Floor Statements

I rise today on behalf of residents of southern California who are struggling to make ends meet. In recent months, I've heard from a number of constituents who will soon be required to pay more than a thousand dollars a year in flood insurance premiums even though they live in a virtual desert. That's right. Southern California is officially a semi-arid, near-desert region, but many of my constituents are being told to pay a thousand dollars a year or more to guard against floods.

These families want to know why their homes were considered safe just months ago but are now considered to be in a flood zone under new FEMA maps. They want to know what has changed in such a short time to threaten their safety, particularly given the recent infrastructure investments in the L.A. River Basin.

Let me be clear, I support the National Flood Insurance Program because floods can devastate a community, but where flood maps are outdated, they should be corrected to better protect communities.

However, local residents should be involved in the process and given a chance to be heard before their homes are rezoned. This bill will also allow families the choice to pay their premiums in installments and allow families to lessen the burden on their budget.

I thank Congresswoman Waters, and I urge passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of taxpayers in California who will no longer be on the hook when Wall Street fails. This body has spent the last 3 years dealing with the fallout from the financial crisis. In my district in southern California, we've seen lost jobs, homes, businesses, and shattered dreams of financial security.

These challenges were in large part the result of an ineffective, and in some places, nonexistent regulatory system. This encouraged risk and allowed financial institutions to operate in a lawless environment where there were no consequences for their actions.

The legislation that we put forth today seeks to fix those failures and provide families nationwide with the security of knowing that future financial challenges will be the result of honest markets, not crooked traders. Honesty is what this bill is about. We all support a free market and the ability of each business to succeed or fail on its own merits. This landmark legislation allows that competition to take place on a level playing field. It will help prevent another crisis like the one we're still recovering from.

I'm surprised that there's opposition to this legislation. After what our country has been through, how can anyone oppose bringing credit default swaps out into the sunshine? How can anyone oppose allowing shareholders a say on executive compensation? Or a framework that prevents future bailouts by allowing companies that deserve to fail because they're engaging in risky practices to fail?

Families in the 39th District of California will be more secure because of the action that we are taking today.

I thank our leadership, Chairman Frank, and the conferees for their hard work and urge my colleagues to pass this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Improvement Act of 2010. This bill would strengthen our national economy and international competitiveness.

Our harbors are economic engines for our nation. Because more than 95 percent of overseas trade moves in and out of the United States by ship, harbor infrastructure is vital to the American economy.

Moreover, our harbors create a substantial amount of revenue through the Harbor Maintenance Tax. The tax is imposed on importers and domestic shippers based upon the value of their cargo and is deposited in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

Fund money is designated for recovering operation and maintenance costs at US coastal and Great Lakes Harbors, particularly for dredging. Yet, our harbors only receive a fraction of the revenue they create. Revenue deposited into the fund far exceeds transfers out of the fund. This lead to a balance of almost $5 billion at the end of fiscal year 2009.

At the same time, the global economic crisis has hit our harbors and many are struggling to make ends meet. It is only fair to give back to our harbors in their times of need. That's why the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Improvement Act would expand our harbors' ability to make use of Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund money. The bill would allow them to use the revenue they create not only for maintenance and dredging needs but also for the costs of Environmental Impact Statements for navigation projects.

Environmental Impact Statements art required whenever the Corps of Engineers is involved in harbor maintenance and development efforts. The Statements serve the federal mission of taking environmental effects of a project into account. Use of Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund resources for this purpose is appropriate and long overdue. Harbors would be relieved of these costs, while the federal mission of assessing the environmental impact of such projects is strengthened.

Please join me in helping our harbors with this sensitive relief. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today for a man who dedicated his entire life to rising up for hardworking men and women in this country.

Ron Gettelfinger, known to many as ``the chaplain'' for his drink- free, smoke-free habits, started out as a chassis line repairman at a Ford factory in Indiana. He would later succeed in leading automotive employees for 8 years as president of the United Auto Workers union.

Mr. Gettelfinger spent a significant amount of his presidency guiding over 500,000 men and women through a period of disheartening job cuts, plant closures, and financial hardship.

And yet, he never relented in his fight for others. He never quit standing up for the people and the principles he believed in.

As one of 12 siblings from a small farming town, President Gettelfinger has always had a way of bringing people together in solidarity. I have no doubt that he will, for the rest of his life, greet his union members as ``brother'' and ``sister.''

He found dignity in all work and refused to accept the notion, much in fashion these days, that working men and women don't deserve a middle class wage that allows them to own a home, provide for their families, send their children to college, and afford quality health care.

His make-no-apology approach saved countless jobs and even the viability of some businesses. To his core, he believes in respect for the working men and women of America.

As President Gettelfinger begins the next stage of his life, we should all pay heed to a motto he lived by: Every job we save is an important job--that is what we are all about.

It is an ideal we should all be about. He is a man to whom we should all give our gratitude.

I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring Ron Gettelfinger for his commendable service to others and leadership in the face of adversity.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the ``Investing Income at Home Act of 2010.'' This legislation would increase investment in the U.S. economy by allowing ``closely held'' companies that earn money abroad to create American jobs by investing overseas profits here at home. This would be accomplished by updating an outdated relic of the Tax Code, the personal holding company, or ``PHC,'' tax structure.

Under current law, a personal holding company's undistributed income is taxed at 15 percent. This rate is scheduled to return to the highest individual tax rate of 39.6 percent in 2011 when the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire. Unfortunately the personal holding company tax has not evolved to keep up with modern business realities. Family-run companies can be subject to this tax--which they would not pay if they were publicly owned.

The Investing Income at Home Act will modify the definition of ``PHC income'' to exclude dividends received from foreign affiliates if those dividends are reinvested in the United States. Importantly, these dividends brought back into the United States could not be used by any company to pay executive salaries or benefits.

This bill will ensure closely held corporations impacted by the PHC tax regime would pay the same level of corporate tax as similarly situated publicly traded corporations. This would free them to invest dividends from foreign sources into the U.S. economy helping to create much-needed jobs here in America.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about an issue of concern to seniors in my district and around the country. I'm proud to support the Seniors' Bill of Rights crafted by the Democrats' Seniors Task Force, and am committed to its goals. These goals include helping seniors achieve financial security by staying in their homes, finding jobs, and receiving quality, affordable health care.

Our seniors made this country what it is today--fighting overseas for our freedom, serving as the backbone for an economic boom in the post- war years, and providing critical leadership in our communities.

Today, I want to address a fundamental flaw in the Social Security system that I want to correct in the coming weeks: Social Security disability fraud. We are all aware of the disability backlog and the steps Congress is taking to reduce it. Due to dedicated oversight and strong action since the Democrats took back the majority in Congress, the backlog is being reduced. What is less commonly known is that some disability insurers are purposely adding to this backlog.

They have forced policyholders to apply for Social Security disability benefits or else they withhold payments. They do this even when they know the person is ineligible for Social Security disability benefits.

Here is where the fraud comes in. Disability insurance pays out when you are hurt and unable to perform your job. Social Security is there when you are so hurt that you cannot perform any job.

If a neonatal nurse, for example, injures her shoulder in a car accident and can no longer pick up infants, she can no longer do her job and is eligible for temporary disability benefits from her insurer. Because this nurse is still capable of serving a full career as a nurse in a number of other settings, she is not eligible for Social Security disability.

This isn't a hypothetical situation. It is an actual case pulled from a lawsuit against one of the disability insurers that was defrauding Social Security.

The disability insurer forced the nurse to commit fraud by forcing her to apply for Social Security disability, even though they knew the full extent of her injuries still meant that she

could work as a nurse in other capacities.

These insurers have access to medical records and know full well when their customers are unable to perform any job. Yet they mandate that all of their customers, even those who are only temporarily injured, apply for Social Security disability. This adds to the backlog and costs taxpayers millions of dollars, all because insurers want to delay paying legitimate claims.

My legislation would require that insurers play by the same rules that they require of individuals. If an insurer is going to mandate a policyholder apply for Social Security disability, that insurer should have to certify to the government that the claim is a legitimate, permanent claim.

This legislation will root out this practice so that bad actors won't be able to clog the system with frivolous claims. When frivolous claims are weeded out, access for legitimate applicants increases and the time to process legitimate claims decreases.

This is just one of the issues I am working on to benefit California's seniors. I look forward to working with my colleagues and passing this bill into law.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends across America.

This Sunday, as I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mom, I was reminded of the importance of a healthy family.

As moms, we set a foundation for our families--whether it is putting on the sunscreen or scheduling check-ups--we set the example for our children.

One reason I worked so hard to pass the Affordable Care Act is to empower moms and their children.

Thanks to the healthcare reform law, women will no longer be excluded from insurance for pre-existing conditions, pay higher premiums than men, or forced to pay sky-rocketing out-of-pocket costs for basic health services like preventive screenings and maternity coverage.

As a working mom, I know how easy it is to put our own health on the back burner behind work, family, or school.

Mother's Day marked the beginning of National Women's Health Week, a time to encourage women to make their health a top priority and recommit to improving the health of women for generations to come.

Women's health is not just a women's issue. When we have healthy moms, we encourage the vitality of our children and our communities.

Madam Speaker, I am proud today to introduce a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3270 Firestone Boulevard in South Gate, California as the ``Henry C. Gonzalez Post Office Building.''

Henry Gonzalez currently serves as a Councilmember for the City of South Gate, where he has proudly served for over two decades, beginning in 1982 when he became the first Latino elected to the City Council. He continued to make history as the City's first Latino Mayor just a year later, a role he has assumed several times during his 23 years in elected office.

In addition to his government service, Henry Gonzalez is a pillar of the South Gate community. He is an avid supporter of South Gate youth sports--having founded the South Gate High School Booster Club and the South Gate Youth Football league--and he has served as a board member for countless national and local organizations.

He is a much-loved and respected community leader. In light of his great service to our community, it is fitting that we name this post office in his honor.

Henry Gonzalez has given much of himself to better the city of South Gate. A post office named in his honor will remind us of what true civic commitment is and will inspire us all in the years to come.

I would like to thank my colleague.

Madam Speaker, I rise in recognition of National Teacher Appreciation Week. This is a time to honor teachers for the positive impact they make in our lives. I thank the gentleman from Missouri for introducing this legislation.

Teachers fill many roles. They inspire students to set and reach goals. They are role models, motivators, and mentors. Most importantly, they help students develop the knowledge and skills they need to understand the world and to become a productive part of it. They work with limited resources to ensure that our students receive a quality education.

There are so many teachers in my district who work hard to open students' minds to ideas, knowledge, and dreams, but today I want to mention just three:

Julie Wright, who teaches first grade at Gardenhill Elementary School in La Mirada. Recently, Ms. Wright was nominated Teacher of the Year. Outside of the classroom, she invests her time in the local community by participating in the PTA and the Girl Scouts.

Pattie Blasnick is a special day class teacher at Ada S. Nelson Elementary School. Because of her patience and dedication to her special needs students, she was selected as the Los Nietos Teacher of the Year for 2009-2010.

Juvenal Martinez is a sixth grade teacher at Aeolian School who was recently honored for outstanding service in education and agriculture because of his commitment to increasing student and community knowledge about agriculture, horticulture, and nutrition.

I encourage everyone to take a moment to let a special teacher know how much they touched your life.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the need to create more jobs in the American economy. We have had some good news on jobs lately. The Nation's unemployment rate has finally dipped below 10 percent, and the economy added 162,000 jobs in March alone. It is a start.

The economic stimulus measures in last year's Recovery Act are starting to pay off, but it is still not enough. Over 44 percent of unemployed Americans have been jobless for 6 months or longer, the highest rate since World War II. For the long-term unemployed, that light at the end of the tunnel may feel more like a freight train bearing down on them.

Long-term unemployment cuts across nearly every industry and occupation, and happens to workers of all ages. Long-term unemployment is bad for families, and it is bad for the country.

Long-term unemployment can permanently depress a person's future wages. A study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago followed up on workers who lost their jobs during the recession of 2001 to 2003. It found that those working again by 2004 earned 17 percent less per week than they would have if they had kept their old job.

Long-term unemployment also drains the Federal purse, not only increasing costs for unemployment, Medicaid, and food assistance, but also severely reducing income tax revenue.

I strongly support safety net programs to help families survive bouts of unemployment; but, in the end, Americans would rather work. We must help get them back to work in jobs that will allow them to care for their families and send their children to college.

That is why I have introduced the Public Lands Rehabilitation and Job Creation Act, which will create well-paying jobs fixing roads and buildings in our Nation's parks and forests.

It is why I introduced the Sustainable Property Grants Act, to create jobs manufacturing and installing energy efficient equipment for commercial properties throughout the Nation. It is why I am working to support the President's export initiative, to create well-paying manufacturing jobs by expanding overseas markets for U.S.-made products. It is why I work hard to ensure that our trade laws and agreements are enforced, so U.S. firms don't get undercut by countries that don't play by the rules.

And it is why I spend each day in Congress working with my colleagues to fix our economy. I am working to renew the American dream.

Unfortunately, there are many obstacles in the way. Some Members of the other body have played games with efforts to extend unemployment benefits. Others are more concerned about retaining corporate tax giveaways than they are in working to find solutions that would help us pay for job creation efforts, job creation efforts that would help families while helping to restore Federal revenues.

Regardless of the obstacles we face, no matter how bitter our fights, nothing we experience in Congress will ever compare to the challenge of supporting a family without a job. That is why to my neighbors back home in southern California, I pledge to redouble my efforts, to keep fighting the good fight, to work tirelessly to bring back jobs and get America back on track. And to make sure the light at the end of the tunnel really is a ray of hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate Israel's 62nd year of nationhood.

On May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was born. The United States of America was the first country to recognize the new state. We began a long relationship of trust and friendship, and that holds true today.

As a co-chair of the Democratic Israel Working Group I am proud to celebrate America's relationship with Israel and to commemorate the founding of our trusted ally.

As we reflect on the importance of Israel's 62 years of existence, I look forward to the work our nations will do together and the progress we can make towards a lasting peace with Israel's neighbors.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Israel's 62nd anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 375, supporting the mission and goals of Workers Memorial Day, introduced by my good friend, the gentlelady from Texas.

On Workers Memorial Day, we pause to remember workers who have been injured, sickened, or even killed on the job.

We were recently given a harsh reminder of the realities of workplace danger in West Virginia. The coal miners who lost their lives in that tragedy paid the ultimate price while working to support their families and supply energy to this great nation.

Sixteen workers are killed on the job each day in America. my home, Los Angeles County, that means that, on average, one worker dies every 3 days. We lose a neighbor on the job every 3 days.

Accidents don't just happen in the most dangerous industries or on the most hazardous job sites. They also happen in offices, stores, and warehouses.

The fact is, deaths and injuries at work are preventable. We just need to give the issue

the attention it deserves. I applaud steps taken so far.

President Obama's Labor Department has already raised the profile of this issue and OSHA and MSHA have been empowered to do much more than ask for compliance with voluntary standards.

With passage of the Recovery Act, we were able to shift resources to agencies that enforce workplace safety and health laws.

While the recent tragedy in West Virginia reminds us that we have far to go, my point is that it shouldn't take a disaster to put our eye on the ball. One preventable death at work is too many.

Disasters, like the recent loss of so many lives in West Virginia, serve as a stark reminder of the inadequacies that still exist. No family should ever have to suffer loss because we do not properly or fully inspect a workplace.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this resolution.

I also urge you to join the members of the Labor and Working Families Caucus as we continue our efforts to make it safe to go to work in America.

I would like to thank the chairman.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4849, legislation that invests in affordable housing, infrastructure, and small businesses.

I want to speak today about two provisions in the bill that are particularly important to the constituents I represent. I'm very pleased that the bill incorporates legislation that I wrote to

strengthen the low-income housing tax credit. A stable roof over a child's head contributes to his or her education, emotional well-being, and overall physical health.

In California alone, 4 percent low-income housing credits have been responsible for 125,000 new housing units in the last 20 years. By reviving the value of these credits, we will revitalize the housing sector, creating not just affordable homes but new jobs.

Additionally, this bill extends the Recovery Act's successful Build America Bonds program. These bonds are responsible for almost 25 percent of the current municipal bond market. As of the end of February, $78 billion in Build America Bonds have been issued by State and local governments to build roads, bridges, and schools. And the jobs that are created pay a living wage. They are an investment in our community.

They are an investment in our community and an investment in our workforce, investments that are going to pay dividends for years to come.

I want to thank the chairman and the committee staff for their hard work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as an original cosponsor of H. Res. 648.

Mr. Speaker, whether all Americans should have access to quality health care at a reasonable price is a question a century old. First raised by Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, then repeated by FDR, Harry Truman, and later presidents, the question almost answers itself. No nation can be strong whose citizens are sick and poor. To improve our economy, to care for our people, to fix our expensive and broken healthcare system, the time is now.

Truman argued that the principal reason why people could not receive the care they needed in 1946 was that they could not afford to pay for it. At the time, the cost of health care accounted for 4 percent of the nation's income. Today, the reason people don't receive care most likely remains its unaffordability, but the aggregate cost of health care has since risen to 16 percent of the nation's income.

Having grown up in a working family of seven kids, I know how important health insurance is. My parents couldn't predict which of us might break a leg, need our tonsils out, or worse, but they could predict that without insurance, they couldn't pay to get us the care we needed. There is no reason that hard working Americans should be priced out of needed healthcare.

Without doubt, this is not a perfect bill. It does not contain strong employer responsibility provisions or a public plan to provide real competition to private insurers. It cuts DSH payments for hospitals too much. It benefits states that have left some of their poorest citizens out of Medicaid without rewarding states like California that have been doing the right thing all along.

It contains an Independent Payment Advisory Board, which would severely limit Congressional oversight of the Medicare program and place authority within the executive branch, without Congressional oversight, judicial review, or state or community input. It also does something no bill has ever done before--prohibits undocumented immigrants from spending their own money to buy private health insurance within an insurance exchange or marketplace.

But the bill's strength--that it makes health insurance accessible and affordable for more than 30 million Americans who currently lack insurance--is so much more important than its weaknesses.

After fifteen months of hearings, meetings, debates, and ideas, the time has come for Congress to act to make healthcare better for all Americans.

I take this vote after much thought and consideration, not for any politician, but for my constituents who are anxious about whether they will be able to afford care for themselves and their children when they need it. For a nation as wealthy as America to have tens of millions of people without health insurance is shameful.

Even those who have insurance fear losing their jobs, and with it their insurance. Some are concerned that they will reach their annual or lifetime caps on coverage. Others are anxious that their insurance companies will simply drop them as soon as they get sick.

This bill, which my constituents have told me this Nation desperately needs, will address a number of shortcomings in our current system.

In our current system, those who have insurance pay more to subsidize care for those who don't have insurance. This bill changes that by requiring everyone to have basic health coverage. Everyone has a stake in improving public health. Currently, the uninsured don't get preventive care, and once they're sick, they wind up in the most expensive place to get treatment--the emergency room. The large number of uninsured distorts our system, acting as a hidden tax on the insured. This bill repeals that hidden tax.

In our current system, those with pre-existing conditions are discriminated against. No child asks to be born with muscular dystrophy, juvenile diabetes, asthma, or Down Syndrome. Yet current law allows insurance companies to deny or limit their coverage. This bill fixes that injustice, protecting our children, and ensuring they can access coverage for life.

In our current system, some women pay twice as much as men for insurance simply because they are women. This bill will change that so insurance companies will treat all people equally.

In our current system, Americans who work just as long and just as hard as their fellow citizens often lack insurance simply because they work for a small company instead of a large one. This bill addresses that too, by creating generous tax credits to small businesses to make insurance more affordable, and by creating affordability credits to help self-employed folks buy insurance at an affordable price in an insurance marketplace.

In our current system, healthcare costs are skyrocketing out of control. This bill will help rein in costs by paying doctors for quality, not quantity, and actually reduces the budget deficit, making our Nation more fiscally stable.

Oh, and one more thing, in our current system, millions of Americans like their doctors and insurance companies. This bill allows you to keep them. Millions of Americans will see no change in this bill except for the added peace of mind that occurs when you are no longer at the mercy of an insurance company that can drop or deny coverage at the drop of a hat.

And I haven't even mentioned the improvements to Medicare: closing the donut hole, eliminating co-payments on preventive tests, and reducing fraud and waste to extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund.

Yes, anyone who looks at this bill can find something wrong with it. But I can't remember the last time I voted on a perfect bill here in Congress. Just about every bill can be improved in one way or another.

On balance, this bill does what I came to Washington to do: to give a voice to average working people, whose voices are too often drowned out by the voices of moneyed interests.

Because I believe this bill would make America a stronger, more stable, healthier, fairer, and more just Nation, I vote yes.