosures and the continued deterioration of all of our property values will continue.

President Obama's plan also will provide responsible homeowners with additional leverage. And Congresswoman Doris Matsui from California and I have an amendment contained in this Act that will encourage a holiday for foreclosures until President Obama's plan takes effect.

We're going to continue to stand up for responsible families and ensure that if you work hard and you play by the rules, the tools and resources will be available to help you stay in your home.