Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information for publication in the Congressional Record regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 1105--Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009.

Requesting Member: Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas 8th Congressional District

Bill Number: H.R. 1105--Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

Project: Sam Rayburn Lake Twin Dikes Operations & Maintenance

Account: U.S. Corps of Engineers, Operations and Maintenance

Requesting Entity: U.S. Corps of Engineers, Ft. Worth District

Address of Requesting Entity: 819 Taylor Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102

This is the second year I've requested funding to repair the Twin Dikes Park marine launching complex since its collapse due to Hurricane Rita, erosion, and excessive wave action. Unfortunately, the Corps has a backlog of maintenance on some of the most widely used recreational facilities at Lake Sam Rayburn. In addition to this project, I continue to support the U.S. Corps of Engineers annual request for funding to operate and maintain the lakes, and other water resources of East and Southeast Texas.

The $6,138,000 included in this bill for this project will be allocated to perform annual operations and maintenance of the Sam Rayburn

Reservoir ($5,775,000) and to begin rehabilitation of the marine launching complex at Twin Dikes Park ($363,000).

Requesting Member: Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas 8th Congressional District

Bill Number: H.R. 1105--Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

Project: Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Program

Account: Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Requesting Entity: Pulmonary Hypertension Association

Address of Requesting Entity: 801 Roeder Rd., Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD 20910

I have supported strengthening Pulmonary Hypertension education for over ten years; and for this reason and for the second year in a row, I have requested funding to strengthen and continue a successful partnership between the non-profit Hypertension Association and the Centers for Disease Control. PH is a serious and often fatal condition where the blood pressure in the lungs rises to dangerously high levels. In PH patients the walls of the arteries that take blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs thicken and constrict. As a result, the right side of the heart has to pump harder to move blood into the lungs, causing it to enlarge and ultimately fail.

This request would allow the partners to continue to develop a pulmonary hypertension awareness program to better educate the medical community and the public about the disease, and lead to earlier diagnosis and longer life spans.

The $238,000 included in this bill for this project will be allocated to continue two components in the fight against pulmonary hypertension: the PHA Online University, a curriculum-based website for medical professionals, and a significant expansion of PHAware, a grassroots media campaign. Together these activities will enhance general public and medical professional awareness of pulmonary hypertension and lead to earlier diagnosis and appropriate treatment of individuals who have the disease.

Requesting Member: Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas 8th Congressional District

Bill Number: H.R. 1105--Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

Project: SHSU Regional Crime Lab

Account: Office of Justice Programs, Byrne Discretionary Grants

Requesting Entity: Sam Houston State University

Address of Requesting Entity: 1803 Avenue I, Huntsville, TX 77341

Established last year with my support, fiscal year 2009 funding for the Regional Crime Lab at Sam Houston State University will allow it to become operational. Law enforcement agencies in rural communities experience long waits and backlogs when requesting services from major cities like Houston. This request allows Sam Houston State University-- one of the nation's foremost criminal justice universities--to use its expertise in forensic science to begin operations of the Rural Crime Laboratory started with funding I secured last year. This lab will provide services to local law enforcement such as identification of controlled substances, toxicology screening and finger print matching. The lab will be able to service communities in a 75-mile wide area.

The $800,000 included in this bill for this project will be allocated to staff the SHSU Regional Crime Lab and make it operational for serving regional law enforcement agencies. Specific budget items include: salaries and benefits for laboratory staff ($547,800); lab supplies ($11,558); subcontracts for staff training ($27,000) and indirect cost amounting to $213,642.

Requesting Member: Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas 8th Congressional District

Bill Number: H.R. 1105--Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

Project: I-69 Improvements

Account: Surface Transportation Priorities, Interstate 69, Texas

Requesting Entity: I-69 Texas Alliance

Address of Requesting Entity: 1200 Smith, Suite 700, Houston, TX 77002

This requested funding will allow for additional required environmental studies needed to upgrade several US highways in the region. This request--is not part of the now dead Trans Texas Corridor--provides funding for the continuation of the long-planned project involving segments of US 59, 77 and 281. Since 1991, efforts have been made to improve these routes to Interstate standards to meet the higher demand of increased traffic. These highway segments have been identified by Congress as a high priority; by upgrading the existing highways to Interstate standards we will increase motorist safety and regional mobility in the increasingly busy Houston and East Texas region.

The $617,500 included in this bill will go to the Texas Department of Transportation to continue planning, design, and development of segments of US Highway 59 to Interstate standards.

Requesting Member: Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas 8th Congressional District

Bill Number: H.R. 1105--Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

Project: Big Thicket Land Acquisition

Account: National Park Service, Land Acquisition

Requesting Entity: The Conservation Fund, Texas Office

Address of Requesting Entity: 101 West 6th Street, Suite 601, Austin,

Thank you, Chairman.

It is sad that this House has imposed a gag rule so that the American public can't hear today what's in this bill. The special interests know what's in this bill. They certainly do. Congress is going to rain billions of dollars of cash across this land, and special interests and lobbyists have big buckets out to catch it.

We all want this President to succeed. We want this economy to get going because people are hurting. But when the economy is drowning, you throw it a life preserver. You don't build a 40-foot yacht for it. This bill is too big. It is too expensive. It is way too slow. And at the end of the day, it is not going to rescue this economy. And at the end of a couple of years, it's middle-class families and small businesses that are going to have to pay for all this cash.

Taxpayers just aren't willing to spend one-quarter of $1 million to trade a new job. They're not willing to spend more money on art than on small businesses. They're not willing to buy Frisbee golf courses and gambling trains. That is a bad use of our dollars. We can do better.

I know that our new President is sincere in trying to get the economy moving. Unfortunately, I think the only winners in this bill are the special interests who are swarming the Capitol looking for their piece of the pie. And the losers will be the American taxpayers, who ultimately are going to see their taxes increased to pay for all this spending. There's a right way to spur the economy. This isn't it. And again, it will lead to higher tax increases.

Proponents claim that this will help spur demand for families, but the average worker will only take home an extra $1.35 a day. I can't imagine them rushing to the mall with that small of a windfall. This is supposed to help small businesses create jobs, but in truth, there's more money allocated to buy new art in America than there is to help small businesses expense new equipment and computers.

This is designed to create jobs, but each job would cost $225,000 to create a smaller $50,000 job. This is supposed to be about infrastructure, but only about a tiny part, 3\1/2\ percent, will go to new roads. And school construction is just a tiny part of a massive education bill. And what's frustrating is there is no free money, there is no free money in Washington; someone sometime is going to have to pay for this. And at a time when we are seeing record debt, the highest debt in peacetime since 1930, it is the American public who ultimately will have to pay this bill.

To put it in perspective so that every taxpayer understands, the cost of this measure is equal to doubling all the income taxes every American pays for 1 year; not just the wealthy, not just the middle class, every taxpayer would have to double their taxes in order to pay for this spending spree.

Mr. President, I would urge you to veto this bill. It is not targeted or timely. It is not an era of new responsibility. This is a tax increase, a stimulus that will fail, unfortunately, and we have a better idea.

I would point out that it was a Democrat Congress that for decades robbed from the highway trust fund, and it was the Republican Congress, with the Republican President, who insisted for the first time that all the highway fuel dollars would go to actually building highways and bridges in America.

I would note too, Republicans doubled the research and development budget of America, not Democrats.

Madam Speaker, I stand up today before my esteemed colleagues to honor a lifelong resident of my district who just flat-out loved politics. Nothing--short of time with her three children, five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and nine great- great-grandchildren--made Berniece Hughes of Conroe, Texas, happier than getting mad at what we all had to say on her favorite all-news channels. The daughter of the late W.V. and Lennie Galloway Holliday of Polk County, Berniece Hughes did her growing up during the Great Depression. She was a girls' basketball and track team member at Goodrich High in Polk County where she was in the 1934 graduating class. The oldest of six, Berniece is now reunited in heaven with her brothers and sisters and her sweetheart, B.F. ``Bert'' Hughes.

A master of the one-liners, Berniece, even at 92, was--as her daughter puts it--a ``doodle mama just like Driving Miss Daisy.'' Likening her mother and father to screen giants Tracy and Hepburn, Lana says quick quips and laughter were just part of growing up a Hughes. Berniece thoroughly enjoyed being home with her children--B.F. ``Mike'' Hughes, Jr. of Livingston, and Wayne Hughes and Lana Hughes of Houston--as they were growing up. She was even more delighted to spend the second half of her days in Conroe enjoying watching her children bring her grandchildren and her grandchildren bring her great- grandchildren and so on. Everyone who met her described Berniece as ``a pistol.''

Once again, Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for allowing me to share the story of a life well lived and ask for their thoughts and prayers as Berniece's large, loving family will gather together at the Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery and Funeral Home to say their final goodbyes to their ``doodle mama,'' this Saturday morning.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 20th anniversary of the Greater Houston Partnership. I ask my colleagues and those visitors in the House Chamber to join me in congratulating the Greater Houston Partnership and applauding the many achievements they have accomplished over the past 20 years.

In 1989, the Houston Chamber of Commerce, the Houston Economic Development Council and the Houston World Trade Center joined together to make the dream of an organization that would be an advocate for the business community in the greater Houston area a reality.

The Greater Houston Partnership has grown into an influential organization that now has two thousand member businesses and serves 10 fast growing counties: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto and Waller.

The Partnership has had an impressive impact on the region. In the last year, 53 percent of all jobs created in the United States were created in Texas--and one in four of those were in Houston. This is astounding and a testimony to the contributions the Greater Houston Partnership has made to cultivate a vibrant business environment. The Partnership's efforts are focused on building Houston's prosperity and promoting regional economic development. The Partnership is actively involved with public policy issues and works with local elected officials to ensure the Greater Houston community is well represented in areas such as clean air, education and transportation.

In its two decades of existence there is much to be proud of. It is an honor to recognize such an impressive organization. All Americans can learn from the collaborative example the Greater Houston Partnership continues to display through their leadership and guidance to the people and businesses in the Greater Houston community.

Madam Speaker, today more than ever, we must support the efforts of the Greater Houston Partnership and other similar organizations across the country. The work they do to help create jobs in our country is essential for continued economic growth and stability in the face of the global economic changes. I urge you to join me in congratulating the Greater Houston Partnership for 20 years of serving as the voice for the greater Houston business community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a larger- than-life Texan, James Frank Pollard. This afternoon in San Angelo, TX, Frank will be laid to rest. I ask my colleagues and all those present in the chamber to join me in offering their thoughts and prayers to his beloved family, daughter Lisa, son Jim, daughter-in-law Wendy, and his grandchildren, Charless and Sophia.

Born to Charlie and Grace Pollard in Coleman, TX in 1931, Frank's ingrained Texan values, can-do spirit, and a healthy dose of pragmatism drove him to make his mark in many

arenas. A graduate of the University of Mines in El Paso and a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War, Frank jumped into the family business just in time to play an integral role in some of the most storied oil discoveries in Texas. A lifelong student, he always had a book handy to feed his quest for knowledge.

It was during his wildcatting days that Frank embarked on the biggest adventure of his life--his 35-year marriage to Martha. They settled into the life of a west Texas ranching family moving to Fort Stockton and then Alpine to raise their three children. The tragic death of their oldest child, Mark, only served to strengthen the Pollard family's bond by encouraging them all to live every day to the absolute fullest.

A man who could play devil's advocate on any issue, ``Daddy Frank'' was one of a kind. No matter the topic or the audience he could offer opinions and hold court. With a larger-than-life personality, he could enjoy himself in a roomful full of oilmen or children. He knew when to lead, when to inspire, and when to let someone learn their own lessons.

If Hollywood had ever wanted to put a real Texas wildcatter and rancher on the silver screen, a casting director could have struck Texas gold with Frank Pollard. Always armed with a story, a joke, a way to draw people in, Daddy Frank was the epitome of the proud Texas wildcatter from the tips of his boots to the top of his cowboy hat, and we can all learn from his example of what it means to have Texas integrity.

On December 6, Frank was reunited with his beloved Martha and their oldest son, Mark. He leaves behind for his family and friends a lifetime of Daddy Frank stories to tell and a legacy of the Texas spirit. Once again, I thank those in the chamber and all Americans for allowing me to share Frank's story of the importance of family, friends, and living life each and every day to the fullest.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in order to state for the record an explanation of my absence and how I would have voted on several of the bills that were considered by the House of Representatives while I was in Texas helping the relief and recovery effort after Hurricane Ike damaged my district and communities so hard.

As my colleagues and those in the gallery know, Hurricane Ike made landfall along the Upper Texas Coast early in the morning of Saturday, September 13. The effects of this storm stretched from Alabama to Texas, with the 11 counties that I represent landing right in the middle of the storm's path. The resulting damage was widespread and in some cases very significant. Many of the people that I represent are still without power and for many, especially in Orange County, life will never be the same. Their homes were completely flooded and many will never be livable again. It is a testament to the hardworking and self-reliant people of southeast Texas that they are already picking up the pieces and helping themselves and others in the recovery. I want to thank those first responders, the local governments, the State of Texas, and selfless individuals that have helped during the evacuation and recovery process.

We have worked tirelessly since Hurricane Rita to ensure that Texas' first responders were better prepared for the next time a hurricane hit the Texas coast. I have spent my time since September 13, meeting with individual citizens, FEMA, officials from Texas and local communities, utility providers and others to identify shortcomings, offer help and support, and ensure the best level of service is provided now and the next time a hurricane strikes Texas or we are affected by some other emergency situation.

While I was working in Texas after Ike made landfall, the House voted on several important pieces of legislation for which I would like to register my views.

First, H.R. 6899, the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act; despite the bill's name, H.R. 6899 would actually harm our nation's energy security, and accordingly, I would have voted against passage of the bill.

This bill opens a sliver of our offshore resources to development, while permanently closing off the rest. In fact, the Department of Interior's Mineral and Management Service calculated that this bill would ban most of our nation's outer continental shelf oil and gas natural resources from development. This bill is the equivalent of cracking open the gate, bolting the front door shut and then throwing away the key. It is the wrong energy policy for our country.

Moreover, in addition to this bait-and-switch approach to the offshore moratorium on energy exploration, the bill neglects to provide for revenue sharing among the states for offshore leasing. Without a revenue sharing incentive from the federal government, states are highly unlikely to allow the drilling that our country desperately needs. This is not the energy solution the American people want, and Congress should not replace the current temporary ban on offshore exploration with a permanent one.

House Democrats also offered another gimmick on energy policy instead of providing real relief at the pump to my constituents recovering from Hurricane Ike and all Americans. H.R. 6604 was billed as a way to cut speculation in energy markets, while in reality it did nothing but paper over Democrat's inaction on offering real solutions to America's energy problems. I voted against largely the same bill this summer and would have done so here as well. This bill was nothing more than window dressing and a thinly veiled attempt to placate the American public. In reality, it does little more than insult the intelligence of the American public; but the American public won't be fooled.

But Democrats are starting to buckle to pressure from the American public. In the House-passed stop-gap funding bill, the

House lifted the moratorium on off-shore oil exploration and oil shale production. If the moratorium is lifted in the Senate as well, America will be one step closer to energy relief.

Lastly, the House passed legislation last week to uphold the landmark Supreme Court's decision in DC v. Heller. DC v. Heller upheld the 2nd Amendment rights of residents of Washington, DC that had been trampled on for over 30 years. I would have proudly supported the Childers amendment to H.R. 6691 and supported the amended bill on final passage. As a matter of fact I am a co-sponsor of legislation very similar to the Childers Amendment, H.R. 1399, the District of Columbia Personal Protection Act. I am glad to see that the House has taken a bi-partisan step to protect the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to continue providing relief to those suffering from Hurricane Ike and I appreciate the speed with which this Congress has acted to help provide that relief thus far. However, just as we learned after Hurricane Rita, this process will be on going and it will take the continued effort of Congress, Texas, local communities and individual citizens to complete the recovery effort. I ask that all Americans continue to offer their thoughts and prayers to those along the gulf coast.

Thank you, Jim McCrery, for your leadership throughout the years on this issue and so many other important ones.

Congress must act. Our Nation faces the fiercest financial crisis in our lifetime, and for lawmakers entrusted with America's prosperity to stand by and do nothing, that's no longer an option.

I don't like this bill any more than my constituents do. The thought of our interfering in the marketplace, of spending taxpayer dollars for irresponsible Wall Street firms, it makes my constituents angry and me too. But the fact of the matter is these bad loans have infected too much of America's economy and they threaten the world's economy as well. And make no mistake, if these Wall Street financial companies go down, our businesses and families in Texas are pulled down with them.

Families in my district are already watching their life savings disappear before their eyes. I met a Texas worker. She only had $15,000 in her savings; she lost $8,000 of it over the past 2 weeks. I talked to a woman who stopped me in my car as I was leaving my neighborhood, and she said she and her husband have a small business. Their good customers can't get the credit to buy their products anymore. For the first time in 17 years since they started their business, she is truly frightened. And I ask myself why should our local families, why should our local communities pay the price in lost jobs and lost savings because of Wall Street greed? Haven't these Wall Street companies caused enough damage?

This is not my solution. This is not the only solution. America faces tough times. We're going to have to come right back in November, in my opinion, and bring about the reforms to stop this from happening again. But I am going to vote ``yes'' again to pull this Nation back from its economic brink and protect the families and jobs and small businesses in Texas.

Madam Speaker, I submit the following:

Requesting Member: Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas 8th Congressional District.

Bill Number: H.R. 2638--The Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009.

Account: Combat Vehicle and Automotive Advanced Technology, 33 0603005A.

Requesting Entity: Verdient Technologies LLC.

Address of Requesting Entity: 1401 McKinney Street, Suite 900, Houston, TX 77010.

Description of Request: For the final year of a 2 year project, I am requesting funding aimed at completing a project that will allow military personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters to stay cool in their vehicles without running the engine. Today vehicles must run their engine to keep crew members cool, a heat-signature is created and that provides a target for enemy fire and fuel is wasted resulting in decreased combat effectiveness and operational range.

The request funds completion of the No-Idle Complex Compound (``NICC'') project, which is developing technology powered by diesel fuel to cool or heat the crew cabin in military vehicles when the vehicle engine is not operating. Without this system, the vehicle engine must be idled to provide cooling or heating thus wasting significant amounts of fuel, polluting the environment and creating a thermal and acoustic signature. The proposed development will design and build prototypes of the NICC system for military combat vehicles, address critical manufacturing, and quality control processes and manufacturing technology. When utilized in combat, the NICC will cool personnel and electronics with minimal thermal or noise signature, enhancing both the comfort and safety of our troops--allowing them to more safely and effectively execute their mission.

The $1.6 million project will be completed in four stages: (1) manufacture of three prototypes at $750,000 (47%); (2) tracking results of field testing at $450,000 (28%); (3) implement second round of field testing at $250,000 (15.5%); and (4) design of final product for vehicle integration at $150,000 (9%).

Requesting Member: Congressman Kevin Brady, Texas 8th Congressional District.

Bill Number: H.R. 2638--The Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009.

Account: R1: Aerospace Propulsion and Power Technology.

Requesting Entity: Sam Houston State University.

Address of Requesting Entity: Sam Houston State University, 1806 Ave J, Suite 303, Huntsville, TX 77340.

Description of Request: With one more year to go before completion, this is the second year I have requested funding for TRIES. The project has received funding for a total of 7 non-consecutive years. This request will provide funds to Sam Houston State University and Texas State University System to finalize research of a technology for the treatment of contaminated water to make it usable for our troops in the field or during natural disasters.

Of the $1.6 million TRIES received this year, approximately $312,000 (19.5%) will go to direct labor; $360,000 (22.5%) for materials; $824,000 (51.5%) for other direct expenses; and $104,000 (6.5%) for demonstration.

Let me first thank Mr. Deal for his remarkable leadership in shepherding this bill to the floor. Without him championing it through the Energy and Commerce Committee along with Mrs. Capps, this simply would not be happening. I want to thank Mr. Deal for his leadership on behalf of many, many, many patients.

I would also like to take a brief moment to reflect on the loss of my friend and one of pulmonary hypertension's

most important voices in Congress, Tom Lantos. I know I speak for each one of us here when I say that we have dearly missed Tom's passion for his work and for the House of Representatives.

As chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Tom was regularly confronting some of the most pressing challenges facing our country in the world today. Nevertheless, it was his work on PH that he routinely cited the most important thing he was doing in Congress.

As many of us know, Tom's granddaughter, Charity, was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension several years ago. Ever since he had been a tireless advocates on behalf of PH patients and, in my opinion, a large part of why we have made so much progress over the last decade.

Like Tom, my involvement with PH is very personal. It is now more than a decade since the daughter of my very good friend, Jack Stibbs, was diagnosed with PH. Jack's daughter, Emily, was only 5 when her parents noticed at a community parade that she was struggling to bicycle fast enough to keep up with her friends. She always seemed out of breath and struggled to climb stairs. Doctors eventually diagnosed her with pulmonary hypertension.

PH is a serious and often-fatal condition where the blood pressure in the lungs rises to dangerously high levels. In PH patients, the walls of the arteries that take blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs, thicken and constrict. As a result, the right side of the heart has to pump harder and harder to move blood into the lungs, causing it to enlarge and ultimately fail.

PH can occur without a known cause or be secondary to other conditions, such as scleroderma, lupus, HIV, sickle cell, and liver disease. Patients develop symptoms that include shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, dizziness and fainting.

Unfortunately, these symptoms are frequently misdiagnosed, leaving patients with the false impression that they have a minor pulmonary or cardiovascular condition. By the time many patients receive an accurate diagnosis, the disease has progressed to a late stage, making it impossible to receive a necessary heart or lung transplant.

When Emily Stibbs was first diagnosed in 1977, the average survival rate for PH patients was just 2\1/2\ years. There was only one FDA- approved therapy at the time, and the best that doctors could do was to make patients comfortable as their condition deteriorated. To make matters worse, there is very little research on PH being supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Fortunately we have come a very long way in a relatively short period of time. There are now six FDA-approved therapies for PH with many, many more in the pipeline. People are living longer with a better quality of life than ever before. Our Federal health care agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration are actively and aggressively engaged in the fight against PH.

Those of us here on Capitol Hill are more aware of this disease than ever before. The 247 Representatives who cosponsored our PH bill in the last Congress are testament to that fact. But there is still more work that can and must be done as pulmonary hypertension afflicts over 100,000 Americans and continues to strike women of child-bearing age in growing numbers.

Representative Lois Capps has joined me in introducing the bill before us today, the Tom Lantos Pulmonary Hypertension Research and Education Act. This bill builds on what we have already accomplished and further emphasizes the need for more research, more training and more awareness.

Specifically, it urges the NIH to aggressively pursue collaborative research into better treatments and provides funding to increase physician and public awareness of the disease to ensure early and accurate diagnoses. I am proud of what we have done together and believe that a cure for PH is just around the corner, so long as we continue to keep the National Institutes of Health and medical community focused.

On behalf of pulmonary hypertension patients everywhere, I would like to thank Representative Lois Capps for her leadership of this bill, Energy and Commerce Chairman Dingell, Ranking Member Joe Barton, Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone, and, as I mentioned before, my dear friend, Nathan Deal, again, whose leadership was remarkable.

I conclude with this, over the last 10 years, we have decided that if I did nothing else in Congress, I would find a cure for this incurable disease.

I appreciate so much the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, which has raised, over the years, $10 million for research and education; the chairman of the association, Carl Hicks; its great president, Rino Aldrighetti; Katie Kroner and Gavin Lindberg, who have spent many years advocating on behalf of our patients in the association; Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, who helped start the first Centers of Excellence for PH at the National Institutes of Health; and finally the staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee, including Jessica McNiece, Aarti Shaw, Brandon Clark, and Ryan Long.

It takes a collaborative effort to tackle a disease like this. We are making progress, and I am eternally grateful for their support.

Mr. Reynolds, thank you for your leadership, as well as Mr. Neal, on trying to not only keep more middle class families from being hit by the alternative minimum tax, but hopefully to find a long-term solution where there is no AMT looming over our families.

The truth of the matter is, this was a tax created many years ago to hit the very, very wealthy in America, at the time just 155 or so, who did not pay taxes. Unfortunately, it wasn't indexed. It is now each year more and more attacking middle class families who frankly are still struggling to make ends meet. Then after they do their regular taxes, they find they have a second tax that comes after them and catches them even if they didn't owe on the first.

So this Congress has taken seriously the need to not allow the AMT to hit more families. This action today makes sure that 24 million American families are not hit by this second tax at an average tax rate increase of about $2,400. For a lot of families in America, that is real money in a big way.

It is time to repeal the AMT permanently. It is time for both parties to work together to do that. I look forward to the day when we can bury it and help protect our families.

All year long, Republicans have urged Democrats to enact a clean AMT patch without tax increases and to do so in a more timely manner than occurred in 2007.

Last year, House Democrats' insistence on linking the 2007 patch to unrelated tax hikes resulted in the patch being enacted later in the year than ever before, causing headaches and uncertainty for taxpayers and the IRS alike.

On May 21, 2008, and again on June 25, 2008, Republicans supported Motions to Recommit that would have provided a clean AMT patch--without tax hikes. Unfortunately, Democrats opposed those common-sense proposals, putting us on the same regrettable path as last year--toward another historically late AMT patch.

Today, just days before Congress's scheduled adjournment, the Majority has finally acknowledged the obvious: an AMT patch that is offset with tax increases stands no chance of being enacted.

Unfortunately, instead of considering the Senate's comprehensive, bipartisan tax package that addresses not just the AMT patch, but other critically important tax priorities as well, the Majority is pursuing a piecemeal approach that seems unlikely to advance in the Senate.

During debate on the comprehensive Senate package on September 23rd, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made precisely this point, stating: ``I say to my friends on the other side of the Capitol, the House: `Don't send us back something else. We can't get it passed.' If they try to mess with our package, it will come back here, it will die, and we will . . . have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.''

While it is a welcome development that Democrats have abandoned their efforts to patch the AMT by raising taxes, the Majority should be working with the Senate to ensure enactment of all our critical tax priorities.

An estimated 26 million taxpayers will owe higher taxes for 2008 because of the AMT, according to the latest Treasury Department estimates. This is sharply up from about 4 million people last year in 2007 that would have been affected if Democrats had not agreed to patch the AMT without tax increases.

The AMT was created in the late 1960s to ensure that fewer than 200 high-income taxpayers couldn't avoid paying any income tax at all. The AMT was intended as a fail safe mechanism, NOT as a tax Increase. However, the tax is now hitting the middle class and hitting them hard.

From 1992-2002, the number of filers paying AMT increased tenfold to 1.3 million people. By 2010, nearly 1 in 3 tax filers will be subject to the AMT.

Although the AMT is highly progressive, the distribution of AMT liability will shift toward tax units with lower incomes. In 2006, taxpayers with $500,000 or more in income will pay 47 percent of the tax. By 2010, they will pay only 16 percent.

Over 80 percent of households with incomes between $100,000-200,000 and almost half of those with incomes between $75,000-100,000 will pay the AMT by 2010 (compared to 4.8 percent and 0.7 percent in 2006).

Simply put, Congress should act decisively to prevent $61.5+ billion of tax increases on the American people. Not patching the AMT means an average tax hike of $2,400 for over 25 million taxpayers.

Delaying action on patching the AMT hurts taxpayers. According to Treasury Secretary Paulson, the failure of Congress to enact an AMT patch earlier in the year results in delayed tax refunds totaling approximately $75 billion for as many as 50 million taxpayers. Tax compliance is onerous enough for Americans without Congress getting into the mix to make it even harder!

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support in H.R. 7006, the Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008, a bill that provides targeted tax benefits to victims of federally declared natural disasters.

As the chairman and gentleman from New York said, we have had a tough year here in the United States for disasters across this country; most recently, Hurricane Ike which hit the gulf coast and Texas especially. Ike will likely be the worst storm to hit Texas in 50 years. Ike damaged or destroyed about $52 billion worth of homes and businesses. It was far worse than Hurricane Rita that just hit us 3 years ago. And this is the region of Texas that was so quick to open their homes and their hearts and their churches to those victims of Hurricane Katrina, so it feels a bit like we are being piled on.

We look to areas like Galveston and Bolivar, and Orange and Bridge City where the storm surge destroyed thousands of homes and damaged businesses and left people homeless. Today, 11 days after Hurricane Ike, despite heroic efforts, 250,000 people are still without running water and many more are still without power as the Texas heat continues to bear down on them.

So these folks are suffering. They need our help now. Damage from the hurricane was widespread, and lives were disrupted and destroyed. Yet here it is 11 days after Hurricane Ike, and to its credit, this Congress, which I have criticized at times as not moving quickly enough or substantively enough, has moved quickly to respond to the needs of not just Texas, but Louisiana, the Midwest and throughout this country. I am grateful to them for that.

I am encouraged that Congress responded so quickly, and I urge my colleagues to support this assistance.

I, along with my friend and colleague from Houston, Al Green, along with the Texas delegation, introduced a bill much like Congressman Kind's to provide even more expansive tax benefits to Hurricane Ike victims. While we hope that Congress will consider it in the future because it has some key provisions important to our recovery, this legislation today is a very good step forward, especially coming so quickly after the hurricane.

This bill will provide Texans and others much-needed help through a variety of tax relief measures. One provision is enhanced casualty loss deductions, which in plain English just allows families to write off more of the property loss from Hurricane Ike and other disasters without regard to their adjusted gross income.

We have increased low income housing tax credits by $2 billion under this bill. That is important to help those who most need housing.

Another provision is the ability to allow States to use mortgage revenue bonds to provide loans to repair or reconstruct homes and rental housing units that are now unsafe for use as residences because of hurricane damage.

In addition, we all must recognize that the business community, those who provide our jobs, experienced severe disruption and damage from Hurricane Ike. To help businesses recover quickly, this legislation will allow them to write off and immediately expense costs for disaster recovery, including demolition, repair, cleanup and environmental remediation.

Any business with net operating losses from the disaster, and there are many, will be allowed to carry back those losses for 5 years, which means they will be able to put more money back into recovery and put workers back to work and getting back into business which is important for property values and sale tax values in our affected communities.

Also, the Treasury Department is authorized under this bill to permit States to issue $13 billion of tax-exempt bonds to finance the replacement, the repair, the reconstruction and renovation of business property damaged or destroyed by a federally declared disaster like Hurricane Ike. I believe these private activity bonds are a critical tool to help damaged businesses through these hard times.

And we should not forget the remarkable charitable work that people and businesses provided to their friends and

neighbors in hard times. I witnessed this myself throughout our district that was hit so hard. We've seen this in past disasters. To assist those who come selflessly to work so that they do not get hit so hard by the high price of gasoline, the mileage reimbursement rate for charitable work will be increased and, moreover, limits for charitable relief contributions in response to a federal disaster are waived.

This is a very important bill. And while I strongly believe and hope that Congress might take a look at additional measures in the future, this bill is a crucial first step, and I strongly support it.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this time I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from Houston, the gentlelady from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee.

(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

I yield myself, for closing, as much time as I may consume.

Disasters are so hard on families and especially on small businesses and on communities as they try to recover, whether it is the flooding in the Midwest or wildfires in the West or Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Gustav or hurricanes that have hit Florida. It is just a terrible time.

And I know in our case, you always know your own communities best, and we saw 8- to 10-foot storm surge in Orange County that went over the levees, flooded one-third of that town and most of its historic district. It completely flooded about 6 feet up in every home in Bridge City. I think out of almost 4,000 homes, 15 were left untouched.

And when I was there touring the area, we toured it the day after by boat, and these are land cities. We could see the devastation, and today, those communities are trying to recover and those families are trying to repair their homes.

The problem we have is that Hurricane Rita, which had just come through 3 years ago, wiped out all the hotel-motels, had wiped out all available rental housing. So our workers in our energy refineries and shipbuilding and chemical refineries are staying 90, 100 miles away in available hotels, driving each day an hour-and-a-half each way to try to pull the carpet and the sheetrock out of their homes. They have all their possessions in the world piled in the front yard for insurance adjusters to appraise or for others to just simply take away.

And to give them hope that they can recover, it's important Congress do all that we can, and these tax provisions help those families and small businesses try to take those first steps, which is why not only do I strongly support this, I appreciate the gentleman from Wisconsin's long effort to provide disaster relief throughout this country.

I appreciate Chairman Rangel and the Ways and Means Committee taking a leadership role to move this bill to the floor before the session is over. I appreciate the support of our Texas delegation, Republicans and Democrats, as we move forward.

I strongly support this and appreciate the responsiveness of this Congress.

I yield back.

Would the gentleman yield?

Again, I want to thank you for your leadership, and this is a great piece of legislation.

I was remiss in not recognizing my colleague, Congressman Al Green from Houston. He's the lead Democrat cosponsor with me on the Texas portion of disaster relief. He is tied up in Financial Services today working on issues. I know he is here in spirit, and I just wanted to publicly thank him for his role as well.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 25th anniversary of the Tri-County Mental Health and Mental Retardation being designated as the MHMR center for Montgomery, Liberty and Walker counties in southeast Texas. I ask my colleagues and those visitors in the House Chamber to join me in congratulating Tri-County MHMR and applauding the work they've done over the past quarter century.

Twenty-six years ago, a small group of community leaders joined together to make the dream of local MHMR services a reality--the dream they shared became a reality on September 1, 1983. What initially was only an out-patient service center grew to have a budget of $1.5 million and 46 employees by the end of the first year. Tri-County MHMR grew from these humble beginnings into a $22 million system that serves nearly 7,000 people and has more than 350 employees.

It is only through the dedication of the founders, the continued work of the employees, and the support of the community that Tri-County MHMR has seen such tremendous success and been able to make such a positive impact on the community.

If you name the service chances are Tri-County MHMR offers it; from outpatient psychiatric services, nursing and counseling to supported employment, habilitation and vocational training for both adults and children. The impact they've had has been felt locally and with the help of Federal grants, they continue to offer new services and provide better care. Only last year, they received over $1.3 million to build additional supported apartment housing in Montgomery County. Tri-County MHMR continues to grow and identify new areas where they can contribute and, with the help of the State of Texas, the Montgomery County Hospital District, and the Montgomery County United Way, Tri-County MHMR will open a much needed Crisis Stabilization Unit in 2009.

It is an honor to recognize such an impressive group of individuals and such a noble organization. I hope all Americans can learn from the example Tri-County MHMR continues to make and step forward to fill a need in their local community, help other people, and in a small way help make life better for someone else.

Mr. Speaker, I hoped to comment on the Democrat energy bill tonight, but it is still under construction in the back rooms.

What I don't understand is why this Congress, this Democrat Congress, stands in the way of the American people and does not allow a straight up-or-down vote on exploring for more energy here in America.

Our Republican plan is simple: use less energy, find more sources here in America, conserve more, bring the renewables online, but let's explore more for oil and gas in our deep ocean waters and arctic reserve. That's the only way we can have an affordable bridge to the future. We can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and again, give some help to the families and small businesses and school districts across this country who are suffering because of high gas prices.

Now is the time to act. Now is the time. We need a straight up-or- down vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of George F. Rozelle III. Mr. Rozelle recently left this earth and joined his Heavenly Father.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Mr. Rozelle was a proud Texan and Longhorn fan even when life took him to other parts of the country. After growing up in Arlington and attending Arlington High School he went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington. The business degree he earned at UT--Arlington served him well as he quickly started his career with the Junior Chamber of Commerce and began to climb the Chamber ladder.

After moving to Arizona and marrying Marty, he joined the Fiesta Bowl Committee in 1979. He played a critical role in turning the Fiesta Bowl into one of the premier sporting events in the world; he served on the Board of Directors for six years.

Mr. Rozelle's lifelong passion was serving others and his community. Besides his time with the Fiesta Bowl, he was the President of the Arizona Club, Executive Director of the Arizona chapter of the American Roads and Transportation Builder's Association and spent time with the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Mr. Rozelle was best known for his smile, easy going sense of humor, and his ability to make everyone feel comfortable. His friends and family will also miss his skill in the kitchen; a true gourmet, he was written up in the Arizona Republic for his ability and participation in a local gourmet cooking group.

George is survived by his loving and faithful wife of 31 years, Dr. Martha Rozelle, their daughters, Deborah and Vicki; son George; granddaughters Brooke, Janessa, Joni, Julie, Katy; and grandsons, Chris and Braydn.

Madam Speaker, I thank the House of Representatives and America for joining me in honoring the life of George F. Rozelle III and offering our prayers and condolences to his family and friends.