Floor Statements

Today, I rise to say congratulations to the student inventors at Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Florida.

They were recently recognized for designing and creating a bicycle that serves as an emergency water sanitation system. After a natural disaster, the bicycle can be transported to the scene to filter contaminated water for E. coli and other pathogens. It can be assembled and taken apart in less than 1 hour, and it can produce enough water to hydrate 20 to 30 people for a 15-hour period.

These students first got the idea from unsanitary conditions in Haiti, and they have devoted countless hours to bringing this to life, and they even received a $10,000 grant from MIT. Their work ethic, creativity, and dedication to making this world a better place is an inspiration to all of us.

So, again, congratulations to the student inventors of Northeast High School in Broward County, Florida; and my best wishes to all of them in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor seventy- one high school seniors in Florida's 22' District who have decided to enlist in the United States Armed Forces.

Of these seventy-one, nine have joined the Army; their names are the following: Alexander Meyer, Cory Warr, Steven Britt, Victoria Danielson, Evan Giarritta, Brenela Good, Richard Ramos, David Vogelsong, Diego Gonzalez. Nineteen have joined the Navy; their names are the following: Tatiana Parra, Kethleen Souza, Kassondra Uhl, Michael Hamlin II, Alex Riebman, Kevin Sanchez Villalba, Angevens Eugene, Falon Murray, Nathaniel Hopkins, Jose Colon, Camille Grant, Tylar McCranie, Bryant Ruano, Michael Tesch, Taylor Wachtel, Dandy Barrios, Celines Ocasio, Andrea Castillo, Anthony Celenie. Thirty-eight have joined the Marines; their names are the following: Alexander Field, Christian Garcia, Cody Kruse, David Munoz, Devon Genova, Diana Bustamante, Felipe Moresco, Guilson Godinez, Henry Villatoro, Joshua Carter, Kevin Nguyen, Lucas Ferreira, Austin Pastor, Cameron Kelley, Craig Baumann, Erik Littlefield, John Angeles, Kyle Stewart, Lucas Tavares, Paul Louis Curd, Yira Medina, Anna Dolmany, Lorena Guimaraes, Alma Castillo, Brian Abreu, Edwin Garcia-Gonzalez, Erik Mendez Aguilar, Evan Stimely, Garrett Marshall, Israel Manuel-Pedro, Jonathan Villalba, Junior Jayseus, Kevin Bradlow, Kyle Marciulonis, Manuel Gonzales, Melissa Gunther, Christian Matute, Iridian Maldonado. Four have joined the Air Force; their names are the following: Paul Girao, Brianna Dipasquale, Stephen Favreau, and Lee Golladay.

It is in thanks to the dedication of patriots like these that we are able to meet here today, in the United States House of Representatives, and openly debate the best solutions to the diverse issues that confront our country. On behalf of myself and all of my constituents in Florida's Twenty-Second District, thank you for your service and best of luck as you pursue this challenging endeavor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Florence ``Flossy'' Keesely of Boca Raton, Florida, who turns 99 years old today.

Flossy is a vibrant and active member of our community. In addition to her work championing the arts in Boca Raton, she is active in many local charities.

She is truly an exceptional woman who I am proud to represent in Florida's 22nd District. I know I join with her friends and family in celebrating this wonderful milestone. I wish her good health and continued success in the coming year.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of my Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, tonight's Special Order is meant to honor Israel's 65th Independence Day. But first, today's horrible tragedy of Boston demands our attention.

Security officials continue to investigate the details of the incident. I know that all Americans join with us today, our thoughts and prayers for those affected, the victims, their families and the courageous first responders.

When acts like this occur, I find it even more important that we carry on and refuse to allow our lives to be dictated by those wishing ill. So, in many ways, it's fitting to discuss Israel tonight, a nation that knows all too well the pain of these tragedies. In fact, today Israelis commemorated Memorial Day to honor the memory of 24,000 Israeli men, women, and children who've been killed in terror attacks and wars over the past 65 years.

Immediately following Memorial Day, though, Israel transitions to Independence Day, when Israelis and Jews across the globe celebrate the modern-day revival of the State of Israel.

The abrupt transition from the sadness of Memorial Day to the joy and celebration of Independence Day embodies the Israeli narrative and serves as a poignant lesson in resilience.

Sixty-five years ago, Israel began as a modest nation of 800,000 people, fighting for its very survival. Today, Israel's population stands at over 8 million. It's a thriving liberal democracy, the homeland for Jewish people, a global economic and high-tech powerhouse and maintains the region's most powerful military force.

Sixty-five years ago, this success was not guaranteed and at times seemed almost unobtainable. Memorial Day, which just ended tonight, and Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was commemorated last week, are potent reminders of the struggles the Jewish people have faced and continue to face.

The story of the Jewish people is riddled with triumph and tragedy, and Israel's national anthem, called ``Hatikva,'' meaning ``The Hope,'' sings of the 2,000-year-old dream to be free, people in a land of our own after centuries of pogroms and inquisitions and genocide. That dream has been realized in the establishment of the State of Israel.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to introduce and bring up a very distinguished member of our Illinois delegation, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.

Thank you very much, Congresswoman Schakowsky.

We're also joined here today by a newcomer to Congress, but very much a rising star, my neighbor and friend in the Palm Beach County delegation and the distinguished colleague who is on the House Financial Services Committee and Small Business Committee and I know recently took a trip to Israel, Congressman Patrick Murphy.

Thank you, Mr. Murphy.

Now I have the privilege of introducing the distinguished ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, from the great State of New York.

Thank you very much, Congressman Engel, and thank you for your great leadership to us in Congress.

Now I am very pleased to yield to another new Member of Congress, a colleague of mine in the class of 2013 and a colleague of mine on the Foreign Affairs Committee and on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, from the great State of Illinois, Brad Schneider.

Thank you very much, Mr. Schneider.

Tonight, we have had a very good, I think, discussion here because in Israel, as we speak, Israelis dressed in blue and white flood the streets for ceremonies and parties to celebrate all that Israel has accomplished. And what a lesson we have learned because even in our sadness in our hearts tonight for the people in Boston, we can learn from Israel the resilience of how to come back from tragedy.

I thank both of you, Mr. Schneider and Mr. Murphy, for reminding us that Israel is not just to be known for a place of trouble and conflict. They have developed some of the leading universities in the world, boast the highest ratio of university degrees to population. And as Mr. Murphy mentioned, it is oft been labeled ``the start-up nation'' for its remarkably advanced entrepreneurial economy and is among the world's leaders in high-tech industry and is at the forefront of research and development in the field of renewable energy sources.

And most incredibly, even as Israel struggles to protect and care for its own population, Israel regularly sends humanitarian aid, search and rescue teams, mobile hospitals, and other emergency supplies to help victims of disasters around the world.

We know that Israel has its share of difficulties, as every country does; but despite the current impasse for the peace process, the majority of Israelis continue to show support for a two-state solution.

So as we conclude tonight, I want to say that I know on a personal note, as a mother of a combat veteran, I know too well the pain and fear and lying awake at night wondering if your child will come home safe. That's the feeling that parents in Israel often have. That is the reason I know that I will work with Mr. Schneider, Mr. Engel, Ms. Schakowsky, and the rest of my colleagues here in what I am so happy to say is a bipartisan way to strengthen the United States-Israel relationship.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I just want to say happy birthday to the State of Israel.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 8 o'clock and 55 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, April 16, 2013, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Plantation, Florida, a beautiful city in my district. Since its incorporation April 1953, Plantation has grown into a vibrant city in Broward

County with a population of over 85,000 people.

Currently under the leadership of Mayor Diane Veltri Bendekovic, Plantation is a wonderful source of pride for Broward County. It attracts large national and international corporations, such as American Express and Motorola, to its three business districts while continuing to focus on neighborhood development and the safety and happiness of its residents.

Furthermore, Plantation is a beautiful, tree-lined community. Its emphasis on natural environment is consistently recognized, and Plantation has been named ``Tree City USA'' for 28 years in a row.

In honor of Plantation's 60th Anniversary, I am proud to recognize this dynamic community for their past successes and wish them a bright and prosperous future.

Mr. Speaker, I'm here because of Angel. Angel was just an ordinary teenager. She loved basketball. She liked to hang out. In fact, that's all she was doing on a balmy night in West Palm Beach, just hanging out, when she was violently killed by a man, devoid of humanity, armed with a gun.

And so, instead of dressing Angel for her prom, her mother dressed her for her funeral. Instead of attending Angel's graduation, her family visited her gravesite.

Isn't it time to take the guns out of the hands of criminals and madmen?

Isn't it time for this Congress to stop the senseless gun violence?

Mr. Speaker, let us vote.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday morning the State of Israel came to a standstill as a siren signaling one minute of silence pierced through the daily lives of Israelis. For one minute, highways came to a stand-still and phone conversations fell silent. This moment of silent reflection occurs every year on Yom Hashoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day, in order to honor the memory of the six million Jews systematically murdered at the hands of the Nazis.

Yom Hashoa serves as more than just a day of remembrance, though. Each passing year the remaining number of survivors becomes fewer and fewer. South Florida has seen this first hand. Just last month, Holocaust Survivors of South Florida--once one of the nation's largest survivor groups with a peak membership at over 1,400 survivors--was forced to close its doors due to a rapidly dwindling number of members.

At its final board meeting, the group gave $15,000 to the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center, highlighting the importance of teaching the lessons of the Holocaust to our future generations. The organization's president expressed her hope ``that through education, history would not repeat.''

So today, I commit myself to learning the lessons of the past. I join my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives by honoring the living memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Together, we will stand against any resurgence of anti-Semitism, and against all forms of hatred and prejudice.

Mr. Speaker, today, Tuesday, April 9, is Equal Pay Day because it symbolizes how far in 2013 women must work in order to make what their male counterparts earned in 2012. This means that it took more than 3 months in 2013 for women's wages to finally catch up to what men were paid in 2012.

For working mothers who have to put food on the table and the retired women whose income is tied to their former salary, the wage gap means real dollars.

Listen to this. In south Florida, if the wage gap was eliminated, a working woman would have enough money for 51 more weeks of food, 3 months more of mortgage and utility payments, 5 more months of rent, or 1,600 additional gallons of gas.

Equal pay is about fairness and it's about families.

Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago, Erin DiMeglio was a freshman at South Plantation High School. She was a manager, a water girl, and a trainer's assistant for the varsity football team.

Last spring, Erin was invited off season to work out and earned a spot on the varsity football team. Then something historic happened. Erin's number was called, and she became the first girl in Florida to ever play quarterback in a regular-season varsity high school game.

She's been featured on TV and radio shows all over the country, but that's not all. Erin, who was a senior in high school, received the Florida Achievement Award from the National Commission on the Status of Women, a designation meant to empower and recognize women statewide for their achievements.

Erin is breaking barriers and inspiring girls and a new generation of trailblazing women. She said that she's trying to prove that girls can do anything that guys can do. She's right. If you want to do something, go and chase your dream, follow your passion and work hard.

On this Women's History Month, I want to recognize Erin and the strides that women have made.

Mr. Chairman, I want to explain my strong opposition to the Republican budget and strong support of the Democrat budget amendment because it offers a balanced approach that is fair to seniors, the middle class, and invests in the right priorities.

I want to give an important example. My district is filled with people from all walks of life--teachers, entrepreneurs, and nurses-- who've worked hard and spent their lives earning the Medicare guarantee. They live with the comfort of knowing that if they get sick or injured, the health care they've earned will be there for them. I know this firsthand. My own mother beat cancer with the help of Medicare. Fortunately, I didn't have to make the choice that many Americans will face under the Republican budget: having to choose between helping a parent pay for a cancer treatment or saving for our own children's college tuition.

The Democratic budget, on the other hand, secures Medicare by stopping overpayments to insurance companies and incentivizing efficiency in our health care delivery.

Mr. Chairman, we were sent here to get things done, to solve problems and not to create new ones, and that's why I will proudly vote for the Democratic budget.

Thank you, Congressman.

In listening to your talk, I've been inspired to share this personal story of my mom. I told this story a few minutes ago, but it's worth repeating.

About 20 years ago, my mom had just reached Medicare age. She was a widow on a fixed income, and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a young son at the time. He is grown now, but he was 13 years old. Our family was blessed as my mother had Medicare, and she was able to get the good health care that she needed, and she's still with me today. I didn't have to choose between helping my mother with her health care treatment or saving money to send my son to college.

That's the kind of choice Americans are going to have to make under this Republican budget, because the Republican budget doesn't make seniors healthier, it just shifts the burden.

My district is filled with people from all walks of life, from all different professions, whether they be teachers or nurses or accountants. They've worked hard their whole lives, and they've saved up their Medicare accounts and can live with the comfort now of knowing that, if they get sick or if they get injured, the health care that they've earned will be there for them. They will not be a burden on their children, and they will not take the savings that their children have for their grandkids' college educations and use it for their health care.

But it's not enough, Congressman Bera, for us just to say that the Republican budget is bad, because the fact of the matter is the American people and my constituents want answers. They want us to be problem solvers, not problem creators, and they want us to get something done. The Democratic budget gets something done. Just on this issue of health care for our seniors, we secure Medicare for this generation and for generations to come because we focus on what the problem is, and that has been the growing costs of health care.

In the Affordable Care Act, we tackle the problem directly. We reduce overpayments to health care insurance carriers. We look for efficiencies in the delivery of health care. We focus on prevention. We make health care more accessible to more people so that when they enter their Medicare ages, they're healthier. The Democratic budget has a solution, a solution to a challenge that all Americans recognize today.

Congressman Bera, I want to thank you for allowing me to spend some time to speak on behalf of not only my family, but so many of the families in my district in south Florida who depend on Medicare to live full lives.

Mr. Speaker, the last memory that Lynn McDonnell has of her 7-year-old daughter, Grace, is of a beaming, beautiful girl blowing kisses to her from a bus as she went on her way to Sandy Hook Elementary School. Soon thereafter, tragedy struck. Grace and 19 of her classmates and six teachers were gunned down by a madman with a semiautomatic rifle.

Our country came together. We mourned together. And now, Mr. Speaker, I'm asking this Congress, come together and do something so no other family knows the sadness of the McDonnells.

Too many lives have been lost and too many communities have been torn apart by violence. Too many families have mourned the loss of their brothers and sisters. Too many people have endured unimaginable pain and grief caused by gun violence. When Lynn McDonnell and her husband, Chris, came to Washington for the State of the Union last month, she said Congress must choose ``action over inaction.'' And I agree.

It's been exactly 3 months now since the Newtown massacre. For the McDonnells and the families in Newtown, Aurora, and my hometown of West Palm Beach, I say let's come together and pass responsible gun safety legislation.

Thank you, Congresswoman Maloney. I'm pleased to be with you. I came up here as a new Member in a bipartisan spirit, and I really wanted to be standing here today embracing Mr. Ryan's plan; but I have to tell you, I'm worried about it. And I want to tell you why I'm worried about it. I'm worried about it for Sabrina, for Lucy, for Ruth, Lola, and Barbara.

I'm going to tell you about them. Sabrina is a small business owner. She has a little catering company. She called my office because she's looking for a way to get a small business loan so she can stay in business and improve it. It's hard today getting loans from the banks.

Lucy is a bright-eyed young student in a community college. She is thrilled to have a student loan, a Federal student loan.

Lola is a teacher who has a daughter with cerebral palsy, and she depends on services from the government to help her with her daughter.

And Ruth, Ruth is 91 years old. She used to be a ball of a fire, but she recently hurt herself. She just got out of the hospital, and she can't move around. She can hardly get out of bed. She depends on Meals on Wheels to feed her so she has food every day.

And then there is Barbara who's outlived most of her relatives. She's in a nursing home in my hometown, and she has Alzheimer's.

I know you ask me why I'm worried about them. You know why I'm worried about them, because they are the victims. They will be the victims of this proposed budget. And what's going to happen? Will Sabrina lose her business? Will Lucy have to drop out of school? Will Ruth go hungry? Will Lola have to give up her work so she can stay home with her daughter? Tell me something, who is going to take care of Barbara? Who's going to take care of her?

Barbara is in no condition to take care of anybody. Listen, I think we all know, the American people know that we have to get our fiscal house in order. There is a deficit problem for us, but the American people want us to solve it in a responsible manner because I also know this: we still have a job problem out there. We have slow economic recovery. And now as we are just turning the corner, all of a sudden we have this plan, this bill, this proposal, this budget that independent analysts tell us is going to throw, what, 2 million people out of work, the majority of them women. It will really crush these people like Lucy, Ruth, and Lola and Barbara and Sabrina. We can tell each other hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of stories.

I ask another question: What is the logic in taking little children out of Head Start programs when we know that the path to middle class, the path to be able to take care of your family, to take care of yourself, to be a tax-paying citizen is education? So I ask you, Congresswoman, why would we pass a budget that would take 27,000--I think even more, I think the last sequester bill would take 27,000 children out of child care, Head Start, and this new budget doubles down. Why would we do that?

Let me ask you this: Does the repeal of the Affordable Care Act come with a repeal of people getting ill? I'm trying to figure out the logic here because if you repeal the Affordable Care Act, if you take Medicare and now you turn it into a voucher program or what they call ``premium support,'' which means literally thousands of dollars more coming out of the seniors' pockets to take care of themselves, you're not repealing illness. All you're doing with this Ryan budget is shifting the burden back to the middle class.

You hit it on the head when you said let's keep giving those tax breaks to the big oil companies, the people who want to move their companies offshore, to big corporations with huge profits paying almost nothing in taxes. Here's how we're going to clean up our fiscal house: we're going to tell people when they're oldest and they're sickest, you're going to have to pay more money, or just don't get sick.

Thank you, Representative. I want to thank you for letting me join you here today.

I just want to say this. I know we've been standing up here and we've been critical of this Ryan budget and, respectfully, I think we're just saying it like it is. But I want to just say this, and I know you feel the same way. I hope that we can vet it.

You know, we're venting our feelings here today. And our constituents need to know that we're going to stay strong for them and the women of this country, the Lucys, the Sabrinas, the Barbaras of this country, and of course the men that we love, too. But I hope that we can find a way, that we can find a middle ground, we can find a reasoned budget that gets people back to work, that we secure our families and we get our fiscal house in order in a reasonable amount of time.

On Sunday, March 3, 2 days after the failure of this body to stop the mindless budget cuts of the sequester that will slash millions of dollars for medical research, I was honored to join Bob and Suzanne Wright and thousands of others as we walked in downtown West Palm Beach to promote autism awareness, advocacy, and research.

One in 88 American children is affected by autism, which is America's fastest growing, serious developmental disability, and the Wrights will be the first to tell you that, even with the progress of their organization Autism Speaks and other fine organizations, it will take the investment of the United States of America in science to unlock the mystery of a disorder that cheats our children and stresses their families financially and emotionally.

Mr. Speaker, the sequester will hurt our most vulnerable loved ones and will risk slowing down our economy right when it is recovering. Let's come together now and stop the sequester and reduce our deficit in a balanced way. Instead of tax breaks for oil companies, let's give an autistic child a chance to be the best that he or she can be.