Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2063) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to develop a voluntary policy for managing the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools, to establish school-based food allergy management grants, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

I rise in strong support of H.R. 2063, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2008.

This legislation would provide schools with uniform guidance on how to create appropriate management and emergency plans for children with food allergies.

I was a school nurse, again, for 20 years, and I know so well the challenges confronting educators when working to ensure that their students are adequately cared for. And with the current shortage of school nurses, it is more important than ever that we assist local educational agencies in being prepared to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in school.

The risk of accidental exposure to foods can be reduced in the school setting if schools will work with students, parents, nurses, and physicians to minimize risks and provide a safe educational environment for food-allergic students.

I want to commend my good friend from New York Nita Lowey for her tireless work on this important bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting H.R. 2063.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 5 minutes to the author of the bill, our good friend and colleague from New York (Mrs. Lowey).

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to our majority leader of the House, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

At this point, Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and as has been so eloquently underscored by our majority leader on behalf of all of the families, millions of children, as has been said across this country, their families, but also the schools in which they attend public schools that it is incumbent upon us to pass this important legislation and get this bill signed into law.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1858) to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish grant programs to provide for education and outreach on newborn screening and coordinated followup care once newborn screening has been conducted, to reauthorize programs under part A of title XI of such Act, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of Senate bill 1858, the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act. This legislation would facilitate the creation of Federal guidelines on newborn screening and would assist State newborn screening programs in meeting these guidelines.

Newborn screening is used for early identification of infants affected by certain genetic, metabolic, hormonal, and functional conditions for which there may be an effective treatment or intervention. If left untreated, these disorders can cause death, disability, mental retardation and other serious conditions. Every year, more than 4 million infants are born and screened

to detect conditions that could threaten their lives and their long- term health.

Senate bill 1858 will educate parents and health care providers about newborn screening. It will improve follow-up care for infants when illness is detected, and it will help States expand and improve their newborn screening programs.

It is very important to note that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a markup of House companion legislation H.R. 3825, which was introduced by my colleague, Lucille Roybal-Allard. And I want to say a word of commendation toward Lucille Roybal-Allard, who has really worked diligently over quite a period of time to make sure that this bill reached the floor today. She couldn't be here to speak on behalf of the legislation, but I know that there has been a great deal of leadership that has brought us to this point today.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee amended H.R. 3825 to ensure that it was identical to the Senate bill, 1858, which has already passed the Senate by unanimous consent. And so the good work of our friend, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, has brought us to this point and to the commitment that I share on this important piece of legislation.

I appreciate all of her efforts to carry this legislation forward and admire her dedication to helping the children and families affected by these conditions.

I urge all of my colleagues to join in support of Senate bill 1858.

I reserve the remainder of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge the adoption of S. 1858, the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act, and yield back the balance of my time.

I want to thank my colleague for yielding to me.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of Senate bill 793, the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2008. I want to commend the leaders of the bill in the House who have spoken already. This version of the bill we are considering today represents bipartisan and bicameral consensus.

It would fund, as we have heard, important research, treatment, surveillance and educational activities related to trauma and traumatic brain injury, commonly known now as TBI. The funding would support ongoing efforts at the National Institutes of Health, which are so important, and also the Health Resources and Services Administration and the CDC.

Reauthorizing this program will strengthen the goal of understanding and addressing TBI and strengthening our capacity to treat it. This current war has made us all too much familiar with the devastating effects of TBI and the importance of coordinated interventions to treat it. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan underscored the importance of this legislation, but by no means do these situations only arise in times of war.

We know that traumatic brain injury has been occurring all along with all kinds of traumas, traumas to the head and sometimes unsuspected injury that can result from other traumas. And so we need to, for a variety of reasons, pass this legislation and get this bill signed into law.

I want to acknowledge my friend and colleague Congressman Bill Pascrell and also Congressman Platts from Pennsylvania. This leadership has brought us to this point. I know that our Health Subcommittee is pleased to be a part of this legislation.

I urge, strongly, our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in supporting Senate bill 793.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate an exceptional high school choir in my district, the San Marcos High School Madrigal Singers of Santa Barbara, CA, which was chosen to perform at New York City's legendary Carnegie Hall on March 10, 2008.

The San Marcos high School Madrigal Singers were selected out of dozens of high school choirs across the country for this performance. The concert featured 200 students from four states, and is the capstone of Carnegie Hall's yearlong National High School Choral Festival. The concert was conducted by Dr. Craig Jessop, esteemed Music Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who has been working with the choirs and their conductors throughout the year. Apart from their world-renowned performances, Carnegie Hall brings innovative music education programs to students across the Nation. I am delighted that these young people have been given this opportunity.

Led by Carolyn Teraoka-Brady. The Madrigal Singers, one of 5 choral groups at San Marcos High School, performs a varied repertoire of choral literature, Renaissance to contemporary, for the community and at festivals. In the last 4 years. the group has consistently received superior ratings at State and regional festivals in CA. In 2006, the group received a first place score at the invitational ``National Festival of Gold'' in New York City, featuring some of the country's finest ensembles. In addition to choral activities, these students are also leaders in the school's theatre productions, student government, Mock Trial, school newspaper, and CIF sports. The Madrigal Singers have performed for Donald Brinegar, Lynne Gackle, Anton Armstrong, Andre Thomas, and Weston Noble.

I am honored to have one of the 4 schools in the Nation chosen for the Carnegie Hall National High School Choral Festival come from my California district. The Madrigal Singers should be proud not only of their musical achievement, but their embodiment of the quality musical education the State of California provides. I commend these students and their leaders for their success.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my support for the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act.

At the heart of this bill is the fact that there exists an unreasonable difference in the way society treats mental health conditions as opposed to all other health conditions. There are quite a few health professionals in Congress, and to all of us there is no distinction in the necessity of treating heart disease, bone disease, or mental health disease. They are all equally vital to our body's functioning, and that is our goal in this act.

We must finally put an end to the discrimination being practiced by insurers and others when they offer health coverage for some health conditions and not others. It's not fair to say we'll cover some parts of your health care, but we'll pick and choose which parts of your body to cover. That's bad for business. I know it's bad for health care.

I commend Patrick Kennedy and Jim Ramstad for their tireless work on this bill and seeing its coming to the floor. I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this excellent legislation.

Mr. Speaker, ExxonMobil recently announced that they have earned over $40 billion in 2007, the highest profits ever for a U.S. company. Of course, we want our U.S. companies to succeed in the global marketplace, but hugely profitable oil companies certainly don't need taxpayer subsidies, especially as the price of oil continues to hover at $100 a barrel.

I want to urge my colleagues, it was none other than President Bush who said that with oil at $50 a barrel, he saw no need for the kind of subsidies put in the 2005 energy bill by the Republican Congress. My constituents are fed up that oil companies are reaping billions in profits while hardworking Americans are suffering from a slowing economy.

Now is the time to level the playing field by removing Big Oil tax breaks and advancing clean technologies that will create green collar jobs and help grow our economy, drive down high energy prices, reduce our dependence on dirty and dangerous fossil fuels, and curb global warming pollution.

If we are going to give American consumers more efficient and cheaper energy options, we need to expand the incentives to invest in renewable and alternative energy sources.

The House will soon take up legislation to repeal these giveaways and to put our tax dollars to work to create a new policy for the 21st century. This legislation will significantly move us toward the goal of energy independence.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 972) supporting the goals and ideals of American Heart Month and National Wear Red Day.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H. Res. 972 which I am proud to have introduced with Congresswomen Fallin, Schakowsky, McMorris Rodgers, Christensen, and Cubin. This diverse group of lead sponsors is testament to the importance of raising greater awareness about heart disease, and especially heart disease in women.

The resolution recognizes both Heart Month and National Wear Red Day, both of which occur in February. Heart Month was first designated 45 years ago and has served as a launching pad to spur advocates into action around the country.

In my hometown of Santa Barbara, there will be a Go Red for Women luncheon in the coming weeks. This event provides opportunities for women to learn more about heart health for themselves and also for the role they often play as the health decisionmaker in their families.

The importance of community events like Go Red for Women lunches cannot be overstated. Heart disease is the number one killer of both women and men. But now, in fact, more women than men die of heart disease each year. Unfortunately, there is still an existing knowledge gap both in terms of public awareness and professional awareness.

Despite the fact that almost 460,000 American women die of heart disease every year, women are still grossly underrepresented in clinical trials, as one example. The numbers are even worse for minority women who are at an even greater risk for developing heart disease and who have many more barriers to accessing care.

So today, as we pass this resolution to recognize the importance of Heart Month and Wear Red Day, let us use this opportunity to discuss the real changes we can make to improve women's heart health.

My colleague, Barbara Cubin, and I have introduced H.R. 1014 the HEART for Women Act. This act takes crucial steps to address women's heart health. It ensures that research is stratified by gender. In other words, that we recognize that women need to have research

that will take their needs into consideration, provides for an educational campaign for health professionals, and expands the very successful WISEWOMAN program that conducts cardiovascular screening for low-income women that has been, in the pilot phase, proven very successful in various parts of the country.

We had a successful hearing in the Health Subcommittee, and I would like to thank the Energy and Commerce Committee for working hard to move this legislation along in, I hope, the very near future.

Finally, I would like to thank the Speaker for suggesting that we encourage everyone to wear red tomorrow in order that we be even more visible to all of our colleagues and others on the Hill to continue this very important dialogue.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend our colleagues who have spoken to this important topic, and particularly my good friend and colleague from North Carolina, Mrs. Myrick, who is symbolizing in her attire what we will all be doing tomorrow, which is not only Valentine's Day but Wear Red Day during Heart Month, to underscore the need for all of us to pay attention to women and heart disease in this month of February.

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

Madam Speaker, what a privilege it is to join my colleagues today in paying tribute to our fellow Californian, the Honorable Tom Lantos, who so wonderfully represented his constituents during his three decades in Congress.

As we know now, Tom Lantos' journey from Hungary to the Halls of Congress was an extremely remarkable one. His life told the story of the fulfillment of the American Dream. He embodied that dream and, equally important, he knew not to take what America offered him for granted.

Even as he rose to leadership, he continued to champion the cause of human rights for oppressed people around the world, his signature issue. He was fiercely loyal to those attributes of this Nation, which had attracted him here to the country he chose to become a citizen of.

Who of us will forget Tom Lantos' first action, becoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, holding some of his first hearings as chairman to address the human rights violations occurring today in Darfur?

By never forgetting his own roots, he became an advocate for all the lessons of humanity that we needed to learn from the experiences of the Holocaust, never forgetting that he served here as one who had survived that terrible tragedy and dedicated, as he was, to seeing that it would never reoccur.

He made sure that we all knew, and such a lesson I have, that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I learned so much from my colleague, Tom Lantos. I can just see him sitting in his regular spot there. So our heartfelt condolences are extended to Annette, to the children, to the 18 grandchildren, one of whom I had the privilege of hearing as she testified to our Health Subcommittee. Beautiful opera singer. Tom was so proud of her. Courageous enough to talk about her rare health condition.

We celebrate his life tonight dedicated to our commitment to not letting his many achievements go unforgotten.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to MSgt. Jason Billiot, as he retires from the United States Air Force. MSgt. Jason Billiot entered the Air Force in 1988. After completing Basic Training at Lackland AFB, TX, AB Billiot went to Chanute AFB, IL to be trained as a Special Vehicle Mechanic. After completion of tech school he was assigned to the 363rd Transportation Squadron, Shaw AFB, SC. While at Shaw AFB he not only honed his skills on Firefighting and Refueling Equipment, but also attended Airmen Leadership School.

In 1994, after five years at Shaw, SRA Billiot got his first assignment to the 345th Training Squadron at Lackland AFB. He completed ASE requirements for master medium/heavy truck technician and was also awarded his CCAF degree in vehicle maintenance. Two years later, as a result of BRAC realignment, the school house was moved to the Naval Construction Training Center in Port Hueneme, California.

While in California, Sgt Billiot performed duties as MTT instructor, world training instructor, special vehicle instructor, and aircraft refueling vehicle instructor supervisor. In 1999, Sgt Billiot and his wife, Jeanne, received the blessing of the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth. In 2000, Sgt Billiot received his orders for the 354th Transportation Squadron Eielson AFB, Alaska.

While in Alaska, Sgt Billiot was supervising and running shops such as NCOIC of customer service, NCOIC of special purpose vehicle element, and superintendent of the dispensing element. He also attended the NCO Academy at Elmendorf AFB. In 2003, MSgt. Billiot was again assigned to the school house in Port Hueneme, CA. As Master Sergeant, Billiot took leadership roles as diesel phase head, gas phase head, interservice mechanic curriculum developer and skills knowledge test author. MSgt. Billiot finishes out an outstanding and eventful career after 20 years of faithful service to his country as interservice mechanic school superintendent.

It is my pleasure to recognize the character and dedication of MSgt. Billiot upon his retirement.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the memory of Eleanor Wright; a distinguished member of the Santa Barbara community. Eleanor's life was marked by service to our society and love for her family.

Eleanor Wright, a native of Ohio and a longtime Santa Barbara resident, attended the Ethel Walker School and Bennington College where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. Over 50 years ago, she married Clifford Ramsey Wright Jr., who served honorably in our Nation's armed services.

The Wrights moved to the Santa Barbara area in 1959. Immediately upon arrival, Eleanor proved herself to be a key leader in the community by advocating for social justice in a variety of fields. The Santa Barbara Mental Health Association, the Citizens Planning Association, the Family Service Agency, the Community Counseling Association, and the Santa Barbara Civil Service Commission benefited from Eleanor's tireless work on many of her committees. She also co-founded the Phoenix House of Santa Barbara, a facility designed to help mental health patients transition back into the community. In addition to her devotion through service, Eleanor supported a large number of community based action groups which work to make Santa Barbara a healthy and vital community.

Eleanor's legacy will be remembered by her husband, 4 sons, daughter, 12 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and all of her extended family. As a woman who committed her life to serving others, Eleanor's passing has been deeply felt by the many that were touched by her life. The Santa Barbara community will miss an invaluable community leader and a friend. Please join me in honoring this exemplary American.

Mr. Speaker, today the House will be voting on the Energy Independence and Security Act. With this legislation, the new Democratic Congress is leading America in a new direction on energy policy, the most significant energy bill in a generation. We are taking a major step toward ending our dependence on foreign oil by increasing efficiency standards for cars and trucks for the first time in 30 years. This will reduce America's need for oil by 1.1 million gallons per day, cut millions of tons of global warming pollution, and save families up to $1,000 every year.

The bill implements landmark energy efficiency standards for appliances, lighting and buildings, which will save American families and businesses billions of dollars in unnecessary energy costs. Finally, the bill boosts the production of environmentally protective home-grown biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol.

We can and we will do more: promote solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, for example. But this legislation finally begins to address high gas prices, America's oil addiction and the global warming crisis. It will help create hundreds of thousands of jobs in clean energy technologies. So I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting a new direction of energy. Vote for H.R. 6.

Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues this evening in honoring the life of our dear friend, Julia Carson. And I want to say a word in keeping with the comments by our colleague, our leader, John Larson from Connecticut, who spoke of the sacredness, really, of this hour that we can spend with one another to lift up the life of a colleague such as Julia Carson.

Julia entered Congress the same year as my husband, Walter, in 1996. And the reason I honor this time together is that I have a poignant memory. My husband died suddenly, and my daughter and I found ourselves on the floor here listening to his colleagues, now my colleagues, speak of his life. And it was a tradition that I wasn't familiar with, but it touched me in a way that I know blesses the memory of those who have gone, who have served with us. And in this case, for someone as special as Julia Carson, it is a moment that this place becomes what it should be, and is treasured by me.

Now, this Member of Congress became my colleague, Julia Carson, when I joined Congress in 1998. One of the first events I attended as a Member was an event held by domestic violence advocates, a coalition, a national coalition of the kind of grassroots organizations that I know Julia Carson represented in Indianapolis, but I also, in my previous life as a nurse in my community, knew very well at the community level. I wasn't as experienced when I came to Congress as Julia was when she did. And I listened to her. We were kind of lined up, Members of Congress, to address this coalition on domestic violence. I could speak from my professional experience. But she spoke before me. And she dazzled that crowd because she spoke as a survivor and as someone who had experienced every single thing that they themselves were here in this Capitol to represent on behalf of our community. She had broken the barriers that have entrapped so many Americans of color, Americans who are women. She knew how to fight for herself, for her children as a single mother, as a community member who knew what ceilings were like with class, gender, ethnicity, race, and she could relate that to people.

On that day that I listened to Julia as a brand new Member, I knew that I was in a very special crowd if it included someone like Julia Carson. She knew how to take her experiences and become such a role model and strong advocate; civil rights, victims of domestic violence. She improved the lives of countless individuals, and she did so by fixing things that were broken, but also by inspiring people to not give up.

And then, as we moved along and as has been referenced, her style and her elegance, I used to love to see her here and to see her bearing and to see her fitting the word ``queen'' in every sense of that word. What a delight to serve with Julia Carson. And we saw her, as her illness began to show its effects on her body, never on her spirit, never on her soul, never once dampened her smile, her dazzling beautiful smile. And when I would see her moving slowly, and then with assistance, even in a wheelchair, to come and move about, she never gave an indication of weakness or that she was down. She was always up and inspiring me when I would see her. I wanted to spend time with her.

This was a tough time for her. She never let us know it. She kept fighting for all of the issues she cared so much about. And now I want to just close by saying, you know, Julia, we owe you to continue the legacy that you began.

I think of Julia's suffering with lung cancer. And I think about the fact that three of her colleagues, four, now, of our colleagues this year have died of cancer from this place. And Julia, I make a pledge to you and to the others that we need to not rest. We need to follow your courage and your endurance and not rest until we do something about this dreaded disease, and do something here, and do it in your memory, and do some other things in your memory as well. And so, I make that pledge to you, Julia.

And I also join my colleagues in remembering you forever for your wit, your elegance, your perseverance, and of course always, Julia, your smile. I will always love you and treasure your memory.

Madam Speaker, I was not able to be present for the following rollcall vote on December 12, 2007. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

Rollcall No. 1155: ``yea''.

Madam Speaker, I join several of my colleagues in strong support of House Resolution 822.

It's a pleasure to honor the Port of Los Angeles on your 100th anniversary and to commend our new colleague from California, Congresswoman Richardson, for calling attention to all of us the importance of our ports and for signaling this specific anniversary of the Port in Los Angeles, our Nation's largest container port. And when you include its neighbor, the Port of Long Beach, this complex is the fifth largest in the world.

I also represent a deepwater port, a neighboring port up the coast from the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Hueneme, so I also know how important the maritime industry is to the health of our Nation's economy. And ports like the Port of Los Angeles are the gateway into the vastly interconnected global economy.

In fact, 95 percent of all international overseas trade moves through our Nation's ports, and much of it, $1 billion a day of economic activity, happens at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In fact, at least one business in every congressional district in this country imports or exports goods through these ports.

Madam Speaker, I also want to acknowledge the port's work to improve the region's air quality. This is a big deal. This is a busy port with lots of traffic and has in the past produced lots of congestion. Recently, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced a proposal to reduce diesel pollution from trucks at the facilities by overhauling their dockside trucking systems. This is a model that the rest of the Nation would do well to watch and then copy. This is good news for the people working and living near these busy complexes. And I hope other ports in California and around the country will follow their lead.

Again, I'm glad the House can recognize the important contributions of this port. I congratulate all its employees, its Members of Congress, and its successful operation of the last 100 years.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate my friend Dr. James D. Quay of Albany, CA. Jim is retiring early next year after a distinguished 25-year career as Executive Director of the California Council for the Humanities. Throughout his career he has been a tireless State and national leader of the effort to strengthen communities through public practice of the humanities.

Jim was born and grew up in Allentown, PA, where his family has resided for at least nine generations. He first came to California in June 1969 on a belated honeymoon with his wife, Caren. They marveled at the spectacular coast and the beautiful rolling hills, and were struck by how often strangers smiled at them as they passed on the sidewalk. When they got on the plane to return home, they felt as if they were leaving home.

Arriving back in the East, Jim immediately applied to U.C. Berkeley. After he completed service in Harlem as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, he and Caren drove to Berkeley, arriving in July 1970. They have stayed ever since. The couple has two children, Jesse (1976) and Jenny (1981).

Jim received his doctorate in english literature from Berkeley in 1981. He taught writing at U.C. Santa Cruz and worked first as the Humanist-in-Residence, then as Associate Producer at California Public Radio, before being hired to lead the California Council for the Humanities in 1983. My late husband, Congressman Walter Capps, was the Chairman of the selection committee bestowing Jim with this honor.

Among his many achievements at the Council, Jim developed the first public programs in California to discuss the Vietnam War and its domestic aftermath. He supported the creation and expansion of a program to strengthen California's community museums. He brought Motheread, a family literacy program, to Los Angeles. He formed a partnership with Heyday Books to publish important anthologies about California and its history. He led a statewide effort to commemorate the California Sesquicentennial. And he sparked the development of the humanities council's landmark California Stories initiative.

But Jim is not just a list of accomplishments. He's a good friend, a loving husband and father, and a thoughtful, insightful leader. During a time of reflection in 1996, he sat down and made a list of 25 things that mattered most to him. Here are six of them: ``My wonderful family, at table or at play; California, the promise, the people and the place; Religious music from almost anywhere; A pint of Guinness, freshly poured; Dawn; Acts of forgiveness and compassion.''

Madam Speaker, I am proud to honor James Quay for his work and for his example as a human being and I ask you to join me in wishing him a retirement filled with long hikes, long conversations, much music, and much good cheer.