Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the tireless work and dedication of Craig and Marc Kielburger on behalf of the world's children.

Craig and Marc Kielburger co-founded Free the Children in the mid- 1990s when Craig, at the age of 12, organized several of his classmates after being inspired by the story of a young Pakistani child labor activist.

Over the span of 18 years, Free the Children has expanded to have a global impact, using a holistic approach to work on some of the developing world's most challenging issues. Since 1995, the organization has contributed to the construction of more than 650

schools that serve approximately 55,000 children around the world. Free the Children has also provided 1,000,000 people with clean water, health care and sanitation services, and has assisted 30,000 women achieve economic sufficiency. Today, Free the Children has a presence in 45 countries, and Craig, Marc and their team have successfully recruited 2 million volunteers under the age of 18 to give back to their peers around the globe.

After many successful years of growing Free the Children, Craig and Marc launched Me to We, an organization focused on promoting sustainable business and consumer practices. This unique operation taps into the power of the market, teaching and encouraging young consumers to make socially conscious choices each time they spend money. The organization coordinates numerous volunteer trips abroad each year, and more than $5 million raised by Me to We has been reinvested in Free the Children since 2009.

Craig and Marc Kielburger have dedicated nearly their entire lives to educating and empowering young people. The impact of their work has spread far beyond Free the Children and Me to We--indeed, Craig's and Marc's programs are equipping today's youth with the tools they need to become responsible global citizens and forward-thinking leaders. I am pleased and honored to recognize Craig and Marc Kielburger for their accomplishments and unflagging effort to making the world a better place.

I thank my colleague for yielding.

Honorable Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleagues asking unanimous consent that this body in which we serve, the House of Representatives, bring up the Senate amendment to House Joint Resolution 59, to open the

government and go to conference on a budget so that we may end this Republican government shutdown.

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

Yes, I am opposed.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to speak on this topic.

I worked for decades in our Nation's public schools as a school nurse, and I saw firsthand in my community the tremendous effects that Head Start programs have for so many of our most vulnerable children.

No one is a stronger supporter of this program, but today is really not about the children of Head Start or their families. Today is about ending the childish behavior of those of the Republican leadership, who continue to stand in the way of reopening our government.

Let me be clear: we are here today because one faction of one party in one House of Congress has shut down the United States Government because they don't like one law--the Affordable Care Act. This is a law that was passed by this Congress; it was affirmed by the Supreme Court; and it was a focal point of the last election in which the candidate for president who supported the law won.

But none of this matters to our Republican colleagues. Instead, they have let their obsession with repealing the Affordable Care Act bring our entire Federal Government to a screeching halt.

Mr. Speaker, this piecemeal approach pushed by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to reopen certain parts of the government is merely a facade. It is a ``gimmick,'' as my colleague referred to it, giving the illusion that they are trying to fix the problem, but they are not.

Instead, we find ourselves here picking and choosing and waiting for them to decide whose lucky day it is to be funded by the Republican leadership. This is not the way to run a great Nation.

Even if we reopen Head Start programs, what about the millions of other students that benefit from programs administered by the Department of Education? What about the families who cannot get their childcare vouchers? What about the job-training programs to help the unemployed parents get back on their feet? How long do they have to wait, Mr. Speaker, until we get around to funding their programs? When is their lucky day?

We cannot continue government funding by picking programs out of a hat. If the House leadership really wanted to fix the problem, they could do so today if they would just bring a clean continuing resolution to the House floor for a straight up or down vote.

At least 25 of our Republican colleagues have publicly supported a vote for a clean continuing resolution. That

is enough votes to end the shutdown today--we know it, the Speaker knows it, and the American people know it--but we are still waiting.

Now, let me say it again: This government shutdown does not have to continue. We can end it right now.

My amendment today is the ninth time that Democrats have provided a solution to end the government shutdown. It is the only way to get a vote on the clean negotiated continuing resolution today.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take this opportunity to stop wasting time. We must reopen the government, and we must get back to our work, which is to rebuild our economy, to support our veterans, to pass a farm bill, and to address the many other challenges that this great Nation of ours faces. To do so, we need to stop playing these games.

Therefore, I urge my colleagues, including my many Republican colleagues who have called for a vote on a clean CR, to join me today and to end this charade. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this motion.

Point of Order

Mr. Speaker, I wish to be heard on the point of order.

Mr. Speaker, doesn't the bill before us fund only a portion of the Federal Government?

My motion to recommit would open up the entire Federal Government so that all of our education programs are there for all of our children and families. Can the Chair explain, please, why it is not germane to open all of the Nation's education programs?

Mr. Speaker, I appeal the ruling of the Chair.

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert into the Congressional Record the story of Rosemary. She is a grandmother from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is a face of hunger today in the United States of America.

I thank my colleague for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this rule and the harmful underlying bill.

Fifteen thousand families in my district on the central coast of California rely every day on the SNAP program to help make ends meet. These are our veterans, our seniors, people with disabilities, hardworking parents, and kids going to school. They don't care if SNAP cuts come from the farm bill or as a stand-alone bill. They do care that the cuts create a gaping hole in our country's most basic safety net.

We should all care because cuts to SNAP have a ripple effect in our local communities and throughout our economy. Every SNAP dollar is nearly doubled in economic impact. It helps pay the local grocery store worker. It helps support truckers who haul the food. It goes to the food producers and farmers who grow the crops.

I urge my colleagues to stop playing politics with our Nation's hungry and those who provide the food we all rely on. Vote ``no'' on this rule, ``no'' on the bill, and let's get back to passing a comprehensive, inclusive farm bill.

I thank my colleague from California, Tony Cardenas. And, yes, I do have a letter that I will share, but I want to discuss the matter in general first and thank my colleague for organizing all of us to be here to address a topic that is of central importance to our State of California and the entire country.

I join my colleagues in strong support for comprehensive immigration reform. We honor the many contributions that immigrants have made to our country during Citizenship Day this week, but we cannot forget the millions of immigrants left behind by our broken immigration system. These are the immigrants who contribute to key sectors of our economy. They are such a vital part of agriculture, housing, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, tourism, engineering, technology, and on and on.

These are hardworking people, immigrants who often face separation from their families, lower wages, and face the fear of deportation; and this forces them to take their skills often to our competitors at great disadvantage to our own economy. We can all agree that our current immigration system is not working. It's holding back our country and our economy, and now is the time to fix it.

While I've been traveling in my congressional district, I've heard personally from business sectors of our economy on the central coast of California that are hurt on a daily basis by this broken immigration system. There are high-tech companies in Goleta, California, frustrated by seeing many of our brightest UC Santa Barbara graduates being sent back to their native countries to work for competitive companies and countries because of a lack of high-skilled worker visas.

I've met with growers in California's agriculture industry who are so important in my local economy, critical to our national economy, and who struggle to find a stable and a consistent workforce. This threatens the sustainability of our crops.

I've met with workforce and labor organizations who want to ensure workers can earn fair wages and contribute to our economy and our communities. We must act now to establish a fair, but tough, pathway to citizenship to provide the security and stability our economy needs.

I now refer to the chart which indicates so graphically the difference between a path to legalization only and the strong advantages of that pathway to citizenship.

Comprehensive reform would boost California's economy alone by $7.3 billion. It would create nearly 77,000 new jobs in our State of California just next year. This should be one of our Nation's top priorities.

Mr. Speaker, I would also note for the record that while Members of my party are very enthusiastic about advancing comprehensive immigration reform, this is an issue with strong bipartisan support. For example, the Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform on a strong bipartisan vote not too long ago, and just last week a number of Republican members of the California State legislature made their voices heard on this issue--and that's the letter to which you referred. They sent a letter to their Federal counterparts urging us to take action in the House. These are Republican legislators from California on comprehensive immigration reform. I would like to now submit this letter into the Record.

This letter outlines components of comprehensive reform that most of us agree need to be included, that is, the opportunity for undocumented residents to earn their way to citizenship.

Wisely, the California State Republican legislators wrote--and this is a quote from their letter:

There is no policy debate more important to the future of

California and of America than passing comprehensive

immigration reform.

I could not agree more.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, it is time that we have the opportunity here on the floor of the United States House of Representatives to debate and to finally have a vote on comprehensive immigration reform. Our country, our economy simply cannot wait any longer.

Thank you for the time, my colleague from California.

California State

Republican Legislators

To: California Republican Congressional Delegation:

Doug LaMalfa, 1st District

Tom McClintock, 4th District

Paul Cook, 8th District

Jeff Denham, 10th District

David Valadao, 21st District

Devin Nunes, 22nd District

Kevin McCarthy, 23rd District

Buck McKeon, 25th District

Gary Miller, 31st District

Ed Royce, 39th District

Ken Calvert, 42nd District

John Campbell, 45th District

Dana Rohrabacher, 48th District

Darrell Issa, 49th District

Duncan Hunter, 50th District

We, the undersigned California State legislative

Republicans, strongly support federal comprehensive

immigration reform and urge our state Republican

Congressional delegation to encourage Speaker John Boehner to

call a vote on immigration reform.

Components should include thoughtful and strong border

security, employer sanctions, and opportunity for

undocumented residents to earn their way to full citizenship,

but only behind those who have applied to become citizens

through the current citizenship process.

There is no policy debate more important to the future of

California and America than passing comprehensive immigration

reform. By providing legal clarity to the status of millions

of people in California, we can spur an economic renaissance,

solidify families, and create an entirely new population of

full taxpayers, many of whom who have strong entrepreneurial

and work ethics.

We stand with the business community, the labor community,

farmers, manufacturers, communities of faith, and most

importantly Californians, in our call for Congress to act on

reform this year to put this challenge behind us as a state

and nation. We strongly urge House Republicans to demand a

vote.

While some members in Congress may not support the

legislation, every member deserves the opportunity to vote.

We understand that members have divergent views on reform,

but this is the time to address the many serious issues

immigrants and their employers face every day.

This group of Republican legislators is asking our friends

in business, labor and agriculture, who work with these

immigrants in their fields, homes and factories every day to

join us in asking Congressional Leaders to ``Call the Vote.''

Respectfully,

Senator Anthony Cannella, SD 12; Senator Steve Knight, SD

21; Senator Bill Emmerson, SD 27; Senator Tom Berryhill, SD

14.

Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway, AD 26;

Assemblymember Jeff Gorell, AD 44; Assemblymember Kristin

Olsen, AD 12; Assemblymember Rocky Chavez, AD 76;

Assemblymember Katcho Achadjian, AD 35; Assemblymember Jim

Patterson, AD 23; Assemblymember Allan Mansoor, AD 74;

Assemblymember Don Wagner, AD 68; Assemblymember Brian

Maienschein, AD 77; Assemblymember Eric Linder, AD 60;

Assemblymember Brian Dahle, AD 1.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, my friend from New Jersey.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. Our Nation is facing a host of challenges: we need to end the sequester; we need to fund our government properly to avoid a shutdown; we need to increase the deficit limit so that we can pay our bills and maintain a strong credit rating; and we must have a full and open debate about what to do in response to chemical weapons being used in Syria.

But instead of any of these pressing issues, here we are again, at the insistence of the House majority, voting for the 41st time to repeal, defund, obstruct, or derail the Affordable Care Act; and they want to do so as more and more Americans, including my constituents on the central coast of California, are now beginning to benefit from the law.

Already 11,000 young adults in my district have gained health care insurance coverage under their parents' plans, allowing them to pursue their education or to start new ventures without the fear of going bankrupt if they should get sick. Almost 300,000 of my constituents are now able to get the preventative health services they need without worrying about the cost, and 10,000 seniors have already found relief when falling into the dreaded prescription drug doughnut hole in Medicare; and in less than 1 month, California families who for so long have been priced out or denied coverage in the private health insurance market will finally get the coverage they want and deserve.

Throughout the program--we call it Covered California Exchange--along with health care at marketplaces all across this country, individuals, families and small businesses will gain a transparent, one-stop shop to compare health insurance policies. They will also be able to receive financial assistance and to sign up for high-quality, affordable, and secure insurance coverage; and they won't have to worry about being denied coverage for their preexisting conditions. Yet this bill before us would erode all of these benefits, essentially blocking hardworking families from getting the affordable health insurance coverage they need.

The American people have moved on. They want us to come together to improve our Nation, not to divide it. So I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill. Let's get to work on the many critical issues facing our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the memory of William P. Clark from San Luis Obispo County, who passed away on August 10, 2013.

William Clark was born in Oxnard, California on October 23, 1931. As a fourth-generation Californian, Mr. Clark served on several state courts and as a longtime advisor to President Ronald Regan. Since 1969, Mr. Clark was appointed to the SLO County Superior Court, the California State Appellate Court in Los Angeles and later to the California State Supreme Court by then Governor Reagan, where he served as an associate justice for eight years.

Recognized for his dedication to public service, he was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of State in 1981 by President Reagan. A year later, he became the National Security Advisor and then served as the Secretary of the Interior until 1985. In his later years, Mr. Clark moved to his ranch in Shandon, California where he and his wife, Joan, built the Chapel Hill that he donated to his local community.

He is survived by his five children.

On a personal note, Mr. Clark was a gracious host when he invited me to visit the beautiful Chapel Hill. He was a kind man of character who proudly served his country and I am honored to have met him.

I offer my most heartfelt condolences to Mr. Clark's family and friends. Please join me in honoring this exemplary American and San Luis Obispo County resident.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of support for funding for the Community Development Block Grants, commonly known here as CDBG funding.

Public-private partnerships are great investments for our communities. And on the central coast of California, as well as in communities all across our country, Community Development Block Grants have long been a critical source of funding for local initiatives. CDBG funding gives nonprofits opportunities to provide locally tailored services in an efficient and effective manner. These nonprofits are then able to leverage additional private funding, giving taxpayer dollars an extra bang for the buck in spending power. It is a win-win for everyone. The investments that are made stimulate and grow our local economies. They improve the quality of life for our working families.

My constituents see CDBG funding at work each day, even though they may not know what it is. It's there working on their behalf. It's the Santa Maria Meals on Wheels program, which delivers nutritious meals to local seniors each day. For many of these seniors, it's the only real meal they'll have in a day.

It's the Thrifty Shopper and Catholic Charities' Community Services, which support mobile food distribution and case management for our neighbors in need.

It is the youth education enhancement programs which provide quality after-school youth education programs. These programs improve reading and

study skills. They promote high school graduation, and foster parent participation in a child's academic life. CDBG supports our local Boys and Girls Clubs, the food bank, and legal aid. It's giving Santa Maria a chance to rehab Oakley Park, which benefits the entire community.

CDBG helps those in need, and it makes life a bit better for everyone. These are investments with real local impacts, and that's why cuts to this program, like the drastic ones we've been debating, also have a direct impact.

Already, important programs like Meals on Wheels are having trouble reaching all those in need due to sequestration cuts. So to slash the program in half will only add to this devastation. These aren't disposable projects. They are truly investments in our people and in our community, and that is why I urge my colleagues to stand with the central coast of California, to stand with communities across this Nation who can't afford the bill the House majority has brought to the floor.

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

Yes, I am opposed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer the final amendment to the bill, and I want to be clear--passage of this amendment will not prevent passage of the underlying bill. If it's adopted, my amendment will be incorporated into the bill, and the bill will immediately be voted upon.

As currently written, H.R. 1582 would cripple the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to protect the water we drink and the air we breathe. My amendment simply ensures that the EPA can continue to protect children and seniors from the harmful impacts of pollution. My friends across the aisle claim this bill is about transparency, but let's call it what it is--just another attempt to block the EPA from doing its job.

This bill makes no sense on so many levels. It's redundant and it's unnecessary. It gives the Energy Secretary unprecedented authority to veto EPA rules, and it allows for the indefinite delays of EPA rulemaking. Our top priority should be the health of our children and of our families, not the bottom line of the polluting energy companies.

It's scary to think how many EPA protections that we now take for granted would have been delayed or derailed if this bill were law. Consider the recently finalized Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. Before these rules, there were no Federal standards limiting power plant emissions of toxic pollutants like mercury and arsenic. As we know, these toxic pollutants are really poisons. They cause a variety of serious health problems in people of all ages. They affect brain development in children, and they can cause serious birth defects when pregnant women are exposed. That's why EPA put restrictions on these toxic emissions--restrictions that protect future generations and set them up for success while also reducing preventable health care costs. If H.R. 1582 had been law, these rules could have been delayed indefinitely or could not have happened at all.

Mr. Speaker, my friends across the aisle talk frequently about the financial costs of these and other EPA actions, but what about the health care costs--costs that all of us pay when these preventable ailments occur--and what about the human costs of inaction?

Delaying the air toxics standards for just an additional 1 year would have resulted in more than 11,000 heart attacks, more than 120,000 asthma attacks, more than 12,000 more hospital and emergency room visits, and up to 25,300 lives lost due to smog, due to soot, due to toxic air pollution--and that's just in 1 year. Mr. Speaker, people should be more important than profit.

My amendment speaks to just this. It would simply shield the rules that protect the health of children and of seniors from this dangerous bill. If my colleagues are serious about protecting our children and our seniors, they should have no trouble supporting this amendment.

More than anyone, children and seniors rely on the EPA to do its job of protecting public health and the environment. The Mercury and Air Toxics rule and others like it are helping children and families across the Nation live healthier, longer lives. Perhaps polluters find these rules inconvenient, but the American people certainly don't. They want clean air to breathe. They want clean water to drink, and they want the peace of mind that comes from strong public health standards.

My amendment ensures that protecting the health of our children and seniors never takes a back seat to the financial interests of our polluters. So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and make sure that the health and well-being of our children and seniors always come first.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise in celebration of the birthday of Medicare and Medicaid.

Forty-eight years ago today, President Johnson solidified our historic promise to all Americans. This is what he said:

No longer will older Americans be denied the healing

miracle of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and

destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over

a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later

years. No longer will young families see their incomes and

their own hopes eaten away simply because they are carrying

out their deep moral obligations to their parents and to

their uncles and their aunts--and no longer will this Nation

refuse the hand of justice to those who have given a lifetime

of service and wisdom and labor to the progress of this

progressive country.

Madam Speaker, let us honor this promise to our parents, to our neighbors, and to our children by protecting Medicare and Medicaid and making sure the care it offers is there when it's needed the most.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I was dismayed to see the Interior, Environment Appropriations Subcommittee approve a 2014 funding bill that cuts EPA funding by 34 percent. Such a drastic, unnecessary cut would prevent EPA from addressing critical air quality, water quality, and climate change issues that have direct impacts on human health.

As everyone knows by now, we are already feeling the impacts of climate change--stronger storms, more severe droughts, hotter heat waves. But it's our children and our grandchildren who will bear the brunt of these impacts in the future.

Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We've already seen that there are higher rates of asthma and infectious diseases in children. These proposed cuts to EPA will only make things worse.

Mr. Speaker, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to act now to protect our children and our grandchildren from the impacts of climate change.

I urge my colleagues, let's stop these shortsighted political games and start taking action to address climate change and protect the long- term health of future generations.

Mr. Speaker, I was not able to be present for the following rollcall vote on July 22, 2013 and would like the record to reflect that I would have voted as follows:

Rollcall No. 375: ``yes''; rollcall No. 376: ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 1012, a bill originally introduced by Representative Markey of Massachusetts, for the purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting re-printings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mr. Speaker, sequester furloughs have recently begun for hundreds of thousands of civilian Department of Defense employees. We know budget sequestration is a bad policy. It's an ax where we need a scalpel. It's hurting families and workers across the country, and it's threatening public safety. For example, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in my congressional district, firefighters are being furloughed and budget cuts may lead to the elimination of its elite Hot Shot crew.

Vandenberg Air Force Base is a high-risk fire area, and this year's fire season started early, is expected to be worse than previous years, and has already produced the deadliest single incident for firefighters since 9/11. We should not be furloughing firefighters in the middle of fire season. We should not be compromising public safety.

I urge my colleagues to put aside our differences and get to work to find an alternative to these furloughs and end sequestration at every level once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, today I regrettably rise to honor the memory of San Luis Obispo County 4th District Supervisor Paul Teixeira from Nipomo, CA, who passed away June 26, 2013 at his home.

Supervisor Teixeira was elected in 2010, representing the communities of Arroyo Grande, Oceano and Nipomo and was the current Chairman of the SLO County Board of Supervisors. As a third generation Californian raised in southern San Luis Obispo County, Supervisor Teixeira graduated Arroyo Grande High School and attended Allan Hancock College and Cal Poly State University, studying agricultural management. After school, he went to work at Kaman Industrial Technologies in Santa Maria as an operations manager for 22 years.

Supervisor Teixeira was an example of a committed community member and leader, where he served on the Lucia Mar Unified School District Board and the San Luis Obispo County Parks Commission. He was involved with many community groups such as Rotary, 4-H, FFA, Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos, Salvation Army of Santa Maria Valley and Jack Ready Park & Jack's Helping Hand. His honors include Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nipomo Chamber of Commerce, Distinguished Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Nipomo and Honorary Chapter Degree from Nipomo Future Farmers of America. Supervisor Teixeira is survived by his wife Deanna and five children.

On a personal note, Paul always extended a gracious hand when working together on issues of importance to our community. He was a kind man of character who cared for his constituents and I am honored to have worked with him.

Paul's passing will be felt deeply by the many people who knew and worked with him. The San Luis Obispo community will miss an invaluable leader and friend. I offer my most heartfelt condolences to Paul's family and friends. Please join me in honoring this exemplary American and San Luis Obispo County resident.