Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support today of H.R. 4847, which is the United States Fire Administration Reauthorization Act.

This reauthorization of this vital legislation demonstrates Congress' commitment to enhance the protection of our citizens throughout this great Nation to prevent any harm that might come to loss of life or property due to devastation caused by fires. Included in this legislation is an amendment that I offered at a full committee markup that I'd like to reiterate and clarify at this time.

Inclusive in H.R. 4847 is an amendment that does not create a new stand-alone course regarding port and marine firefighting. In fact, much effort was taken by my staff, the Republican side, committee staff, as well as the various agencies, to ensure that we would take conscious action in not creating additional costs for the agencies and/ or programs that are right now really not funded to the levels we would like to see.

The intent of the amendment is to take the unique content of port and marine firefighting activity and to incorporate that information into existing classes. Why, you might ask? This Congress' goal of using, in an efficient manner, resources that we have, we also want to integrate information to best prepare our firefighters to respond to disasters.

And you might ask the question, why? In the United States alone, we have over 126 shipping ports, all of which are critical to the movement of goods and the general health of our economy. The volatility of the products that are being shipped and the new increased size of these shipping vessels causes problems to our firefighters in terms of responding. So, when you consider a district such as mine that borders along the Port of Long Beach and also the Port of Los Angeles, one of the things that we learned in the wake of Katrina, we learned in the San Diego fires, and we also learned with September 11th is that firefighters are brothers and sisters. You might have rural firefighters who respond to an urban disaster; likewise, urban firefighters might be called to respond to a rural disaster.

And so, one of the things that we've learned in these incredible complex disasters that we've had over the last couple of years is that inoperability, the

ability for rural and urban firefighters to have the same information and to be prepared in the midst of a disaster because it's one thing to play Monday night quarterback when everything can be planned in advance, but when we have a disaster, it is too late at that point for our firefighters to be trained on how do you respond to an extended vessel, or how do you respond to an LNG disaster, or how do you respond to anything else that might be occurring. And so, with that, it is my pleasure to work with, we had great leadership by Mr. Mitchell here in this effort of the reauthorization bill.

Because we never know what our firefighters might be facing, I, unfortunately, lost a firefighter in California just last week. So, I would be remiss at this moment not to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Representative Bartlett and Representative Rohrabacher, for their support of this amendment.

I intend, through conference with staff and the appropriate members of the Department of Homeland Security, USFA, and the Superintendent of the Fire Academy to ensure that we have the right curriculum that can be incorporated that can benefit all firefighters to ultimately protect our citizens in a better way.

In closing, I want to again commend our colleague, Representative Mitchell, for his leadership on this issue, and also Chairman Gordon for his commitment on the Science and Technology Committee to move beyond all of the limits and the challenges that we have, and to make sure that Americans are protected every day.

I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the newly elected speaker of the California State Assembly, the Honorable Karen Bass. It is with great pride and pleasure that I applaud her accomplishments and wish her much future success.

At the end of this legislative year, Karen Bass will break glass ceilings in California and across the Nation by becoming the first African-American woman speaker of a State legislative body. Speaker- elect Karen Bass, who is respected on both sides of the aisle, received unanimous vote of the members to become the first Democratic woman elected to this position in California's history.

Throughout her career, public service and social justice have been the common threads around which her life revolved. Understanding the importance of education, Speaker-elect Bass taught as an adjunct instructor at her alma mater, California State University, Dominguez Hills. She also served as the clinical instructor at the Southern California School of Medicine and as the project director for the health careers opportunity program. A graduate of the University of Southern California's, USC, School of Medicine-Physician Assistant Program, Speaker-elect Bass worked in our country's largest trauma center, Los Angeles/USC Medical Center. It was here that she witnessed firsthand the havoc wreaked upon the community by the crack cocaine epidemic.

In 1990, Speaker-elect Bass took action by leaving the medical profession and founding the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment. She served as its executive director for 14 years. After the 1992 civil unrest in Los Angeles, the coalition united and succeeded in transforming the social and economic conditions in south Los Angeles.

Speaker-elect Bass turned to politics when she concluded that the best way to implement change was to become an elected official herself. At the time of her election, there were no other African-American women in the California legislature, but her leadership potential was recognized immediately. During her first term, she was appointed majority whip during the 2005-2006 legislative session. During her second term, she became the first woman and first African-American appointed to the position of majority leader.

As vice chair of California's Legislative Black Caucus, Speaker-elect Bass pressed for the creation of the State of Black California Report, which measured economic and social conditions of California's African- American population. The Speaker-elect also created the People's Council to engage citizens in the debate on public policy and the political process. The Council was composed of four commissions, which examined education, environment, small business, and health issues in the State.

Always reaching for the highest goals, I am certain that Speaker- elect Bass will lead the California State Assembly with the same commitment and dedication that she has demonstrated throughout her entire career. In closing, Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring the achievements of Speaker-elect Karen Bass and wishing her continuing success.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the newly elected Speaker of the California State Assembly, the Honorable Karen Bass. It is with great pleasure that I applaud her accomplishments and wish her future much success.

At the end of this legislative year, Karen Bass will break historic glass ceilings in California and across this Nation by becoming the first African American woman Speaker of the State legislative body.

Speaker-elect Karen Bass, who is respected on both sides of the aisle, received unanimous support. Throughout her career, her public service and social justice has been something that she commonly really used not only in her community but now in her service. In 1990, Speaker-elect Bass founded the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse, Prevention and Treatment. She served as its executive director for 14 years. After the 1992 civil unrest, her organization played a pivotal role in the success of South Los Angeles.

Speaker-elect Bass turned to politics when she concluded that the best way to implement change would be to be an elected official herself. At the time of her election, there were no other African American women serving in the California Legislature. She was immediately appointed majority whip, and now she serves as majority leader.

Please join me in congratulating her as we wish her tremendous success.

Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 4040, The Consumer Protection Safety Modernization Act, not just as a strong believer in consumer safety protections but also as a proud co-sponsor of this legislation. This important piece of legislation helps protect Americans from harmful and potentially deadly substances found in our consumer products.

Far too often, Americans are unknowingly confronted with tainted products putting their health and lives in danger. Last week alone, the Consumer Protection Agency had to recall 300,000 Baby Bead and Race Car Toys due to toxic levels of lead paint, 12,000 girls' hooded sweatshirts due to a strangulation hazard, and 12,000 Christmas candle sets that posed a serious fire hazard. These are only a fraction of the products recalled last week due to serious safety violations, and many of the products we Americans use are not even adequately screened.

H.R. 4040 fixes many of the failures in our product safety system by requiring that all children's products marketed to children under the age of 12 must undergo third party testing and certification, reducing the lead standard acceptable in children's toys, raising the penalty for breaking consumer product safety laws, prohibiting the sale and export of recalled products, and drastically speeding up the Consumer Product Safety Commission's ability of recalling hazardous products. In addition, not only does H.R. 4040 address the current crisis of consumer product safety, but significantly increases the financial resources of the Consumer Product Safety Commission to protect us from hazardous products in the coming years.

As we enjoy this holiday season with our loved ones, the American people should know that we as members of Congress are continuously working to ensure the safety of the products on America's shelves and wrapped presents shared during the holiday season.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce the ``Equal Rights for Health Care Act--Title 42.'' Our Founding Fathers wisely wrote that all Americans should have the equal rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to have life one must be healthy and have adequate healthcare. Ensuring those rights of my constituents and the American people is our primary responsibility as Members of Congress. H.R. 4849 will prohibition discrimination of health care services and research programs that receive Federal funding based on sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability status.

The civil rights laws have historically been a powerful mechanism for effecting necessary change in the United States. Each law represents a national commitment to end discrimination and establish a mandate to bring the excluded into the mainstream. These equal rights laws ensure that the Federal government delivers on the Constitution's promise of equal opportunity so that every individual has the right to develop his or her talents. Healthcare should not be an exception to this precedent.

In 1971, only 18 percent of all women, compared to 26 percent of all men, had completed 4 or more years of college. In 1972, Title IX was introduced by Representative Edith Green of Oregon. In 2007, celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Title IX, which assured woman's right to education equality, the U.S. Department of Education showed 56 percent of all women compared to 44 percent of all men in four or more years of college. This mandate created a sea of change in our expectations of what equal funding could achieve.

Federal law prohibits discrimination across a wide array of public policy arenas, none more so than in relation to voting and public education rights. The ``Equal Rights for Health Care Act--Title 42'' H.R. 4849 seeks to have the same effect in the health care community. With the introduction of H.R. 4849, we as a Congress, are taking another step toward equal rights and I look forward to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to accomplish this goal.

Part of what makes this Nation respected is our ability to acknowledge history, both good and bad, and make the conscious effort to not repeat those same mistakes.

Make no mistake about it. The noose is an ugly symbol, and it is a painful reminder of a time period where a piece of rope was used to administer criminal injustice and to intimidate an entire population. Likewise, it is important to note that the lynchings were not limited to African Americans alone. Historians have noted and documented at least 605 cases of Hispanic Americans who were lynched between 1848 and 1928. According to the Tuskegee Institute, more than 4,700 people were lynched between 1882 and 1959 in a campaign of terror led by the Ku Klux Klan. Also noted is that white individuals were lynched during that same time period, and of that 4,700, it is believed that at least one-fourth were white members.

It is important to understand that the noose can create a memory of pain as noted by my colleague. It is a pain that is often considered similar to viewing a swastika. This is a terrible reminder to us all that intimidation, whether it be done in speech or in action or in symbols, should not be tolerated.

In my own district, just less than 20 miles from my area, we had a recent incident at the Cal State Fullerton campus. This is a State campus where these acts of intimidation surfaced.

Regarding the first amendment, this resolution does nothing to impede an individual's right to think or utilize the right to speak differently than another. H. Res. 826 encourages the Federal Government to investigate vigorously and prosecute any noose hangings when they are done with the purpose to intimidate.

I want to thank my colleague Mr. Green from Texas for his leadership on this issue, and also Chairman Conyers for dealing with this issue in such a timely manner.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 822) recognizing the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the Port of Los Angeles, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on House Resolution 822.

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

Madam Speaker, I'm proud to honor the Port of Los Angeles today with the passage of House Resolution 822, which recognizes the port's 100th anniversary. I was pleased to undertake this effort with my colleague from the Republican side of the aisle, Representative Dana Rohrabacher.

The Port of Los Angeles enjoys a meaningful history, Madam Speaker, starting in the mid-19th century as a trading center for furs and hides serviced by stagecoaches and wagons and transforming over time into a distinction today as the Nation's largest container port.

In 1911, Rear Admiral John C. Walker helped push for greater development in the San Pedro Bay, and his efforts resulted in the first Federal breakwater.

In World War II, the Port of Los Angeles played a large role in our Nation's ability to respond to the shipbuilding challenge and to arm the U.S. Navy. This effort also quickly became a part of the Port of Los Angeles' prime economic activity.

More recently, in 2004 the port completed the 500-acre Pier 400 container complex as the largest single user container terminal in the world, which has been acclaimed as an engineering marvel.

The Port of Los Angeles is located in the San Pedro Bay in California and is a part of the Southern California port complex. In California, both ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, process approximately 85 percent of the State's goods movement program. For the Nation, the Southern California complex additionally handles more than 45 percent of the entire Nation's cargo arriving in the United States, impacting over 1 million jobs nationwide. As a premier international gateway, the Port of Los Angeles has been recorded as the number one largest container handling port in the United States for the last 7 consecutive years.

My colleagues, the impact of the Port of Los Angeles is monumental, and the numbers are staggering. The port has grown 246 percent over the last 11 years, tripling its trade-related jobs, generating $256 billion in commerce, and producing $28 billion in tax revenue. This growth is not likely to slow, as the port is expected to again triple the amount of cargo it handles by the year 2030.

With this progress comes great responsibility, however. In 2006, the historic Clean Air Action Plan was agreed to by the Boards of Harbor Commissioners, which seeks to reduce air pollution by 50 percent in the next 5 years.

With House Resolution 822, the House now has an opportunity to bestow the appropriate recognition on the Port of Los Angeles that it deserves after 100 years of successful operation and service to the American public and our economy.

I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 822.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize for 3 minutes a strong ally of the Port of Los Angeles and my friend from Los Angeles County, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman).

Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize for 2 minutes my good friend and representative who covers the Port of San Diego, our sister port, the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2 minutes to my good friend from Los Angeles and a fellow member of the Transportation Committee, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano).

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2-1/12 minutes to my dear friend also from the Los Angeles County area, the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Roybal-Allard.

Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize the next three speakers that you will hear for 2 minutes, but in particular I want to yield 2 minutes to my dear friend from Oakland, who represents another sister city port, the Port of Oakland, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2 minutes to my sister colleague and dear friend who also represents the Port of San Diego, Congresswoman Susan Davis.

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2 minutes to my dear friend and sister from the great area of Santa Barbara. She also has a port in her district, Mrs. Lois Capps.

Madam Speaker, actually as the manager of this bill, I was prepared to give the honor of closing this bill to the dear chairman. So since he is our last speaker, I am prepared to close at that point once you have yielded the remaining time.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to introduce the distinguished chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, on which we both serve. His leadership I have had an opportunity to work with in a very quick fashion, and I am very pleased to have him join us in this effort. Please welcome the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).

I yield myself the balance of my time.

The Port of Los Angeles now looks forward to its next 100 years with a legacy as a leader in terminal efficiency and setting environmental standards. It is indeed the Nation's largest and most successful conveyor of the Nation's and the world's commerce.

Madam Speaker, I urge all the Members to support the Port of Los Angeles and House Resolution 822 and applaud the efforts of Mr. LaTourette, our chairman, as you heard, Mr. Cummings, and also our chairman of Transportation, Mr. Oberstar.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, House Democrats and some of our Republican friends continue to fight for a much-needed health care system that we need for our children. Unfortunately, though, the President and too many Republicans in this body still refuse to support a plan that has already received tremendous bipartisan support in the Senate and from the public.

Last month, after meeting with Republican Members and our Democratic leadership, once again we brought forward a bill that would cover 10 million children, 10 million American children who live in this country who deserve to be covered.

But Republicans, my colleagues, have avoided taking this vote. We need to make sure that our children are covered. Instead, they proposed a program that would provide health care for 1.7 million fewer children in America.

Madam Speaker, 81 percent of Americans support a bipartisan effort to provide health care for 10 million children. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 20, the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act.

Postpartum depression is a serious mental health problem that can have significant consequences for both the new mother and family. Statistics show up to 800,000 women annually develop this diagnosable prenatal mood disorder; shockingly, less than 15 percent of mothers will receive treatment for the disease.

In California, the results from a 2004 California Women's Health 2007 study indicated that younger females were most at risk for postpartum depression. Females 19 and younger had rates of risk of more than 20 percent: woman 35 and older had the lowest rate, 6.4 percent. In California, woman who are young and/or without health insurance would benefit most from the screening, counseling, diagnosis, and treatment for postpartum depression that this legislation authorizes.

H.R. 20, the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act, would ensure that woman at risk for or with postpartum depression are provided adequate and timely prevention and mental health services.

If we are to have any hope of preventing deaths among new mothers and children from this disease, we must identify ways by which we can effectively treat and prevent postpartum psychosis.

I extend my gratitude and thanks to Representative Rush for bringing this important piece of legislation to the House. His commitment to this issue is commendable.

Mr. Speaker, the Democratic Congress has a strong record of delivering our promises, real meaningful change, fiscally responsible ways, and instituting a pay-as-you-go policy and doing it in a deficit reduction, disciplined way.

Our Democratic Congress, the majority that we have, has passed three significant things:

Number one, we passed legislation last month that instituted the 9/11 Commission recommendations that would improve communications with first responders and would ensure 100 percent screening of airline and seaborne cargo.

Number two, we established historic energy independence that would reduce our Nation's dependency on foreign oil.

And, number three, this Democratic House, we have made sure to invest in over 3,000 new Border Patrol agents as well as 50,000 new police officers.

Mr. Speaker, these are just a few examples of how our Democratic Congress majority has taken America in a new direction.

Mr. Speaker, today is an exciting week for all Democrats because we are sending one of our top priorities to the President's desk, and that is the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.

Education departments estimate that over 200,000 academically qualified students are unable to go to college. This legislation will be the largest investment the Democratic Congress has made since 1944.

Specifically, the Pell Grant scholarships will be increased by $1,090 over the next 5 years. We will be able to cut interest rates from the current 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, and that will save student borrowers over $4,000 over the life of their loan.

Members, this is great news, and it is great news to taxpayers, because we have been able to utilize eliminating excessive Federal subsidies from the lenders in the industry to bear the cost of this program . . . and not the taxpayers.

This is a personal story for me. I have been working since the age of 12. I took out student loans and was able to get my education because of programs like this.

Mr. Speaker, this is a great day for students and Democrats in this Congress to send the college cost reduction act to the Presidents desk.

Speaker Pelosi, Leaders Hoyer, Clyburn, Emanuel, Becerra, Caucus Chairs Lofgren, Kilpatrick, Baca and Honda, the California delegation, thank you all for meeting with me, kind of putting me

under your wing, and really sharing your pearls of wisdom.

To Congresswoman Waters, for the last 120 days you have been tirelessly, unrelentingly instructive and even graciously transparent in your efforts to help me to get here. Thank you.

To my supporters and friends and family in the gallery, my consultant, manager, labor brothers and sisters, volunteers, friends and staff, I will individually thank you in the reception that will follow, but I would be remiss to not publicly acknowledge the dedicated work that you did to get me here. Thank you very much.

To my new colleagues, yes, on both sides of the aisle, it is my desire to establish a reputation to be a Member's Member. What that means to me is to be a hard worker, to be responsive, to be straightforward and honest, even if we disagree; and I hear that happens a few times here. You know, or you will learn to know, that I will keep my word.

To the constituents of the California 37th Congressional District, my job will be to focus as much on the war in America, the war of crime, poverty, inadequate health care, failing education, crumbling infrastructure, and sparse development as much as I will focus on the war in Iraq.

My job will be to prove that the poor aren't just poor because they want to be or because they don't want to work, that with job training and livable wages, not all urban youth choose gang life, and that blighted areas are not a result of ``white flight.'' Rather, they're a result of lack of investments and revitalization.

I also believe I have a responsibility to unveil the shameful sin of injustice, inequality and inequities that still do exist, and I've seen them and lived them, in this wonderful country today.

To the McDonald family, I will always be grateful to Congresswoman McDonald, who first hired me and trained me over 10 years ago. As a staffer, I almost got fired my first week because I left her in a church. And I fondly recall her saying to me, ``I guess I can't throw the baby out with the bath water.'' I respectfully stand today on her legacy as I reach towards my own destiny.

Finally, to the God that I serve and to my family who support me and love me dearly, my mother, my sister, my uncle, my nephew, haven't we come a mighty long way? My maternal grandparents, who emigrated here freely from Ireland and from Germany, and yet my fraternal grandparents, completely the opposite, who came here forcibly in chains and centuries of bondage. Who would have thought that the cost had a price that would require my payment?

A seed of hope, yet equally a seed of despair, a seed of opportunity, yet equally a seed of why I can't, a seed of love that was met with seeds of hate. Who would have thought, I guess those who built and have served in this sacred Chamber, many of you, that after all, that's what this place is for. For a girl like me at the age of six, who chose, after watching and living the civil rights movement, that really those of us who lived through the pains of struggle would one day have an opportunity to make sure that everyone really was free. I welcome this responsibility. Thank you.