Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was not able to be present for the following Roll Call vote on February 10, 2015 and would like to reflect that I would have voted as follows:

Roll Call #69: YES.

Roll Call #70: YES.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to commit at the desk.

Yes, I am.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer the final amendment to this bill.

Passage of this amendment will not prevent passage of the underlying bill. If it is adopted, my amendment will simply be incorporated into the bill, and the bill would be immediately voted upon.

Mr. Speaker, no matter if you support or oppose Keystone XL, we can all agree that extracting and transporting oil has some serious risks. It only takes one small crack, one small mistake, to cause a major oil spill and a catastrophe, irreparable damage to the surrounding communities and to the environment.

History has shown us that there is simply no such thing as a spillproof well or pipeline. Accidents happen, and they will continue to happen, regardless of what we are told by the oil companies building and maintaining the pipelines.

In fact, accidents have already happened 14 times on the existing section of the Keystone pipeline, and these oil spills don't just devastate the surrounding environment. They harm lives and livelihoods as well.

In 1969, my home district in California experienced one of the worst oil spills in American history. I saw, firsthand, the devastating damage to our local economy, to human health, to property, to natural resources. We have sadly seen this happen far too many times since then in communities all around this country.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster cost 11 lives, billions of dollars in economic damages, and untold devastation to the delicate ecosystem of the gulf. That very same year, we saw as well a terrible spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This spill was particularly noteworthy because it involved tar sands oil, which is the same type of oil that would flow through the Keystone pipeline.

Tar sands oil is much harder to clean up than standard crude, which is one of the reasons the spill took nearly $1 billion and several years to clean up.

Mr. Speaker, despite numerous assurances that Keystone XL will be safer and that the risk of a spill will be minimal, safer simply does not equal safe. That is why we have the oil spill liability trust fund, to ensure that the oil companies that create these messes will also pay for them to clean them up.

This trust fund is financed by an 8 cents per-barrel fee on crude oil and petroleum products, but TransCanada is currently not even required to contribute to the trust fund for Keystone

because tar sands oil is not considered crude oil for purposes of this program--a loophole, if I have ever heard of one.

If there is a spill, taxpayers and local communities, not those responsible, could be stuck paying for this cleanup. That is why I am offering this straightforward amendment.

My amendment would simply require TransCanada to certify that it will pay the same per-barrel fee for its tar sands oil as it does for its regular crude. It would ensure that TransCanada--and not taxpayers--pay to clean up its own mess in the event of a spill.

I have offered this amendment several times before, both in committee and here on the floor, so the majority should be quite familiar with this issue. In fact, the majority has assured us on several occasions that they would work with us, on Ways and Means Committee as well, to resolve this issue; yet the majority has failed to even propose a meaningful solution, let alone bring one to the floor for a vote.

Mr. Speaker, this is a straightforward issue that should have bipartisan support. We taxpayers, if we are going to bear 100 percent of the risk of an oil spill from this Keystone pipeline, the least we can do is to ensure that those that are responsible for it also pay to clean it up.

I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment, to protect American taxpayers, and hold oil companies accountable.

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

As I said in my opening remarks, I would not, but as we know, the bill would still pass.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding.

It is not a joke. It is disheartening that here we are for the 56th time again considering a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

This time it is different. This time repeal will do more than simply take away the important consumer protections that hold insurance companies accountable and make sure everyone is insurable.

This time it will actually take health insurance away from millions of families, plans they have both chosen and paid for. This time it will hit families where it hurts, raising their costs by erasing the benefits that make their insurance more affordable, as well as raising Medicare prescription drug costs.

This time small businesses who have received tax credits to make insurance affordable will lose them, leaving employees without coverage and few, if any, affordable options.

We all know that the Affordable Care Act is not perfect and there are clear areas where we could work together to build on and improve this law, but today's repeal vote would turn back time, reverting back to a system everyone agreed was broken. The American people deserve better than that from us. I ask for a ``no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the Reverend Dr. C. Welton Gaddy for a life and career distinguished by passion, leadership, and faith.

As President of Interfaith Alliance, a national non-partisan grassroots and educational organization, Dr. Gaddy emerged as a leading advocate for protecting the boundaries between religion and government. A champion of religious freedom and defender of individual rights, Dr. Gaddy has relentlessly worked to promote policies that protect religion, democracy, and the role of faith in America.

Throughout his career, Dr. Gaddy has shown a strong history of leadership and service. His past roles include being President of the Alliance of Baptists and a 20-year member of the Commission of Christian Ethics of the Baptist World Alliance. He has served as a member of the General Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, President of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Chair of the Pastoral Leadership Commission of the Baptist World Alliance and as a member of the World Economic Forum's Council of 100. Currently Dr. Gaddy serves on the White House task-force on Reform of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, while also serving as Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Northminster Baptist Church in Monroe, Louisiana.

In addition to authoring over 20 books addressing religion in American life, Dr. Gaddy hosts the weekly State of Belief radio program, where he illustrates the vast diversity of beliefs in the United States and their influence on politics. Although Dr. Gaddy is moving onto the next chapter in his life, the influence and power of his works efforts are boundless and will remain strong for years to come.

I am pleased to celebrate Dr. Gaddy's countless achievements as he is honored by his friends and colleagues tonight. We are so grateful for his many years of service and wish him nothing but continued success in his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call this House to action. In the opening weeks of the 114th Congress, this Chamber has voted to deport DREAMers and the parents of American citizens. And the House majority continues to put our national security at risk by threatening to shut down the Department of Homeland Security just because they object to the administration's efforts to keep immigrant families together and to deport violent criminals.

No matter how you feel about the administration's efforts, we should all recognize that it is time to set aside these partisan games and take substantive action to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. It is not just the moral thing to do for so many of our friends and neighbors; it is the right thing to do for our economy, for our public safety, and for our country.

I will urge House leadership to bring a comprehensive immigration reform bill to the floor for a vote. It is the right thing to do.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my statement inserted in the Record of the House of Representatives that we should be considering bigger paychecks and better infrastructure instead of attacking women's access to health care.

``He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: . . . ''

Mr. Speaker, I thank the dean of our California delegation for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, it is with such great pride--also mixed with a heavy heart at our pending loss--we gather here this evening to honor two of the giants of the House of Representatives, and they are friends, friends to me, friends to us all, George Miller and Henry Waxman.

Henry and George are two of America's greatest public servants, each serving their California constituents and serving the Nation for almost 40 years. But it is not just their longevity that makes them so notable. They have been incredibly effective.

They have used each of their days here in this institution to improve the lives of all Americans. They have taught us who served with them by their example to do the same. They have made their footprint, their imprint on this place indelible for all ages because they have focused on all Americans, and particularly the vulnerable.

Each of them has been especially skilled and adept at combining their keen knowledge of how to get things done here on the Hill with their ability to dive deep into policy and to see how average Americans, everyday Americans, are affected back home in their districts--all Americans. When you look at any major piece of domestic policy over the past 40 years that they have served here, their imprint is felt.

For example, Henry Waxman was so intimately involved in our Nation's best efforts to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid coverage, to improve access to generic drugs so that all Americans can afford their medicine, to protect our air and water. These topics have been covered, have been mentioned, but they are major pieces of legislation. And he has led us in moving toward a clean tech energy economy.

Henry Waxman literally wrote the laws that have improved the lives of so many, including the Ryan White CARE Act for HIV treatment and prevention, the landmark Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

Henry, working with you on the Energy and Commerce Committee has been one of the greatest joys that I have experienced here in Congress.

Similarly, George Miller has been such a stalwart in protecting middle class families, the ones I worked with in the school district that I used to represent, similar to all the school districts across this country.

You have promoted education and opportunity for the least of these, for all of these.

He authored the last increase in the Federal minimum wage. He passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act so that we could address pay discrimination. Imagine what that means to every woman, every family in this country because of this legislation.

He has led efforts to reform our Nation's education system. As a school nurse, this hits home with me.

He has made college more affordable, to protect our environment and our coastal communities from increased oil drilling. That is an issue that you empowered me to focus on when I came here as a new Member of Congress.

It must be noted that thanks to each of these Members, to the work that you did on the Affordable Care Act, so incredibly important each of you were to this major landmark passage, families now can have the peace of mind knowing that they are not going to go bankrupt just because they get sick.

And while we are going to deeply miss you here in this place next year, as we gather to vote tomorrow, you look around this Chamber during that vote, you can see each of the people you have mentored during your time here, including me.

So while you and your family are going to enjoy a very well-deserved retirement next year, the legacy that you are leaving in this Chamber will live on for a very long time.

On behalf of this Chamber, this Congress, Californians, in my district and throughout the State, and all Americans, I thank you, each of you, both of you.

I thank my colleague for yielding.

It is such an honor, in paying my tribute, to follow one of Mr. Dingell's best friends, Sandy Levin, his colleague from Michigan.

Mr. Speaker, I rise with great pride as well as deep humility to honor the longest-serving Member of Congress, the dean of the United States House of Representatives, the Congressman for the 12th District of Michigan and my personal friend, Mr. John Dingell.

John has served his country with such honor and such distinction, first as a second lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II and, for the past 59 years, right here in Congress over the terms of 11--that is 11--United States Presidents.

But it is not just his longevity that has made John such a force in the United States Congress. Yes, we are losing this man's incredible institutional memory, but hopefully neither he nor we will ever lose our love for this institution.

John Dingell's hand has helped construct nearly every major advancement in social policy that this country has known over the past six decades, policies that support working families, that strengthen our middle class, and support the United States economy.

Many of us here speak of significant events in United States history, but John Dingell can speak of these historic events because he was often right there, standing by the President's side. John knows this institution inside and out. And it is that knowledge, coupled with his belief that Congress does have a vital role in making this country better for all of us, that has made him so influential over the years.

But for all he has done for the Nation, John has been and continues to be such a great friend to each of us, no matter which side of the aisle we sit on.

When I first came to Congress, John Dingell took me under his wing and helped me to earn a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, his beloved committee. He told me that we did

need nurses at the table, and he always has been a passionate advocate for quality health care. He is such a good friend to my own colleagues in the nursing profession.

The good people of Michigan are losing a great advocate for their State in Congress. This country is losing a passionate and brilliant Representative, and what I am told is the best Twitter feed on the Hill. And I am losing a personal friend on the floor of the House and a real mentor on the dais at the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

But we won't be sad for long. Next year, we will have another Dingell who will be here as one of us, and that is John's very own lovely wife, Deborah. I look forward to working with Deborah and have no doubt that she will continue the legacy of service that John and his father before him have established.

So with that, I do not say good-bye, dear friend, but I do say best wishes. And know that we are all so full of gratitude and in great debt to you for your service, as you have for so long been of enormous service to each of us.

I thank my colleague from Vermont for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5562, which would designate the United States Postal Service facility in Lompoc, California, as the Federal Correctional Officer Scott J. Williams Memorial Post Office Building.

This is an important bill not only for the community of Lompoc, which resides in my congressional district on the central coast of California, but for the memory of a public servant we lost way too soon. Naming the Lompoc post office in honor of Scott J. Williams is a very fitting tribute.

Scott was a veteran, a civil servant, and a beloved family man who dedicated his life to public service. As a youth, he attended Lompoc High School and Allan Hancock College, both in the 24th Congressional District of California.

His tradition of service began in the Persian Gulf war, with distinction and valor, rising to the rank of corporal in the United States Marine Corps. During his military career, Scott was widely respected by his colleagues and was credited with saving many lives during combat. In fact, his outstanding work as a decorated veteran has been recognized through multiple awards, including being honored as Marine of the Year in 1989. Upon returning home to Lompoc, Scott continued his services to our Nation and began a career in law enforcement as a correctional officer. After 4 years of service at the United States Bureau of Prisons, Scott was tragically killed in the line of duty in 1997.

We are still saddened by the loss of this local hero and this family man. He is sincerely missed by the people of Los Alamos, California, and by the entire Lompoc, California, community.

After years of selfless service to our Nation and to the local community, the naming of the Lompoc Post Office after Officer Scott Williams is a fitting tribute. This recognition would complement the memorial park and the State highway in his name, and it would continue to honor a man whose selfless career was dedicated to keeping our Nation, as well as his own community, safe.

Scott is survived by his wife, Kristy, and their two daughters, Kaitlin and Kallee. This bill also honors them because they have sacrificed as well, and they have shown great perseverance in the face of terrible tragedy.

I thank you for the privilege of speaking on the family's behalf. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to author this bill and to see it here on the floor today. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

I thank my colleague for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight one provision of this National Defense Authorization Act that hasn't gotten much attention but that will make an important difference in the lives of many new moms who happen to be in the military.

Over the years I am proud to have worked with my colleagues to make our military and veterans' health care programs more responsive to the unique needs of women. Far too many

barriers to optimal health care remain, and that is why I am so pleased that my TRICARE Moms Improvement Act was incorporated into this bill.

Health care providers overwhelmingly recommend that new moms exclusively breast-feed their infants. But we know that despite their good intentions, far too many women who want to breast-feed their babies find the cost of lactation supplies and the lack of support to be a barrier to that choice. And while most women covered by private insurance do have access to these services, women with TRICARE do not.

My TRICARE Moms Improvement Act included in this year's defense authorization bill would end that disparity and that discrepancy. We must do all we can to support our servicemembers and their families, and this is one small but meaningful way to do just that.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize and celebrate a dedicated public servant and a dear friend, Dr. Julian Crocker.

Dr. Crocker has honorably served the educational community for 50 years. He began his career as a classroom teacher after earning both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Vanderbilt University and later earning his doctorate from Harvard University. He has served school districts around the country, primarily serving as the superintendent for multiple school districts over the course of his career including the San Mateo City School District, Palo Alto Unified School District, and the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District.

This year marks 16 years of Dr. Crocker's remarkable career as the County Superintendent of Schools for the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education. Drawing upon his distinguished career in education, Julian's

leadership has helped generations of students successfully prepare for the future. His passion and tireless efforts have succeeded in closing achievement gaps and improving student achievement.

Beyond his role as Superintendent, Julian has served on numerous committees and task forces dedicated to serving the schools, employees, students, and youth of the Central Coast. As an active member and leader of several educational associations throughout the state of California, he has earned the respect and admiration of so many in the educational field. Julian has also served as an adjunct faculty member of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as in the School of Education at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

As a military veteran, educator, and community leader, Julian's commitment to helping others and strengthening our Central Coast community is truly inspiring. I thank him for his passion, dedication, and friendship and join our community in wishing him the best in retirement and in future endeavors.

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

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Santa Barbara High School student newspaper, The Forge.

Published on October 16, 1914, The Forge is the oldest existing high school newspaper in Santa Barbara County and the second oldest high school newspaper in the state of California. The Forge published its first edition as a letter-size, four-page weekly paper with a staff of twelve and since then has developed into a respected student run publication, delivering news and creating discussion among students and the entire Santa Barbara community.

Not only has The Forge built a reputation within the Santa Barbara community, but also on a state and national level. As a pioneer of high school publications, The Forge earned charter memberships in the National Scholastic Press Association, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and the Quill & Scroll International Honor Society. Unlike many other high school newspapers, The Forge has continuously published in print so as to keep the long standing tradition since its' first issue in 1914.

I am honored to represent Santa Barbara High School and am proud of The Forge for being an innovative leader within the institution of high school newspapers. Thank you for bringing to light the issues that matter most to the students of Santa Barbara High School then, now, and in years to come.

Today, I congratulate members, alumni, and supporters of The Forge newspaper on 100 successful years of providing a voice for the Santa Barbara High School Dons and for making history. I look forward to watching this esteemed organization and its members grow and have no doubt that they will continue to play a prominent role in our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to District Attorney Gerald Shea, who recently retired after 37 years of public service to the county of San Luis Obispo.

A San Diego native, Mr. Shea began his prosecutorial career in 1974 as a Deputy Attorney General with the California Attorney General's office in Los Angeles. In 1977, he moved to our local community of San Luis Obispo where he became a Deputy District Attorney with the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.

For the next 37 years, Mr. Shea worked his way through the ranks in the District Attorney's office. In 1982 he became the Supervising Attorney for the Child Support Division, and in 1985 he was selected to be Chief Deputy District Attorney. Eventually Mr. Shea became San Luis Obispo County District Attorney, elected by the voters first in 1998, where he served the remainder of his distinguished career. Mr. Shea's accomplishments in the field of criminal justice have left a renowned and lasting impact on his colleagues, peers, and the community.

Beyond his professional roles in our community, Mr. Shea has served the San Luis Obispo community through his roles on the Board of Directors for the San Luis Obispo Women's Shelter, on the Executive Council for the County's Children's Services Network, on the Advisory Board for the statewide organization known as Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, and as Chair of the Domestic Violence Task Force. He is the former Chair of the Criminal Justice Administrators' Association, a founding member of the county's Anti-Gang Coordinating Commission, and was President of the California District Attorneys Association.

It is with great respect that I thank Mr. Shea for his decades of public service, commitment, and leadership and I wish him continued success and happiness during retirement.